Degree Thesis (part 2)
for Master of Arts in Primary Education – Pre-School
Class and School Years 1-3
Storytelling and vocabulary development within the
EFL-classroom in Sweden
Author: Sofie Hedberg Supervisor: Parvin Gheitasi Examiner: Jeanette Toth
Subject/main field of study: English (or) Educational work / Focus English Course code: APG246
Credits: 15 hp
Date of examination: 2020-11-06
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Abstract:
Due to our constantly evolving society and our opportunity to communicate across borders, English language learning is becoming increasingly important for the individual and his/her ability to act and live in the world. The importance of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) is also emphasized in the Swedish curriculum, which further states that the teaching in the lower grades of schooling should focus on communicative skills such as vocabulary acquisition. This is in line with previous research studies which describe that the knowledge of vocabulary is main key to learn a language. Previous research studies have been done within this area of EFL teaching where storytelling has been used as a method for English vocabulary acquisition. The results of these research studies indicate that the storytelling method is very beneficial to use within EFL teaching in the lower grades of schooling as it creates a teaching content familiar and interesting to the students. With the knowledge of the importance of vocabulary acquisition and, the benefits the storytelling method can contribute with it is interesting to further investigate how this method is implemented in a Swedish context. As of this, the main aim of this empirical study is to investigate how storytelling can be used as a method for teaching English vocabulary to 1-3rd grade EFL students in Sweden and also, what
teachers think about this method.
To collect data to this study six semi-structured interviews were conducted with 1-3rd grade
teachers in Sweden. The results show that the informants have an overall positive attitude towards storytelling as a method to teach English vocabulary. Additionally, all teacher express that they use this method in their own EFL teaching but in various extent. The most interesting findings were the different approaches the teachers use within the storytelling method and also, how the teachers support their students in order to enhance their comprehension of the teaching content. Future research within this area is needed and specifically within a Swedish context. More research on the storytelling method and its possibilities to EFL acquisition could strengthen the argument why this method should be used more frequently to teach vocabulary within EFL education in Sweden.
Keywords: English as a foreign language, Storytelling, Vocabulary acquisition, Young language learner, Input.
Table of contents:
1. Introduction...1
1.1. Aim... 2
2. Background...2
2.1. Definition of key terms... 2
2.1.1. EFL and ESL... 2
2.1.2. Storytelling... 3
2.1.3. Vocabulary... 3
2.1.4. Young language learners...4
2.1.5. Input... 4
2.2. Steering documents... 5
2.3. Previous research... 7
2.3.1. Considerations in the selection of previous research...7
2.3.2. A storytelling method... 8
2.3.3. The importance of repetition...9
2.3.4. Related activities for further understanding and vocabulary acquisition...10
2.3.5. Teachers’ engagement... 11
3. Theoretical perspectives...12
3.1. Krashen’s input hypothesis... 12
3.2. Sociocultural theory and the zone of proximal development...13
3.3. The Noticing hypothesis... 15
4. Method...16
4.1. Chosen method... 16
4.2. Validity and reliability... 18
4.2.1. Validity... 18 4.2.2. Reliability... 19 4.3. Ethical aspects... 20 4.4. Instrument... 21 4.5. Selection of informants... 22 4.6. Pilot study... 23 4.7. Implementation... 24 4.8. Method of analysis... 24 5. Results...26
5.1. Teachers’ thoughts of the storytelling method...26
5.2. Teacher engagement and student motivation...27
5.3. Challenges... 27
5.4. Methods used to teach vocabulary...28
5.5. Teachers’ use of the storytelling method...29
5.5.1. Explanation of words... 30
5.5.2. Repetition of vocabulary... 30
5.5.3. Activities related to the storytelling...31
6. Discussion...33
6.1. Method’s discussion... 33
6.2. Discussion of results... 36
6.2.1. Teachers’ thoughts of the storytelling method...36
6.2.2. Teacher engagement and student motivation...37
6.2.3. Challenges... 39
6.2.4. Teachers’ use of the storytelling method...41
7. Conclusion...47
References...49
Appendices...52
Appendix 1. Information letter... 52
Appendix 2. Consent form... 54
Appendix 3. Interview guide... 55
List of tables: Table 1. Participants………...……….23
1. Introduction
On account of the globalization and the increased opportunities to travel and communicate over the border, English is becoming crucial for the individual’s future opportunities to live and act in today’s society. Higher demands on English language knowledge is established throughout the world and especially regarding education-, work- and the individual’s opportunities to act in society and take part of information given by EU and other policy makers (Council of Europe 2001, pp. 1-3). In order to prepare the citizens for these demands one of the main aims for the European countries is to develop their inhabitant’s multilingual competence through education (Council of Europe 2001, pp. 1-6). As reported by the European Commission (2017, p.97) English is the most learnt language in schools in almost all European countries. Likewise, it is important to teach English to our Swedish students so they can develop into independent European citizens who can take part in our constantly evolving society.
To be able to communicate in English, both receptive and productive skills are needed. Lightbown and Spada (2013, pp. 60-61) state that learning vocabulary is one of the most important factors when acquiring a language. The knowledge of words is the foundation to both receptive and productive skills since vocabulary learning form the pieces we put together to understand the whole. A useful method for teaching English vocabulary to young learners is storytelling. Storytelling is a familiar and joyful activity for young students which makes the method very effective for language and vocabulary learning (Sandstrom 2011, pp.23-30).
The Swedish curriculum for compulsory school (Skolverket 2018) emphasizes the importance of structuring and planning the education so the students develop knowledge that is significant for their future life. The communicative skills in the English language are expressed as one main knowledge the students should develop through teaching, and a variety of activities should be integrated for enhancing a rich milieu for language acquisition (Skolverket 2018, pp. 7-9). Teaching should be permeated with activities that stimulate students' curiosity and interests and during my teacher education studies, an activity that I found appealing for young students was storytelling.
Looking into previous research studies on storytelling and its possibilities for learning languages a lot of studies have been done in order to investigate the development of first language acquisition using storytelling as a teaching method. A search of the previous research
studies showed that there is a shortage of studies done in the area exploring the use of storytelling as a method in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young students, and especially within a Swedish context. For this reason, a desire to further investigate this area has been aroused and this study aims to develop more knowledge about teachers’ attitudes towards storytelling as a method for teaching vocabulary to EFL learners in grades 1-3 in Sweden and, how they implement it in their teaching.
1.1. Aim
The aim of this study is to investigate how storytelling can be used as a method in the EFL classroom for teaching vocabulary to 1-3 grade students in Sweden and further, what attitudes teachers have towards this method. More specifically, the study aims to answer the following research questions:
What are teachers’ attitudes towards using storytelling as a method to teach vocabulary to EFL students in grades 1-3 in Sweden?
