Can Local Folktales in Children's Storybooks Influence the Development of Early Literacy and Cultural Awareness?

This study investigates the extent to which local folktales embedded in children’s storybooks influence the development of early literacy and cultural awareness among primary school students. Employing a quantitative quasi-experimental design, the research involved 39 second-grade students from two elementary schools in Banyumas--Indonesia. Participants were divided into an experimental group (n = 19), which received culturally contextualized folktale-based instruction, and a control group (n = 20), which used generic reading materials. Data were collected through pretest and posttest instruments, including an early literacy test and a cultural awareness questionnaire. Statistical analyses using paired and independent sample t-tests, along with N-gain calculations, revealed significant improvements in the experimental group. Literacy scores increased from a pretest mean of 72.44 to a posttest mean of 86.4 (t(37) = 3.12, p < 0.01), with an average N-gain of 0.52, indicating moderate to high effectiveness. Cultural awareness scores also improved significantly in the experimental group (X̄ = 84.2), compared to the control group (X̄ = 72.5; t(37) = 2.89, p < 0.01). Findings suggest that local folktales not only enhance text comprehension and vocabulary acquisition but also strengthen students' cultural identity and moral understanding. The study supports the integration of culturally responsive narratives into early literacy instruction as a strategy to foster inclusive and contextually meaningful learning.