The Effect of Storytelling and Retelling and Higher Order Thinking on Oral Performance of Elementary Students in English as Foreign Language (EFL) Program: A Pilot Study in Mainland China and Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of Story Telling and retelling and higher order thinking for English Language and Literacy Acquisition (STELLA) on the English oral proficiency of elementary students in Mainland China and Taiwan, where English is taught as a foreign language. The 6-week intervention incorporated direct vocabulary instruction, modeling reading, and leveled questioning strategy through storytelling and retelling, and was delivered by certified English teachers who received weekly virtual professional training in two public schools in Mainland China and Taiwan. An English oral vocabulary measure was administered among 10 students in Mainland China and 9 students in Taiwan before and after the intervention. Paired-sample T-tests were conducted to examine the progress from pretest to posttest on the two cohorts, respectively. The results showed a significant improvement on students’ oral proficiency at both sites.