I like English Teacher's Guide - Flipbook - Page 5
According to storyteller Dvora Shurman, “the best way to teach is not to impose teaching, but to
allow the listener to become so involved in hearing a story that his ‘defenses’ are no longer ac琀椀ve. He
is not bored. The listener is driven, prodded by his curiosity, imagining what may come” (Ackerman
1994). This sense of enjoyment, excitement, curiosity and mo琀椀va琀椀on will enable the young pupil to
acquire language without the stress that might accompany it, making the acquisi琀椀on process
smoother and less frightening. Ellis adds, “Stories are mo琀椀va琀椀ng, challenging and enjoyable and can
help develop posi琀椀ve a琀�tudes towards the foreign language, culture and language learning.” (Ellis
2014: 6). Children want to find meaning in the story; they listen with a purpose and are mo琀椀vated to
develop comprehension skills such as searching for meaning, predic琀椀ng, and hypothesizing.
Pupils of different interests and learning styles can all engage in meaningful learning through stories.
Storytelling is a shared experience, and it enables the pupils to share emo琀椀ons and encourages social
and emo琀椀onal development alongside language learning. Stories exercise the imagina琀椀on, present
universal themes, can be a natural opportunity to include mul琀椀disciplinary material into the English
classroom (Ellis 2014).
Furthermore, “listening to stories allows the teacher to introduce or [review] new vocabulary and
sentence structures by exposing the children to language in varied, memorable and familiar contexts,
which will enrich their thinking and gradually enter their own speech.” (Ellis 2014: 7). Vocabulary and
lexical chunks are presented in this authen琀椀c contextual framework that involves natural repe琀椀琀椀on.
Because children enjoy listening to stories over and over, language items can be acquired and
prac琀椀ced, whether they are directly or incidentally taught. This repe琀椀琀椀on helps pupils “gradually
learn to an琀椀cipate what is about to happen next in the story” (7) and are encouraged to par琀椀cipate
in its retelling.
Through the authen琀椀c context of stories, pupils are given an opportunity for natural communica琀椀on.
They are mo琀椀va琀椀ng and interes琀椀ng for young learners, encouraging them to ask and answer
ques琀椀ons in the target language. Stories expose pupils to the rhythm and intona琀椀on of a language,
while also providing ample opportunity for review and reentry of vocabulary and lexical chunks.
Listening to stories is essen琀椀al in helping pupils develop literacy skills which enable the acquisi琀椀on of
reading and wri琀椀ng in future years.
4. Implementation of the Storybook Approach
The stories in I Like English were chosen because they suit the cogni琀椀ve and interest levels of the
pupils. The stories are presented and taught in four stages:
Stage 1: Prepara琀椀on for the Story
In order to make the story accessible, pupils are introduced to the major vocabulary and
lexical chunks that appear in the story before it is read aloud. This provides a minimal base of
content which enables the pupil to follow the basic plot of the story.
Stage 2: Introduc琀椀on to the Story
Through a series of pre-reading ac琀椀vi琀椀es such as discussing the book cover and 琀椀tle, being
introduced to the protagonists, and predic琀椀ng what the story will be about, children’s
literacy skills are developed, and background knowledge of the story is established.
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