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Faculty: Languages, Cultures and Communication
Department: English Language Teaching (ELT)
MA Thesis topic: “The effectiveness of short stories in teaching language skills – study
conducted in “Mazllum Këpuska” Gjakovë”
Candidate: Mentor:
Pranvera Kabashi Prof. Dr. Brikena Xhaferi
Id: 22323
Tetovo, June 2018
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Thesis:
“The effectiveness of short stories in teaching language skills – study conducted in
“Mazllum Këpuska” Gjakovë”
Teza:
“Efekti i tregimeve të shkurtra për mësimin e shkathtësive gjuhësore – studim i kryer në
“Mazllum Këpuska” Gjakovë”
Теза:
“Ефективноста на раскази во наставата по јазик вештини - студија спроведена во
"Мазлум Кепушка" Ѓакове”
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Acknowledgement
For all my academic work, I am thankful for the absolute support of my mentor Brikena Xhaferi
Ph.D. Her guidance and recommendation have helped me get through difficulties and see critically
in every possible detail.
I would like to thank also all the professors at the faculty of English language and literature that
have taught me throughout the postgraduate studies, SEEU staff, my colleagues and my friends.
Special thanks also go to the students and my colleagues who participated in this research and
contributed with their work.
Last but not the least important, I would like to thank my husband and my son for their patience
and motivation, then my mother and all the members of the family who supported me morally and
emotionally all the way through.
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Abstract
This study is focused on the effectiveness of short stories in teaching reading, writing, listening
and speaking. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to investigate the students of a primary
school and to learn how helpful they find short stories in their textbooks for learning language skills.
Also, there are interviews with teachers from different schools to investigate whether short stories
help students in developing language skills and different challenges they meet.
The research for this study includes three different research instruments.
This study is focused in short stories that can be found in “Exploring English” textbooks by Tim
Harris and Allan Rowe (Kosovar Edition – Adapted by Harold Samuels) which are used in primary
schools.
This research includes approximately 60 students from 7th and 8th grade in Lower Middle School
“Mazllum Këpuska” Gjakovë. Also five teachers from different primary schools are included in
this research. The quantitative data collection will include questionnaires with students. Qualitative
data will include interviews with teachers gathering their opinions on what do they think about short
stories in teaching language skills and if there are any challenges. These questions prompted me to
carry out this research and elaborate this very important issue.
The third method is observing English Language Classes for a month to give a description about
the teachers approach and effort when using short stories, some of the activities, as well as how
students respond to this commitment.
This study will highlight the importance of literature and short stories in the process of teaching
and learning English.
I assume that the results gathered from this research will contribute to teachers, to understand
how short stories help students to read, listen, write and speak in English.
Keywords: literature, short story, language skills
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Parathënie
Ky studim është fokusuar se sa të efektshme janë tregimet e shkurtëra në të mësuarit e leximit,
shkrimit, të dëgjuarit dhe të folurit. Në mënyrë të veçantë, objektivat e studimit janë për të
hulumtuar se nëse nxënësit e një shkolle fillore mendojnë se tregimet e shkurtëra të cilat gjenden
ne librat e tyre shkollorë janë të dobishme pë të mësuar shkathtësitë e tyre gjuhësore. Gjithashtu,
do të ketë intervista me mësues nga shkolla të ndryshme për të hetuar nëse tregime të shkurtra të
ndihmojë studentët për zhvillimin e shkathtësive gjuhësore dhe sfidat e ndryshme nëpër të cilat ata
kalojnë.
Hulumtimi për këtë studim përfshinë tre instrumente të ndryshme kërkimore.
Ky studim është fokusuar në tregime të shkurtra që mund të gjenden në tekstet "Exploring English"
nga Tim Harris dhe Allan Rowe (Botimi per Kosovë – përshtatur nga Harold Samuels), të cilat
përdoren në shkollat fillore.
Ky studim përfshinë rreth 60 nxënës nga klasa e 7-të dhe e 8-të në Shkollën e Mesme të Ulët
"Mazllum Këpuska" në Gjakovë. Gjithashtu pesë mësues nga disa shkolla fillore të ndryshme janë
përfshirë në këtë hulumtim. Mbledhja e të dhënave kuantitative përfshinë pyetësorë me studentët.
Të dhënat cilësore (kualitative) përfshijnë intervistat me mësues për të marrë mendimet e tyre se
çfarë ata mendojnë për tregimet e shkurtra në mësimin e shkathtësive gjuhësore dhe sfidat me të
cilët ata ballafaqohen. Këto pyetje më shtynë për të kryer këtë hulumtim dhe ta shtjelloj këtë çështje
shumë të rëndësishme.
Metoda e tretë është vëzhgimi i disa njësive mësimore në gjuhën angleze për një muaj për të
dhënë një përshkrim në lidhje me qasjen e mësimdhënësve dhe përpjekjet e tyre për të përdorur
tregimet shkurtra, disa prej aktiviteteve, si dhe se si studentët të përgjigjet për këtë angazhim. Ky
studim do nxjerrë në pah rëndesinë e literatures dhe tregimeve të shkurtëra në procesin e
mësimdhënies – mësimnxënies së gjuhës angleze.
Unë supozoj që rezultatet e mbledhura nga ky hulumtim pres të kontribojnë për mësuesit, për të
kuptuar se si tregimet e shkurtëra ndihmojnë nxënësit të lexojnë, ndëgjojnë, shkruajnë dhe flasin ne
gjuhën angleze.
