Storytelling is a practical and effective practice that transcends cultural boundaries and holds immense potential in educational settings, especially for ESL learners. Incorporating storytelling in primary ESL classroom can improve the four language skills (i.e., listening, speaking, reading and writing skills), increase cultural understanding, improve social skills and enhance communication skills. To better prepare pre-service teachers in acquiring the storytelling skills to be applied in their future language classroom, the course of Storytelling in the Primary ESL Classroom (TSLB3483) is included in the teacher training at the Institutes of Teacher Education Malaysia. Pre-service teachers are introduced to numerous storytelling activities in which they could implement them among their future pupils. Some interesting storytelling activities include storytelling with spoon puppets, storytelling boxes, storytelling stones and storytelling with play dough.

 

1. Storytelling with Spoon Puppets:

Spoon puppets are versatile tools that bring stories to life, especially in the primary school classroom. These small, handheld puppets encourage pupils to engage actively in storytelling, providing an interactive platform for role-plays among them. By using these spoon puppets, ESL learners can explore language in a fun way, enhance their vocabulary and improve their speaking and listening skills. For an example, Maandeep Kaur Sidhu a/p Surjit Singh prepares the spoon puppets as below for the story of The Little Red Riding Hood.

 

Maandeep holds the spoon puppets and starts narrating the story of The Little Red Riding Hood. She uses the spoon puppet on the left to represent Little Red Riding Hood and the spoon puppet on the right to represent The Wolf. She moves them along as the story progresses. The interaction between the two characters is enhanced. The pupils will surely enjoy listening to Maandeep telling the story in such a way. The complete story is available at: https://sites.google.com/epembelajaran.edu.my/e-portfoliobymaandeep/introduction.

 

2. Storytelling Boxes:

In a storytelling box, assorted miniatures act as prompts for the storytelling session. Pupils randomly select miniatures and tells stories based on the miniatures they have selected. This activity promotes imagination, expands vocabulary usage and encourages pupils to craft stories around unfamiliar objects, enhancing their language skills. For an example, Alesya Amiera binti Ahmad Kamar tells the story of Mouse Deer and The Tiger with a storytelling box she creates using the materials as below:

 

Alesya Amiera places the respective miniatures in the storytelling box, aligning with the plot of the story. For an instance, she adds a miniature of mud puddle to illustrate the scene in which Mouse Deer uses his wits by claiming that it is the King’s pudding and The Tiger is convinced. Stories, more often than not, become alive when they are being told in such a way and pupils surely will enjoy listening to them. The complete story is available at: https://sites.google.com/epembelajaran.edu.my/storytelling-kit-e-portfolio/home

 

3. Storytelling Stones:

Utilising storytelling stones involves decorated stones featuring images representing story elements, especially the characters. Pupils choose stones and use them as prompts to tell stories. This activity fosters creativity, aids in structuring stories, and improves oral language proficiency by encouraging pupils to construct stories around visual prompts. For an example, Auni Qistina Binti Azrul tells the story of Sang Kancil and The Crocodiles with storytelling stones she creates using the materials as below:

 

Auni Qistina places storytelling stones in such a way that the main character, Sang Kancil is trapped and surrounded by a group of hungry crocodiles. Pupils could experience the anxiety felt by Sang Kancil when they see that the main character is surrounded by a group of crocodiles and they too feel worried for him. The complete story is available at: https://sites.google.com/epembelajaran.edu.my/storytelling-kit/h-o-m-e.

 

4. Storytelling with Play Dough:

Storytelling with play dough engages tactile and visual learners by creating scenes or characters that complement the stories told. It stimulates imagination, descriptive language and storytelling skills, enabling pupils to craft stories while using their hands to mold shapes. It also fosters a multi-sensory learning experience, especially among the young learners. For an instance, Noor Qurratu'aini binti Mohd Rashidi uses play dough of different colours to shape the characters in the story of Si Tanggang.

 

Noor Qurratu’aini introduces the main character of the story, Si Tanggang. Next, she introduces the parents of Si Tanggang by placing them together as a family. The ship indicates that Si Tanggang is offered a job as a sailor. Si Tanggang leaves his family to pursue his career. The captain of the ship is not feeling well, his sad expression projects his current self. The story comes alive in such a way, and the pupils definitely will anticipate for the progress of it. To know the complete story, please visit: https://sites.google.com/epembelajaran.edu.my/tslb3483storytellingproduct/home.

 

In conclusion, these storytelling activities offer engaging avenues for ESL learners to explore language, enhance creativity and develop language skills in a captivating and interactive manner. Integrating these storytelling activities into ESL lessons provides pupils with opportunities to actively engage with language, express their ideas and deepen their understanding of linguistic concepts, thereby enriching their language learning experiences. Upon acquiring the storytelling skills, pre-service teachers could apply the skills to tell stories in the primary ESL classrooms nationwide later on to benefit all their pupils.

 

Written by:

Dr. Kee Li Li

Maandeep Kaur Sidhu a/p Surjit Singh

Alesya Amiera binti Ahmad Kamar

Auni Qistina binti Azrul

Noor Qurratu’aini binti Mohd Rashidi

English Language Department,

Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia Tun Hussein Onn Campus,

KM 7.75 Jalan Kluang,

83000 Batu Pahat, Johor

MALAYSIA