Using story telling to promote the teaching and learning of a new language

东二小学 陆晔瑞  

故事教学时一门重要的艺术，怎样的故事适合小学生，如何选择或修改故事，如何在课堂上讲故事，如何让故事教学更适合自己的风格，这些是教师应经常思考的问题。本文的作者通过在Nile的培训学习中所学，结合自己在教学中的想法思考，写下了一些心得体会，愿与同行们分享。

What is storytelling

A statement defined storytelling as an ancient art form and a valuable form of human expression. Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener’s imagination. The concept of storytelling is older than human history itself. Before the invention of written language, wisdom knowledge, and information were passed down orally, and often through what would today be considered stories. Storytelling encompasses a vast heritage of lore, myths, folk tales, tales of the creation of the world, all the great traditional legends form around the world.

Children love stories. Stories tell them so much about the world we live in and the people and animals we share it with. Story time is an exciting time for children as they settle down into an expectant mood ready to have their imaginations stimulated.

Why tell stories?

There is something I leant from Joan Dickie, a primary languages adviser in Norfolk County. And I have found it immensely helpful in my work. Joan told us that how to use story telling to promote the teaching and learning of a new language and the benefits of a storytelling approach. There were many classroom approaches to teach a new language: songs, poems, plays, and stories as well. And the storytelling approach in a foreign language teaching has a lot of benefits:

1.       Story language is authentic, imaginative and in context. (Storytelling always involves the presentation of a story.)

2.       Listening to a story is an enjoyable and emotional experience. (The storytelling listener’s role is to actively create the vivid, multi-sensory images, actions, characters, and events—the reality—of the story in his or her mind, based on the performance by the teller and on the listener’s own past experiences, beliefs, and understandings.)

3.       Every child is engaged through looking and listening. (Listening to a story is a way of entertainment. Storytelling can be combined with other art forms: drama, music, dance, comedy, puppetry, and numerous other forms of expression.)  

4.       Children can repeat and respond with actions. (Storytelling gives children the opportunity to both tell and hear stories, encourages them to develop active speaking and listening skills)

5.       Storytelling can address all learning styles: visual, aural and kin aesthetic. (Storytelling involves a two-way interaction between a storyteller and the listeners. It can directly and tightly connect the teller and the listeners. The students can do what the teacher do. And say what they hear. )

As far as I know, there are also good, sound educational reasons for using storytelling approach in the foreign language teaching:

Firstly, storytelling fuels the imagination and allows children to develop their won mental images of the story. Storytelling can be a receptive skill and can also be changed into a productive one.

Secondly, storytelling develops the memory.

Thirdly, storytelling influences children’s written work as well as their selection of reading material.

Fourthly, we can have a lot of pair-works and group works which are absolutely necessary for teaching and learning English. Students don’t feel shy when they talk to each other.

Finally, storytelling is fun and exciting. — Children love it.

    What are the stories like

As Joan said story language was normally more complex to the children. And if the language is too complex and the content is above the heads of the students, then the teacher will not connect with the students. So the most important part is choosing the right story for the children. As a teacher I have the added advantage of knowing my students of being aware of their strengths and weaknesses and being able to work with these. I know their interests, attention span, likes, dislikes, previous experience with stories and level of literacy. My next decision is whether to choose a story from the wealth of material available for my students or whether to create something specifically for the task. Joan gave us some recommended stories. And she listed top five. All these texts:

1.       Are short and repetitive

2.       Can include actions and emotions

3.       Incorporates key vocabulary or phrases

4.       Can be adapted by old children

5.       Have sophisticated illustrations to interest older pupils.

Joan taught a story about a dinosaur in her lecture, the target language is France. She didn’t explain anything. She told us that the actions what we would do helped us. What we should do was listening to her and copying her with her actions and her words. Sometimes she’s a narrator, the story teller. Sometimes she’s the character. Joan acted with her dramatic voice, expressions and movement. And this is really an ‘immersive’ approach to teaching a new language. It is similar to the way children learn their first language by watching, listening, copying, repeating and gradually saying more. With the ‘immersive’ approach the new language is not a subject to be taught, it is an experience to be shared.

I would like to have storytelling in my own class. But there are quite different and difficult to copy the same approach in my English teaching. First the classroom arrangement is different. In Norfolk county, there is much space in a classroom. The students can stand or sit in a circle on the carpet, they can also have a seat in group. But in my school, there are more students (the top amount is 40 in one class) and less space in the classroom. Besides, the teaching system, teaching plan, aim, and assessment are quite different between two countries.

How did I tell a story

I always taught a story this way in my class:

Oxford English 5A, Module 4 The Natural World, Unit 2 Butterflies. This story is about the life cycle of butterflies. The new words and phrases are: come out, make…dry, lay eggs, become, grow, cocoon, make a little house. The post-task activity of the lesson is retelling the life cycle of butterflies. At the beginning of the lesson, a video about how the butterfly came out helped the students know the life change of a butterfly. Then the children look at the pictures and listen to the tape. They would get the main idea of the text. Then the students start to learn the first part of the text. New words and phrases first. Students have to read and spell every new word and remember them. They should be able to make links between sounds and spellings. Then students read the first part text. Thirdly they answered some questions about it. At last they have to retell the text or recite it. Then it goes to the second, third and last part. At the end of the lesson, students have to retell the whole text about the life cycle of the butterflies. Students did exercise on the work book and paper sheet (fill in the blanks). They were not allowed to stand and act out the story. This process is not storytelling actually. It is a story teaching or reading exactly. As I know in storytelling, children should say the sentences and do the actions happily at their own speed. No individual child is put on the spot or asked a direct question. All children contribute as they wish. They are developing their listening, speaking and reading skills. Children will learn the importance of listening, of how to communicate ideas and interact with others. Storytelling entertains and excites, which is an important part of learning. If children are having fun they are involved, and motivated to learn more.

