Storytelling and Language
The oral tradition of storytelling provides an opportunity for students to extend stories and connect with them in personal ways. As a child growing up in the U.S., I didn’t have the privilege of reading books in my first language; they did not exist for me growing up in an English-only world. However, this does not mean I didn’t know and appreciate great stories. I was fortunate to have a wonderful storytelling father who, on his days off of work, filled my weekends with tragic, triumphant and fascinating stories of his past, as well as mesmerizing legends of our ancestral homeland, Mexico. In her book, Bilingual Education in the 21st Century, Ofelia Garcia quotes a member of the Zuni community who states “Our language tells us about our umbilical cords that go out across the landscape, the valleys, the texture of the mountains, canyons, climate, the creation of beings. Because we have been in the same place for a very, very long time, through this language, we can affect something. My understanding is in my vocabulary.” These words resonate with me because storytelling provided me with a sense of identity, and fostered my ability to appreciate books through illustrations when I couldn’t read them because of its written language (English). Storytelling taught me how to honor our past, celebrate important events, and heal. As a teacher, I seek ways to teach my students that storytelling is a powerful art form that allows us to interact and communicate with others in multiple ways. Stephanie Curenton writes about how storytelling can prepare children for school because they engage in decontextualized talk—that is not bound by the immediate context. She states, “Decontextualized talk is about objects, feelings, and ideas experienced in the past or expected in the future, whereas contextualized talk is only about the present…(It) promotes higher-order thinking such as reminiscing and planning. Regardless of whether children relate their fantasies or real-life experiences, their stories tell of events that either have happened or may happen.”21 Storytelling according to the author has additional benefits; it aids in reading comprehension, in developing perspective of others, and promotes self-identity. In addition, spontaneously created stories or retellings of stories, are the most accurate method for assessing children’s language skills, grammatical skills, dialect, and narrative construction and memory skills. Oral storytelling is an art form that allows children to express their individuality as well as their socio-cultural heritage. Art serves as that thread that integrates them into a larger social network.
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