THE IMPACT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

STORYTELLING AS A COMMUNICATIVE

LANGUAGE STRATEGY IN DEVELOPING THE

ORAL SKILLS IN STUDENTS FROM NINE

GRADE AT COLEGIO NACIONAL MARCO

AÑO DEL COLEGIO NACIONAL MARCO TULIO

SALAZAR SEDE LICEO DE POÁS DURANTE EL

This research focuses on all the adults who have returned to their studies after years and want to progress

to have a better future. In addition, this research wants to achieve that adults who are studying at night

can develop their oral skills in the English language in the best and most creative way. It is intended to

put into practice strategies that can help adults to speak the English language with confidence and

fluency. The purpose of this research is to present storytelling as a teaching tool that will help to improve

the oral skills of ninth-year students at the Marco Tulio Salazar School, Liceo de Poás Headquarters,

located in Poás de Alajuela. This didactic tool is a form of dynamic teaching that will be implemented

to motivate adults to continue their studies. Its objective is to capture the attention of students, to make

Autor Principal

Correspondencia: yerlin.salgado@uhispano.ac.cr

fortalecer la habilidad del habla de los estudiantes, ya que, gracias a esta herramienta, los estudiantes

estarán practicando el idioma inglés toda la clase.

Palabras clave: narración de historia, habilidades orales, aprendizaje inclusivo, motivación, andragogía

Artículo recibido 20 abril 2024

The Liceo de Poás in Alajuela, Costa Rica was founded in 1969 as a prevailing need since every day

more students had to travel long distances to be able to opt for Secondary Education. In another hand,

English is one of the most important and spoken languages all over the world. Not only to communicate

with people from other countries but also to get a brilliant future. In addition, “being able to speak a

foreign language helps to make a real connection with people and to know more about diverse cultures,

places, and lifestyles. The more proficient you are, the better you can express yourself” (ETS Global,

2020) (p. 1).

The implementation of storytelling in an English class can bring a lot of benefits during the class,

because the students are going to put into practice their knowledge and improve their oral skills just by

telling a story. Storytelling is a way to practice the oral skills of the students in a creative, different, and

University (2023) mentioned that everyday classroom activities can provide meaningful authentic

opportunities for the students to regularly speak English. Using English in the classroom is beneficial

for the students because they get to hear more English and they hear how the language is used in real-

life communication. It also gives them a purpose for speaking English (p. 6). One tool that teachers can

use to develop oral skills is Storytelling. This tool can help students to interact with others telling their

personal experiences, they can use their imagination to tell a story.

The sample for this research paper is the 9th grade 11 adult students (7 females, 4 male) from Colegio

Nacional Marco Tulio Salazar Sede Liceo de Poás in Costa Rica. The propose of the study is to analyze

impact of the implementation of storytelling as a communicative language strategy in developing oral

the second quarter of 2023.

This research focuses on all the adults who have returned to their studies after years and want to progress

to have a better future.

In addition, this research wants to achieve that adults who are studying at night can develop their oral

skills in the English language in the best and most creative way. It is intended to put into practice

strategies that can help adults to speak the English language with confidence and fluency.

Additionally, the main objective is to encourage adults to continue studying the English language and

improve their oral skills, so that they have a better professional future since the English language is one

of the most important languages in the world. ELC (2013), explained that knowing English increases

Constructivism is based on the idea that people actively construct or make their knowledge, and that

reality is determined by your experiences as a learner. Learners use their previous knowledge as a

foundation and build on it with new things that they learn. (p.1)

Constructivism is a fundamental part to implement the tool chosen for this study because students will

be able to tell their own stories and at the same time, they will reinforce the oral part.

The decision to implement a story telling as a strategy is bases on the potential to make classes dynamic,

capture attention, and increase confidence in speaking English. The strategy is expected to help students

share personal experiences, improve vocabulary, and enhance fluency. Generally, the research aims to

improve an unconventional and engaging approach to language learning for adults’ professional growth.

Struggling adult students are presenting during the development of oral skills while they are learning

English due to the lack of implementation of educational tools such as storytelling.

What is the impact of the implementation of storytelling as a communicative language strategy in

developing oral skills in students from nine grade at Colegio Nacional Marco Tulio Salazar Sede Liceo

de Poás during the second quarter of 2023?

To analyze impact of the implementation of storytelling as a communicative language strategy in

developing oral skills in students from nine grade at Colegio Nacional Marco Tulio Salazar Sede Liceo

de Poás during the second quarter of 2023.

de Poás.

