The Effectiveness of Storytelling I（讲故事我的有效性）.pdf

The Effectiveness of Storytelling nformation, when packaged in story form comes to life for adults and children alike. In the 1920s through the 1950s, radio mastered the art of storytelling. During the same period, the Isilver screen brought yet another dimension—pictures. Television followed. While these media have become hugely successful as a means of entertaining and conveying information, storytelling as a method of stimulating the imagination has been all but lost, but for that special grandparent, teacher, or the professional storyteller. In the words of professional storyteller, Harlynne Geisler, “Children today are losing the ability to imagine, to create their own images. Television and picture books give them someone else’s images and tell them precisely what those images are doing. A storyteller speaks simply, though often stretching the children’s vocabulary through poetic use of language and through use of foreign and archaic words. The child has to elaborate and embroider the simple terms used in the stories — to truly see in the mind’s eye a princess ‘as tall and slender as the reeds that grow by Loch Erne ’ or a bed ‘as soft and white as the heart ’s desire.’ If children hear exciting stories from books beyond their reading level, they will want to learn to read better so that they can read such fascinating volumes. Storytellers as purveyors of literature are role models of readers” (Geisler, 1999). “Storytelling is an art form that has been a most effective teaching tool for at least as long as history has been recorded.” — Jim Lord Many studies have been conducted to scientifically document the effectiveness of storytelling as a teaching tool. Following are portions of a public domain article published in September 1988 by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication: Storytelling; Its Wide-ranging Impact in the Clas