My personal reflection on my research project

Reaction
I was amazed of the power of the printed words since young. As my parents surrounded my young life with lots of storybooks, I became so interested in reading stories which developed an adult reader in me. But in my young mind then, how I wished that my own mother read those stories for me. I was sure that there would be positive outcomes on me and a sense of unexplained joy I would felt if only my own mother did oral storytelling with me. That is why; I know how it felt for a child to wish that his own parent read stories for him orally. I know the longing. I know the feeling.

So when given the chance to do a research, parent involvement in oral storytelling was the first idea that came to my mind. I became keen to prove that there would be positive outcomes for parent involvement. It took me a while to understand that in order for me to prove that, I should be specific on what outcomes I wanted to assess.

Having studied the specific outcomes I wanted to measure, I then embarked on the research project. Though I was enthusiastic, I found along the way that it was not that easy doing the project. I started with the survey for parents. I found some parents to be cooperative, but others took them longer to return the survey forms. Looking for the appropriate books to use for intervention was also a difficult task. Then it hit me hard. How could I provide storytelling kits to my ten participating parents? Ahh, I got no choice but to photocopy the two books I selected in 10 copies each. But my course mates questioned the copyright issue. How dare them to question me when I felt so stressed already? Upon reflection, I was thankful that they brought out that issue for I was able to make the necessary action by providing/pasting notes that they are only meant for the research and not for monetary gain. To make it short I photocopied in colour those pictures for my picture cards and laminated all of them. Imagine, I laminated 200 picture cards, 200 name cards and 200 phrase cards for the storytelling kits. Though stressed and tired, it made me happy for I was able to provide nice materials for the parents.

The development of test format for Vocabulary and Word Recognition measuring expressive and receptive skills on those areas was also taxing. With my previous knowledge of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, I was able to decide on how to go on with the test format. Marie M. Clay’s Observation of Early Literacy was also an inspiration for me in the design of the test format. After a lot of revisions, I finally came to a final test format.

I also developed the survey checklist in gauging parent involvement in oral storytelling and the evaluation checklist for the actual intervention. Though I included items that may not be relevant at the moment, I am confident that the data gathered would be helpful in future research.

Over-all, I am happy that I did this research for I have proven that there is no hardship that could not be overcome. I am also happy that through this research I was able to actually enhance the relevance of parent involvement in oral storytelling. The most that makes me happy is the fact that I became instrumental in forging the bond between parents and children through this experimentation.

Learning
I learnt that parent involvement in oral storytelling can increase scores in word recognition and vocabulary acquisition and was made stronger by the findings of my research. That is why in the future, I will always stress the value of oral storytelling to parents. I will always be available for them in helping them how to be more involved with their children. I can even suggest some techniques on oral storytelling and provide opportunities for parents to be more involved in storytelling.

In the future, I can also conduct a survey or research on the whole centre regarding this topic. I can do a similar research using bigger subjects/participants. I can also use the data I gathered to further some research.

One foremost thing I want to do in the coming future is to relay to parents the findings of my study. I can tell the parents of each child the result of the test administered. In this way, I can convince parents more on the significance of their involvement in oral storytelling to their children’s vocabulary acquisition and word recognition. When they are convinced, surely, they will continue to provide oral storytelling sessions to their children. Their children surely. will grow up to be adult readers and storytellers too in the coming future.