Storytelling in English with Young Learners [305199]

[anonimizat], Natura

02.12.2016

Lynn Mastellotto

Graham Burton

Free University of Bolzano

Faculty of Education

Overview

1.  Storytelling as knowledge sharing

2.  A story-based approach to TEYL

3.  The story journey with YLs

4.  Using stories in ELT acEviEes

Oral tradition around campfire

Story circle in class

Knowledge through stories

It is very likely the case that the most natural and the earliest way in which we organize our experience and our knowledge is in terms of the narrative form.

The Culture of Education (1997)

Jerome Bruner (1915-2016)

[anonimizat] ‘knowing person’ [anonimizat] ‘storytelling person’.

What differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, [anonimizat].

After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory (1981)

Homo narrans

Alasdair MacIntyre (1929 – )

Stories help us make sense of the world

Human life is dominated by story. [anonimizat], how the world itself is structured and operates are entirely a function of the narrative plots that shape our lives. – A. MacIntyre (1981)

Stories help us develop empathy

Front Page

http://www.humansofnewyork.[anonimizat], [anonimizat], have collected more than 75,000 stories from regular people around the world. [anonimizat] a photo and then interviews his subjects.

Why a story-based approach?

1. Children’s emo<onal & social growth

Ø  Stories help to link fantasy/[anonimizat]

Ø  Listening to stories in class is a social experience and allows children to share emoEons as a group and forge a deep connecEon with others

Ø  Stories reflect cultural informaEon (values, customs) which helps children understand and express ‘difference’ and develop intercultural awareness and understanding

Ø  [anonimizat] (ex. the Bible)

Stories derive from popular sources (ex. graphic novels)

[anonimizat], express universal themes

My body is

small but

my brain is

powerful!

Why a story-based approach?

2. Understanding narra<ve conven<ons

Ø  Stories present ‘gaps’ that can be filled by children with their knowledge & imaginaEon

§  Dual-coding – when there is a discrepancy between what the pictures show and what the text says

§  Narra<[anonimizat] a character says one thing and means something else

Ø  [anonimizat], children develop criEcal thinking skills

Ø  Narra<[anonimizat] ‘read between the lines’ of a [anonimizat] a vital complement of func<[anonimizat].

“Join me for tea”, [anonimizat]’s going to eat me! He’s being ironic.

On went the mouse through the deep dark wood. An owl saw the mouse and the mouse looked good. “[anonimizat]? Join me for tea in my treetop house.”

It’s [anonimizat], but no –

I’m going to have tea with a gruffalo.

Narrative elements

Stories consist of 3 basic elements:

Ø  Characters – protagonist /antagonist

Ø  Plot – sequence of events that build tensions/ conflicts & resolve them

Ø  Setting – places (real or imaginary) where actions unfold

Plot

The beginning-middle-end structure of stories helps children recognize patterns and organize events, real and imaginary.

Why a story-based approach?

3. Metacogni<ve skills development

Ø Listening for general meaning

Ø PredicEng & hypothesizing

Ø ConcentraEng on visual & lexical clues

Ø Reinforcing conceptual development (concepts of size, shape, colour, Eme, cause & effect)

Ø Using prior knowledge about how language works (meta-linguisEc awareness)

Ø Using prior knowledge about the world (metaphysical awareness)

Why a story-based approach?

4. Cross-curricular dimension

Ø Story books are recommended for cross-curricular teaching in primary and middle school

Ø Stories can reinforce other subjects:

§  Maths (Eme & numbers)

§  Science (animals, nature, the body)

§  Art (drawing, collages, puppets)

§  Geography (maps, places, the environment)

§  History (chronology, idenEty)

Why a story-based approach?

Summary

Children’s emoEonal & social growth

NarraEve literacy & criEcal thinking

MetacogniEve skills development

Cross-curricular connecEons

Learning English as L2

Why a story-based approach?

