Original article. Vol. 4 - Nro. 4, pp. 273 - 287. October 2026. E-ISSN: 2960-8015
Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development,
and Audiovisual Resources for EFL Learning in Early Childhood
Education: The Case of “Aula Manglar” in the Galapagos Islands
Persistent lymphadenopathy in an infant: tuberculous lymphadenitis with
seropositivity for Toxocara canis and Bartonella henselae
Carlos Daniel Cazco Maldonado 1 ,
Grazia Trentini
2*,
Paola Vanessa Santamaría Velásquez 3,
1 Dirección de Idiomas, Universidad Yachay Tech. ccazco@yachaytech.edu.ec.
San Miguel de Urcuquí, Ecuador.
2 Dirección de Idiomas, Universidad Yachay Tech. gtrentini@yachaytech.edu.ec.
San Miguel de Urcuquí, Ecuador.
3 Dirección de Idiomas, Universidad Yachay Tech. psantamaria@yachaytech.edu.ec.
San Miguel de Urcuquí, Ecuador.
How to cite?
Cazco Maldonado, C. D. ., Trentini , G. ., & Santamaría Velásquez, P. V. . (2026). Historias Contextualiza-
das, Desarrollo Profesional Docente y Recursos Audiovisuales para el Aprendizaje de EFL en Educación
Infantil: El Caso de “Aula Manglar” en las Islas Galápagos. Revista Multidisciplinaria Investigación Contem-
poránea, 4(4), 273-287. https://doi.org/10.58995/redlic.rmic.v4.n4.a247
Received: 10-06-2026
Accepted: 01-09-2026
Published: 01-10-2026
Editor’s Note
REDLIC remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published articles and institutional
ailiations.
Editorial
Latin American Editorial Network for Contemporary
Research (REDLIC)
www.editorialredlic.com
Funding Sources
The research was conducted using the authors’ own
resources.
Conicts of Interest
No conicts of interest are reported.
This is an open-access article under a Creative
Commons (CC BY 4.0) de Atribución 4.0 Internacional
https://doi.org/10.58995/redlic.rmic.v4.n4.a247
Revista multidisciplinaria
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.58995/redlic.rmic.v4.n4.a247 274 - 287
Cazco et al. Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development
10 - 2026
Abstract
Although context-based instructional materials, teacher education, and active pedagogical
methodologies are necessarily important in early language learning, rural and isolated places
often use standard curricula not linked to local context. This article shares the conclusions of
a project carried out by Universidad Yachay Tech in the Galapagos Islands under the name of
Proyecto de Vinculación con la Sociedad (Code: VS_PG_02_PY_09_FC). The initiative designed,
implemented, and validated contextualized audiovisual and pedagogical resources—specically
through the open-access storytelling series “Orion and Isabella’s Adventures” published by
Editorial UNAE—to strengthen English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning among basic
education children in the “Aula Manglar” classroom environment. The objective of this study
is to describe, in an integrated manner, the design and implementation of these contextualized
storytelling materials together with the accompanying teacher professional development process,
and to present initial evidence of how this combined intervention relates to children’s engagement,
condence, and reading interaction. Based on established frameworks for teacher professional
development, the present study provides evidence of the initial collaborative diagnostic meetings
with local English teachers from partner institutions (Educational Institution/UE Stella Maris
and Educational Institution/UE Jacinto Gordillo) and committed volunteers from the Manglar
School. Using a qualitative-descriptive methodology and based on systematically logged eld
notes (bitácora) obtained during face-to-face pedagogical events beginning in June 2026, the study
identies a total of 46 separate institution-based interventions, including 18 sessions dedicated
to “Aula Manglar”; 7 Conversation Club interventions among secondary-level schools, and 10
hybrid community sessions. As a result of data collected by local teachers, many critical gaps
were identied within modern methodology and schools’ alignment with the national curricular
threads of the Ecuadorian curriculum. This made it necessary to co-design a plan of action to
work toward integrating local educational needs/suggestions with the targeted customization
of instructional materials. The evidence reveals that providing vocabulary, grammar usage, and
reading comprehension that are rooted in familiar ecological/cultural context, combined with
specic professional development for teachers, teaches students to be more engaged situationally,
more condent communicatively, and more inclined to interact with printed text.
