STORYTELLING AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR TEACHING CREATIVE WRITING SKILLS IN AN ESL SITUATION (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background to the Study
English has become the medium of all relevant social interactions and the ability to use English effectively is considered essential for honorable existence. Many teachers are faced with the challenge of teaching children to read and write in ESL situation and thus creates avenue for more record of failures in English especially in ESL situation. ESL learners encounter problems in the acquisition of the language skills as a result of language teachers’ inability to employ the right techniques in teaching the creative writing skills. Considering the content of the English curricula as contained in the language syllabus by Federal Ministry of Education (F.M.E.1995, cited in Azikiwe2000:24), the content of the primary school English curriculum consist of:
- Passage Reading
- Comprehension (listening and reading)
- Grammar
- Spelling and Dictation
- Making sentences
Thus, there is a great need for the development of the creative writing skills of the ESL learners as it does not only improve their sense of creativity, but also gives them sense of belonging and equips them with the right tools of identifying a new world of ideas, theories and events. It is therefore expedient to fall back on the use of storytelling as a tool for teaching the creative writing skills of English as a second language to learners in primary schools.
Language is a medium of thought and a channel of communication. It is a human attribute that differentiates human beings from animals. Sanya (1989:1, 1994:51) describes it as “the vehicle of culture functionally seen as the major protector and promoter of cultural heritage in any given language community. While the experience of language teaching is something interesting and attractive for some learners, for some others, it is a boring activity that makes them wish to get away from it. Teachers domination over the classroom, having learners do what they are told to do, lack of creativity, learners not having any room to express their thoughts and being bound by their benches for the duration of time the teaching will last, are some of the factors that augment boredom in the language class. Good teaching of English language most especially in the English as second language environment requires effective teaching of the interrelated skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Writing skills is more important in the whole language development,it last longer than speaking, easy to make reference to and often understood by learners. Writing is the ultimate language skill and determines to a great extent the success of pupils in their terminal and promotional examination.