How do teachers report they use storytelling in their EFL teaching?
2. Background
This section will present background knowledge relevant for further reading of this study. Firstly, a definition of useful terms relevant for the understanding of this study will be described. Secondly, a review of the Swedish curriculum and commentary material related to the English subject in grades 1-3 will be presented. Finally, previous research done in the area of storytelling as an approach to vocabulary learning will be presented.
2.1. Definition of key terms
In the following section the key terms relevant for this study will be defined.
2.1.1. EFL and ESL
In today’s society new ways to communicate in English have emerged which have increased the opportunities to use and hear English on a daily basis. As result to these communication possibilities Pinter (2017, p.33) describes how a distinction between the terms English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL) can be perceived as a bit vague and therefore need further explanation. The term EFL is used when English is being taught in an
environment where the dominant language is another one than English (Pinter 2017, p.200). Pinter (2017, p. 33) explains the exposure to the target language is limited and only learnt in a non-English setting, for example in a classroom where English is a school subject. The term ESL on the other hand, is according to Nation (2014, p. 8) used when referring to English language learners who learn the language in an environment where English is the main language. As Nation (2014, pp. 8-9) describes, the learners in this context are surrounded by the English language both inside and outside the classroom and the exposure to the spoken language is great.
In Sweden where the main language used outside of school is Swedish and the exposure to English in the classroom is limited I find that EFL is the most suitable term to use. Therefore, the term EFL will be used in this study.
2.1.2. Storytelling
As explained by Morgan and Rinvolucri (1983, pp. 1-2) the telling of stories is an activity that goes far back in history. The two scholars describe how storytelling refers to telling stories made up by the speaker, in this study the teacher, or reading aloud from different kind of books and texts (Morgan & Rinvolucri 1983, pp. 1-2). This definition of storytelling is in line with Parfitt’s (2019, p. 3) definition of the term. Further, Parfitt (2019, p. 7) argues that the telling of stories has developed in the recent decades in line with the development of society where the use of media and technical communication tools has evolved.
Both Parfitt (2019, p. 23) and Morgan and Rinvolucri (1983, pp. 1-2) emphasize how storytelling can be a very useful activity when teaching young EFL learners as it contributes to meaningful language input. Therefore, the definition of storytelling presented by Morgan and Rinvolucri (1983) and Parfitt (2019) will be used in the following study where storytelling refers to an activity where a story is told from a pre-written text or made up by the teacher.
2.1.3. Vocabulary
The scholars Nation and Meara (2002, pp. 35-37) highlight the difficulty of explaining the term vocabulary as it can have different meanings depending on the context. Within a context where words are being taught Nation and Meara (2002, pp. 35-36) state that the definition includes both separate words and lexical phrases. With the knowledge that vocabulary is a complex term
to describe and that it can include a variety of different definitions I will use the explanation given by Nation and Meara mentioned above (2002, pp. 35-36). As the EFL classroom in Swedish schools is a context where vocabulary is being taught the definition of vocabulary will therefore represent both words and lexical phrases.
2.1.4. Young language learners
When talking about young language learners the definition can be understood differently depending on the experience you have towards the starting age of language learning. As Pinter (2017, p. 1) points out, the starting age of learning English can vary around the world as some countries start language learning at the age of 5 and some at the age of 9 or even later. Therefore, young language learners can be of very different ages depending on the context. Both Pinter (2017, pp. 2-3) and Lightbown and Spada (2013, pp. 36-37) argue that there are differences between young and older language learners. Young learners have not yet developed the same cognitive maturity or metalinguistic awareness as older learners have and their reading and writing skills are limited. Also, young learners have a greater amount of imagination and enjoy games, plays and stories more than older learners (Lightbown & Spada 2013 p. 36). As the starting age of learning English in Sweden is between the age of 7-9 (SFS 2011:185) these ages will be referred to when using the term young language learners in this study.
2.1.5. Input
Input is a term that will occur several times in this study and therefore needs further explanation. In a language learning context Krashen (1982, pp. 7, 21) describes how input is received through exposure to comprehensible communication in the target language. This communication can be mediated in different ways such as: spoken language, written language, visuals, gestures and mimics. The most fundamental about input, in this study language input, is that the acquirer receive language and do not produce language. The opposite to input is output which Krashen (1982, p. 60) describes as when the acquirer produce language in written or spoken form. In this study a focus will be on the term input and the definition given by Krashen will be used.
2.2. Steering documents
The National Agency for Education (Skolverket 2018), henceforth Skolverket, is an authority that has the main responsibility for the public schools in Sweden. Skolverket establishes the curriculum for the compulsory school, preschool class and school-age educare, henceforth the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket 2018), which describes what the education should contain in the different subjects and grades of schooling.
Regarding the number of hours dedicated to each subject this is established in the School ordinance (SFS 2011:185). The teaching hours dedicated to the English subject in grades 1-3 is altogether 60 hours and the responsibility for how these hours should be divided is up to each municipality to decide (SFS 2011:185). As result to this regulation, the starting age of EFL education can vary from school to school throughout the country depending on how the municipality choose to schedule the number of teaching hours. Thus, the English teaching content and number of teaching hours is equal throughout the Swedish schools, the starting age of EFL learning is varying.
Described in the English syllabus within the Swedish curriculum (Skolverket 2018), language is a very important tool for the individual and his or her ability to act in our globalized world. On this basis, teaching English language to the students is important for their future lives and their opportunity to act and develop educationally, economically and politically in the society (Skolverket 2018, p.32). This is also expressed in the Commentary material for the English syllabus, henceforth the commentary material (Skolverket 2017, p. 6), where the development of communication is emphasized as the main tool for the children’s opportunities to successfully be a part of our society.
One of the main aims for the school is to create opportunities for the students to develop the English language in different ways. The English syllabus (Skolverket 2018, p.32.) states how teaching should enable opportunities for the students to develop their communicative skills in English. These communicative skills include the understanding of spoken English and English appearing in different kinds of text. Also, strategies for using the language to make themselves understood by others are highlighted as an important communicative skill to develop (Skolverket 2018, pp. 34-35).
The English syllabus describes which areas teaching should involve in the different grades of schooling. The grades are represented in stages of: 1-3, 4-6 and 7-9 and there is a specific core content for each stage. The main areas in the core content are: content of communication, reception, production and interaction, and what these areas involve differs between the stages. The core content relevant for this study is the one described for grades 1-3 and specifically the area of reception where listening and reading have a main focus (Skolverket 2018, p. 35). The core content states that the students should meet spoken English through different types of text and media. The students should also be exposed to English through conversations and dialogues, familiar words and phrases and through “tales” (Skolverket 2018, p. 35).