Fjalët kyçe: literatura, tregimet e shkurtëra, shkathtësitë gjuhësore
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List of figures
Figure 1: Q1 Results................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 2: Q2 Results................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 3: Q3 Results................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 4: Q4 Results................................................................................................................... 32
Figure 5: Q5 Results................................................................................................................... 32
Figure 6: Q6 Results................................................................................................................... 33
Figure 7: Q7 Results................................................................................................................... 34
Figure 8: Q8 Results................................................................................................................... 34
Figure 9: Q9 Results................................................................................................................... 35
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Table of contents
Acknowledgment …………………….....…………………..………………………………….. 3
Abstract ...................................……....……………………..…...…………………………….... 4
Parathënia .................................….……....………………..…………………………………… 5
List of figures…………………………………....………….………………………………….. 6
Table of contents……………………………....…………….….…………………………….... 7
Chapter1: Introduction……………….....….....………………………………………...…….. 8
1.1. Introduction and Overview....................................................................................... 9
1.2. Background of the study........................................................................................... 10
1.3. Significance and purpose of study............................................................................ 11
1.4. Aims and objectives of the study............................................................................. 12
1.5. Research questions..................................................................................................... 12
1.6. Description of thesis organization............................................................................. 13
Chapter 2: Literature review .................................................................................................. 14
2.1.The role of literature in second and foreign language acquisition ........................... 14
2.2.Theories concerning short stories.............................................................................. 17
2.3.Strategies using short stories for learning reading, writing, listening and speaking in
ESL classes...................................................................................................................... 19
2.4.Conclusion................................................................................................................. 22
Chapter 3: Research methodology........................................................................................... 23
3.1. Purpose of Study.................................................................................................................. 23
3.2. Research questions............................................................................................................... 24
3.3.Research hypothesis.............................................................................................................. 24
3.4.Research Design and Methodology ...................................................................................... 25
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3.4.1. Participants ..............................................................................................................26
3.4.2. Data collection......................................................................................................... 26
3.4.3. Procedure................................................................................................................. 27
3.5. Detailed description of the Instruments ............................................................................... 28
3.5.1.Students’ Questionnaires............................................................................... 28
3.5.2.Teachers’ Interviews ..................................................................................... 28
3.5.3.Class Observation.......................................................................................... 28
Chapter 4: Analysis and results................................................................................................. 29
4.1. Analysis and results from students’ questionnaires............................................................. 29
4.2. Analysis and results from teachers’ interviews................................................................... 37
4.3. Analysis and results of the class observation...................................................................... 46
Chapter 5: Conclusion................................................................................................................ 52
5.1. Conclusion from the students’ questionnaires....................................................................... 52
5.2. Conclusion from the teachers’ interviews.............................................................................. 53
5.3. Conclusion from the class observation ................................................................................. 53
Chapter 6: Limitation of the study and Recommendations……...……………..................... 54
Bibliography…………….………………....………………………………………………….... 55
Appendix 1…………….………….…………………………………....………………….……. 57
Appendix 2………….……………………………………………………....…………………... 59
Appendix 3………….………………………………………………………....………………... 60
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Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1. Introduction and overview
In Kosovo, the teaching-learning process in all schools is based on textbooks. Textbooks are also
the main source when it comes to teaching the foreign language, in this case teaching English from
the first grade. It is the role of the teacher to decide how they will use these books to develop
students’ vocabulary, grammar or language skills when we know that communication is very
important for every language learner. Teachers must think carefully about choosing materials
appropriate for students, when knowing that not all the students are the same based on their learning
styles and strategies. Students’ motivation is very important in learning process. One way of doing
this is providing them interesting and attractive materials. It is the best way that a teacher can
approach students’ language skills. This research investigates the importance of short stories in
developing students’ language skills.
These skills are the crucial factor for communication in foreign language. Different methods and
approaches during the history of English Language have had different focuses such as in grammar,
vocabulary and the literature was somehow not important in language acquisition. In the 1980s, the
CLT (Communicative Language Teaching) approach based on the principle ‘learning a language
by using it’ responded to learners learning needs. Learning a language by communicating
integrating four language skills using authentic materials is the best way to motivate and engage
students. These materials can be short stories that can be found in textbooks.
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1.2. Background of the study
The English language is one of the most important languages in the world. It is impossible to find
a country where English is not spoken. Knowing English plays an important role in society because
it is a great advantage and gives many life opportunities.
Why is important learning English language? According to some recent data
(https://www.englishclub.com/esl-forums/viewtopic.php?t=27299 (retrieved on 26.03.2018))
about one and a half billion people spoke English at the start of the 21st century, that was one quarter
of all people on earth and more than 400 million people speak English as a second or third language
for their professional and personal lives.
So, by learning this global language you join a group of one billion people around the world and
there are many advantages of knowing this global language. English is the international language
of science, business travel, tourism, modern technology, medicine, engineering, diplomacy,
computing and that’s why is important in every field of life. This importance is growing up day by
day becoming a useful asset of the community where they live. People are motivated to learn this
“world language”.
The long road of learning the English language is the best investment for the future, where the
benefits overcome all that hard work and commitment. Leaving aside employment, travelling and
communication, people themselves profit from English just by studying in any particular field,
reading books, literature, different magazines, newspapers, watching movies, listening to beautiful
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English songs or searching on the internet. In this way people are aware of other different cultures,
they develop culturally and are enriched in many aspects.
In Kosovo, English as a foreign language is being studied from the 1st grade. English is requested
in every field, starting from studying abroad, exchange students, job announcements, trainings
about professional growth, in general you need English to connect with the world and the interest
in learning this global language is enormous. Besides that, Kosovars learn English in schools, they
are linked every day to it starting by main communication tools – smart phones manual, games,
films, songs, different information researches on the internet and are exposed every day to it, the
vocabulary of their English is expanded. We as teachers must help to link those words and develop
their communications skills in order to express their feelings and opinions.
1.3. Significance and purpose of study
The aim of this thesis is to help Foreign Language teachers with discovering the importance of
short stories in teaching language skills. In public primary schools of Kosovo, levels of “Exploring
English” textbooks by Tim Harris and Allan Rowe (Kosovar Edition – Adapted by Harold Samuels,
2014) are the main textbooks. In these textbooks short stories can be found in every unit. It is the
teacher’s choice and commitment how to use these stories to develop students’ language skills. It
is not the aim just to translate the text, find new words and answer questions as homework. This
way the lesson would be boring and the students would be exhausted. Beside short stories there are
different tasks that aim to develop language skills such as story questions, written exercises,
speaking exercises and other tasks that students find interesting.
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So, this thesis includes different instruments to discover that with teacher’s help, students benefit
from short stories in their textbooks to develop listening, speaking, reading and writing.
1.4. Aims and objectives of the study
This study aims to investigate the role of short stories in teaching language skills to Foreign
Language learners.
The study main objectives are:
• To investigate the role of short stories in teaching language skills in EFL
• What do students think about short stories, do they find them difficult or attractive and their
impact in learning language skills
• To investigate teachers’ difficulties and approaches that contribute in teaching EFL by using
short stories
1.5. Research questions
1. To what extent short stories develop students’ language skills?
2. Could short stories be used to motivate students?
3. Are short stories a good source for teachers to practice language skills with students?
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1.6. Description of thesis organization
This thesis is composed of 6 chapters:
Chapter 1 will give an introduction to the topic.
Chapter 2 will present the literature review made on short stories in developing language skills
and other issues related to this theme
Chapter 3 will describe the research methodology.
Chapter 4 covers analysis and results of this thesis.
Chapter 5 describes the conclusion of the thesis.
Chapter 6 covers limitations and recommendations.
Chapter 2
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Literature review
2.1. The role of literature in Foreign Language Acquisition
Many years there were methods about how to improve teaching-learning process in second or
foreign language acquisition. Methods were manifold and various. “Grammar Translation
Method” in the nineteenth century had used the translation of literary texts from second
language to native speakers as a teaching material.
