Recorded Story-Listening Videos

By Beniko Mason

About 20 years ago, I began recording Story-Listening sessions so that students who were absent, or those who wished to listen again, could access the stories later. These were not recordings of my classroom teaching with a board and drawings. Instead, I simply told the stories in front of a camera. A staff member in our media center kindly created a webpage so that students could access the recordings online. My colleagues Jeff Smith and Brian Nuspligar also cooperated by recording stories for the students.

Later, a colleague asked me to record a series of stories for use in his own class. I eventually recorded about 45 stories for his students. This became an interesting experiment and raised important questions about the role that recorded Story-Listening might play in language teaching.

The experience also highlighted several limitations. Looking back, many important elements of Story-Listening were missing:

1. I did not know the students personally.
2. I did not know which stories would be most appropriate for them.
3. I did not know their level of language competence.
4. I could not see their reactions while telling the story.
5. I could not adjust the story, pacing, or support in response to their needs.
6. I was not involved in guiding them toward appropriate reading materials.
7. I did not administer evaluation measures such as cloze tests or summary-writing tasks.

Because no formal evaluation data were reported to me, no firm conclusions can be drawn about the effectiveness of the program.

However, the experience reinforced something I have long believed: Story-Listening is more than simply telling stories. In a live Story-Listening session, the teacher continuously adjusts explanations, drawings, pacing, and other forms of comprehension-aiding supplementation (CAS) in response to learners’ understanding. Furthermore, the storyteller comments on characters, situations, and events that are not explicitly stated in the text in order to help learners form mental images and deepen their understanding of the story. A recorded video cannot fully replicate this interaction.

At the same time, recorded Story-Listening may still serve useful purposes. Teachers who are new to Story-Listening often tell me that they are unsure how to begin. Watching stories being told by an experienced storyteller can help them understand the pacing, the use of CAS, and the overall flow of a Story-Listening lesson. Some teachers may also choose to use recorded stories as a temporary support while developing confidence in telling stories themselves. In addition, recorded stories may be useful when a teacher is absent and a substitute teacher needs meaningful input-based material that can be used with students.

For these reasons, I see recorded Story-Listening not as a replacement for live Story-Listening, but as a supplementary resource. It may help teachers learn the technique, support students who miss class, and provide continuity when circumstances make live storytelling difficult. Ultimately, however, the heart of Story-Listening remains the interaction between the storyteller and the learners.