Keywords: contextualized material, storytelling, teacher training, professional development,
curriculum threads.
Resumen
La adquisición temprana de una segunda lengua requiere materiales didácticos adaptados al
contexto, docentes en constante formación y metodologías que promuevan la participación del
estudiantado. A pesar de ello, numerosas comunidades rurales e insulares continúan trabajando
con currículos estandarizados que no reejan sus realidades sociales, culturales ni educativas.
Este artículo expone los resultados de una iniciativa de vinculación con la sociedad (Código:
VS_PG_02_PY_09_FC) impulsada por la Dirección de Idiomas de la Universidad Yachay Tech
en Puerto Villamil, Isla Isabela, Galápagos. En este proyecto se diseñaron, implementaron y
validaron recursos pedagógicos y audiovisuales contextualizados—especícamente a través de
la serie de cuentos de acceso abierto “Orion and Isabella’s Adventures”, publicada por Editorial
Revista multidisciplinaria
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Cazco et al. Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development
10 - 2026
UNAE— con el propósito de fortalecer el aprendizaje del inglés como lengua extranjera (EFL) en
niños de educación básica dentro del espacio denominado “Aula Manglar”. El presente estudio
tiene como objetivo describir de manera articulada el diseño y la implementación de materiales
contextualizados basados en storytelling, así como el proceso de desarrollo profesional docente
que acompaña su aplicación. Asimismo, busca aportar evidencia preliminar sobre la relación entre
esta intervención y el interés, la conanza y la interacción de los niños durante las actividades
de lectura. Desde los fundamentos teóricos del desarrollo profesional docente, se examinan los
primeros encuentros diagnósticos y participativos realizados con los profesores de inglés de las
instituciones aliadas, la Unidad Educativa (UE) Stella Maris y la UE Jacinto Gordillo y con los
voluntarios de la Escuela Manglar.
El estudio adopta un enfoque cualitativo de alcance descriptivo y se sustenta en el análisis
sistemático de las bitácoras de campo elaboradas durante las intervenciones presenciales
desarrolladas en junio de 2026. En estos registros se documentaron 46 acciones institucionales
autónomas, entre las cuales se incluyeron 18 sesiones del “Aula Manglar,” 7 talleres del Club de
Conversación dirigidos a estudiantes de secundaria, y 10 jornadas comunitarias en modalidad
híbrida. Los aportes de los docentes locales permitieron reconocer brechas importantes tanto en
el uso de metodologías contemporáneas como en la articulación de las prácticas pedagógicas
con los ejes curriculares ociales del sistema educativo ecuatoriano. En respuesta a estas
necesidades, se diseñó de manera colaborativa un plan de acción que incorporó las experiencias,
recomendaciones y expectativas del profesorado en el proceso de adaptación de los materiales.
Los resultados preliminares sugieren que vincular el vocabulario, las estructuras gramaticales
y la comprensión lectora con el contexto ecológico y cultural del estudiantado, junto con un
acompañamiento docente focalizado, puede favorecer el interés situacional, fortalecer la conanza
comunicativa y promover una interacción más activa de los niños con los textos escritos.
Palabras clave: material contextualizado, storytelling, capacitación docente, desarrollo
profesional, ejes curriculares.
1. Introduction
There is a strong connection between
how children learn foreign languages and
their emotional experiences, cognitive
development and their culture, all of
which are heavily inuenced by their
immediate environment (Bruner, 1983;
Celce-Murcia, 2014; Vygotsky, 1978).