After Grammar Translation Method, many methods changed in order to find the best way
improving EFL/ESL. Literature was no longer used in Structuralism Approach until the end of
1970s which was focused in grammar. Content was not important but the correctness of
grammatical form was in the first place. The strict use of the target language between objects
and concepts was the aim of Direct Method. The use of literature was also not involved in
other methods, such as the Audio-lingual Method where students memorized the dialogues,
Community Language Learning, Suggestopedia, the Silent Way, Total Physical Response,
Natural Approach until the Communicative Approach in the early 80s. Following rules and
practicing contents, in all these methods literature was ignored.
After the 80’s the importance of literature in language classroom saw increased interest among
teachers and many studies are done in this field. Literary texts can be more interesting and
challenging providing to students different information about the language that is being taught.
According to Pardede (2011), “The results of some studies, like those of Lazar (1993), Cook
(1994), and Shanahan (1997), for instances, strongly recommend the integration of literary texts
into the SL/FL curriculum and any writings on this subject advocate a content-focused
curriculum that includes literature (Kramsch, 1993; Liddicoat & Crozet 2000)” (p. 15).
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The authentic material was seen as the great factor to motivate students in EFL/ESL classroom
and relates their own experience in different fields with the text by exploring it. These texts
students may find enjoyable and as an advantage to learning the target language.
Erkaya (2005) notes benefits of using of short stories to teach ESL/EFL: literary, cultural and
higher-order thinking benefits.
Every short story has its own character, setting and plot. There can be various WH- questions
to make about the text during the activities in the classroom where students express their
opinions and other ideas.
Using the authentic material can be very interesting for students. The connections and
discussions between the text and the real life situations bring up the motivation all the students
to participate in activities and in the same time practicing target language. Authentic material
can provide to students the culture of target language. Students can learn about the habits,
customs and tradition and then linking these facts with their experience. In “Exploring English
3” students have shown a great interest about the short story “Thanksgiving” p.27. Students can
make comparison of differences and similarities between the stories they read and their own
life.
Students while reading can be critical thinkers. They analyze and think critically about the text.
Depending from the story they can give their own opinion and giving conclusions, interacting
and discussing with other students and in the same time developing language skills.
Furthermore, Tasneen (2010) the advantages are manifold when using literature as a resource
in language teaching and here are some reasons:
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“1. Linguistic reason: Students are exposed to real, authentic usage of language in literary texts;
these texts show them a variety of styles, registers and language learning materials at several
stages of difficulty.
2. Methodological reason: Literary texts are open to various interpretations and therefore create
an enormous opportunity of interaction in a language class.
3. Motivational reason: As literary texts are the product of the writers‘ particular feeling about
certain aspects of life, this genuine feel‘ motivates the reader a lot. Students can easily be
stimulated to express their opinion, to relate the topics and the characters in the literary texts to
their own life”. (p.174).
English Language Teachers should provide to students different literary texts. In this way, they
will be motivated, creative, critical and creative thinkers. Through literature students can
express their opinions and feelings and the debate in the classroom may be very productive and
interesting. Through different activities literature expands students’ language awareness and
develops their skills. The literature it is an authentic material and has general educational value,
it definitively should have its place in the language classroom.
2.2. Theories concerning short stories
Among different genres of literature, short stories are most preferred by students in language
classrooms because they have their own characters, plot and there is no long description of
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setting. So students enjoy reading short stories because they are not complicated, they are not
as long as for example a novel can be, they are suitable for different activities in the classroom
which can develop language skills and are suitable for all levels and all ages.
“Lazar (1993) pointed out that the study of short stories in the language classroom makes them
as the content or the subject of the study. While the use of short stories as a resource, makes
short stories as a source among many sources for developing language skills and activities.
Lazar also stated that short stories facilitate language acquisition by providing meaningful and
memorable contexts for processing and interpreting new language” (Abdalla Saeed Adam,
2015, p.3).
As textbooks are the main sources of material in language classroom, according to Martinez
(2007) stories not only that learn language, but also learn content, cultural aspects, how to solve
everyday problems, and in addition storytelling helps students acquire and develop individual
reading tastes, skills and creativity.
“As defined by Baldick (2008) a short story is a ‘a fictional prose tale of no specific length,
but too short to be published as a volume on its own. As short story will normally concentrate
on a single event with only one or two characters, more economically than a novel’s sustained
exploration of social background” (as cited Abdalla Saeed Adam in, 2015, p.3).
Considered as the most preferred genre among the students of English as a foreign language,
Saeed Adam (2015) thinks that short stories captures the learners attention by its setting,
characters and compelling plot and can be used as tools to enhance cultural and higher order
thinking benefits.
Using short stories students have opportunities to make questions and answer to each-other,
they can express their opinions and feelings or they can write essays related to that topic. So,
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it is important for learners to become more active and engaged while learning the language
through literature. The creative activities can help and motivate them to continue further. The
incorporation of short stories in language skills will help them in developing these skills and
they will be successful in second and foreign language acquisition.
Short stories of different genres expose students to different themes, cultures and rise students’
curiosity developing them intellectually. According to Gordon and Kuehner (1999), today the
term tale suggests a simple narrative, told in chronological order and what differentiates the
short story from the tale is plot. “Plot has been defined as an author’s careful arrangements of
incidents in a narrative to achieve a desired effect” (Gordon and Kuehner , 1999, p.1).
Lazar (1993) explains activities related to short stories what emphasize that teachers can choose
activities making the teaching-learning process students centered.
What is important in all this, the teacher must find stories that students enjoy them and the topics
are somehow related to their daily lives. “According to Duff and Maley (1990) the use of
literature in the classroom offers the following advantages: it offers a wide range of styles,
vocabulary, etc, it deals with matters that concern children and are related to their personal
experiences and it is open to multiple interpretations and opinions, bringing about genuine
interaction and participation in the classroom” (as cited Martinez, 2007, p.54).
2.3. Strategies using short stories for learning reading, writing, listening and
speaking in EFL classes
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To increase the amount of active learning in the classroom and to engage students while
presenting short stories, the teacher has to be aware that the learning strategies are important
for successful development of students’ four skills.
“Ellis and Brewster (1991) believe that the following ideas should be a part of this type of
lesson plan:
· It should provide a context for the story and present the main characters. In doing so, students
will link their own experiences with those in the story.
· It should identify linguistic objectives, for example, what vocabulary and sentence structures
the teacher wants students to learn for sound, word and sentence levels.
· Teachers should decide how long to spend on the story, for example, if it will be read all in
one day or over the course of several lessons.
· Teachers should determine how to present, practice and revise language and vocabulary. For
instance, students may match pictures with words or label pictures to present lingual aspects.
Students can sound out letters and words and create a graphic representation using individual
white boards. Students can also write sentences for each word and draw a picture in their writer
dictionary.
· It should contain rhymes and songs that would reinforce the introduced language.
· It should contain links with arts and crafts.
