Storytelling in the Secondary English Classroom
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STORYTELLING IN THE SECONDARY ENGLISH CLASSROOM: theoretical and empirical perspectives relevant to the development ofliteracy Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph. D. in Education, by Jean Ferguson Dunning. May, 1999 The Institute ofEducation University ofLondon, 20, Bedford Way, London, wciu OAL 1 I should like to express my warmest thanks to Harold Rosen, Professor Emeritus ofthe Institute of Education, London University, who helped me to launch the study which is the subject of this thesis and, most particularly, to my supervisor, Margaret Spencer, Reader in Education at the Institute of Education, whose example, enthusiasm and unfailing support have inspired me throughout the long process ofwriting. 2 ABSTRACT This thesis argues that oral storytelling by pupils in the secondary English classroom has a potential neglected by teachers and the education system in Britain. Part One considers the history of traditions ofstorytelling from pre-literate times, through the development of communication technologies, the increase in the numbers of readers in the population and the development of schooled literacy, foregrounding oral continuities. It traces the development ofthe traditional concept of literacy as a neutral technology of the intellect, arguing against the notion of an oral-literate divide. It supports a revised conceptualisation oforal-literate relations which accepts that, in any society, there are multiple literacies. From a developmental perspective, it insists on the centrality of oral narrative discourse to the individual's thinking and sense of social identity. Finally, it reviews narratological theories and shows that the application of some of them to the transcripts oforal stories can reveal the literary competences of tellers. Part Two applies theory drawn from authorities consulted in Part One to data collected in English lessons where 12/13 year old pupils performed oral stories for an audience of their peers (public performances) or alone with a tape-recorder (private performances). The multiple contexts of the empirical study and the collection of data are described; ethnographic and discourse analyses of the public performances are presented through a 3 paradigmatic instance. The findings of the textual analyses of ten exemplars are scrutinised and three related but separate significances identified in them, all signs of pupils' communicative and narrative competence. The private performances are analysed separately, using categories drawn from literary theory; comparative analyses reveal literary competences in experienced and inexperienced readers alike and enable an outline developmental perspective on literary competences to be constructed. On the basis of the findings of this work, the educational validity of oral storytelling in the secondary English classroom is asserted as a form ofinclusive social justice. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION The Origins ofthe Inquiry Page 1. Spoken and written narrative in the secondary English classroom 11 2. The importance of narrative in human life 12 3. An autobiographical perspective: the teacher moves from 14 reading aloud to telling a story 4. The crucial question 20 PART ONE: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES 21 CHAPTER ONE The Focus ofthe Inquiry 1. The teacher tells a story 22 2. The pupil tells her own invented story 25 3. Further questions 30 CHAPTER TWO The History ofthe Oral Tradition in Britain Introduction 32 1. The period ofpre-literate culture 34 2. Defining the oral tradition 37 3. The period ofmanuscript culture (1000-1500) 43 5 4. The kinds ofstories found in manuscripts 51 5. The period ofearly print culture (1500-1800) 57 6. The period ofmass print culture (1800-2000+) 65 7. The period ofelectronically mediated culture (1900-2000+) 72 CHAPTER THREE Paradigmatic Stories which Track the History ofthe Oral Tradition Introduction 78 1. The oral folk tale as history: 'Love Like Salt' 79 2. The oral folk tale as drama: King Lear 83 3. The fairytale as a genre ofwritten literature for children: Perrault and the Grimms 86 4. The fairytale controversy in Britain 98 5. The filmed fairytale: 'Sapsorrow' 99 6. Discussion 102 CHAPTER FOUR Changing Conceptualisations ofLiteracy Introduction 104 1. The primitive-civilised dichotomy 105 2. The construction ofthe concept ofan oral-literate divide 107 3. The autonomous model ofliteracy 113 4. The empirical challenge to the theory ofan oral-literate divide 116 5. A revised conceptualisation oforal-literate relations 123 6. Discussion 126 6 CHAPTER FIVE How Children Learn to Tell Stories and enter the Discourses ofSociety Introduction 128 1. Earlylanguageleruming 128 2. Learning to play 133 3. Learning to tell stories 