As expressed in the English syllabus (2018, pp.34-41) and the Commentary material (Skolverket 2017, p.16) there is not any stated requirements on teaching writing and reading to students in grades 1-3. Therefore, the education should mainly include English in spoken form. This is further described in the Commentary material which states, with support from research, that the English language mainly should be taught through activities represented in spoken form in the lower grades of schooling (Skolverket 2017, p.13). The core content for grades 1-3 mentioned above confirms this statement and many of the receptive skills can advantageously be combined in teaching.
One activity that can be used to combine different receptive skills is storytelling, an activity that is emphasized in the core content as tales (Skolverket 2018, p. 35). Reading to the children can include other receptive content such as clearly spoken English, conversations and different words and phrases that are relevant and familiar for the children and their lives. On the basis of the English syllabus (Skolverket 2018, p.35), using storytelling as a teaching method can therefore be a productive way to teach English as a foreign language to children in the grades of 1-3.
In summary, the Swedish curriculum (2018) and the Commentary material (2017) describe the importance of teaching communicative skills to young EFL learners. The focus on receptive skills is repeatedly expressed as the main skills to develop in the lower grades of EFL learning. In addition to this, storytelling becomes a very useful method for EFL teaching as it includes great amount of receptive language input. In sum, the English syllabus points out tales as a core content to teach to students in grade 1-3 and this further strengthens the use of storytelling as a teaching method (Skolverket 2018, p. 35).
2.3. Previous research
This section will describe the findings of previous research in the area of storytelling as a method to enhance vocabulary learning. Firstly, a short introduction will be made in order to describe the considerations made when selecting previous research studies. This is followed by a section presenting storytelling as a method when teaching vocabulary to EFL learners. Further on, the importance of repetition will be described and the implementation of activities related to the storytelling. Finally, a short review concerning the teachers’ engagement in EFL learning and their impact on students’ motivation towards language learning will be presented.
2.3.1. Considerations in the selection of previous research
Previous research presented under the following subheadings deal with the same topic: how storytelling can be used as a teaching method in the EFL classroom. The main differences in these research studies are the participating students age and the context the studies were conducted in. With a wide age range from 4-year-old’s (Ketevan & Evrim 2019) to 8-14-year-old’s (Kalantari & Hashemian 2015) the participants have different pre-knowledge that, according to Pinter (2017, pp. 23-24), can have an impact on their ability to acquire a second language.
Despite the age differences between the participants in the presented studies they all contribute with meaningful findings useful to this study. The research studies all describe how storytelling is a useful method in EFL teaching and vocabulary development, and the research results identify the same findings. As of this, the age variation is not seen as an obstacle in this research but rather an advantage to show the possibilities the storytelling method can contribute with to EFL teaching. Further, as the starting age of EFL education in Sweden are varying using studies with a wide age-range can strengthen the study.
Regarding the research studies conducted by Lundberg (2007) and Fuller Collins (2005) the age of these studies can appear a bit old. This is taken into consideration and in spite of the fact that they are a bit old they both contribute with useful findings to this study. Therefore, these research studies will be used in the following study.
2.3.2. A storytelling method
Several studies have been done in order to investigate how stories can be used when teaching young EFL learners and more specifically, how it can develop their English vocabulary knowledge (Ketevan & Evrim 2019; Inés & González 2010; Kalantari & Hashemian 2015; Lin 2014; Lundberg 2007 & Fuller Collins 2005). These studies have focused on the verbal input of the English language where storytelling was the main teaching approach.
To be able to understand and communicate in a language the importance of vocabulary knowledge is crucial. This is identified by Ketevan and Evrim (2019, p. 135) who, in their study with 4-year old Turkish EFL learners, argue how vocabulary knowledge is an important aspect in EFL teaching. They further describe how knowledge of words is the main key to understand and communicate in the target language (Ketevan & Evrim 2019, p. 135). Moreover, Ketevan and Evrim (2019 p.136) points out that storytelling is a beneficial method for teaching vocabulary to young EFL learners as it creates meaningful language input for the students where they can hear the language in a way that is familiar and interesting to them. This aspect of teaching is also highlighted by Inés and González (2010 p. 97) who conducted a study in Colombia where 8 student-teachers implemented a storytelling method in order to teach EFL to students in grades 1-3. In their study they stress the importance of listening input in EFL teaching as the understanding of spoken language is developed before the students’ verbal language production (Inés & González 2010, pp. 104-105).
In the same way as the research studies presented above Kalantari and Hashemian (2015, p. 231) have come to a similar conclusion when using storytelling in a study with Iranian EFL students aged 8-14 years. In their study two groups of EFL learners were taught English vocabulary, one through storytelling and another one through a traditional way with a textbook based approach. The results show that the students taught by the storytelling method acquired a larger amount of English vocabulary knowledge than the other group. Moreover, the results also showed a large increase in the students’ motivation towards learning EFL. The researchers explain these results by the great amount of listening input the students were exposed to and that the teaching method was interesting and engaging to the students (Kalantari & Hashemian 2015, p. 232). These findings are similar to those presented in Lundberg’s (2007) action research study with 123 Swedish primary school teachers. In Lundberg’s study theory was combined with practice where the aim was to develop and improve the participating teachers’ EFL instruction (Lundberg 2007, pp. 74-76). The teachers participating in Lundberg’s (2007,
pp. 96-97) action research study used storytelling as a teaching method to improve their students’ English language instruction. Based on the findings, the teachers argue that the use of storytelling was a very advantageous way to teach EFL because it is an activity the students found interesting and fun. When the student’s found the teaching content interesting and fun the teachers identified how the students became more active and open for the teaching content, which in turn lead to a deeper acquisition of the English language (Lundberg 2007, p. 125).
Storytelling as an approach to teach vocabulary to EFL students was also used by Fuller Collins in her study with 70 Portuguese preschool EFL students (2005, p. 407). The participating students had no prior in-school experience of English teaching and the main aim for the study was to use verbal input through storytelling as a way to develop their vocabulary knowledge (2005, p. 407-408). The results reveal that the method was very effective on EFL acquisition and vocabulary development, and Fuller Collins (2005, p. 407) states that rich explanations to target words during the storytelling session was key to the results.
Word explanations combined with storytelling was also used by Lin (2014, p.75) in her research with 45 primary school EFL students in Taiwan. The results in her study are similar to those presented by Fuller Collins (2005) where word explanations during and after the storytelling sessions enhanced the young learners’ vocabulary development (Lin 2014, p. 77).
