Storytelling Technique for Strenghtening English as a Foreign Language Vocabulary in Basic Education Students

Abstract

Vocabulary is an essential component for knowing a language. Accordingly, the need to improve learners’ vocabularies in a foreign language has encouraged research on storytelling, since it has been recognized as a powerful technique in language teaching and learning. The purpose of this study was to describe storytelling techniques to strengthen English as a Foreign Language (EFL) vocabulary in elementary school students. The participants of this study were64 students from 7th grade at a public institution located in Cuenca, Ecuador. The methodology used was descriptive qualitative-quantitative. Data was collected on students’ perspectives on storytelling as well as their vocabulary improvement. Some stories were told with the support of visual aids. Later a vocabulary test with 20 multiple choice questions was administered, and after the implementation and reinforcement, a survey with a Likert-scale questionnaire was conducted to know about the students’ opinions on storytelling for EFL teaching. Finally, after analyzing the results, it is concluded that storytelling effectively contributes to the improvement of vocabulary in young students. It is also important to include that the outcomes showed that students need the presence and support of their teacher to develop storytelling and the related activities in order to enhance their vocabulary.