Hibbin, Rebecca (2013) Paying lip service to speaking and listening skills : oral storytelling, arts education and the hegemony of literacy. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
An examination of the use of oral storytelling as a pedagogical tool for primary age children. The emphasis on oral language that is inherent in the oral re-telling of traditional tales offers ‘non-instrumental’ practice in speaking and listening for primary school age children. It further provides an alternative to hegemonic literacy-based practice in schools which implicitly devalues speaking and listening skills through policy and prescribed practice. A significant focus of the study relates to the ‘intrinsic benefits’ of oral storytelling that impact positively on children’s ‘capacity to perceive, feel and interpret the world’ (McCarthy, 2004; xvi). An important and interrelated empirical strand indicates that certain children with expressive language difficulties and associated behavioural problems would strongly benefit from the structured and non-instrumental speaking and listening opportunities that oral storytelling provides. In addition, the participatory nature of oral storytelling through collaborative classroom practice that combines the skills of artists and teachers has important implications for the development of pedagogy.