· Teachers should decide on follow-up activities related to the topic.” (as cited Martinez in,
2007, p.54-55).
“Murdoch (2002) indicates that “short stories can, if selected and exploited appropriately,
provide quality text content which will greatly enhance ELT courses for learners at intermediate
levels of proficiency” (p. 9). According to him, short stories could be very beneficial materials
20
in ELT reinforcement by using them in learning activities such as, discussion, writing and acting
out dialogues” (as cited Pardede in, 2011, p. 19).
According to Martinez (2007), “stories are a great way of introducing, practicing, revising, and
improving pronunciation skills and teaching culture using the target language”(p. 54).
Erkaya (2005) mentions that since short stories have its beginning, middle and an end, they can
encourage students at all levels of language proficiency to continue reading until the end and
motivate them “to explore their feelings through experiencing those of others”.
Khatib (2011) emphasize the importance of literature and short stories developing language
skills: ”Quite in line with the principles of CLT (Van, 2009), literature is rich with innumerable
authentic tokens of language for the development of reading, writing, speaking and listening
skills (Belcher & Hirvela, 2000, Crain,1993, Erkaya, 2005, Fitzgerald, 1993, Knight, 1993,
Latosi-Sawin, 1993, Nasr, 2001, Spack, 1985, Stern, 2001,Vandrick, 1996)” (p.203).
Numerous pre-reading, during reading and post-reading activities can be generated by teachers
using short stories. Short stories offer a wide range of combinations of making learning
language skills attractive.
For writing purposes, students can write their own short story with given features, or they can
write an imaginative short story from other point of view. They can change the end of the short
story, making a different story end.
For speaking purposes, students can always discuss and connect the short story with their
experience. Students can have a debate defeating their different opinions about the character
behavior or making questions to each other about the context. The events in a poem, novel, or
short story can be associated with the learners’ own experience in real life. Role play is a
challenged activity between students.
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For listening purposes, the learners can be exposed to the audio versions of the short stories,
where they can be exposed to the target language and rehearsing the intonation or accent of the
original text.
For reading purposes, short stories provide a huge material for reading. Students can find main
ideas, skim and scan the text and get all the information needed for activities combining four
language skills.
Harmer (1998) mentions that “good teachers exploit reading texts to the full” (p.78). Harmer
presented three elements which are present in all classes: engage, study and activate. By raising
students’ interest through different games, music, anecdotes, pictures, the students are more
curious and ready to take part in activities such as role play, debates, discussions using language
as freely and ‘communicatively’ as they can (p.26).
2.4. Conclusion
As can be seen by many researches done in area of short stories developing language skills, the
importance is crucial in order to broaden EFL in the most appropriate way. Students must be
motivated and benefit from learning EFL. This can be done by the most attractive way, making
22
them critical thinkers and open minded by presenting them authentic material from the language
that is being taught.
Using short stories in teaching language skills has many benefits so teachers must find the way
by using different methods and strategies to provide an enjoyable material to students that they
find it interesting to learn in.
Today teaching language is an art, especially when teaching the language learning process of
English where students are very interested and exposed to this language from the very first year
of their primary school.
Chapter 3
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Research methodology
3.1.Purpose of the study
This chapter describes the methodology that this research is based on, applying pedagogical
practices in general toward the use of short stories in teaching English language skills. This
chapter describes the type of methodology that was used; it explains and describes the research
instruments which served to conduct the research, the participants, and it describes the
procedure that this research went through.
Since in Lower Middle Schools in Kosovo, the main textbooks for 7th and 8th grade are
“Exploring English” textbooks by Tim Harris and Allan Rowe (Kosovar Edition – Adapted by
Harold Samuels) then the focus will be in these two groups of students.
The research for this study will include three different research instruments.
The first instrument will be a quantitative research conducted in “Mazllum Këpuska” Lower
Middle School in Gjakova. There will be two groups of students from different levels of
English: 7th grade that use Exploring English 3 and 8th grade that use Exploring English 4. A
questionnaire will be provided to approximately 60 students in order to gather their opinion of
what they think about learning language skills through short stories.
The second instrument is a teacher interview done on five English teachers that work different
primary schools in Gjakova region. Through these interviews, teachers will give their opinions
about effectiveness of short stories teaching language skills.
The third instrument will be a class observation done in the 8th grade, observing some of the
activities and teacher’s impact using short stories developing students’ language skills.
24
3.2. Research questions
The following questions are tried to be answered:
1. To what extent short stories develop students’ language skills?
2. Can the use of short stories increase student level of motivation?
3. Are short stories a good source for teachers to practice language skills with students?
3.3. Research hypothesis
H1: Students develop better language skills by using short stories in EFL/ESL classes.
H2: Students find short stories attractive, beneficial and by classroom activities are
motivated to practice language skills.
H3: Short stories are a good source for teachers to develop students’ language skills and
students should be encouraged to study them.
25
Figure 3.4. Research design and methodology
3.4.Research Design and Methodology
The purpose of this study was to identify the role of short stories in learning language skills.
The study is done in Lower Middle School “Mazllum Këpuska” with the students of 7th and 8th
grade. In textbooks “Exploring English” textbooks by Tim Harris and Allan Rowe (Kosovar
Edition – Adapted by Harold Samuels), there are short stories in every unit. So, the main focus
and questions will be around these short stories that teaching-learning process of EFL is based
on. Thirty students from 7th grade and thirty students from the 8th grade will be questioned.
Also, five teachers of different ages and background will be interviewed. A detailed
description from their interviews will be provided explaining the role and importance of short
stories teaching language skills.
An English class observation is made on Lower Middle School “Mazllum Këpuska” in
Gjakovë for a month and there will be some of the main topics regarding this issue.
PHASE 1
• Students questionnaire
• 60 students
PHASE 2
• Teachers interview
• 5 teachers
PHASE 3• Class observation
26
3.4.1.Participants
Thirty students chosen randomly from the 7th grade (13 years old) and thirty students from
the 8th grade (14 years old) will answer in a questionnaire provided to them. The students
were assured that the results and their answers will be used for research purposes only and
they would not be graded based on them. They were also gently asked and encouraged to be
as honest as they can in their responses.
Five teachers of different ages and different backgrounds will answer to an interview giving
detailed descriptions of some of the questions emphasizing the role of short stories in
teaching language skills.
The class observation for a month will be done on the 8th grade mainly focused in activities
regarding short stories that can be found in every unit.
3.4.2.Data collection
The questionnaire for students will have questions that students will have to answer
yes/no/sometimes. These questions will be about short stories that students have in their
textbooks:
Rowe, A. and Harris, T. (2014). Exploring English 3 (Kosovar Edition – Adapted by Harold
Samuels) – Eighth Edition. Pejë: Dukagjini
Rowe, A. and Harris, T. (2015). Exploring English 4 (Kosovar Edition – Adapted by Harold
Samuels) – Eighth Edition. Pejë: Dukagjini
27
Also, teachers will be interviewed individually one by one, giving their detailed answers
about short stories and their personal experience teaching language skills regarding those
that can be found in textbooks.