5. Learning English as L2

Ø  Stories are moEvaEng & enjoyable: they help develop a posiEve adtude toward the English language & culture

Ø  Stories present L2 through repeEEon & rhyme (paeern pracEce) which are predictable & memorable, facilitaEng language acquisiEon & retenEon

§  Listening to and telling stories helps children learn the rhythm, intonaEon, prosody and pronunciaEon of the L2

Ø  All children can understand & respond to stories at their own linguisEc & cogniEve level (inclusive acEvity)

The story journey

Irma-Kaarina Ghosn (2013)

Preparing for the story

SelecEng stories

Preparing for the story

SelecEng stories

Tell It Again! The Storytelling Handbook, p. 17-18

In the story world

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle

Ø  Topics – animals & colours Ø  Level – beginners

Ø  Lexis – vocabulary for animals & colours

Ø  Grammar structures – wh- question forms; adjectives; present verbs; participles; simple sentence structure

heps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA6wi32YpEU

In the story world

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Ø  Topics – animals, actions, the body Ø  Level – beginners

Ø  Lexis – vocabulary for describing animals; action words; parts of the body

Ø  Grammar structures – present simple verbs /action words; question form (‘Can you do it?’ / ‘I can do it’)

In the story world

The Sound Collector – Roger McGough

Ø  Poems as image stories

Ø  Rhythm, repetition, rhyme,

Ø  Choral reading (interactive, dialogic)

Ø  Lexis – vocabulary for colours, sounds, household objects

PAUSA

Return to the story

•  post storytelling stage is a great opportunity for language work

•  benefits:

–  checking comprehension

–  recycling language (lexis and grammar)

–  interaction with text improves comprehension

–  promoting ‘noticing’

Return to the story

•  stop and start

–  teacher retells story with mistakes – children stop the teacher when they hear a mistake

•  checking predictions

–  collect predictions, put them in a predictions box (can be pictures, not words)

Return to the story

•  using story boards / graphic organisers; children can:

–  draw pictures

–  draw pictures and write words

–  draw pictures and write sentences

–  write words or sentences (pictures given)

–  complete speech bubbles

Return to the story

•  group retelling; teacher can:

–  retell, eliciting some words

–  get children to say some lines

–  get children to role play some parts

•  retelling and rewriting

–  teacher asks a series of questions, uses children’s answers to write a text on the board

–  great way to move from reading/retelling to very scaffolded writing

Return to the story

Hannibal’s noisy day:

•  At the beginning of the story, is it night time?

•  What does Hannibal want to do?

•  What does Jacob’s alarm clock do?

•  Can you tell me what Hannibal says?

•  Where does Jacob go?

•  Can Hannibal sleep? Why not?

•  What does Hannibal say?

Return to the story

Three bears

NoEcing

‘The activity of producing the target language may prompt second language learners to consciously recognize some of their linguistic problems; it may bring to their attention something they need to discover about their L2'

(Swain and Lapkin 1995)

NoEcing

‘[T]he comparison by learners of their version with the model provides them with positive evidence of yet-to -be-acquired language features, and this process of noticing […] serves to restructure the learner's developing linguistic competence.’

(Thornbury 1997)

Choosing story books

Three types:

•  authentic: not written for language learners

•  pedagogic: specially written for language learners – various types of control on language

•  adapted: adapted from authentic texts according to various principles of control

Hedge (2008)

Choosing story books

Graded readers

•  books written for learners of English at various difficulty levels / ages

–  Level 1 books: very few words and simple grammar

–  Level 2 books: slightly harder vocabulary and grammar

–  Level 3: increases the difficulty … and so on

•  learners progress through the levels – hopefully mirroring what they’re learning in class

worksheet

AuthenEc or graded?

arguments for authentic material (from Whole Language Approach)

•  children already have knowledge of the world and experiences with oral language and texts

•  reading and writing is pleasurable, until we (teachers/ parents) interfere

•  children know how to use ‘clues’ to decode meaning

AuthenEc or graded?

arguments for graded materials (from Second Language Acquisition theory):

•  input vs. intake

•  to become intake, input needs to be

–  ‘comprehensible’

–  just a little above our competency level (i+1)

but … big difference between teacher-led shared reading and a simple reading, or a child reading by him/herself

Choosing books

Cameron (2001) suggests asking a series of questions when choosing a book:

•  is the content engaging?

•  are the values/attitudes in story acceptable?

•  how is the discourse organised – is it similar to typical narrative organisation

Choosing books

•  is it written in dialogue or narrative?

–  dialogue: for acting out, learning phrases for conversation

–  narrative: for repetition, noticing grammatical patterns etc.

•  how is language used – is there repetition etc.?

•  what new language is used?

