The purposes of this study were to look deeply into how young children's fantasy narrative in terms of content and structure and their participation attitude would change in storytelling and dramatization and to understand their fantasy narrative in a...
The purposes of this study were to look deeply into how young children's fantasy narrative in terms of content and structure and their participation attitude would change in storytelling and dramatization and to understand their fantasy narrative in a specific and meaningful manner.
For those purposes, the following research questions were set:
1. How does young children's fantasy narrative change in storytelling and dramatization?
1-1. How does young children's fantasy narrative change in terms of content in storytelling and dramatization?
1-2. How does young children's fantasy narrative change in terms of structure in storytelling and dramatization?
2. How does young children's participation attitude change in storytelling and dramatization?
The subjects include the 16 five-year-olds of the Class attending the kindergarten attached to W Elementary School located in Gyeongju City, Gyeongsangbuk Province. The research period was about eight months from March 7 to October 22, 2008, during which the investigator gathered a range of data related to young children's fantasy narrative. I also made participant observations of the young children's overall life at the kindergarten, collected the stories they created, observed their dramatization activities, and constantly communicated with the young children, the parents, and fellow teachers about the young children's stories, dramatization activities, and related experiences. While carefully examining and interpreting the collected data, I made efforts to explore the changes to their fantasy narrative in terms of patterns and meanings and understand them in depth.
The major research findings were as follows:
First, the contents of the young children's fantasy narrative were divided into three categories, which were taking the first step into the world of stories, super hero and princess stories, and developing one's own story. The young children added what occurred to them one after another in the early research stage; super hero and princess stories dominated their stories in the middle research stage with princess stories being made, dramatized, and evolved into creative versions for months; and, in the late research stage, the young children's individual characteristics started to show strongly which were developed through months of storytelling and dramatization with their literary experiences, family culture, the source of trouble, interest, and concern reflected in their stories.
Secondly, the young children preferred a long story and made stories by arranging story pieces not related to each other in the early research stage. In the dramatization process, however, their understanding of plots and characters grew profound and they started to share knowledge and ideas related to stories. Such knowledge and ideas about stories gained through dramatization activities were reflected in their stories and led to stories of structurally more developed formats.
And finally, the young children got to take active part in storytelling and regard storytelling and dramatization as favorite play in class after the dramatization of their own stories. Their interest in storytelling and dramatization continued throughout the research period. In the early research stage, their dramatization activities depended on the teacher's explanations. With repetitive participation, however, they began to dramatize a story without the help from the teacher. In the late research stage, they contemplated hard to make good stories as storywriters.
Those findings led to the following conclusions in regard with young children's fantasy narrative:
First, the contents of young children's fantasy narrative in storytelling and dramatization reflect their experiences, interest, and source of trouble and change in relation to the contents of their favorite stories.
Secondly, dramatization activities have the most important influence on the structural changes of fantasy narrative. The knowledge about the content and structure of stories obtained in dramatization is reflected in stories and drives the development of fantasy narrative.
And finally, storytelling and dramatization offer motives for young children to make stories, maintain their interest level, and create an opportunity for them to grow as storywriters.