However, in Ecuador, EFL is commonly
taught in settings that have large
dierences between the way EFL is taught
and the students’ experience learning EFL
in their community. For example, rural,
remote, and coastal areas such as the
Galapagos Islands have varying forms of
implementation to teach EFL. Standard
public textbooks and generic international
curricula are rarely reective of the hyper-
local environmental, ecological, and social
dynamics of insular regions. As stated
by Tomlinson (2012) in the framework
of materials development theory, this
disconnect leads to a lack of pedagogical
coherence, leading to lower student
engagement and fewer opportunities for
cognitive support. EFL teachers observe
that authentic and meaningful experience
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is vital for young learners in developing
a stable lexicon without undergoing
mental fatigue or psychological alienation
(Nunan, 2015; Richards & Rodgers, 2014).
Teacher training scaolds are of equal
importance to contextualized materials
making. The process of change inuenced
by contextualized materials will only
occur if trained teachers and eective
institutional support personnel are
present who possess current knowledge
in student-centred methods of teaching
(Borg, 2015; Harmer, 2015). In the instance
of isolated locations like Isla Isabela,
the geographical distance places a lot
of obstacles to the ongoing process of
Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) concerning modern methods
such as the use of Task-Based Learning
(TBL) and storytelling. Hence, there is a
need for sustainable educational change
that involves two components: making
contextualized materials and participation
in a strong partnership with local teachers
and volunteers to integrate their ideas in
the teaching process (Darling-Hammond
et. al., 2017; Freeman, 2016; Burhan et al.,
2024).
To address these socio-educational
inequities, the Language Center (Dirección
de Idiomas) at Yachay Tech University
launched the Community Outreach
Project (Proyecto de Vinculación con
la Sociedad) titled “Orion and Isabella:
Desarrollo de recursos audiovisuales y
pedagógicos para fortalecer el aprendizaje
del idioma inglés en niños de educación
básica en la comunidad educativa de Santa
Isabella, Galápagos” (Code: VS_PG_02_
PY_09_FC), articulated alongside the
institutional program “Fortalecimiento
del conocimiento del idioma inglés
en la sociedad.” This project involves
the participation of higher-education
students from advanced English levels
(Levels 3 to 6) in real-life material design.
The project combines academic skills and
community-based needs.
The focused intervention strategy
is based on storytelling using the free
narrative universe of Orion and Isabella’s
Adventures, published in Editorial
UNAE (Cazco Maldonado et al. 2022,
2023). Storytelling can be dened as an
immersive medium in the pedagogy of
young learners, which makes it possible to
skip the traditional approach in teaching
grammar (Ellis and Brewster 2014; Wright
2008; Alkilani & Zhang, 2024) and to
enable young learners to experience the
functioning of cognitive mechanisms of
understanding, empathy, and contextual
memory acquisition. Children should
be taught how to read because reading
is an important factor in vocabulary
acquisition, phonology dierentiation,
and creative thinking (Cameron 2001;
Shin and Crandall 2014). The activity
presented in this project corresponds
to the mandatory curriculum priorities
established by the Ecuadorian Ministry
of Education (Ministerio de Educación,
Deporte y Cultura [MINEDUC]) because it
prescribes how to involve communication
and cultural understanding, verbal
communication, reading, and art into
each academic subject (MINEDUC, 2026).
Objectives. The general objective of
this study is to describe and analyze,
in an integrated manner, the design,
implementation, and initial evaluation of
contextualized storytelling materials and
the accompanying teacher professional
development process carried out through
the “Aula Manglar” initiative. The specic
objectives are: (a) to characterize the
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Cazco et al. Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development
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collaborative diagnostic process conducted
with local English teachers and community
volunteers; (b) to describe the co-design
and contextualization of the “Orion
and Isabella’s Adventures” storytelling
materials in response to teachers’ needs;
and (c) to present descriptive evidence
of the implementation’s reach and of
children’s engagement, condence, and
reading interaction during the “Aula
Manglar” sessions.
