Summary of Spencer & Pierce (2023)

Background & Existing Knowledge

Oral language skills, including speaking and listening, are a fundamental foundation for the development of reading and writing abilities. Extensive research underscores the central role of vocabulary, discourse structures, and grammatical knowledge for literacy development. However, many students, particularly those with disabilities, struggle with oral language acquisition, impacting their overall literacy.

New Insights from This Study

✔ Oral storytelling is presented as an efficient and powerful language activity that profoundly impacts reading, writing, and social skills.

✔ The study emphasizes how easily storytelling integrates into existing classroom routines.

✔ It highlights the benefits of storytelling for promoting students' academic and social development, especially for diverse learners.

Practical Applications: How Educators Can Use This Research

Course Design

📌 Implement regular oral storytelling sessions as a core component of literacy instruction across all grade levels.

📌 Design activities that encourage students to retell stories, promoting listening comprehension and memory.

📌 Incorporate collaborative storytelling projects to foster social interaction and communication skills.

Evaluation Tools

📌 Use narrative retell assessments to track improvements in students' expressive language and discourse structures.

📌 Observe changes in students' confidence and participation in speaking and listening activities.

📌 Evaluate the impact of oral storytelling on students' vocabulary acquisition and grammatical accuracy.

Instructional Support

📌 Train teachers on various classroom-based oral storytelling techniques and strategies.

📌 Provide educators with resources, such as story prompts, picture cards, and graphic organizers, to support storytelling activities.

📌 Create a classroom environment that encourages risk-taking and celebrates diverse linguistic backgrounds in storytelling.

Conclusion

Classroom-based oral storytelling is an effective and easily integrated practice that significantly benefits students' academic development in reading and writing, as well as their social skills, particularly for students who struggle with oral language.

Key Words

Oral storytelling, Literacy, Reading, Writing, Social skills

Reference

Spencer, T. D., & Pierce, C. (2023). Classroom-based Oral Storytelling: Reading, Writing, and Social Benefits. The Reading Teacher, DOI: 10.1002/rtr.19362714. https://tla.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/rtr.19362714

Suggested Citation

Ross, E. M., & Malar, D. B. J. (2025). Classroom Oral Storytelling Benefits. Excellent Educator, 2(15), 6.