Using Short Stories to Teach Language Skills

Journal Title: Journal of English Teaching - Year 2011, Vol 1, Issue 1

Abstract

The notion that the main objective of EFL teaching is to help students to communicate fluently in the target language cause many teachers still believe that an EFL class should focus on mastering linguistic elements only. However, recent trend in EFL teaching indicates the necessity of integrating literature because of its rich potential to provide an authentic model of language use. Among literary genres, short stories seem to be the most suitable choice for this due to its potential to help students enhance the four skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing—more effectively because of the motivational benefit embedded in the stories. The purpose of this article is to familiarize EFL instructors with the effectiveness of using short stories in EFL instruction. After presenting criteria for selecting a short story, discussion is focused on how to exploit a short story for enhancing students’ language skills.

Authors and Affiliations

Parlindungan Pardede

Keywords

The Effectiveness of Picture: An Empirical Evidence in Vocabulary Mastery

This action research was conducted to improve the students’ English vocabulary mastery by using picture. To achieve the objective, data were collected through the test, questionnaire and observation from 21 students in t...

Attitudes of Islamic Learning and Education Faculty Students towards English Language at Karachi University

The research paper aims at studying the attitudes of the students of Islamic Learning and Education Faculty towards English at the University of Karachi. It is based on testing the hypothesis that the students of Islamic...

Use of Mother Tongue in EFL Classes of Secondary Schools In Jabodebek: Students’ and Teachers’ Perception

This study aims to investigate senior high school students and teachers’ perception of the use of Indonesian in their English classes. To achieve the objective, two sets of questionnaires were administered to gauge the p...

The Correlation between Self Assessment and Motivation in Learning English of the Second Grade Students of SMP Negeri 6 Palembang

There is no single magical formula for motivating students. Many factors affect a given student's motivation to work and to learn. This study focused on the correlation between self assessment and motivation in learnin...

Developing Computer–Based Instructional Media for English Speaking Skill at Senior High School

This research aimed at developing computer-based instructional media using Adobe Flash for the tenth graders’English speaking skill material. The studyemployed research and development method. The results showed (1) the...