2. Problem Statement and
Justication
The structural problems of EFL instruc-
tion within the Galapagos context inclu-
de geographical separation, absence of
professional teacher training, and lack of
pedagogic materials relevant to the lear-
ners’ experiences. Standardized textbooks
often present vocabulary items in a very
distant, urban, or exotic manner (e.g., pu-
blic transportation, skyscrapers, plants in
a cold climate), which seems completely
irrelevant for the student living in a remo-
te coastal area. When children fail to rela-
te language items to their surroundings,
there is loss of retention, and mechanical
memorization is evident (Ghosn, 2013).
In addition, the presence of insuicient
quantity of high-quality culture-specic
literature in rural areas leads to a lack
of interest in children’s literature in
general, which negatively impacts the
children’s reading habits, as not having
anything interesting makes the process
of reading seem boring to them. The
process of acquiring reading skills is
necessary in order to build up an essential
literacy framework needed for acquiring
cognitive academic language prociency
(Cummins, 2000). If the child does not
nd any literature that reects his/her
reality and surroundings, then reading
will be perceived as another school task,
which needs to be performed rather than
an exciting activity. For EFL educators, a
major professional challenge is nding a
compromise between linguistic diiculty
and contextual familiarity in assigned
tasks in order to refrain from cognitive
overload (Pinter, 2017).
The issue is compounded by the
historical exclusion of local primary school
teachers and community volunteers in
the curriculum design process. Teachers
are often required to follow a prescribed
set of standardized books, which are not
customized for local needs. It is therefore
vital to put in place the appropriate
training for these teachers and community
volunteer coaches who understand their
pupils’ prole concerning cognitive
and behavioral aspects. Failure to take
into consideration their operational
suggestions results in disconnection
between top-down resources and the
actual situation in the classrooms
(Kumaravadivelu, 2012; Wedell, 2009).
Therefore, establishing an eective,
sustainable bilingual framework requires
the systemic collection of eld-based data
on teachers’ experiences, challenges, and
pedagogical preferences.
The Editorial UNAE Orion and
Isabella’s Adventures series allows
teachers to use storytelling as a tool to
respond to this specic vulnerability. By
placing a curious, green alien (Orion)
who is new to Earth next to a local human
girl (Isabella) who is also learning her
own environment, the stories create a
cognitive connection for the students. As
the characters journey through the story,
they will dene, describe, and interact
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with their environment (i.e., use English)
just like the student will. This framework
provides an organic justication for
vocabulary introduction (e.g., marine
iguanas, blue-footed boobies, and
volcanic formations) and establishes a
low-aective-lter atmosphere (Krashen,
1982) where reading is transformed into
an interactive, communal adventure.
When literacy instruction reects the local
context, children are more likely to perceive
reading as a familiar and empowering
resource for environmental stewardship
and intercultural communication.
Accordingly, this study addresses three
closely related challenges: (a) the limited
availability of teaching materials that
represent the island environment; (b)
the lack of pedagogical guidance and
professional-development opportunities
that would enable local teachers to
adapt or develop these resources; and
(c) the diiculties children experience in
acquiring vocabulary, using grammatical
structures, and developing reading
comprehension when classroom content
is disconnected from their everyday
surroundings.
3. Methodology
The study adopts a qualitative descriptive
methodology grounded in the principles
of action research and university–
community engagement (vinculación
con la sociedad). The location of the
action research was the “Aula Manglar”
classroom situated within the Manglar
school environment in Puerto Villamil,
Isabela Island, created in partnership
with the non-governmental organization
Asociación Uniendo Fuerzas Formamos
Futuro (UFFF).
