The Effects of the Storytelling Teaching Approach on English Speaking Proficiency Among Primary Pupils in China: An Embedded Mixed-Methods Study

This study examined the effects of the Storytelling Teaching Approach (STA) on Chinese primary pupils’ English speaking proficiency and explored how classroom processes supported such development. An embedded mixed-methods quasi-experimental design was employed in a public primary school in China over a 13-week intervention period. Four intact Grade 5 classes participated, with two classes assigned to the experimental group and two to the control group. The quantitative strand was primary and involved a pretest-posttest comparison of pupils’ speaking proficiency using an adapted Cambridge English: A2 Flyers speaking test rated analytically across four dimensions: pronunciation, vocabulary usage, grammatical accuracy, and fluency. Because most speaking variables did not satisfy normality assumptions, Mann-Whitney U tests were used for between-group comparisons and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for within-group comparisons. To explain the quantitative results, qualitative data were collected through classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with selected pupils. The quantitative findings showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group at posttest in overall speaking proficiency as well as in pronunciation, vocabulary usage, grammatical accuracy, and fluency. Both groups improved over time, but the gains in the experimental group were substantially greater. The qualitative findings further indicated that STA supported speaking development through multimodal scaffolding, rehearsal and retelling opportunities, embodied and creative oral production, peer collaboration, perceived progress, and a low-threat classroom environment. The study suggests that STA may be a pedagogically meaningful approach for supporting young learners’ oral English development in Chinese primary classrooms.