Abstract:
The central intention of this research was to explore the contents of short stories addressed and their
extent of implementation to enhance the speaking skill of grade 11 students of Jimma preparatory
school. To attain this objective, a descriptive survey research method was employed. The sample
consisted of grade 11 students of top 12 achievers, 4 English language teachers and instructional
materials of the mentioned grade level. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the target
schools and the targeted respondents of the study. To gather the necessary data, questionnaire,
document analysis and focus group discussion were employed. In analyzing the data, percentage and
frequency in table were used. The results of the study indicated that the short stories addressed to
enhance speaking skill in instructional materials of grade 11 and the speaking activities derived from
the incorporated short stories of the same class were insufficient and they are below the needed. To
implement the incorporated short stories, teachers use different techniques like grouping students
for discussion, motivating them as they retell short stories orally and instructing as students
complete the remain plot of short stories. However, because of different main impeding factors like
large class size, authors‟ culture, voluminous of English language text book and students‟
understanding of the role short stories play in enhancing speaking skill, there was a gap in the
implementation of the integrated short stories. At the end, for the found gap recommendations are
forwarded to alleviate the aforementioned problems in the school under study.