A detailed description will be done about the class observation and the issues regarding short
stories teaching language skills.
3.4.3.Procedure
First, the students were chosen randomly. Then, the researcher explained the purpose of the
first instrument - the questionnaire, to the students and gave them instructions to follow in
completing the questionnaire.
Then, the researcher distributed the questionnaires to the students to fulfill, at the beginning
of class time. The students were assured that the results and their answers will be used for
research purposes only and they would not be graded based on them. They were also gently
asked and encouraged to be as much honest as they can in their responses in order for the
data to be reliable. The students gave their answers in about 10-15 minutes.
Five English language teachers will be interviewed regarding of the benefits of short stories
in teaching language skills.
A description of the class observation will be provided, to give some more extra information
about the use of short stories in EFL classes.
3.5.Detailed description of the Instruments
3.5.1.Students’ Questionnaire
28
The first instrument is a questionnaire provided to students including 9 questions. The
questions are mainly about short stories and their importance in learning language skills.
Students had three options to answer: yes, no or sometimes. This part will emphasize students’
point of view regarding short stories and their answers will be analyzed and compared in the
next chapter.
3.5.2.Teachers’ Interviews
Five teachers are interviewed about the importance of short stories in teaching language
skills. A detailed description will be provided in different answers that they will give. The
teachers will answer in different questions and explain what they think that in every unit in
their textbooks are short stories and activities related to those. Also, they will explain if they
find short stories useful or have difficulties in engaging students in activities.
3.5.3.Class Observation
For a about a month there will be an observation in different classes of 7th and 8th grade to
describe the students’ engagement and teachers’ commitment about teaching-learning
language skills using short stories. There will be different activities where students will have
a chance to practice reading, writing, listening and speaking.
A detailed description of the EFL class observation will be done in the next chapter where
it will be important for this research project and also for the study participants.
Chapter 4
29
Analyses and Results
This chapter gives in depth analysis of two research instruments and class observation. It will
present a detailed explanation and analysis of the results from the three instruments.
The first instrument will be a questionnaire for students. The second instrument will provide
an interview with English language teachers giving their opinions regarding short stories in
teaching language skills and there will be a description of EFL class observation giving some
details and facts.
4.1. Results and analyses from the students’ questionnaires
The questionnaire was distributed among 7th and 8th grade students, overall 60 students. The
questionnaire has 9 questions gathering students’ opinions on short stories. The detailed
explanations of results are given below.
Q1: Does studying English language is important for you?
According to the results from this questionnaire, studying English language as a foreign
language is very important for students. Around 92% responded Yes, 8% responded
sometimes and none with No. Results are presented in figure 1.
30
Figure 1: Q1 Results
Q2: Do you have difficulties while reading in English?
Analysis from this question shows as that from four language skills in EFL classroom, students
don’t have so many difficulties in reading. Around 42% responded Yes, 23% responded No and
35% responded Sometimes. The results are presented in figure 2.
Figure 2: Q2 Result
92%
0%
8%
0
Does studying English language is important for you?
Yes
No
Sometimes
42%
23%
35%
0
Do you have difficulties while reading in English?
Yes
No
Sometimes
31
Q3: Do you have difficulties while writing in English?
Analyses of this question are a further persuading about the difficulties that students have in one of
the language skills – writing. 58% responded Yes, 18% responded No and 24% of students
responded Sometimes.
Results from this question are presented in figure 3.
Figure 3: Q3 Results
Q4: Do you have difficulties while listening in English?
For question 4 “Do you have difficulties while listening in English?”, 68% responded Yes, 14%
responded No and 18% of students responded Sometimes.
The results are presented in figure 4.
58%18%
24%
0
Do you have difficulties while writing in English?
Yes
No
Sometimes
32
Figure 4: Q4 Results
Q5: Do you have difficulties while speaking in English?
For question 5 “Do you have difficulties while speaking in English?”, 74% of students responded
Yes, 13% responded No and also 13% responded Sometimes.
Results of this question are presented in figure 5.
Figure 5: Q5 Results
68%
14%
18%
0
Do you have difficulties while listening in English?
Yes
No
Sometimes
74%
13%
13%
0
Do you have difficulties while speaking in English?
Yes
No
Sometimes
33
Q6: Do you find short stories interesting?
In question “Do you find short stories interesting?”, around 82% responded Yes, 2% responded No
and 16% responded Sometimes.
Results of this question are presented in figure 6.
Figure 6: Q6 Results
Q7: Do you think that short stories help you being more active in the classroom?
In question “Do you think that short stories help you being more active in the classroom?”, around
58% responded Yes, 12% responded No and 30% responded Sometimes.
The results of this question are presented in figure 6.
82%
2%16%
0
Do you find short stories interesting?
Yes
No
Sometimes
34
Figure 7: Q7 Results
Q8: Do you think that short stories are a good source and helpful for developing your
language skills?
When students were asked if they think that short stories are a good source and helpful for
developing their language skills, 66% responded Yes, while 23% responded No. 11% responded
Sometimes to this question.
The results of this question are presented in figure 8.
Figure 8: Q8 Results
58%
12%
30%
0
Do you think that short stories help you being more
active in the classroom?
Yes
No
Sometimes
66%
23%
11%
0
Do you think that short stories are a good souce and
helpful for developing your laguage skills?
Yes
No
Sometimes
35
Q9: Do you think that short stories are attractive and interesting, being a good material to
motivate you further studying English?
In question “Do you think that short stories are attractive and interesting, being a good material to
motivate you further studying English?”, 74% responded Yes, 11% responded No and 15%
responded Sometimes.
The results of this question are presented in figure 9.
Figure 9: Q9 Results
Results from the students’ questionnaires
According to the analyses done in these questions at first we can see that English language is very
important to students. Most of the students that responded in Q1 showed a great interest in English
language where 92% think that English language is important to them.
Students were asked about the difficulties they have in language skills: reading, writing, listening
and speaking. The percentage of students that have difficulties in all four language skills is higher
74%
11%
15%
0
Do you think that short stories are attractive and
interesting, being a good material to motivate you further
studying English?
Yes
No
Sometimes
36
than students that don’t have difficulties or sometimes have difficulties. This percentage varies
between language skills also. The most challenging language skill for students is speaking in
English language where 74% of students find it difficult. Often in EFL classroom, students hesitate
to speak in English. This comes as a result that they are embarrassed of making mistakes in front
of their classmates. Also students most of the time think that they will make mistakes while
speaking in English.
