Patricia Williams Diaw

Storytelling and Writing: Cognitive and Affective Approach to Teaching / Learning Patricia Williams Diaw

Firmly grounded in post positivist constructivism, this study offers a broader perspective for designing student centered writing instructional programs. Through observation, in-depth interviewing, and document collection, a correlation between storytelling and effective writing instruction is judged by a criterion: a) the capability of storytelling to affect students? attitudes about writing, in the standards based learning environment, b) its usefulness in motivating student engagement in the writing process, and (c) the extent to which it enhances writing skill development and self-confidence. A preponderance of the evidence documents the assumption: as a modality of both the affective and cognitive learning domains, storytelling is provocative prewriting activity in the constructivist writing process.