The population that was targeted in
this study consisted of several groups of
individuals, including elementary school
students who took the “Aula Manglar”
special reinforcement classes, secondary
school pupils from partner institutions
(Unidad Educativa Stella Maris and
Unidad Educativa Jacinto Gordillo),
government oicials working in Isabela
(Gobierno Autónomo Descentralizado
[GAD] Municipal de Isabela), as well
as English teachers and community
members from dierent groups.
Contextualized storytelling materials
The pedagogical sessions delivered at
the Mangrove Classroom used the Orion
and Isabella’s Adventures series as the
narrative basis for storytelling-based
vocabulary and reading activities. The
series consists of four regional volumes
— Highlands, Coast, Amazon, and
Galápagos — each set in one of Ecuador’s
four natural regions and built around
locally relevant ora, fauna, and cultural
elements (Table 1). Given the island context
in which the project was implemented,
the Galápagos volume was used as the
main instructional resource. Nevertheless,
selected passages and vocabulary from
the Coast, Highlands, and Amazon
volumes were incorporated to familiarize
children with Ecuador’s broader cultural
and biological diversity. The storytelling
sessions also included printed activities
and audiovisual resources developed by
the project team. Through repeated and
scaolded engagement with the stories,
these materials supported vocabulary
retention and reading comprehension
(Vygotsky, 1978).
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Table 1. Regional volumes of the Orion and Isabella’s Adventures series used in the
Mangrove Classroom sessions.
Region Volume Author(s) Pedagogical focus
Galápagos Orion and Isabela’s
Adventures in the
Galápagos
Cazco Maldonado et
al. (2022a)
Endemic species, insular
ecosystems, and conservation
vocabulary; primary volume
used at the Mangrove Classroom
Highlands Orion and Isabela’s
Adventures in the
Highlands
Cazco Maldonado et
al. (2022b)
Andean geography, indigenous
traditions, and highland
biodiversity vocabulary
Amazon Orion and Isabela’s
Adventures in
Amazonia
Cazco Maldonado et
al. (2023a)
Rainforest biodiversity,
indigenous nationalities, and
conservation vocabulary
Coast Orion and Isabela’s
Adventures in the
Coast
Cazco Maldonado et
al. (2023b)
Coastal ecosystems, marine life,
and community livelihoods
vocabulary
this research project involved ve major
lines of action, including (a) outreach and
meetings with the educational, municipal,
and other relevant authorities; (b) a
conversational club held through the use
of rotating columns in which questions
were asked depending on students’ level
of English; (c) compiling and preparation
of the printed and other supportive
audiovisual materials for the “Manglar”
classroom; (d) hybrid English classes
combining face-to-face and online classes
via Zoom for the participants of the
course; and (e) dierent closing activities,
including closing of the English Club and
the “Manglar” classroom itself.
2. Institutional Indicators: The
quantitative indicators that determine
compliance with the implementation of
the university work plan during the rst
in-person mission (15 June – 29 June 2026),
which has been approved by the certied
professors Mgs. Paola Vanessa Santamaría
All four volumes are published in open
access by Editorial UNAE under a Creative
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-
Share Alike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license and
are explicitly designed to accompany the
communication and cultural awareness, oral
communication, and reading and language
strands of Ecuador’s Ministry of Education
curriculum for fourth-grade primary
students, which further supports their
pertinence for the Mangrove Classroom
sessions.
The process of collecting data involved
utilizing a broad base of tracking and
compliance diagnostic means, including:
1. The Systematic Pedagogical Log
(Bitácora): This would include records
that noted the specic nature of the task
undertaken during each interaction.
With the help of activity books, videos,
pictures, registries, lists of attendees, and
minutes of meetings, the information
would be gathered. The activities under
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Velásquez and Mgs. Grazia Trentini under
the project direction of Mgs. Carlos Daniel
Cazco Maldonado.
