Teachers’ Perceptions of Storytelling Strategy for Improving Pupils’ Academic Achievement in Reading Comprehension in English Studies

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine teachers’ perception of story-telling strategy for improving pupils’ academic achievement in reading comprehension in Awka South LGEA. Three research questions guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population for this study comprises of 665 primary school teachers in the 45 public primary schools in Awka South LGEA. The sample for this study comprised of 150 teachers, using the simple random sampling techniques. The researcher developed a 23-item structured questionnaire titled “Teachers Perception of Storytelling Strategy for Improving Reading Comprehension Questionnaire” (TPSSIRCQ). Reliability test was conducted using Cronbach Alpha to ascertain the internal consistency and a reliability index of 0.93, 0.76 and 0.82 were obtained for the three clusters.  A four-point rating scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D), and Strongly Disagree (SD) weighted 4,3,2, and 1were used to answer the research questions. Mean and standard deviation were used to analyze the research questions. Mean response of 2.50 and above were regarded as agree while the mean response of below 2.50 were regarded as disagree. Findings from the study revealed that boosting listening among others are the benefits of using story telling strategy for improving primary school pupils’ academic achievement in reading comprehension. The findings of this study also revealed that pupils may not find storytelling engaging especially if they are not interested in the story and inadequate resources among others are the challenges of using story telling strategy for improving primary school pupils’ academic achievement in reading comprehension. Finally, findings from the study revealed that using prior knowledge and identifying the main ideas among others are the storytelling strategies are used by teachers for improving primary school pupils’ academic achievement in reading comprehension. It was recommended among others that teachers should attend trainings and workshops to learn different method of teaching.