Storytelling motivation: Creating role models with inspirational stories

Abstract

Motivating students is an important concern for language teachers. One of the most direct waysto motivate students is for the teacher to talk them into it. This study investigates theeffectiveness of narrating inspirational stories about successful role models on motivating asample of Saudi university learners of English (N = 270). Teachers of the experimental grouptold their students motivational stories about famous people associated with the English cultureas a warm-up activity for a period of about four weeks. Results of t-tests showed that theexperimental group reported a significant reduction in anxiety (d = 0.41). However, there wereno significant differences between the two groups in integrativeness, motivation, or attitudestoward the learning situation. The role of creating role models for language learners isdiscussed in light of the present results.Keywords: storytelling, role models, anxiety, motivational stories