3. Teacher Needs Assessments: Semi-
structured diagnostic sessions, focus
groups, and co-design meetings were
conducted during the initial phases of the
visit with English instructors from UE Stella
Maris, UE Jacinto Gordillo, and the active
instructional volunteers of the Manglar
school. This data collection focused
on transcribing structural classroom
challenges, content pacing limitations,
and concrete teacher recommendations
for material optimization (Wallace, 1998).
The intervention relied heavily on using
Orion and Isabella’s Adventures as the
primary reading and multimedia text. As
endorsed by contemporary young learner
methodologies, sessions were organized
around pre-reading (context activation
through visual elements, predicting,
and eliciting local rst-language (L1)
terminology), while-reading (guided
interactive reading, dramatic vocal
modelling, and vocabulary mapping),
and post-reading activities (creation of
physical crafts, drawing, communicative
games, and interactive role-playing)
(Gibbons, 2015; Slattery & Willis, 2001).
Given that teacher training is regarded
as a crucial condition for the sustainability
of any pedagogical innovation, the rst
on-site phase included a dedicated
diagnostic component with the English
teachers of the schools visited. During
this phase, the project team held the
rst formal socialization and needs-
diagnosis meetings with the English
teachers of Stella Maris School and Jacinto
Gordillo School and engaged informally
with the community volunteers who
support the Mangrove Classroom.
Through semi-structured discussions,
the project team examined the teaching
tools and approaches currently used
by local educators, the challenges they
frequently encounter in their classrooms,
and the systemic constraints aecting
the adoption of contemporary, active
methodologies such as storytelling.
Teachers were also invited to identify
the training topics, resources, and forms
of classroom assistance they considered
most relevant. Their responses were
documented to ensure that future
professional-development sessions and
adaptations to the storytelling materials
were informed by local needs and actual
classroom conditions rather than by a
predetermined external agenda.
Data analysis
Logbook data were systematized and clas-
sied by category, date, and activity type
to build descriptive compliance indicators
and a comparative matrix between the
tentative schedule and actual execution.
The analysis was qualitative-descriptive
in nature, without manipulation of varia-
bles or comparison groups.
Action research design
The study employed an action research
design with a qualitative-descriptive
approach, following the classic action
research cycle (Burns, 2010; Wallace,
1998). The ve stages of the cycle were
aligned with the project activities
outlined previously. The diagnostic
stage involved collaborative meetings
with English teachers from UE Stella
Maris and UE Jacinto Gordillo, as well
as volunteers from “Manglar School.”
During the planning stage, participants
jointly developed an action plan that
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Cazco et al. Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development
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incorporated teachers’ recommendations
concerning instructional pacing, phonemic
support, and the contextualization of
the Orion and Isabella storylines. The
action stage comprised 46 institution-
based interventions, including “Aula
Manglar” sessions, Conversation Club
workshops, and Hybrid Community
Course meetings. Observation and data
collection were conducted through a
structured pedagogical log (bitácora),
attendance records, and audiovisual
documentation. Finally, the reection
stage involved organizing and analyzing
the collected information, which guided
subsequent revisions to the materials
and the planning of future professional-
development sessions.
Ethical considerations
The project was implemented under an
existing institutional agreement between
Universidad Yachay Tech and the
Asociación Uniendo Fuerzas Formamos
Futuro (UFFF). Formal permissions to
conduct the activities were granted by
the authorities of Stella Maris School,
Jacinto Gordillo School, and the Isabela
Municipal Government. Because the
initiative involved non-experimental
educational and community-engagement
activities, with no direct health-related
interventions or collection of sensitive
personally identiable data to humans,
formal ethics committee approval was
not required. Student condentiality was
protected by anonymizing the records
and reporting the information only in
aggregate form.