In summary, previous research show that storytelling is a very useful method for teaching vocabulary to young EFL learners. Storytelling contributes to receptive input that presents vocabulary to students in a fun and familiar way. This in turn enhances the students’ English language learning and more specifically their vocabulary acquisition.
2.3.3. The importance of repetition
In order to learn new vocabulary, the students need to hear the words repeatedly before they are fully acquired (Lundberg 2007, pp. 94-95). This is reported by Inés and Gonzalez who further describe the amusement the children feel when listening to stories over and over again (2010, p. 99). In the research study conducted by Lin (2014, p. 75) the author highlights the importance of repetition when reading to the students, and the results presented in her study show that after the third storytelling session the participating students’ vocabulary knowledge had increased a lot from the first session (Lin 2014, p.75). Lundberg (2007, pp. 95-96) maintains the importance
of repetition and in contrast to Lin (2014), she explains how EFL students in her study after the second storytelling session showed an understanding of the vocabulary represented in the story.
As research show repetition is an important part when teaching vocabulary through storytelling with EFL students. The students need to be exposed to the same word more than one single time in order for the word to be memorized and learned. Another reason for repeating stories is that young students like hearing stories and a good story can be heard several times without being boring (Inés & González 2010, p. 99).
2.3.4. Related activities for further understanding and vocabulary acquisition
Previous research studies describe how activities related to the storytelling session can contribute to further English language and vocabulary acquisition among EFL students. Lundberg (2007, pp. 96-97) and Inés and González (2010, p. 98,102) report that pre-reading activities are of importance when using storytelling as a method in the EFL-classroom. Introducing the book to the students by showing pictures and explaining the keywords is identified as highly important for the students’ understanding of the story (Lundberg 2007, p. 97). Inés and Gonzalez give further examples of pre-reading activities such as puzzles, games and songs which aim to develop vocabulary knowledge in order to enhance the students’ understanding of the story. As these presented pre-reading activities are done in the English language another beneficial pre-reading activity done in the students’ first language is identified by Lundberg (2007, p. 97). Her research findings show that reading the Swedish version of the story before the English version is a very useful approach that can further enhance the students’ understanding of the storytelling and their language development (Lundberg 2007, p. 97).
As reported by Fuller Collins (2005, p. 408) and Lin (2014, pp. 73-74) rich explanations of words during the storytelling session is key for the students’ understanding of English vocabulary. Explanation of words can be done in different ways and research shows how a combination of both visual and auditory explanations are most efficient (Fuller Collins, 2005 p. 407). Explaining words using synonyms and by making connections to pictures, presented in a book or related to the storytelling, is emphasized by both Fuller Collins (2005, pp. 407-408) and Lin (2014, pp. 73-74) as effective word explanation methods. Inés and González (2010, p.103) are of the same opinion and stress the importance of connecting the target language to the pictures in order to help students’ language comprehension and vocabulary development.
Lundberg (2007, p. 123) and Kalantari and Hashemian (2015, p. 231) further report the teachers ´ use of gestures and mimics as important for word explanation during the storytelling session.
Post-reading activities related to storytelling is expressed by Inés and González (2010, p. 105) and Kalantari and Hashemian (2015, p. 224) as ways to strengthen the students’ language acquisition. Different activities such as games, plays, songs and teachers’ questions are ideal activities for repeating the English vocabulary presented in the story. In addition, the post-reading activities can be a tool for the teacher to control the students’ language comprehension, if the storytelling is effective for EFL learning (Inés & González 2010, pp. 104-105).
In conclusion, a variety of activities before, during and after a storytelling session is highly beneficial for the EFL learners’ language acquisition. The activities create opportunities for the students to consolidate the language knowledge in different ways and thereto, establish a deeper understanding of the vocabulary presented through the storytelling.
2.3.5. Teachers’ engagement
In several of the studies presented above (Fuller Collins 2005; Lundberg 2007; Inés & González 2010) researchers stress the importance of the teachers’ engagement in order for the storytelling to be a successful learning opportunity. The teachers’ ability to make the storytelling interesting, and the related activities fun for the students is described as key to reach successful language acquisition through the storytelling method. Reported by Inés and González (2010, p. 106) students who perceive English learning as meaningful and fun are more open to the language input given and thereby acquire the target language more easily.
The results from Lundberg’s action research study present the importance of teachers’ engagement in, and attitude towards EFL-learning (2007, p.169). The teachers’ abilities to create an interesting teaching milieu that considers the students’ interests and likes are reported as highly beneficial for language acquisition (Lundberg 2007, p.169). These findings are also identified by Tragant Mestres and Lundberg (2011) in their research where they investigated the teacher’s role in EFL-teaching. The study, which is a part of the larger research study Early Language Learning in Europe (ELLiE), was conducted in a Swedish school-context with 23 primary school students (Tragant Mestres & Lundberg 2011, pp. 81-82). The research shows that teacher engagement and personal interest to language learning can create pedagogical
benefits for language learning amongst young EFL students. The teacher’s use of different approaches and materials, such as gestures, props and plays, was identified as the main source of motivation for language learning within the primary school context (Tragant Mestres & Lundberg 2011, pp. 82, 85).
In summary the teacher plays a crucial role in the storytelling method and is responsible for creating a learning milieu that awakes the students’ interests. Likewise, the teacher’s engagement during storytelling session and his/her ability to plan for related activities is key to successful EFL learning within the storytelling method.
3. Theoretical perspectives
In the following section the theoretical perspectives relevant to this study will be presented. Firstly, Krashen’s input hypothesis will be described and how it is applicable to this study. Secondly, Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, and specifically the zone of proximal development (ZPD), will be presented and lastly an explanation of Schmidt’s noticing hypothesis will be given.
3.1. Krashen’s input hypothesis
The input hypothesis is described as one of the “most important concept in second language acquisition” (Krashen 1982, p. 9). The hypothesis is one out of five in Krashen’s language acquisition theory and the one most relevant to this study as it focuses on the importance of language input in order to acquire a second language. According to Krashen (1982 pp.20-21), when acquiring a second language the main focus should be on providing the learner with lots of input in the target language. The main idea in Krashen’s (1982, p. 60) hypothesis is that language can be acquired only by exposure to language input. Further, Krashen (1982, pp. 60-61) prioritizes the input over the output when acquiring a language.
The language input should partially meet the student’s current level of comprehension and further, provide the student with language input that goes a little bit beyond his or her current comprehension level. Krashen (1982, pp.20-22) uses the term i + 1 to explain this method of language learning where i stands for student’s current knowledge and +1 stands for knowledge that lies beyond the student’s current knowledge level. When students meet language input that
contains i + 1 it creates opportunity to further acquire language knowledge. An important aspect to take into consideration when using this method in teaching is that the i + 1 should come naturally and not be planned ahead. To this, Krashen (1982, pp. 21-22) describes that “if communication is successful, i + 1 will be provided” and he also explains that teachers should not plan for i + 1 in their instruction as it could give a negative effect for the language acquisition.