How can I become a storyteller?

There are many different ways of telling a story in English lessons. These are the ways I can use in my English lessons:

1.                 Finding stories. We can find many stories in our Oxford English text books. Some are traditional fair tales. Some are fables. Some are scientific knowledge. Such as <A boy and a wolf>, <Three little pigs>, <The ugly duckling>, <Little Red Riding Hood>. We can also look for additional traditional tales while teaching new content. This is how it will go in my teaching:

4A teaching new words ‘tree, roots, trunk, branch, leaves’. I find the story <A boy and his tree>. The story telling can combine new words teaching and moral education together.

2.                 Start with something simple. I know very well about these stories in the text books. So do the students. But they will not know what they are going to do in the lesson. So watching the story video or reading the picture books together is a simple and good start to help all the students recollect the story.

3.                 Enrich the story. It is really an enjoyable way to tell a story with the help of the listeners. This is how I will do in teaching 4B Module 1 Unit 2 <the blind brothers and the elephant>:

The story is about four brothers and the elephant. How are the brothers? (I turn to one student.) Do you know? Can you tell me where did they sit? One student or some may tell the location. I then carry on telling the story. Then ask the following question: who comes and what does he have? I stop and get the students to enrich the story with their descriptions until the end of the story.

4.                 Finish the story. Students would like to create their own ending to the story. Group them into pair or four. Give students opportunity to write down a new ending to the story that they imagine. Then they share their endings to the class. The children will, of course, want to know the different version of the ending they make.

5.                 Paired stories and group stories. Students won’t feel nervous with the help of the classmates when they have practice. Students sit in pairs or groups facing each other and tell the story together. They are all involved. It is not a matter how much they can tell. One might start the story and one picks up and takes it forward. This helps children to practise and build confidence.

6.                 Perform the story. Children love to move. Involve the children through actions and movements, they will feel they are a part of it and their attention is maintained. If we are able to bring the scenes lively to the class, telling story can be fun. As an adult, it may be a little bit difficult for me to perform it. I believe it is an art that I should learn first. But students know clearly how to play the different roles of the characters in the story. In another way the aim behind telling stories is the material being taught. So we can change or organize the story according to our teaching materials.

7.                 Picture stories. Many stories are well illustrated with drawings. When students are asked to retell a story, the pictures will help them create the story and retell it. I use this method when I teach the story in Oxford English 5A, Module 4 The Natural World, Unit 2 Butterflies.

Storytelling is what happens when a story is told, face to face, eye to eye, mind to mind, and heart to heart. Using storytelling in the class, and the story should be intimately known by the teacher, spoken aloud and shared, like a gift, with the students. You will never know how the storytelling goes until you have had a try in the class. In telling a story in my class, I am impressed how quickly the confidence grows and I am encouraged by the enthusiasm of the students. And there are many things I can do to put storytelling to good use in my class.

l         Don’t be afraid to change a story to suit my needs. The story doesn’t lose anything by not being original because every storyteller has his or her own style. And the students vary from different level and age. I will try this in my class: Oxford English 5B, Jack and the Beanstalk. I will ask the children to think of an alternative ending. And I will also let the children suppose that if they are rich, what they want to do. This will lead to an interesting discussion on language and storytelling.

l         Try to be open and active when I have a storytelling. Change my voice when it is necessary for a story. Because voice is the primary tool. Try to make facial expression a lot and keep eye contact. The movements of my hands and body are all important. Voice, movement, posture and expression are the tools of the storytellers’ trade. The more I employ these skills in the classroom, the more effective the students will become. Don’t worry too much about changing voices for each character but do put my whole self into the telling. If I get the class join in then I should also see the positive results in the areas of speaking and listening.

l         Using visual aids to help a storytelling. I can print pictures on the paper, stick key words on the board or use line drawings on the blackboard while having a telling. These pictures and key words will give the students opportunity to get involved in exercise and talking about their ideas. The key words and sentences can be vary depend on the level of the students.

l         Using games if it is necessary. Game is the icebreaker and it can be used to get the class thinking about language and accustomed to speaking. This is a game I learnt from Kevin, a nice teacher in Nile, and I found it was really acceptable in my class. Student A describes the word without saying some key words what are given below. And student A also can’t use movement or gestures. Other students will guess what word it is. This is the exercise for older children, those who have a clear grasp of language. And the game can be used as a word revision.

l         Let the students love homework. A lot of homework is never good. But an interesting piece of work will appeal to the children. Students may be happy to create a story picture, a character or act the story. I will try to encourage children to share their homework with parents and friends. I will also ask them to listen to other people’s stories. I believe listening is equally important in storytelling.

And finally

Storytelling is an ideal immersive approach to teaching English. And I think I will find more ideas come to mind as I work through them. Joan Dickie has given me an insight into the wonderful world of storytelling and how beneficial it can be in teaching and learning. As an English teacher, I can use stories to teach, educate and entertain. Most of all these stories should be used to open the door of creativity and add colour to life.