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Spa641 Trabajo Final
Spa641 Trabajo Final
SECOND LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION
ORAL TRADITION IN
SECOND LANGUAGE
INSTRUCTION
Abstract
From generation to generation, stories have been handed down through oral tradition to maintain
a cultures collective treasured experience (Lawrence & Paige, 2016). Stories are how we make
sense of experiences (Bruce, 2008). According to Desai & Marsh (2005), Spoken word is a
form of poetry that utilizes the strengths of our communities: oral tradition, call-and-response,
home languages, storytelling and resistance (p. 71). This paper will discuss what oral tradition
is and how it can be incorporated in the classroom as an effective teaching method. Academic
articles will be presented studying and documenting its success. Ideas will be presented for the
different methods of presenting oral tradition through the use of storytelling.
Keywords: Oral tradition, storytelling, language learning
What is oral tradition? Simply put, it is the telling of stories to retain a culture. From
generation to generation, stories have been handed down through oral tradition to maintain a
cultures collective treasured experience (Lawrence & Paige, 2016). Stories are how we make
sense of experiences (Bruce, 2008) and storytelling is synonymous with oral tradition. In stories,
problems, issues, or concerns are introduced (Fay, 2007). Sequential art, for example (comic
books) can serve as a springboard for storytelling as students use the art to navigate the retelling
of the story orally (Fay, 2007). Storytelling can take place in poetic form. According to Desai &
Marsh (2005), Spoken word is a form of poetry that utilizes the strengths of our communities:
oral tradition, call-and-response, home languages, storytelling and resistance (p. 71). How does
this apply to language instruction in the classroom? To be an effective teacher, one must
incorporate a nations culture into language instruction. Students learn better if they understand
ORAL TRADITION IN
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INSTRUCTION
the people behind the tongue. But it is not simply enough to learn a culture as part of language
instruction. Students must be engaged to retain and present what they have learned. In this
aspect, the use of technology in the form of digital storytelling is a new area in language
acquisition. Digital storytelling combines oral tradition with digital multimedia in the forms of
images, recorded audio narration, video and music (Torres, Ponce, & Pastor, 2012).
ORAL TRADITION IN
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graduation rates, a new school was formed, called The Pedro Albizu Campos High School
(PACHS). Two of the three major curricular areas of this school focus on awareness of Puerto
Rican and Latino heritage and communication of that heritage through journalistic endeavors
such as making podcasts about their school and communitys history and heritage. Writing and
sharing reflections about their activities in the community (storytelling) scaffolds these students
to take charge of their own learning, especially language development (Bruce, 2008).
ORAL TRADITION IN
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with their experiences.. Storytelling has the power to disrupt stereotypes (p. 66). This ties
directly to another standard, that of Comparisons. When comparing stories between cultures,
greater understanding is achieved and learners can investigate, explain, and reflect on other
cultures. Finally, in the area of Communities, oral tradition through storytelling is one of the key
ways to keep a culture alive and bring communities together in the pursuit of preserving a
culture, and learners can become a part of a global community dedicated to the preserving of
culture themselves.
What type of classroom activities can promote oral tradition in a way to engage all types
of language learners? We live in a world of technology and knowledge. We have access not
only to all forms of oral tradition, but also the means to engage in storytelling in an exciting and
adventurous way that students can relate to through this technology. For example, in one of my
recently developed classroom activities, I am able to introduce my students to the romances and
cantigas of Spain from the 17th and 18th centuries by accessing examples from websites devoted
exclusively to these topics. With a little time and discussion, my students can begin to relate to
the idea behind these short stories and the history of the country of the time what was going on
that would become the basis of these short literary works. Practical application, and the carrying
on of oral tradition can then take place as my students recite and reenact these romances and
cantigas themselves and record their own oral tradition through the use of todays smartphones
and programs such as Kizoa, Animoto, or Photo Story 3 programs. These programs, and others
like them, operate online, either through a programs website, or cloud-based, allowing the
student to create online slideshows of their videos that can be linked by URL or embed, or
produce videos in mp4 format (Yee & Hargis, 2012).
ORAL TRADITION IN
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INSTRUCTION
ORAL TRADITION IN
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INSTRUCTION
along with the use of oral tradition. How so? After presenting any form of oral tradition
jarchas, poems, cantigas, corridos, dcimas, songs students can put their own creativity to work
by reinventing the piece in their own modern interpretation. Again, technology can be an asset
to students as they record themselves reading, reciting, and/or acting out the piece, and visual
recording can be another level of use of technology as the language instructor sees fit. Once
again, World Readiness Standards are being met as students compare and connect their own
culture to the culture studied, communicate in the target language, and become contributing
members to communities through their efforts in storytelling.
Conclusion
Oral tradition has been a part of every culture from the beginning of the spoken word. The
evolution of storytelling offers tremendous variation - from four verse jarchas to longer cantigas,
from poems containing hundreds of lines to songs to movies and audio novels and has served
as a means for each and every culture to find a way to keep itself alive. In todays language
classroom, the use of oral tradition through storytelling can be a powerful tool for language
instructors to integrate multiple World Readiness Standards for Language Learning in classroom
instruction. Advances in technology have even coined the term digital storytelling to refer to
the multiple media options both language instructors and language learners have access to today.
Integrating classroom activities that involve the use of digital storytelling will not only engage
language learners in the educational process, but will serve as another link in oral tradition as a
means of preserving culture.
ORAL TRADITION IN
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References
American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (n.d.). Retrieved July 24, 2016
from www.actfl.org
Bruce, B. (2008). Coffee cups, frogs, and lived experience. International Journal of Progressive
Education, 4(2), 1-17.
Desai, S., & Marsh, T. (2005). Weaving multiple dialects in the classroom discourse: Poetry
and spoken word as a critical teaching tool. Taboo, 71-90.
Fay, D. (2007). Student storytelling through sequential art. English Teaching Forum, 3, 1-21.
Lawrence, R., & Paige, D. (2016). What our ancestors knew: Teaching and learning through
storytelling. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 149, 63-73.
doi: 10.1002/ace.20177
Schirmer, K., Almon-Morris, H., Fabrizio, M., Abrahamson, B., & Chevalier, K. (2007).
Using precision teaching to teach story telling to a young child with autism. Journal of
Precision Teaching and Celebration, 23, 23-26.
Torres, A., Ponce, E., & Pastor, D. (2012). Digital storytelling as a pedagogical tool within a
didactic sequence in foreign language teaching. Digital Education Review, 22, 1-18.
Retrieved from http://greav.ub.edu/der/
Yee, K., & Hargis, J. (2012). Digital storytelling: Kizoa, Animoto, and Photo Story 3. Turkish
Online Journal of Distance Education TOJDE, 13, 12-14.