Students learn in different ways and pace and it is important to have knowledge about this within the context of teaching. Planning for EFL teaching that will contain i + 1 can have a negative impact for several of the students as their current level of knowledge, their i, can differ. Planning for +1 can result in that the input presented is too advanced or too easy for the students and no language acquisition, hence i+1, will happen. As Krashen (1982, p.25) argues language teaching should focus on exposing the learners to natural and comprehensible input which in turn, will meet all students current level of knowledge, i, and every student’s personal
+ 1 knowledge.
In conclusion, previous research on EFL learning presented earlier highlight the importance of language input when teaching young students. This is also stressed in the Commentary material (2017, p.13) which states that teaching in early grades of schooling mainly should focus on the receptive abilities such as listening and understanding of spoken English. Storytelling as a teaching method and its accompanied activities create great opportunity for language input where the receptive abilities are the main focus. This aspect of teaching is very similar to Krashen’s input hypothesis and therefore, it can favorably be applied to EFL teaching in a Swedish context.
3.2. Sociocultural theory and the zone of proximal development
The sociocultural theory is based on the psychologist Vygostky and his research findings published in 1978 (Säljö 2015, p.90). The main idea within this theory is that knowledge is acquired through interaction with others and the social aspect of learning is highly important (Säljö, pp. 92-94).
Within sociocultural theory the focus is on how learners can develop knowledge through interaction and participation in social activities with others, in contradiction to Krashen’s (1982,
p. 9) input hypothesis where the main focus is on input (Lantolf & Thorne 2007, pp. 197-198). As described by Säljö (2015 pp.90-91), within the sociocultural theory the learner’s abilities are not determined by his or her biological prerequisites. The learner can develop knowledge about how to use different artifacts that will help him or her to reach greater knowledge. These artifacts can be of both physical and intellectual character which mediates the learner’s actions and connect one’s individual world with the social world (Säljö 2015, pp. 91-92; Lantolf & Thorne 2007, pp. 198-199). Within the storytelling method teachers can use different approaches when reading to the children. With Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory these approaches can be identified as artifacts used to mediate between the teaching content and the learners. This theoretical aspect can be of use further on in this study when investigating teachers’ attitudes towards and use of storytelling as a teaching method in EFL learning.
Within the sociocultural theory Vygotsky established the concept “The zone of proximal development”, henceforth ZPD. The ZPD describes the distance between the learner´s current knowledge and the knowledge that the learner can establish with help from a more capable person, e.g. a teacher (Lantolf & Thorne 2007, p. 206). This is also emphasized by Säljö (2015, pp. 99-102) who further explains the concept of scaffolding which is used within the ZPD in order to describe the support given by a more capable person to the learner.
Scaffolding is a well-known concept within ZPD and constitutes a support for the learner to reach knowledge that lies within his or her ZPD. Säljö (2015, pp. 100-101) states how scaffolding can be of both physical and intellectual character and in an EFL teaching context where storytelling is used as a method to teach vocabulary both physical and intellectual support can be of use. When the teacher teach vocabulary to the young learners through storytelling the explanation of words is a way to scaffold the learners intellectually. Also, the teacher can scaffold the learners physically by e.g. pointing at pictures in a book.
The ZPD is described by Lantolf and Thorne (2007, pp. 206-207) as a very useful tool in teaching as the aim is to see the learner’s current knowledge level and find the right way to support the learner to acquire further knowledge. What the learner can do with the right support today he or she will be able to do by him-/ herself tomorrow (Lantolf & Thorne 2007, p. 206). The teacher’s role becomes very important through this theoretical aspect of learning, and specifically how he or she scaffolds the young students. As Lantolf and Thorne (2007, p. 20)
describe the more knowledge the learner develops and the more he or she can do by him-/herself the need of support from a more capable person will decrease.
To summarize, language acquisition through Krashen’s i + 1 hypothesis and Vygotsky’s sociocultural concept, the ZPD, is based on a similar idea about how to develop language knowledge that exists a little bit above the student’s current level of knowledge (Krashen 1982, pp. 21-22; Lantolf &Thorne 2005 p. 210). Within the concepts i +1 and ZPD it is crucial that the support and comprehensible input lies within this area (i+1 and ZPD) for language learning to be acquired. If the teaching lies on the same level as the student’s current knowledge level there will not be a development. Likewise, if the teaching lies beyond the i+1 and ZPD it will be too difficult for the student to acquire the teaching content and no development will appear.
The difference between the concepts i+1 and ZPD is, according to Lantolf and Thorne (2005, p. 210), the idea how further knowledge is acquired. The input hypothesis presents how comprehensible language input is key to language acquisition by all learners. The ZPD on the other hand, argues how the support from a more competent person will help the learner to mediate and further establish knowledge oneself.
As the main aim of this study is to investigate how storytelling can be used as a method to teach English vocabulary to EFL students, theoretical perspectives focusing on language input are therefore of importance. With regard to the similarities and differences between the two theoretical perspectives discussed above both can favorably be used within this study. As presented in the previous research section, the storytelling method is based on different kinds of activities which all contain of input of various kind. Therefore, the input hypothesis and the sociocultural theory will be appropriate to use in this study as they both focus on different aspects of input in order to acquire language. Moreover, the two theories can specifically be of use in the upcoming analysis of results and discussion of this study as they can contribute with useful perspectives on EFL acquisition.
3.3. The Noticing hypothesis
The noticing hypothesis was established by Schmidt in 1990 and is based on the idea that in order to learn a second language the learner has to notice the input given to him/her (Schmidt 2010, p. 722). Further, Schmidt (2010, p. 725) states how input becomes intake first when the
learner is conscious of and pays attention to the specific content of teaching. An example relevant to the topic of this thesis is highlighted in the text where Schmidt (2010, p. 725) explains how vocabulary can be acquired by the learner through noticing. By noticing the form of the word and helpful cues given through the language input the learner can acquire the vocabulary presented within the teaching context (Schmidt 2010, p. 725).
The noticing hypothesis can be applicable when studying EFL teaching in a Swedish classroom context and specifically regarding vocabulary learning through the storytelling method. As highlighted in the noticing hypothesis attention to the teaching content is needed in order to learn (Schmidt 2010, p.721). To this, a relevant question can be aroused regarding; how can teachers make their young EFL learners more aware of the vocabulary raised within the storytelling activities in order for the students to notice and thereby acquire vocabulary.