4. Results and Discussion
The execution of the eld intervention
generated substantial descriptive and
qualitative metrics, which validate the
administrative and educational eicacy
of the outreach model. To orient the rea-
der, the results below distinguish partici-
pant groups by activity type: elementary
school children participated in the “Aula
Manglar” sessions (Section 4.3); local
English teachers and community volun-
teers participated in the diagnostic mee-
tings and co-design process (Section 4.2);
secondary school students took part in
the Conversation Club workshops; adult
community members and municipal wor-
kers from Isabella took part in the Hybrid
Community Course (Section 4.4); and
higher-education students from Yachay
Tech contributed to material design and
eld execution, as described in the metho-
dology presented previously in the ou-
treach community project plan.
4.1. Compliance Indicators and Activity
Distribution
The institutional compliance report of June
2026 indicates that 46 major pedagogical
and institutional record transactions took
place during the reporting period. The
disseminated information reects the
distribution of transactions within the
various operational categories.
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Cazco et al. Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development
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Field Action Category Records (Bitácora) Verication Medium Status
Aula Manglar and Materials 18 Classroom observation,
material inventory
Completed
Meetings and Socialization 10 Administrative minutes,
oicial letters
Completed
Hybrid Community Course 10 Attendance sheets (Zoom
+ Presential)
Completed
Conversation Club 7 School teacher logs,
participant count
Completed
Institutional Closure 1 Final public act, validation
agreement
Completed
as to ensure the eective presentation of
the problem’s nature. The collection of
eld materials allowed us to record the
recurring problem scenarios and develop
a comprehensive action plan to implement
it immediately. The co-designed structure
incorporates the recommendations
given by the language teachers through
such activities as adjusting the speed
of information delivery, phonemic
suggestions, and framing the story lines
of Orion and Isabella according to specic
conditions typical for the classrooms of
this island.
It is essential to highlight that the open
access publication model of the Orion
and Isabella storybook series published
by Editorial UNAE has been developed
based on certain core curriculum strands.
These core curriculum strands include
Communication and Cultural Awareness,
Oral Communication, Reading, and
Language through the Arts. The local
teachers supported the application of the
integration since they were able to use the
required pacing guides and tell children
a story of local importance. When the
teachers’ proposals were considered, the
pre-, during, and post-reading templates
present in the text were supplemented
4.2. Diagnostic Meetings and Teacher
Needs Assessment
An essential part of the face-to-face in-
tervention consisted of the carrying out
of the very rst collaborative diagnostic
meeting with the local teachers of English
in the visited institutions and the volun-
teers of the Manglar school. This had been
the occasion for the gathering of the infor-
mation, patterns, and needs in a systema-
tic way, which had been in place right in
the eld of insular EFL teaching. The lo-
cal teachers from the UE Stella Maris and
UE Jacinto Gordillo stated that although
their students have English exposure for
periods of up to 10 to 12 hours a week due
to the nature of the bilingual education
programs, they suered from the lack of
modern pedagogical materials.
Moreover, the pedagogical volunteers
associated with the Manglar school
emphasized that primary-age learners
manifest a prompt shift towards
disengagement whenever reading
sessions make use of any standard
external prototypes. The volunteers
recommended, with a considerable degree
of condence, that any teaching material
should focus on ecological features of
the area and geographical landmarks so
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Cazco et al. Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development
10 - 2026
with the local vocabulary during the
Aula Manglar sessions (e.g., identifying
endemic bird species or coastal volcanic
formations) to provide information about
the grammar structures required for use
in the primary educational institution.
4.3. Narrative Implementation in the
“Aula Manglar”
The 18 operational sessions conducted as
part of the “Aula Manglar” provided am-
ple opportunity for practical testing of the
“Orion and Isabella’s Adventures” series.
The events enabled the children to learn
from rote memorization to engaging in
storytelling sessions where they were able
to listen to the story. When traditional lite-
racy activities encompassed narratives re-
lated to their surroundings, children were
able to express much more in the target
language by way of spontaneous speech.
