The Effectiveness of a Read-Aloud Program in Enhancing Oral Narrative and Vocabulary Skills among Grade 2 EFL Students

Abstract

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the impact of a read-aloud program on the oral language development of EFL Grade 2 students and examine its efficacy in story retelling and vocabulary knowledge.

Methods: To achieve the research objectives, 10 weeks of an additional instruction was provided to 220 randomly selected students, forming an experimental group. Another group of 223 participants served as the control group. The oral program consisted of 8 read-aloud stories that were of high quality and interest for Grade 2 level. Each story targeted three target vocabulary words and incorporated analytical questions, guided questions, and retelling activities. The retelling assessment was carried out for both groups.

Results: The results revealed a statistically significant improvement in story retelling and expressive vocabulary scores in favor of the experimental group. Story retelling showed a moderate impact, but the read-alouds had the strongest effect on students’ understanding of the setting, which was the most improved story element. The other elements (characters, main events, and the solution) showed improvement, but the impact was more modest. Students also made progress in using expressive vocabulary, though the effect was smaller.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that read-alouds are important to improve EFL oral language skills through vocabulary and story retelling, so it is recommended that read-aloud programs be integrated as part of the English language curriculum in elementary EFL classes. (222 words).

Keywords: Expressive vocabulary, Narrative retelling, Grade 2, Oral language development, Read-aloud intervention .