Teachers' and Students' Perceptions of Storytelling as a Language Teaching and Learning Resource

Just as teachers’ perceptions of teaching and learning can influence their instructional practices, learners’ perceptions of teaching and learning can affect their motivation and achievement. Yet, research on the link between teachers’ perceptions and practices, or between learners’ perceptions and achievement is not always conclusive. The present study investigated 34 primary four teachers’ and 116 primary four students’ perceptions of storytelling as a language teaching and learning resource. A teacher questionnaire and a student questionnaire were administered to the teacher and student participants respectively. Interviews were also conducted with a subset of teacher and student participants to triangulate the questionnaire data. The questionnaire responses indicated that 98.3% of the student participants enjoyed listening to or reading stories, but relatively fewer students (81.0%) enjoyed acting out stories. The teacher questionnaire findings affirmed that all the teacher participants had a positive perception of storytelling. However, the positive perceptions did not translate into practice for all the 34 teacher participants. Nine of them did not attempt to infuse storytelling into their English language lessons to teach English language skills. They cited a number of reasons which suggested diffidence and a need for some professional development training and support from their school management (Principal, Vice-principal, or Head of the English department). Analysis of the teacher and student interview responses using content analysis and discourse analysis indicated that the interview data endorsed and elaborated on the teacher and student questionnaire responses. Both groups referred to language benefits as well as socio-emotional value that could be gleaned from storytelling activities. This should argue for storytelling to be considered by educators as a plausible pedagogical resource for primary school children.