Extensive reading

graded readers also open the possibility of ‘extensive reading’

•  ‘flood’ learners (Hafiz and Tudor 1989) with large quantities of input

•  assumption: exposure to large quantities of meaningful and interesting L2 material –> language acquisition

Extensive reading

From: http://www.er-central.com/contributors/learn-about-extensive-reading-and-listening/how-to-do-extensive-reading/setting-up-er-classes/

Extensive reading

From: http://www.er-central.com/contributors/learn-about-extensive-reading-and-listening/how-to-do-extensive-reading/setting-up-er-classes/

Extensive reading

From: http://www.er-central.com/contributors/learn-about-extensive-reading-and-listening/how-to-do-extensive-reading/setting-up-er-classes/

From: http://www.er-central.com/contributors/learn-about-extensive-reading-and-listening/how-to-do-extensive-reading/setting-up-er-classes/

From: http://www.er-central.com/contributors/learn-about-extensive-reading-and-listening/how-to-do-extensive-reading/setting-up-er-classes/

From: http://www.er-central.com/contributors/learn-about-extensive-reading-and-listening/how-to-do-extensive-reading/setting-up-er-classes/

From: http://www.er-central.com/contributors/learn-about-extensive-reading-and-listening/how-to-do-extensive-reading/setting-up-er-classes/

Extensive reading

different approaches:

•  teacher chooses a book (each learner has a copy); teacher formulates a teaching programme

•  class library – learners are free to choose

–  box, trolley, shelf etc.

–  selection of books appropriate to age/level

Extensive reading

% of known vocabulary

Slow

Reading speed

Low

Comprehension

High

High

From: The Extensive Reading Foundation’s Guide to Extensive Reading

Extensive reading

•  < 90% known words: frustrating, slow, comprehension suffers

•  90–98% known words: ‘instructional’ level

–  learners know enough of the language to understand quite well

–  need to look up many words to understand the text better

•  98%: learners read quickly, high levels of comprehension

Extensive reading

•  > 98%: extensive reading ‘sweet spot’ – quick and enjoyable

•  100%: learners read very quickly, build reading speed and their natural reading ability.

•  need to match difficulty level to aim of reading:

–  ‘instructional level’: shared reading, learning new things

–  extensive reading ‘sweet spot’: building speed and fluency

Graded readers: survey

See ELT Journal for periodic survey of graded readers by David R. Hill

Latest was in 2013: https://goo.gl/YdfSMt

Summary

1.  Storytelling as knowledge sharing

2.  A story-based approach to TEYL

3.  The story journey with YLs

4.  Using stories in ELT acEviEes

Thank you for your aSen<on!

Graham Burton

Grahamfrancis.Burton@unibz.it

Lynn MastelloSo

Lynn.Mastelloeo@unibz.it

Storytelling resources

v  J. Bruner. The Culture of Education. Harvard UP, 1997.

v  J. Bruner. Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Harvard UP, 1986

v  L. Cameron. Teaching Languages to Young Learners. Cambridge UP, 2001.

v  D.W. Chambers. Story-telling and Creative Drama. W.C. Brown, 1970.

v  D. Disney, ed. Exploring Second Language Creative Writing. John Benjamins, 2014.

v  G. Ellis and J. Brewster. Tell it Again! The New Storytelling Handbook for Primary English Language Teachers. The British Council, 2014. www.teachingenglish.org.uk

v  J. Enever and G. Schid-Schonbein, eds. Picture Books and Young Learners of English, Langenscheidt Bei Klett, 2013.

v  I. Ghosn. Storybridge to Second Language Literacy: The Theory, Research, and Practice of Teaching English with

Children’s Literature. Charlotte, NC: IAP, 2013.

v  F. Hafiz and I. Tudor. Extensive reading and the development of language skills. ELT Journal 43(1) (1989), 4–11 v  D. Heathfield, Storytelling with our Students: Techniques for telling tales from around the world. DELTA, 2014. v  T. Hedge, Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Oxford UP, 2000.

v  A. MacIntyre. After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. University of Notre Dame Press, 1981.

v  N. Mellon, Storytelling With Children. Hawthorn Press, 2001.

v  J. Morgan and M. Rinvolucri. Once Upon a Time: Using Stories in the Language Classroom. Cambridge UP, 1984. v  A. Paran and E. Watts. Storytelling in ELT. IATEFL, 2003

v  J. Spiro. Storybuilding. OUP, 2007.

v  M. Swain and S. Lapkin. Problems in output and the cognitive processes they generate. A step towards second language learning. Applied Linguistics 16 (1995), 371–391

v  E. Taylor. Using Folktales. Cambridge UP, 2010.

v  S. Thornbury. Reformulation and reconstruction: tasks that promote ‘noticing’. ELT Journal 51(4) (1996), 326–335

v  R. Wajnryb. Stories: Narrative Activities for the Language Classroom. Cambridge UP, 2003.

v  A. Wright, Creating Stories with Children. OUP, 2001.

v  A. Wright, Storytelling with Children. OUP, 2003.