The effects of storytelling and storysinging on L2 reading comprehension

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of storytelling and storysinging on elementary school students’ reading comprehension. Forty Korean elementary school students participated in this study. PELT Jr and interviews were used to collect the data. For data analysis independent sample t-test, paired t-test, and transcribed qualitative data were used. The results of this study were as followings; 1) There is no significant difference in L2 reading comprehension between the storytelling group and the storysinging group. However, the storytelling group showed an improvement statistically in reading comprehension tests whereas the storysinging group did not. 2) Students in both groups had developed more positive attitude in learning English. They were happy and comfortable during the lessons and their motivation was enhanced to read further outside the class. On the other hand, students in storysinging group had a little difficulty in learning new melodies, rhythms and beats. It seemed that this type of attitude indirectly affected the results of the post-test in the storysinging group’s reading comprehension. The results of the study imply that teachers should also be aware of students’ personalities and the amount of lesson contents when implementing storysinging in primary English classes.