Listening in English in EFL classroom is often considered as a difficult language skill. Usually
students are confused by listening tapes of authentic texts and whenever is possible, they prefer
reading that text. Students usually get the idea of the text but no details. This happens also when a
native English speaker makes a conversation with students learning English as a foreign language.
So when students were asked if they have difficulties while listening in English, 68% of them find
it difficult. In writing 58% of students have difficulties while in reading 42% of students have
difficulties. So, reading for them is the easiest language skill to acquire.
Most of the students find short stories interesting. They are interested in the authentic material and
being familiar with the culture of the target language. Therefore, they mostly agree (82%) that short
stories are interesting to them.
Students do agree that short stories help them being more active in the classroom. So, by being
active and engaged in classroom activities, they are encouraged to express their feelings, opinions
and ideas. By being active in the classroom, students are motivated to study more and enjoy learning
target language.
Most of the students agree that that short stories are a good source and helpful for developing their
language skills. Classroom activities related to short stories can improve their interpretative
37
abilities. By using short stories students can practice everyday situations or situations never
experienced before which can improve and develop their language skills.
Most of the students think that short stories are attractive and interesting, being a good material to
motivate them further studying English. The more they read interesting stories and interact,
increases the wish to read more.
4.2. Results and analyses from the teachers’ interviews
The aim of this interview is to discover the opinions of teachers regarding the importance of short
stories in teaching language skills.
The teachers introduced themselves and presented for how long they have been learning English.
Two of them are English language teachers:
Teacher 1 - F.K – “Mazllum Këpuska” Gjakovë, has been teaching English for fifteen years,
Teacher 2 - V.D. – “Mazllum Këpuska” Gjakovë, has been teaching English for twenty-two years,
Teacher 3 - M.N. – “Mazllum Këpuska” Gjakovë, has been teaching English for a year,
Teacher 4 - V.B. – “Durak Ahmeti” Demjan, Gjakovë, has been teaching English for three years
and
Teacher 5 - D.Y. – “Sylejman Vokshi” Smolicë, Gjakovë, has been teaching English for five years.
Question 1: What do your students think about learning English?
38
All five teachers emphasized the importance that students think of learning English language. The
results of their answers are as stated below:
Teacher 1 said that students are very interested in this global language. Beside they learn English
language in public schools, most of them go in private courses after school. Some of them intend
to continue Secondary School in private schools where the main language is English. Then, their
main focus is university. Students always point out that they will study abroad and for that their
aim is to achieve all levels of this language.
Teacher 2 said that an important factor for learning English language is internet. Nowadays with
the development of technology, students are keen to search about different information in internet.
School projects with new curricula demands deeper researches. This information can be found
limitless in English. So their interest is growing up every day about learning English. It is important
to emphasize beside students’ motivation in learning English, and parents are very interested on
their children’s progress in learning English.
Teacher 3 said that her students/pupils are very motivated in learning English because it is a foreign
language and everything they learn seems new and interesting to them, but at the same time it is a
familiar language because they learn it from the 1st grade and even before that by hearing it on TV,
therefore they like it.
Teacher 4 said that students love learning English especially now with the development of
technology they can see that the English language is very required nowadays. The more they know,
the more their curiosity develops about English language and English culture in general.
39
Teacher 5 stated that her students like English, but sometimes they are not so hardworking. They
would like to know English without committing themselves to learning that much. There are always
exceptions. There are students whose favorite subject is English and they have got the language
skills as well. On the other hand, there are students who work really hard, but sometimes they think
that learning a foreign language is very challenging. In general they are all right, but as a teacher
she would like them to try harder and be more successful. In general, they are pretty positive about
learning English and are willing to try to practice in class.
Question 2: Do students have difficulties in learning language skills?
Teacher 1 stated that students have some difficulties with learning language skills. For example,
they feel more comfortable while listening or reading, but always struggle when writing and
speaking. Sometimes, they tend to be better at colloquial speech and listening rather than writing
or more formal speech due to their exposure of English in the media.
Teacher 2 said that some of the students have difficulties in learning language skills, especially
productive ones. They often find language skills challenging.
Teacher 3 said that learning all language skills is very important in understanding and learning the
language, some pupils have more abilities in learning those skills while others not. The teacher tries
to incorporate as many language skills in an hour as possible in order to give them the possibility
of developing them, because the more they practice it the more they improve it. The more active
pupils have fewer problems in learning them because they do not hesitate to speak or write in classes
40
while the introvert pupils need to be pushed but with the right activities they are able to express
their knowledge regarding those skills and develop them further.
Teacher 4 said that it depends on the students and how are they willing to put effort on learning it.
But mostly they have difficulties in language skills. They can learn grammar rules, they can learn
vocabulary but when it comes to writing a short essay or speaking and debating about a particular
topic, there might be a problem for them. They are afraid about mistakes that they might do and
sometimes it takes time until they start the conversation with classmates.
Teacher 5 said that as stated before, there are students who are talented and hardworking so they
do not encounter difficulties. There are also students who give their best but even with the entire
teacher’s support and help somehow “miss the point”. They can cope with simple language skills
and they are usually better in writing, but unfortunately their communication skills are not at the
required level. And of course there is always that group of students which has got the skills.
Question 3: According to your experience, do you think that short stories help students in
developing language skills? Explain why!
Teacher 1 said that depending on how they’re used, short stories can help students develop language
skills. For example, the teacher can have students finish an uncompleted story to help practice
writing or discuss the meaning of a story to help practice speaking and critical thinking. Listening
41
can be practiced if the stories are told orally, and reading/critical reading can be practiced with a
text and targeted questions.
Teacher 2 thinks that storytelling is an art in teaching. Learners get exposed to real language of
personal communication and they develop a sense of structure that will help them to understand the
more complex stories of literature. Through a story listeners experience the past and gain insight
into human behavior. Stories help students to know themselves and to know others so they can cope
with the psychological problems of growing up. According to her to tell a story in classroom
teachers should: choose stories they like, choose stories appropriate for her/his learners, choose
stories with a good structure, choose stories with positive values, study the story's background and
test the selection before using it with students. Students need to learn to listen, to speak, to read and
to write in a new language. Telling them stories is an approach to "whole language", not language
in fragments into parts-grammatical patterns, vocabulary lists or phonics. By listening to a story,
students copy words and phrases, which gradually take ownership of and add to their receptive and
productive language.