3. To evaluate storytelling as an oral strategy to improve speaking skills using real life situations

and personal experiences in students from nine grade at Colegio Nacional Marco Tulio Salazar Sede

Liceo de Poás during the second quarter of 2023.

4. To design a proposal of storytelling as a communicative language strategy in developing the

oral skills in students from nine grade at Colegio Nacional Marco Tulio Salazar Sede Liceo de Poás

during the second quarter of 2023

Storytelling was considered for this research as a teaching strategy because it is going to enhance the

oral skills of the students.

stories in front of the class and share their own experiences. Zuhriyah (2017) explained that storytelling

is retelling the story having read or heard by using the storytellers’ own words based on their

understanding of the story. It is an activity that involves the interaction between the storyteller and the

audience and between an individual and the listener at a certain level (Zuhriyah, 2017. pg. 5).

Storytelling is a technique that allows students to interact more with each other, they are going to

introduce themselves in front of the class just by telling a story.

As mentioned before Storytelling is a teaching strategy that allow students to express their feelings and

own experiences with their classmates. “Storytelling is one of the oldest ways of human communication,

and still today it has been successfully used as an effective pedagogical tool in the development of

language skills in the native and the foreign language”. (Koropec, 2021, pg. 105).

be motivated as each one can tell their own story in the way they want to tell it. Taking students into

account and making them feel included in the class will make them feel motivated when it comes to

learning.

Storytelling is a tool that is going to help not only students but also teachers. As Ram (2018) explained:

Storytelling guides teachers to tell personalized stories to the learners in their foreign language in this

case, a cooperative storytelling strategy has been implemented by language teachers all over the world,

especially in the field of teaching English as a foreign language. This powerful foreign language teaching

method empowers teachers to improve Students' Speaking proficiency. (Ram, 2018, pg. 98).

Storytelling is very important because it is also going to help students to feel confident while they are

enhanced the integration of language, developed language abilities, built vocabulary, developed oral

language skills, enriched students’ learning experience, encouraged students to express their ideas and

thoughts, and improved social interactions and language outcomes (Nazir, 2012. pg. 2). Each student is

free to choose how to tell their story, which will make each of them feel motivated to create their story

and present it in front of the class. Being in constant practice of the language will make students lose

their fear of speaking in front of others.

It is fundamental to identify the role that storytelling has in the classroom for both teachers and students,

besides analyzing their perceptions and implications within a lesson. Zaloznik (2019) explained that

storytelling enables educators to build a community and connect students with each other. This is why

storytelling technique. It is important to mention that the teachers are also going to go to participate in

the class, telling a personal story to the class as an example of what the students must do. Teachers must

do an oral evaluation before and after using the technique to see the oral level of the students before

using the technique and see the oral level of the students after using the technique.

It is very important that teachers make students feel comfortable and motivated before, during, and after

class. Starting the class with a motivational video or an icebreaker activity such as "telefono choco”,

hangman, the hot potato, will help the teachers to capture the attention of the students and help them

relax before starting the class.

The student’s role is also fundamental, they have to pay attention to the instructions that the teacher is

going to explain, they are going to prepare and think about a story, and they have to bring photos or

When the student is telling the story, the rest of the class should pay attention to the story and write the

e words that they do not know to learn new vocabulary.

To teach an adult, it must be considered that the same study plans that are used with children cannot be

used for adult students because they have different ways of learning. O´neill (2023) explained that Adult

Learning Theory is the concept or study of how adults learn and how it differs from children. It aims to

show how adult learning is distinct and identify the learning styles which suit them best. (p. 4). It is

essential to implement the correct tool that helps students learn and make them feel comfortable while

they are learning.

Adults need to be motivated to continue with their studies. According to Bouchrika (2023):

visual aids, role plays, games, and case studies. Change the pace and the method frequently, especially

when covering difficult and abstract topics. (WOSH, 2013, p. 7)

The purpose of using storytelling as a communicative language teaching approach is to improve

rules but, more importantly, the knowledge to use this linguistic competence appropriately”.

(Mohammed, 2020. p.2). Using the correct tool to help and tech students to communicate correctly is

going to help them to speak in English easier, in that way, they are going to improve their oral skills.

The key for teachers to apply a communicative tool in their classes is to make the student see the

importance of learning the language. A communicative tool should give students the opportunity to