139 4. Taking the wider view: Discourses, identity and power 146 5. Discussion 152 PART TWO: EMPIRICAL PERSPECTIVES 157 CHAPTER SIX The Multiple Contexts ofthe Empirical Inquiry and the Working Hypothesis Introduction 158 1. What has been leamt from Part One 158 2. The questions which remain unanswered 160 3. The multiple contexts ofthe empirical inquiry 160 4. The working hypothesis on which the empirical inquiry is based 170 CHAPTER SEVEN The Empirical Inquiry: Methodology Introduction 172 1. Preliminary reflections during the early stages ofthe inquiry 174 2. Methodology 196 7 CHAPTER EIGHT Analyses ofa Telling Performed to a Classroom Audience Introduction 221 1. An ethnographic account of 'The Bear' 222 2. Six Textual analyses of'The Bear' 230 3. Discussion 244 CHAPTER NINE Three Significances in Ten Exemplars Introduction 246 1. The ten exemplars 246 2. The significance ofcredibility 250 3. The significance ofaudience awareness 257 4. The significance of the use of 'written language' 280 5. Generic classification ofthe ten exemplars 290 6. Findings and discussion 295 CHAPTER TEN The Oral Story as Literature Introduction 297 1. The oral story as verbal symbolic play 298 2. A developmental perspective on literary competences 311 3. The inexperienced reader's literary competences in relation 351 to her recent experience ofwritten narratives 4. Discussion 357 8 CHAPTER ELEVEN The Empirical Inquiry: Findings and Conclusions Introduction 360 1. What the analyses ofthe public stories show 360 2. What the analyses ofthe private stories show 363 3. The teacher's part 367 4. Answering questions and drawing conclusions 370 TABLE OF FIGURES Fig. 7.1 Hymes' Model ofthe Communicative Event 201 Fig.9.l The Use ofOrientations in Ten Exemplars 375a Fig. 9.2 The Use ofEvaluations in Ten Exemplars 375b Fig. 9.3 Continuum ofAudience Awareness in Ten Exemplars 272 Fig. 9.4 The Use of'Written Language' in Ten Exemplars 375c Fig. 9.5 Continuum of Written/Oral Language in Ten Exemplars 281 Fig. 9.6 Generic Classification ofTen Exemplars 375d APPENDICES 1. Figures referred to in Chapter Nine 375a-d 2. The public story data 376 2.1 Titles ofall solo and collaborative performances 376 2.2 Ten exemplars; transcripts and related materials 377 3. The private stories told and written by Emma 400 4. Michael's personal reading and writings 419 9 BIBLIOGRAPHY 433 (N.B. Small font, e.g. will we ever get home tonight? is used throughout for transcripts of pupils' oral stories and for copies of their written stories; italic style is used for sound effects and phonological information relating to transcripts, e.g. 'I'm all right' (protesting tone)). 10 INTRODUCTION: The Origins ofthe Inquiry This study derives from my interest in the deliberate use oforal storytelling by pupils in the secondary English classroom, an interest with roots in my experience as a teacher in several such classrooms. By way of introduction, I first consider the differing weights traditionally given to written and spoken narratives in subject English and the possible reasons for the imbalance. I counterpose a condensed account of the outcomes of extended scholarly debate about the importance of narrative in human life which implies that a reappraisal of the use of oral narrative by pupils is in order. I then revisit an English lesson where, as a probationary teacher, I worked with 12/13 year old pupils; reflecting on this lesson and its implications leads me to formulate the crucial question my thesis addresses. 1. Spoken and written narrative in the secondary English classroom Secondary English teachers offer their pupils novels, short stories, narrative poems, newspaper reports, broadcasts, films and plays for enjoyment or critical appraisal. They elicit from them autobiographical and fictional diaries, reports, film- and play-scripts and stories of all kinds and lengths; all of these narratives are writing-based, even when their final presentation is in another medium, as in the case of, say, radio or video programmes. The conscious and deliberate use of oral narrative as an end in itself, either by teachers or by pupils under their direction, has not been widely practised. There are many reasons why the written mode dominates activities in the English classroom: our print-saturated social environment ensures that anyone labelled 'illiterate' is considered to be, and feels they are, a social cripple; in both the National 11 Curriculum and the public examinations system, priority is always given to testing in writing, since the tangible and durable nature of writing renders its assessment much easier than that of speech. Further, written outcomes in the classroom are equated with 'real work' and discipline and this belief puts enormous pressure on the English teacher to involve pupils constantly in writing. The pressure comes from teachers themselves