There are lots of ways for the teacher to help the learners to notice the vocabulary that occurs within a story. By giving lots of word explanations and helpful cues during the storytelling session the teacher can enhance the learner’s noticing of words and thereby their language acquisition.
4. Method
This section will firstly present the chosen method used for data collection in this study followed by a description of validity and reliability. Thereafter, the ethical considerations relevant for this study are accounted for followed by a description of instrument. Next, a review of the selection of informants, the pilot study and the implementation will be given. Lastly, the method of analysis will be presented.
4.1. Chosen method
As described by Larsen (2009, pp. 21-23) it is the aim and research questions of the study that steer which method will be most suitable to use to collect research data. The methods are divided into two main types: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative methods are used when the research aim is to reach knowledge about the informants’ attitudes and thoughts about a certain research topic (Larsen 2009, p.21; McKay 2006, p.51). According to Stukát (2011, p. 36), these methods are suitable to use when the researcher wants to get a deeper understanding
of a certain phenomenon. Quantitative methods on the other hand, are used when the research aim is to collect data that are measurable. These methods are often used when the researcher wants to explain a certain phenomenon (Larsen 2009, pp.22-24).
As explained by Larsen (2009, p. 24), qualitative research is conducted with a limited number of participants where the methods used for collecting data are of unstructured character, for example: unstructured or semi-structured interviews and unstructured or semi-structured observations. The benefits of using qualitative methods are according to Larsen (2009, p.26) and Stukát (2011, pp.36-37) the researcher’s ability to ask follow up questions and to obtain additional knowledge which will benefit the research. The weaknesses of these types of methods are the amount of time it takes to conduct the interviews and observations, and the time it takes to analyze the material. Moreover Larsen (2009, p. 27) emphasizes that the researcher cannot include too many participants in the study as it will be too much data to collect and analyze. Further, as the informants are limited the results will not be generalizable.
In contrast to the qualitative methods Larsen (2009, p. 46) mentions how data collection methods used within a quantitative research study are systematic and structured. In these studies, structured or standardized interviews, structured observations and questionnaires are examples of methods used for data collection. The benefits of using quantitative methods are that they can be distributed to a larger number of participants than in a qualitative study. Also, the results are easy to analyze as both questions and answer alternatives are pre-determined (Larsen 2009, p. 25). Emphasized by Larsen (2009, p. 26) and Stukát (2011, p. 35) a weakness within quantitative studies are the limitations in collecting additional data from the informants. The researcher is not able to ask the informants any follow-up questions which could lead to misinterpretation of the collected data.
The aim of this study is to investigate teachers’ attitudes and thoughts on the use of storytelling as a method to teach vocabulary to EFL students in Sweden and therefore, a qualitative method was most suitable to use. As mentioned earlier there are different methods that can be used to collect data within a qualitative study. With regard to the aim of this study and the knowledge of the possible alternatives that could be used for data collection the most efficient method for this study was interviews. By using one-to-one interviews with several teachers, a deeper understanding of their attitudes and thoughts about the research questions could be reached (Larsen 2009, pp. 83-84). This would not be possible in the same extent if e.g. questionnaires
were used as data collection method as it does not allow the researcher to ask any additional questions that could lead to a more accurate understanding of the informants’ answers.
4.2. Validity and reliability
Validity and reliability are two important concepts for the research study’s level of quality. In the upcoming section a description of the concepts will be given and how high validity and reliability were reached within this study.
4.2.1. Validity
For a study to reach high validity the research must be conducted in a way that is of relevance to the research question, if the researcher really has investigated what he or she aimed at investigate (Larsen 2009, p. 80; Thornberg & Fejes 2015, p. 258). According to Thornberg and Fejes (2015, pp. 257-258) the researcher has to show the reader of the study how the research data was gathered and which methods were used. In this study the methods section presents a detailed description of how the data was collected which gives higher validity to the study. The research should also be clearly structured and presented for the reader in an impartial way for high validity to be reached (McKay 2006, p.13), which the author of this study has had in mind throughout the whole study.
There are several ways for a researcher to achieve high validity and to be able to reach high validity to this study a number of things were applied into the planning and gathering of research data. As stated by Stukát (2015, pp. 134-135), the method used for data collection, in this study interviews, should be selected with regard to how relevant it is in relation to the purpose of the research. When designing the interview, the questions should be formulated in a way which ensures that the answers given are of relevance for the study. Similar to Stukát (2015, pp.134-135) the researcher of this study has consulted previous research conducted within the same area and investigated how the interview questions used in these studies were formulated. By this, high validity could be reach as the interview questions were of relevance to the aim of the study (Stukát 2015, pp. 134-135).
Moreover Kihlström (2007, p. 231) and McKay (2006, p. 13) exemplify other ways to increase a study’s validity. They describe how the interview questions favorably can be read through by another qualified person who can contribute with useful thoughts and advice on the material. In
this study the interview guide was read through by a colleague and two pilot studies were conducted before the real study took place. By doing this the interview questions could be revised and improved which resulted in a better and more accurate data collection method (Kihlström 2007, p. 231).
4.2.2. Reliability
For the research study to maintain high reliability an accurate description of how the data was gathered must be presented so the same research could be conducted in the same way by someone else (Larsen 2009, p. 81; Kvale 2015, p. 115). In this study a description of how the data was gathered is presented in the methods section. As described by Kvale (2015, pp. 115-116), it is more challenging to establish high reliability in qualitative research studies than in quantitative as the answers gathered are more affected by the human factor. This means that the answers given is dependent on the interviewer and the informant and it is not certain that the same answers would be given if the question was asked by someone else or at another time (Kvale 2015, pp. 115-116). To this, the researcher who conducts a study through a qualitative method needs to be very precise and accurate in the description of how the data was conducted and give information about the data collection method and the current conditions (Kvale 2015, p. 115).
A researcher can favorably use different approaches to achieve high reliability for a study and this has been taken into consideration in order to reach high reliability for this study. Larsen (2009, pp. 80-81) explains that a very important factor is how the collected data is handled. The author of this thesis has carefully structured and organized the research data and information about the informants and by this the study’s reliability is improved.
Another way to ensure high reliability is described by Kihlström (2007, p. 232) who advocates that two persons should conduct the interview. By this, the interviewers can focus on collecting different data from the informant, such as answers to the questions and body language. This can, according to Kihlström (2007, p. 232), lead to a deeper understanding of the gathered information where one focus is on gathering the answers and another one on observing how the informant acts. In this study the interviews could only be conducted by one person but all interviews were recorded with an audio recorder. By doing this the answers given from the
informants were collected verbatim which reduced the risk of misunderstandings, and further strengthened the reliability of the study (Kihlström 2007, p. 232; McKay 2006, pp. 55-56).
