Telling tales: Using storytelling to teach EFL kindergarten students in Taiwan

Abstract

Recently, the pressure of producing globally competitive graduates has furthered the need of students to enhance their English proficiencies; this is especially true for students who major in English and will be teachers in the near future. Many EFL teachers have used storytelling as a resource when teaching. More so, storytelling is said to be able to provide a motivating and interacting vehicle between students and teachers for language learning. The strategy given in this study is meant to help teachers to use storytelling as a resource for young EFL learners. The study focuses on specific instructional outcomes from using storytelling as a group teaching strategy and investigates how storytelling in teaching meets the needs of teachers. The primary purpose of the study aims to explore how storytelling in teaching affects EFL children's learning. Finally, the strengths and weaknesses of using storytelling as a group teaching strategy will be discussed. The research design is to use a questionnaire and group interviews. The pre-service teachers have kept a daily journal to incorporate reflections and observations and record them on the students' log. In addition, the coordinator's and the researcher's log provided valuable summary observations. Results showed that pre-service teachers' teaching styles might need to employ creativity, which then helps them gain the children's attention as the teachers interact with them. Implications and suggestions of the study are of great importance for further research.