A case study of the use of short stories in a junior secondary ESL classroom in Hong Kong

Chi Cheung Ruby YANG

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlespeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Short stories are considered as good resources that can be used in language classrooms. Laine (1997) suggests that in foreign language classes where there are children who are not motivated and who are low achievers, a story, if it is well-chosen, can help change their attitudes to the language. And, the narrative (or storytelling) approach is believed to help students understand the story easily. The present study was conducted in a small class of junior secondary school students in order to investigate if they became more interested and more confident in English with the use of short stories. The findings of the study show that using short stories will not automatically make students become more interested in English unless the stories are interesting and the language used meets the level of the students. Regarding storytelling, the investigated class of students, in general, favoured this approach as it helped them understand the stories easily, though their confidence in using English could not be boosted within a short period of time. Copyright © 2009 Common Ground, Chi Cheung Ruby Yang, All Rights Reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)35-50
JournalThe International Journal of Learning
Volume16
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2009

Citation

Yang, C. C. R. (2009). A case study of the use of short stories in a junior secondary ESL classroom in Hong Kong. The International Journal of Learning, 16(1), 35-50.

Keywords

  • Short Stories
  • Narrative Approach
  • Storytelling
  • Motivation
  • Attitudes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A case study of the use of short stories in a junior secondary ESL classroom in Hong Kong'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.