In conclusion, to achieve high validity and reliability are of importance when conducting a research study and there are certain things that the researcher can do to ensure this. With the aim to achieve high validity and reliability for this study the approaches mentioned above were all taken into consideration when conducting this study.
4.3. Ethical aspects
When conducting a research study where humans are involved there are some ethical aspects that should be taken into consideration before, during and after conducting the research. As McKay (2006, p.25) points out, certain guidelines are established within the area of research that are of use for the researcher when planning for and conducting a research. In a document published by the Swedish Research Council (2017), Good research practice, guidelines and ethical considerations relevant for this study could be found.
As described by the Swedish Research Council (2017, pp. 13-14) it is important to protect the informants participating in the research study by handling their personal information correctly. To ensure confidentiality in this study certain ethical codes could be established before, during and after the study. Before conducting the research, the informants were given information about the current study where the aim and purpose was described, and also how the personal information was handled. Further, a written consent was collected from the participants before each interview took place (Swedish Research Council 2017, pp. 13, 26-27).
To further ensure the protection of the informants’ personal information during the conduction of the research, in this study through interviews, the names of the informants were anonymized and their answers coded. By doing this the participants’ anonymity were strengthened as the answers given could not be connected to any specific individual (Swedish Research Council 2017, p. 40). Moreover, CODEX (2020) highlights how important it is that the researcher continuously provides information to the participants that they can terminate their participation at any time during the course of the study. In this study this was described in the information letter the informants received and also, it was mentioned during the interviews.
The ethical aspect concerning confidentiality is equally important after the completion of the study. As described in Good research practice (Swedish Research Council 2017, pp. 41-42) the researcher has to keep the collected material in a safe place to further ensure the participants’ anonymity. Likewise, with regard to the aspect of confidentiality the researcher should clarify that the collected data will only be used for research. If the researcher aims to collect data using an audio recorder, as in this study, this must be approved by the participants through a written consent before conducting the research (Swedish Research Council 2017, p. 26). The participants in this study were informed about the purpose of the recording, what it would be used for and how it would be handled. To ensure confidentiality the researcher should describe how he or she will ensure the informants’ anonymity and further how the recorded audio file will be kept after the research. In this study the recorded material was used to transcribe and analyze the collected data where names and personal information was coded and anonymous. Furthering, after transcribing the recorded audio files they were destroyed. By this, the ethical aspects relevant for this study was respected and taken into consideration and the participants’ confidentiality and anonymity were ensured (Swedish Research Council 2017, pp. 26-27).
To ensure the protection of individual information in this study a letter was sent to the potential informant where information about the study were given (Appendix 1). If the informants agreed to participate a written consent was obtained from all participants before the interviews took place (Appendix 2). As the interviews were recorded with an audio recorder the informant had to give a written consent to this as well before the interviews took place.
4.4. Instrument
As mentioned earlier there are different types of interviews that could be used to collect data whereof some are more structured than others. The type of interview that was used in this study was a semi-structured, general interview guide approach (McKay 2006, p. 51-52). According to Stukát (2011, pp. 42-43) and McKay (2006, p. 51) a semi-structured interview is based on a number of pre-constructed questions that serve as a support for the interviewer. The questions were asked to all informants but the follow up questions and the order the questions were asked varied between interviews (Stukát 2011, p. 44). This method was chosen because it allowed the informants to talk more freely and the interviewer to ask follow up questions which could lead to a better understanding of the informants’ thoughts and beliefs. As Stukát (2011, pp. 43-44) mentions, this would not be possible with a structured interview approach where the answers
are closed. With pre-constructed questions, the interviewer made sure that the information needed for the study were conducted from all the informants and also, it enhanced the data analysis (McKay 2006, p. 52).
When creating the interview guide the author of this study adapted and adopted instrument from previous studies and methods literature. Ideas presented in the research studies conducted by Wang and Kokotsaki (2018) and Lundberg (2007) were used as inspiration to this study but the content were changed to fit this research study. In sum, this resulted in the interview guide presented in the appendices (Appendix 3).
4.5. Selection of informants
To be able to collect data relevant for this study’s topic the informants had to meet certain criteria. With regard to the research aim and questions the informants had to be teachers who have a teacher-education relevant to teach in grades 1-3. Further, the teachers should teach EFL to students in these grades. With regard to the size of this study the participating informants were selected through these criteria which certified that the aim and research questions to this study could be answered. The number of informants were set to a minimum of 6 and by this, the answers collected through the interviews are not generalizable as the participating informants are not representative for a whole population (Larsen 2009, p. 78; McKay 2006, p. 14).
To find teachers willing to participate in the study an email was sent to three principals of different schools in three municipalities located in the middle of Sweden. An information letter (Appendix 1) which described the study was distributed and further, asked for help with contact information to teachers who teach English in grades 1-3 in his/her school. Contact information to a total of 21 teachers that met the criteria for the study was gathered from the principals. The teachers were all contacted through email with information about the study along with a letter of consent. Of 21 teachers only 1 was willing to participate in an interview. Except contacting principals another 10 teachers were contacted. These were teachers who worked at schools the author of this thesis had personal connections to. An email was also sent to these teachers with an information letter and a consent letter which described the study and its purpose. Out of the 10 teachers 5 were willing to participate in an interview. In sum, a total of 6 teachers agreed to participate in an interview.
In the following table and text some background information on the participating informants will be given. The names of the informants are changed to Karin, Elsa, Vera, Lena, Sara and Kim in order to secure their anonymity.
Table 1. Participants Name Teacher education Teach EFL Competence in teaching English Starting age of EFL-teaching at their school Years taught Age Karin Teacher education: 1-7
Yes Yes Year 1 17 51-60
Elsa Teacher education: F-6 Yes No Year 2 15 41-50 Vera Teacher education: 1-7 Yes No Year 1 10 41-50 Lena Teacher education: 1-7
Yes Yes Year 2 17 51-60
Sara Teacher
education: f-3
Yes Yes Year 1 0.5 31-40
Kim Teacher
education: f-3
Yes Yes Year 1 4 31-40
4.6. Pilot study
Before conducting the interviews, a pilot study was done in order to test the interview questions. The pilot study was tested on two persons and by testing the interview questions before the real interviews took place errors could be detected and corrections could be made (Kihlström 2007, p. 231). Further, the interview questions were read through by another person competent within this area of research.
After conducting the two pilot studies some background questions were added along with a few follow-up questions. Furthermore, the phrasing of some questions was also changed after consulting with the person who had read through the interview guide. These changes resulted in a better interview guide which was used in the collection of data in this study (Appendix 3). The
interview guide consisted of a total of 29-33 interview questions whereof 5 were background questions.
