Fairy tales' effect on the articulation skills of three and four-year olds in private kindergartens and day care centers

Problem Statement: Fairy tales are the first literary works which children get to know in preschool. Fairy tales affect children's language development, improve their vocabulary, increase their grammatical knowledge, teach the correct pronunciation of words and enhance their articulation skills. It is need to be contribute determining to relation between articulation skills and fairy tales. Purpose of the Study: In this context, this study aims to determine the effect of telling fairy tales on the articulation skills to three and four-year-olds in private kindergartens and day care centers. Methods: This study used a pretest, training and a posttest with experimental and control groups. The researchers administered the Word Pronunciation Test as the pretest and posttest. This test was created and printed by the Finnish Broadcasting Company and Finland's Ministry of Education and Culture's Counseling and Research Center (1990). The validity and reliability analyses of the test were also done by the same institutions. The study's sample included 72 children (36 females and 36 males) who were selected using random sampling from the day care centers and kindergartens of the Duzce Provincial Directorate's Social Services and Child Protection Agency in the 2013-2014 academic year. The researchers told fairy tales to the children in two 25-minute sessions a week for nine weeks. The tales were told based on learning and teaching methods. After telling the fairy tales to the children, the researchers determined the differences between the experimental and control group. Findings: This study found no difference between the experimental and control groups' results on the Word Pronunciation Test after telling them fairy tales. However, there was a slight increase in the results of the experimental group on the posttest. The researchers plan to examine the influence of fairy tales on other child development using different variables. The researchers also plan to do this study again with a larger sample. Conclusion and Recommendations: It is appropriate for all educators and parents to take language activities as well as fairy tale telling as a basis for supporting articulation skills, which is a fundamental precondition for children's linguistic achievements.