Teacher 3 said that according to her experience short stories are one of the best ways for developing
language skills, because they give me the possibility to include all language skills in an hour, but
also pupils the opportunity to use them and practice them. Short stories are a very helpful way to
activate all pupils because I can relate stories to pupils' personal/real life experiences, they will
develop speaking skills by speaking about themselves (pupils tend to be more active and to be
included in class activities when they do not feel the pressure of having to remember texts from the
book ), short stories are very effective because they are short , usually with only a few characters
and with no detailed descriptions which help pupils in understanding them better and faster, asking
42
short questions about the stories develops speaking skills, they listen to stories which develop their
listening skills: they listen to how words are pronounced and linked with each other, they write
about what they remember from a short story that they learn, by doing so they develop writing skills
but also reading skills when they read them. There are many activities which help in developing
language skills and by using short stories I leave enough space in an hour to use those activities.
Teacher 4 said that short stories do help students in developing language skills. Short stories helps
students a lot, especially the little ones because it will give them skills on understanding much better
and also express themselves better. It is very interesting to listen to students’ experiences and
opinions about different topics.
Teacher 5 stated that it is a fact that children love short stories. If a teacher wants for these stories
to have a greater impact on children’s language skills, I think she/he must “become “an actress/
actor. I am speaking from experience. One can notice such joy on student’s faces (lower grades)
when the teacher acts like he/she is scared, or happy, or sad. They try to memorize every word and
every movement that you have made. And when dealing with higher grade students than the stories
that a teacher chooses must match their favorite topics, in that case you will get all their attention.
Question 4: What do you think about classroom activities related to short stories?
43
Teacher 1 said that classroom activities related to short stories be an important resource that teachers
have available. Finding the right text that is graded to the level of the students and age-appropriate
can take a lot of effort, however.
Teacher 2 explains that students love listening to the stories especially the ones that TPR activities
are included. The difficulty she encounters is long stories and physical setting in classroom. Usually
the teacher plan a mixture of activities within a lesson like: listening to the story, comprehension
check, retelling the story and sometimes writing their own story. When the story is long, the teacher
continues with follow-up activities next lesson. Physical setting is also another concern when
planning. I ask them to sit in a big circle and I sit in the middle of the circle so that the teacher can
have an eye contact with all her students. Often she finds herself standing up slowly and moving
around the circle to maintain eye contact with every student in her class.
Teacher 3 stated that classroom activities help students in developing language skills. There are
always lots of ways to integrate students in all four language skills using short stories. Beside
interesting discussions, role plays, these activities might be fun for students also. It is important
students to enjoy in classroom activities. With appropriate techniques teacher can make teaching-
learning process more attractive for students.
Teacher 4 said that classroom activities related to short stories are very helpful. A teacher can use
different ways of telling a short story. They can read one to the students which it will help students
to develop their listening and speaking skills or they can read it silently by themselves which will
give them opportunity to see how a word is written and than it can be much easier for them to
advance their writing.
44
Teacher 5 stated that as long as a teacher chooses diversity over routine everything gets better. If
we as teachers rely only on books than students get bored because they can predict your future
actions. But if a teacher comes to the class bringing “something new”, than students cannot wait
for the next class and the next surprise. Short stories are very useful for class activities. We can
have role plays based on these stories, we can compile story questions or even try to write similar
stories using our imagination. And all these activities will surely contribute on developing language
skills.
Results from teachers’ interviews
According to the first question “What do your students think about learning English?”, all five
teachers stated the importance of English Language. The reasons are manifold that students want
to learn English: technology, studying abroad, researches in internet, visiting places. Also, they are
well aware that English is the only language that helps them communicate outside their country.
Besides learning in schools, students usually attend courses of different levels learning English
language.
According to the second question “Do students have difficulties in learning language skills?” all
five teachers admitted that based on their experience, students have difficulties in learning language
skills. Writing and speaking is very challenging for them. Sometimes they have problems with
listening to target language. There are no rules that can be taught while learning language skills, so
not following patterns students think that it is a big responsibility and they might make mistakes.
45
As always, students are based on their learning styles and strategies, so the teacher should
incorporate all of them in practicing and developing language skills.
In question “According to your experience, do you think that short stories help students in
developing language skills? Explain why!” teachers gave their own opinions and they all agree that
short stories help students in developing language skills. Through practicing students can become
critical thinkers and benefit from different experiences. Students can express themselves and
expressing their opinions. Short stories can include four language skills in an hour of teaching-
learning process, they are short and attractive to students.
It is teacher’s responsibility to choose appropriate stories with positive values and presenting them
to students.
To the question “What do you think about classroom activities related to short stories?” all five
teachers have positive opinions about classroom activities effectiveness developing language skills.
Planning appropriate activities can take a lot of effort however. Students can write their own story,
retell the story, comprehension check, role play, discussions and many other activities pre, while
and post reading the story. If the teacher is creative and brings “something new” in the classroom
then students will be eager to learn and practice more.
46
4.3. Results and analyses of the classroom observation
Topic: Charlie Chaplin Name of Teacher: anonymous
Student level: 8th grade
Warm – up activity
____________________________
How did the teacher manner
influence the classroom
atmosphere?
Discussion between teacher and students.
Teacher asks students different questions
related to movies and famous movie stars,
emphasizing comedies and comedians.
Teacher encourages students to answer
individually by sharing with them
information regarding her favorite
actor/actress and movie.
How were the students introduced
to the Short Story?
Teacher uses pantomime and mimics
imitating Charlie Chaplin. Students laugh
and try to guess the person that the teacher is
trying to introduce.
Before reading activities
Teacher gives to students some questions
related to the text before they read it.
Students listen to the story, try to understand
the content and at the same time identify any
unfamiliar word or expression. Teacher
helps them.
47
During reading activities
While they are reading the text students
should prepare answers to the questions in
the written form.
After reading activities
Students read the answers related to the text.
Teacher encourages them and offers help
whenever needed.
How far the teacher managed to
capture students’ attention?
All the students are engaged in all these
activities due to the fact that the teacher has
managed to get their attention during the
introduction of the short story.
How far the students were engaged
in activities, encouraged and
motivated?
Students were motivated all the time by the
teacher. Each of them had the chance to give
his/her opinion and discuss. They got
encouraged and motivated by the teacher
praising them after each skillful answer.
Assessment activity
Write a composition about your favorite
actor/actress or cartoon character.
48
Comments: The teacher managed to get the students attention at the very beginning of the class
by choosing an interesting activity at the introduction part. Students interact with teacher by trying
to say different names of comedians they like. This motivated them to continue further and they
were also excited while trying to guess what the teacher was pantomiming. Students asked to listen
the text twice. While students were reading the text they were engaged by trying to answer the
questions. They were focused and while one of them gave answer, the others were paying attention
in the answers. The teacher tried to listen all the students while they were reading the answers, but
the large number of students sometimes makes it impossible. What I have noticed is that the teacher
tried to help by giving answers all those students that didn’t raise their hands. They were shy and
insecure at first but at the end they express their opinions. That is why the teacher sometimes
expands these activities related to the short story in two sessions.
