The Role and Importance of Storytelling in Developing the Linguistic Faculty of the Algerian Child at the Preparatory Stage

Abstract

The story is among the most powerful literary forms that cultivate virtue within the soul. It serves as the gateway to a child’s inner world, leaving a lasting imprint on their mind and emotions. The child listens to stories with enthusiasm and passion, as they represent a source of pleasure, entertainment, and moral education—especially when narrated according to the essential conditions of quality content, language appropriate to the child’s level, and the use of an engaging dramatic style. Through this, the child spends enjoyable moments following the story’s events, allowing the narrative to have a profound influence on their development and upbringing. In the Algerian context, stories play a key role in enriching children’s linguistic abilities and promoting fluency through a growing passion for reading. They also provide an outlet for emotional expression and satisfy various psychological needs. Furthermore, storytelling contributes significantly to cultural enrichment and the internalization of values and moral principles. Therefore, this study seeks to shed light on the importance of storytelling and its role in developing linguistic competence among Algerian children in preschool and subsequent stages, through the selection of appropriate narrative techniques and by examining their impact on children’s cognition and language. The study concludes that storytelling contributes to enhancing children’s confidence in communication and establishing a strong foundation for comprehensive language skill development. Expanding vocabulary and understanding diverse contexts through exposure to varied story genres (fantasy, educational, social, etc. ) and reinforcing moral and social principles within realistic narrative contexts ,demonstrating how the storyteller’s tone and style profoundly affect children’s engagement, enthusiasm, and linguistic accuracy through listening.And Playing a prominent educational role in preschool and beyond, preparing linguistically sound pupils equipped with a rich linguistic repertoire that broadens their understanding, stimulates listening, comprehension ,and expression skills—thus making storytelling an essential and effective tool for developing Algerian pupils’ linguistic competence.