The language used for writing this study was English but the context the study was done in was Swedish and the participating informants had Swedish as their first language. As of this, the informants were free to choose to do the interview in the language they preferred which, in all cases, were in Swedish. The interviews were conducted at the schools which the informants worked and all interviews were audio recorded. After the interviews the collected data were transcribed in Swedish and then specific sections and quotations were translated into English by the author of this thesis.
4.7. Implementation
For the interview to be as successful as possible the author of this thesis took support from literature (Larsen 2009; McKay 2006) and previous studies (Wang & Kokotsaki 2018; Lundberg 2007) in the implementation of the collection of data. The interview started with five background questions in order for the interviewer to gather background information needed about the informants. Also, background questions are a good way to start the interview as the informant and the interviewer can create a more secure milieu.
The phrasing of interview questions is another aspect that is important in order to conduct a good interview. As of this, yes or no questions were avoided as well as questions including more than one question at a time as they do not allow the informant to give deeper answers that can be elaborated further. In addition to this, leading question were also avoided as they can affect the answers given by the informant and result in answers that the informant believes the interviewer wants to hear. The aspects discussed above were all taken into consideration when creating the interview questions (appendix 3). All of the interviews took 25-30 minutes to conduct.
4.8. Method of analysis
There are different methods that can be used to analyze the collected data and in this study the method content analysis was used. Content analysis is described by Larsen (2009, p. 101) and McKay (2006, pp. 56-57) as a method that is suitable to use when analyzing qualitative data. In
content analysis the researcher tries to find patterns, connections, differences and similarities between the collected data.
The content analysis method can, according to Larsen (2009, pp. 101-102) and McKay (2006, p. 55-57) be divided into different steps and these were all followed in this study. The first step was to collect data and transcribe it into text. As the case for this study the data was collected through interviews where the answers were gathered with an audio recorder. The recorded interviews were listened to three times before they were transcribed into text in a word document on a computer owned by the author of this thesis. When the transcripts were finished the recorded interviews were deleted in order to secure the informants anonymity.
The second step in the process was to code the texts and categorize them into different main key concepts. Similar to what was explained by McKay (2006, pp. 57-58) the collected data was read through several times with the purpose to find connections, similarities and differences in the informants’ answers. Different words and thoughts were highlighted in different colors in order to get a clearer picture of the different key concepts along with connections and disconnections between the interview answers. Examples of words that were highlighted were:
stories, reading, pictures, engagement, motivation, supporting the students and student-oriented. Next the researcher created a word document with a table with different categories
relevant for the aim and research questions of this thesis. The different words and statements from the interviews were sorted under these categories and coded so it would be easy to see which interviewee the different statements belonged to.
When the data material had been divided into different categories the next step, as emphasized by Larsen (2009, p. 102), was to review the data and identify meaningful ideas, thoughts and patterns within these categories. The table was read through several times as well as the transcripts in case some important data had been missed. Both similarities and differences between the interview answers were gathered as well as both surprising and unsurprising statements. Finally, the results of the collected data were organized and then accounted for in the results section of this thesis.
5. Results
In this section the results gathered from the interviews will be presented. First, the teachers’ thoughts of the storytelling method will be described followed by teacher engagement and student motivation. Further, the teachers’ expressed challenges faced within the teaching of EFL and the storytelling method will be accounted for. Next, methods used to teach vocabulary will be presented and last, the teachers’ use of the storytelling method will be accounted for with the subheadings: explanation of words, repetition of vocabulary and activities related to
the storytelling.
5.1. Teachers’ thoughts of the storytelling method
All the interviewed teachers express a positive attitude towards teaching English vocabulary to their EFL students and some of them even express that they think it is one of the most important parts in EFL education. The knowledge of words is stressed by all participants as important in order to acquire a language. Out of the six interviewed teachers five say that they use storytelling as a method to teach English vocabulary to their EFL students. The sixth teacher Vera, says she does not use storytelling as a method in her teaching. However, later in the interview she describes that she sometimes reads shorter texts to her students and let them listen to short stories through media. She also explains that she has read tales such as Little red riding hood to her former class. As of this, Vera does use storytelling as a method in teaching but she was not reflecting on it at the time the question was asked.
According to the interview answers, all the informants have a positive attitude towards the storytelling method and they describe that they think it is a useful method for teaching vocabulary. They all express that they use the method because the students think it is “fun” to listen to stories and that it is a student-oriented activity. Five of the teachers also point to the advantages of using stories as the students get to learn vocabulary in a context. Additionally, they explain that the students do not need to know every word because they understand from the context what the story is about, and by that they can learn new words. As Sara describes the storytelling method is “a good way to use because I do not have to explain every word, they have a context in the story so they can understand and find out for themselves what the words mean”.
5.2. Teacher engagement and student motivation
All the informants are of the same opinion regarding the importance of teacher engagement and its impact on the students and their motivation to learn. They all explain that if the teacher has a positive attitude towards English and the teaching content the students’ engagement and motivation are positively affected. Further, the way the teachers teach is also emphasized as important and Lena describes that:
If the teacher thinks English is really boring and it is something you just want to get through, well then, the students will not learn anything either. But, if you are involved yourself and try, if you think it is fun and you give them different points of view, then the children also think it is exciting and fun.
When asking the participating teachers how they think the storytelling method can motivate the students they all say that the students think it is fun to listen to stories. The informants Elsa, Kim and Karin report how the combination of reading stories, showing pictures and connecting activities to the storytelling creates motivation among the learners. To be a passive listener is expressed by Karin and Vera as unmotivating and boring for the students. To this, Vera adds that she thinks that children nowadays are more self-motivated to learn English, which enhances the EFL-education.
The importance of choosing stories with a teaching content that meets the students’ level of knowledge is described by Lena as something that engage and motivate the students. She further explains how she tries to choose stories with a teaching content that lies just a little bit beyond their current level of knowledge in order for the students to move forward in their EFL acquisition. The same idea is expressed by Vera who says that: “it is important to not have too low demand. You have to challenge them a little, to lie a little bit above their current level of knowledge, I think that is important”.
5.3. Challenges
The limited time the teachers have to both plan and implement the storytelling and its related activities is identified as the biggest challenge in EFL teaching. The two informants Vera and Kim explain how they use the storytelling method in the Swedish subject and that it is very beneficial for the students’ Swedish language development. They stress that if they had the same amount of time to plan for their EFL teaching the storytelling method could have the same results as it has in the Swedish subject. Vera says that she carefully plans her storytelling lessons in the Swedish subject and explains how she creates material such as power points and
