“Can I Tell You About This…?”: A Qualitative Approach to Understanding Teachers’ Perspectives on Children’s Oral Narrative Skills

Abstract

A burgeoning body of research shows that children who have stronger oral narrative, or storytelling, skills become better readers and writers later on, suggesting that these complex discourse skills play a pivotal role in literacy acquisition. There is evidence, however, that teachers rarely, if ever, implement oral narrative instruction. Understanding teachers’ beliefs about children’s oral narrative skills and the instructional practices they perceive as supporting oral narrative development is crucial for informing efforts to promote the development of these foundational oral language skills. This study used qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with 11 elementary school teachers to examine the significance that teachers attribute to children’s oral narrative skills, the factors they perceive as contributing to oral narrative development, and the practices they report using to support children’s development as storytellers. Results showed that teachers believed that oral narratives matter for children’s social-emotional functioning and literacy achievement and placed responsibility for children’s oral narrative development on the quality of home language and literacy experiences that children have with their families. Teachers reported using instructional practices that were primarily unplanned or aimed at accomplishing other goals, such as assessing children’s reading comprehension. Implications for future research, teacher preparation, and professional learning opportunities for teachers are discussed.