1.

0 Introduction

In the 21st century teaching and learning classroom, there is one term that educators use in
to teach students. The term is language arts. Language arts is the term typically used by
educators to describe the curriculum area that includes four skills of language which are
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. ("Teaching of Language Arts - Models of Language
Arts Instruction, Focus on Outcomes, Language Arts Standards", n.d.). It is clearly stated
that language arts involve the content of language skills in the lesson. Basically, the
educators integrate language arts in the content when they teach the language. The
Language Arts plays a very significant role in the development of communication skills
among learners in the primary school. This process of development directly influences the
students’ ability to be successful learners, to become self-actualized and to lead productive
lives. (Alleyne, Sookoo, Alexis & Vermon, 1999).

In order to plan an effective language arts class, there are few techniques and
strategies that can be used by teacher. Two strategies that I can use to enhance learning in
language arts class are stories and dramatization. These two strategies are also closely
relatable with the bibliotherapy and the multicultural elements. Bibliotherapy is defined as an
interaction between the reader and certain literature which is useful in aiding personal
adjustment. (Lindeman, 1968).

One of the strategies that I want to focus on is stories. Using stories as the medium
to teach language among young learners can be an effective method. Mostly, young
learners enjoy listening to the stories. Stories have power which can bring the young
learners into a world of imagination and draw a colourful picture with many interesting
characters in the story. (Izzah, 2015). Since the target learners are primary students, so this
strategy can be effectively done. We apply stories based on the context that we want to
teach. Then, we integrate the skills that we want to focus on such as speaking and listening.
So, the students learn about stories during the lesson. In the same time, they also enhance
their speaking and listening skills.

Based on the strategy mentioned above, we can relate the usage of stories with the
bibliotherapy. "The work of psychologist Keith Oatley shows us that stories can work as
training instruments to help us navigate our problems." (Jackson, 2016). There are a few
steps to use bibliotherapy in the lesson that we teach using the stories. Firstly, we should
identify the student’s needs especially for those who need to focus on. Next, choose the
appropriate materials that suitable with the students. Then, design the materials for the
students. Materials should be convenience for the students. Some stories can be used for
discussion and resolution for difficulties. (Jackson, 2016). After that, we plan for the lesson
and use it in class. Take note that some students still need our assistance and guidance.
This method can be done either individually or in a group setting. By learning through
stories, students should be able to relate in with real life context. For example, we expose
them with the story of Tortoise and The Hare. The story shows that we must not be
arrogance with our specialities. So, the students need to relate it and apply in their life as a
value that they must have.

In the context of multicultural elements, we can use stories that contain some of the
elements such as value systems, gender issues, family relationships and gender issues. For
example, the story of Mariah by Che Husna Azhari. The story has some elements of
multicultural like gender issues and social issues. When we teach the students using this
story, we can emphasize more on the elements. They can take the knowledge as a lesson in
their life. That is how multicultural elements are integrated in the stories as the strategy to
teach in class.

The second strategy that I want to use in teaching language arts is dramatization.
Dramatization is an excellent activity for learning oral skills in a safe environment of the
classroom. (Samantaray, 2014). Basically, dramatization focus on development of students’
speaking skill. In the same time, dramatization also makes students to enjoy the learning
because it is different from the traditional teaching method. Instead of class that full of tense,
drama class can change it into something that relax. Students also will be able to learn
without frustration. For example, role-play activity. We can provide some examples before
we let them do it by themselves. However, we must be aware that each class consists of
students with mix abilities. So, we should provide some assistant and guidance for them. As
the result, students will be able to enhance their speaking skill with fun. For teachers, we
also able to reach our objectives and create a conducive classroom.

As I mentioned earlier, bibliotherapy can be applied using the stories in lesson.

Dramatization can also be used as the process of bibliotherapy. Bibliotherapy is a
therapeutic approach that uses literature to support good mental health. ("Bibliotherapy",
2016). Mostly, drama contains a lot of literature elements. So, dramatization can be included
as one of the most effective method for bibliotherapy. Dramatization can trigger students’
imagination by giving them a scene. The scene can be selected either from a story or real-
life context. Then, they need to be creative to create the picture in their imagination. Role-
playing can boost self-esteem, increase classroom morale, encourage participation and
create confidence. (Samantaray, 2014).
 In dramatization, there are also multicultural elements included. Instead of the main
purpose which is to enhance students’ speaking skills, we can also apply the culture
awareness in the learning process. It depends on the drama types that we used. For
example, we can use the story of Macbeth by William Shakepeare as the content in
dramatization. In this story, there are many elements that students can learnt from it. So,
teacher needs to make a good decision when selecting drama to be used in language arts
class.

Based on the strategies that I focus on, one type of assessment that can be used to
assess students is the aural-oral assessment. Aural refers to what we hear which is listening
skill and oral refers to what we talk which is our speaking skill. So, aural-oral assessment
can be used to assess students in stories and dramatization. This process can be done
easily because both techniques use two-way communication. For aural-oral assessment in
stories, we assess the students by observing the one who become a storyteller and others
who become the audiences. For the storyteller, we observe their language like
pronunciations and intonations. Meanwhile, the audiences can be assessed through
questions that relate with the storytelling. This method can also be used in dramatization.
Basically, both strategies can be assessed using the aural-oral assessment.

In conclusions, language arts can be done using various type of techniques and
strategies. It depends on how teacher integrates the techniques and strategies in the
teaching and learning process of language arts. These methods can also bring a lot of
benefits for students and teachers. Language arts teaching constitutes a particularly
important area in teacher education, since listening, speaking, reading, and writing permeate
the curriculum; they are essential to learning and to the demonstration of learning in every
content area. ("Teaching of Language Arts - Models of Language Arts Instruction, Focus on
Outcomes, Language Arts Standards", n.d.). So, teacher should be aware and updated with
the development of teaching and learning process in this 21st century education.

(1245 words)
REFERENCES
Alleyne, V., Sookoo, S., Alexis, M., & Vermon, S. (1999). Language Arts. Primary School

Syllabus (INFANTS I & II AND STANDARDS I & II), i-viii.

Bibliotherapy. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/

types/bibliotherapy

Izzah, L. (2015). The Power of Storytelling in Teaching English to Young Learners. In

International Seminar of Early Childhood Care and Education (pp. 556-570). Jakarta:

Penerbit Zikrul Hakim.

Jackson, K. (2016). Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Words. In Social Work Today. USA:

Great Valley Publishing Co.

Lindeman, B. (1968). Bibliotherapy: Definitions, uses and studies. Journal Of School

Psychology, 7(2), 36-41.

Samantaray, P. (2014). Dramatization as a Method of Developing Spoken English Skill. 

International Journal of Language and Linguistic, 1(1), 70-78.

Teaching of Language Arts - Models of Language Arts Instruction, Focus on Outcomes,

Language Arts Standards. Retrieved from https://education.stateuniversity.com/

pages/2155/Language-Arts-Teaching.html