For example, when the children read about
the local animals of the Galapagos, they
could readily combine L1 environmental
concepts and second-language (L2) struc-
tures without using the dictionary. The
physical layout of the “Aula Manglar”
became an immersive space where the
characters of Orion and Isabella acted as
peer-learners, radically minimizing class-
room anxiety and reinforcing the classic
concept of the aective lter as a determi-
nant in early child acquisition (Krashen,
1982; Lightbown & Spada, 2013).
4.4. Secondary and Institutional
Articulation Outcomes
Beyond primary education, the project
cross-pollinated into regional secondary
education institutions. The 7 Conversa-
tion Club records were developed for the
4th through 10th years of Educación Ge-
neral Básica (EGB) (of which there are 4
levels - 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th) as well as for
the overall Bachillerato (of which there are
4 levels - rst, second, third, and fourth).
The workshops employed sophisticated
conversational methods that investiga-
ted regional identication while stimula-
ting discussions, criticisms, and mentor-
ship among learners. In addition, the 10
Hybrid Community Courses eectively
worked with the adult population and/
or workers in GAD Municipal de Isabela,
helping the participants’ sessions in com-
municating. The course employed a com-
bination of classes in person and online
meetings via Zoom, focusing on such sub-
jects as English use in practice, phonetics,
and performing real-life events through
role-play (e.g., eco-tourism management
and public interaction), aligning with the
communicative approach outlined by Lar-
sen-Freeman and Anderson (2011).
5. Conclusions
1. In remote and biodiverse settings
such as the Galápagos Islands,
instructional resources grounded in
learners’ immediate environment can
make education more relevant and
responsive. In contrast, decontextualized
teaching practices may hinder children’s
ability to connect new knowledge with
their existing experiences, thereby
reducing their motivation to learn.
2. The success of this initiative also
depends on sustained professional
development for teachers and community
volunteers. Incorporating their practical
insights helps ensure that the materials
respond to local classroom conditions
while remaining aligned with Ecuador’s
national curriculum.
3. Storytelling through the Orion and
Isabella’s Adventures series oers an
Revista multidisciplinaria
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Cazco et al. Contextualized Storytelling, Professional Teacher Development
10 - 2026
engaging and low-anxiety approach to EFL
learning for students, especially young
children. By embedding vocabulary in
meaningful and contextualized narratives,
this strategy shifts lexical learning away
from isolated and unique memorization
and toward active, contextualized
exploration (Macalister & Thao, 2025).
4. Children’s early reading habits may
be strengthened when texts reect their
contextualized and cultural background
and natural environment. Locally
relevant materials that can make reading
more meaningful, encourage sustained
engagement, and foster a more positive
relationship with published written texts.
5. The 46 project implementation
records, including 18 documenting
activities conducted through “Aula
Manglar,” provided preliminary evidence
of the feasibility of university–community
engagement (social work) as a model
for coordinating sustained educational
initiatives and supporting improvements
in public school programs.
6. Author Contributions
C. D. C. M.: Project design, administrative
direction, methodology conguration, fo-
cus group structure, nal revision.
G. T.: Field execution, teacher focus group
data collection, material design, primary
report drafting, and community coordina-
tion.
P. V. S. V.: Field execution, educational
diagnostics, workshop facilitation, vo-
lunteer training coordination, and data
analysis.
7. Acknowledgments
The authors sincerely thank: (1)
Universidad Yachay Tech (Language
Center) for institutional and nancial
support (funded through internal
competition resources); (2) Asociación
Uniendo Fuerzas Formamos Futuro
(UFFF); (3) administrators from Manglar
School, Puerto Villamil (Isabela Island);
and (4) members of the educational
community, Puerto Villamil (Isabela
Island). Your warm hospitality and
commitment towards this project made it
possible.
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Copyright (c) 2026. Carlos Daniel Cazco Maldonado, Grazia Trentini,
Paola Vanessa Santamaría Velásquez.
Este es un artículo de acceso abierto, bajo licencia Creative Commons
(CC BY 4.0) de Atribución 4.0 Internacional