Exploring Extent of Short Stories in Grade 11 English Textbook and Their Implementation in Enhancing Students’ English Language Speaking Skill: Jimma Preparatory School in Focus

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.