The assessment activity was so interesting because when students read about favorite character,
some of the students cheered up and couldn’t wait by saying that they have extra information about
the character. This made this part funny comparing information and arguing about their characters.
Topic: Mark Daka’s New Car Lot Name of Teacher: anonymous
49
Student level: 8th grade
Warm – up activity
____________________________
How did the teacher manner
influence the classroom
atmosphere?
Teacher brings to the students flashcards
showing different models of cars. Students
have to name the models.
Students answer individually and each
students gets his/her chance to answer.
How were the students introduced
to the Short Story?
Teacher asks students if their family owns a
car and which model. Afterwards teacher
asks them about their favorite model of car
and students discuss with each other about
their choice.
Before reading activities
Students listen to the short story.
During reading activities
After listening, students read the text aloud
in turns. While one of them reads, the others
listen actively and mark the unknown words.
Teacher explains these words writing them
on board.
After reading activities
Role play. Students work in groups. Then
two students present in front of the
50
classroom, one of them becomes a seller and
the other student becomes a costumer, using
the new words written on board.
How far the teacher managed to
capture students’ attention?
Students are very interested in this topic,
especially listening each-others opinion
about their favorite car and arguing if their
choice is better than the choice that the
others made.
How far the students were engaged
in activities, encouraged and
motivated?
By the fact that each student gets the chance
to express his/her opinion related to the
topic, it is understandable that they all get
engaged.
Then all the students read the text, and get
motivated by being a part of a role play.
Assessment activity
Students in pairs write and then answer to
the story questions.
Comments: The teacher managed to get the students attention by showing flashcards to students
at the introduction part. By guessing the model of the car students were excited and all the students
in the classroom had the chance to answer in this activity. They had a chance to speak and argue
about the price and engines. Since the text was long, students were confused even they get the idea,
51
they asked to listen it again. While reading in turns, students marked the unknown words which
teacher wrote them on board.
The role play was interesting. Students used the new words they have learned. Students presented
this role play with interesting texts and gestures. Since they had recently learned comparison of
adjectives and adverbs, students compared, persuade and make suggestions while speaking. At the
end teacher asked them to tell the moral of the story.
At the end students had the chance of writing activity by answering in pairs to story questions. By
thinking critically and helping each other, students answered by giving their opinions about the
short story.
Chapter 5
Conclusion
52
5.1. Conclusion from the students’ questionnaires
We as members of educational environment and teachers in EFL studies, should be active
participants in all teaching – learning process. Especially in primary school, students are
eager to learn this ‘world language’ because the advantages are manifold, starting from their
own education, cultural awareness of different people, knowledge enrichment, studying
abroad and improving their lifestyle.
Students nowadays know what they want from learning a language. They try to find a way
and work as hard as they can to acquire all elements of a language that they are being taught.
Short stories can help them to develop these elements. In classroom students all the time
must be engaged participating actively in activities related in learning English language.
These activities can be based in short stories helping students develop language skills. Most
of them in highly percentages showed interest in acquiring EFL, and are satisfied in including
short stories in curricula, because can help their reading, writing, listening and speaking
skills. Students like short stories because they are not long, provide authentic material and
can always provide information about a culture of the language that is being taught. Based
on the percentages we can see that in classes short stories can highly develop language skills.
5.2. Conclusion from the teachers’ interviews
As the bridge connecting language with students, teachers can play a crucial role in
motivating students in learning a language. By selecting appropriate material and selecting
interesting activities, students can be motivated to continue further in learning EFL. By
providing authentic material to students teacher can develop students’ interpretative abilities.
53
Teachers are aware of the benefits of literary texts in language teaching. Integrating short
stories in the classroom will help teachers to expand students’ language skills, necessary for
communicating in target language. Based on the interviews all five teachers consider short
stories as a good source for developing students’ language skills.
5.3. Conclusion from the classroom observation
Based on the classroom observation, it can be say that seeing different activities related to
the shot stories and the students’ enthusiasm is amazing. Students can express their opinions
and feelings, improving their language skills. Since topics varies from each other, this makes
unique every teaching – learning situation motivating students and making them creative and
critical thinkers. They prefer teaching methods and classroom activities in mastering these
skills such as cooperative learning, role play, game-based learning and problem solving. By
observing students’ activities, their level of motivation is increased and all the time they are
engaged in these activities.
Chapter 6
Limitation of the study
54
While working on this research the researcher encountered some limitations. Some students
were not realistic in answering the questionnaires or interview because they tried to choose
the best answers in order to reflect themselves as excellent students.
The second limitation was the class observation. Sometimes students were affected by my
presence in the classroom by providing too many answers at the same time.
Recommendation
Further research study can be conducted on this area. Besides developing language skills,
short stories can help in developing vocabulary or grammar. So, different researches can be
done in this area including larger numbers of participants, choosing students from different
schools or from different cities and comparing the results, what may be interesting and very
productive. Also, further research can be done about teacher beliefs about the importance of
short stories. And except short stories as a part of literature, the same research can be done
in poetry, novels or in literature in general
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary sources:
55
Rowe, A. and Harris, T. (2014). Exploring English 3 (Kosovar Edition – Adapted by Harold
Samuels) – Eighth Edition. Pejë: Dukagjini
Rowe, A. and Harris, T. (2015). Exploring English 4 (Kosovar Edition – Adapted by Harold
Samuels) – Eighth Edition. Pejë: Dukagjini
Secondary sources:
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APPENDICES
57
Appendix 1: Students’ 1st Questionnaire
This questionnaire aims to find out the difficulties in learning English language. Your answers will
be used for research purposes only. Thank you for your cooperation!
1. Does studying English language is important for you?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
2. Do you have difficulties while reading in English?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
3. Do you have difficulties while writing in English?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
4. Do you have difficulties while listening in English?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
5. Do you have difficulties while speaking in English?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
58
6. Do you find short stories interesting?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
7. Do you think that short stories help you being more active in the classroom?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
8. Do you think that short stories are a good source and helpful for developing your language
skills?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
9. Do you think that short stories are attractive and interesting, being a good material to motivate
you further studying English?
o Yes
o No
o Sometimes
Appendix 2: Teacher’s interview
59
This interview aims to find the best way on developing language skills in the classroom. Your
answers will be used for research purposes only. Thank you for your cooperation!
Your name
How long have you been teaching English?
What do your students think about learning English?
Do students have difficulties in learning language skills?
According to your experience, do you think that short stories help students in developing language
skills? Explain why!
What do you think about classroom activities related to short stories?
Appendix 3 : Classroom Observation Template
60
Warm – up activity
____________________________
How did the teacher manner
influence the classroom
atmosphere?
How were the students introduced
to the Short Story?
Before reading activities
During reading activities
After reading activities
How far the teacher managed to
capture students’ attention?
How far the students were engaged
in activities, encouraged and
motivated?
61
Assessment activity
