The Relevance of Folktale in the Teaching and Learning of Literature in Senior Secondary Schools. A Case Study of Owerri Municipal Council
Chapter One
Objective of the study.
The objectives of the study are;
- To ascertain the view of students towards` using folktales in teaching literature in secondary school in Owerri municipal council
- To ascertain the effects of folktales in teaching of literature in secondary school of Owerri municipal council
- To ascertain the relationship folktale and understanding literature in secondary school.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Folktales
Folktales form one of the genres of prose narratives. Ruth (1984, p.163) describes a folktale as, “The prose narrative genre” of oral literature while Bascom (1965, p. 4) says folktales are prose narratives regarded as fiction. They are not considered as dogma or history, they may or may not have happened, and they are not to be taken seriously. Folktales may be set in any time and any place and in this sense they are almost timeless and placeless. Furthermore, a folktale especially the common type of tale follows conventions such as formulaic beginning and ending (“Once upon a time . . . ” “. . . they lived happily ever after”), a setting not highly particularized in terms of time or place, flat and often stock characters, animal or human, and fairly simple plots (Kennedy and Gioia, 2007). Folktales provide a good source for language teaching. Kachru (1991) asserts that folktales sensitize the learners to language skills and should be employed by the teacher in the language class. Apart from inculcating certain cultural values in the learners, folktales offer them a variety of speech forms which he/she can imitate to greater communication efficiency. At the point where the child considers folktales as language, the literary genre further facilitates language learning In similar ways, Courtney (1974) pointed to the educational values of folktales showing that there is a similarity between ancient thinking and the thought of childhood, and that folktales make direct appeals to the thought of the child because they evoke the elements of man`s curious nature. Recall of folktales has such a compelling force on the child as would induce him to learn in order to become a complete human being. The impressions that folktales create in the minds of children often last long. For example, May (1998) repeated that children experience the least difficulty when they have to retell their favorite folktales earlier read to them by their teacher. In this observation, the understandability of the folktale emerges from the familiarity of the folktales with students’ experience.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the relevance of folktale in the teaching of literature in senior secondary schools
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information the relevance of folktale in the teaching of literature in senior secondary schools. 200 staffs of selected primary schools in Owerri municipal council was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the relevance of folktale in the teaching and learning of literature in senior secondary school. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenge of folktale in the teaching and learning of literature in senior secondary school
Summary
This study was on the relevance of folktale in the teaching and learning of literature in senior secondary school. A case study of Owerri Municipal council Three objectives were raised which included: To ascertain the view of students towards` using folktales in teaching literature in secondary school in Owerri municipal council, to ascertain the effects of folktales in teaching of literature in secondary school of Owerri municipal council and to ascertain the relationship folktale and understanding literature in secondary school. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staffs of selected secondary schools in Owerri municipal council. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principals, vice principals adm, teachers and junior staffs were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Clearly, folklore teaching plays a significant role in every young learner’s development of mother tongue. This is because different forms of folklore genre such as folktales, myths, legends, folk praise and riddles that are to be part of literacy teaching in secondary school. Hence, folklore empowers learners with knowledge of self, identity and acknowledgement of their own cultures. Teachers are to serve as agencies of knowledge transfer of these genres of oral tradition because they assist in bridging the gap between language used at home and the one used at school. Subsequently, it allows them an opportunity for interactive storytelling and brain teasing sessions. Young learners are offered an opportunity to develop the language they are familiar through engagement in different forms of interactive activities. Such activities also assist in bringing awareness of cultural identity to learners. They eventually learn that there is a vibrant relationship between culture and language.
Recommendation
Teachers should keep a bank of these folklore genres for their preservation as well as for their significance in language development. These teachers need to acquaint learners with knowledge of these folklore and also allow them to retell stories and use riddles as a form of understanding and relearning them. This will assist in developing their mother tongue and also increase their vocabulary within the language. Learners need to understand their origins and identity; linguistically and culturally through folklore. The characteristics of African folklore contribute towards learners’ understanding of their culture and language. It can never be underestimated that the understanding of one’s language is shaped by one’s culture.
References
- Aasland EA 2009. Two heads are better than one: Using conceptual mapping to analyse proverb meaning. Proverbium: Yearbook of International Proverb Scholarship, 16.
- Abidogun BG 2012. Teachers’ Experiences of Using Yoruba as a Medium of Instruction in Primary Classes: Implications for Learning. PhD Thesis, Unpublished. Pretoria. University of Pretoria.
- Ball J 2010. Enhancing Learning of Children from Diverse Language Backgrounds: Mother Tongue Based Bilingual or Multilingual Education in Early Childhood and Early Primary School Years. Victoria, Canada: Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships, University of Victoria.
- Banda D, Morgan WJ 2013. Folklore as an instrument of education among the Chewa people of Zambia. International Review of Education, 59(2): 197-216.
- Barker KB, Rice C 2012. Folk Illusions: An unrecognised genre of folklore? Journal of American Folklore, 125(498): 444-473.
- Biersterker L 2010. Scaling-up early child development in South Africa: Introducing a reception year (Grade R) for children aged 5 years as the first year of schooling. Wolfensohn Centre for Development, 1: 1-76.
- Bowman PB 2006. Standing at the crossroads of folklore and education. Journal of American Folklore, 119(471): 66-79.
- Bulotsky-Shearer RJ, Bell ER, Romero SL, Carter TM 2012. Preschool interactive peer play mediates problem behaviour and learning for low-income children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 33(1): 53-65.
- Butzkamm W 2003. We only learn language once. The role of mother tongue in FL classrooms: Death of dogma. Language Learning Journal, 28: 29-39.
- Davin R 2013. Handbook for Grade R teaching. Pearson: Cape Town. Department of Education 1996. South African Schools’ Act. Pretoria: Department of Education. Department of Education 1997. Language in Policy Education. Pretoria: Department of Education.
- Kim H 2006. The Role of Folktales Today. Telling tales from Southeast Asia and Korea: Teachers’ Guide. From (Retrieved on 29 December 2015).
- Laguarda AI, Woodward WP 2013. They own this: Mother tongue instruction for indigenous Kuku Children in Southern Sudan. School Psychology International, 34(4): 453-469
