The usage of stories to teach English to young learners

Storytelling is considered one of the most efficient and motivating approaches to teach English to young learners, and there are numerous books on the subject by different authors. Rokhayani holds that with meaningful contexts, natural repetition, engaging characters and interesting plots, stories can be used to develop children’s language skills, such as listening, using their imagination and predicting. In addition, young learners are always eager to listen to stories, naturally want to understand what is happening in the story and enjoy looking at story books, which increases their motivation to grasp the meaning of new English words, when they start English lessons .

Besides, storytelling has been widely examined and practiced by several teaching scholars such as Andrew Wright, Jean Brewster and Gail Ellis among others. Authors provide many examples of the advantages of using storytelling in language teaching. Ellis and Brewster (2011) give several reasons why teachers should use storytelling in the English classroom:

• •    Storybooks can enrich the students’ learning experience. Stories are motivating and can help develop positive attitudes towards the foreign language.

• •    Stories exercise the imagination and are a useful tool in linking fantasy and the imagination with the child’s real world.

• •    Listening to stories in class is a shared social experience.

• •    Children enjoy listening to stories over and over again. This repetition allows language items to be acquired and reinforced.

• •    Listening to stories develops the child’s listening and concentrating skills.

• •    Stories create opportunities for developing continuity in children’s learning (among others, school subjects across the curriculum) (Adapted from Ellis and Brewster 2011). Wright holds that stories, which rely so much on words, offer a major and constant source of language experience for children. Moreover, he suggests that stories can motivate children, stimulate children’s imagination and arouse children’s interests, etc. Wright provides the following reasons for advocating the use of storytelling in the classroom:

• 1.    Stories provide meaningful contexts.

• 2.    Stories can provide natural repetition.

• 3.    Children have another instinct in language learning – picking up chunks.

• 4.    Children’s listening skill can be developed.

Language is used to communicate. When we use storytelling, we are not only using language in the text but also the whole context which brings out the meaning. In stories, children learn the language in a meaningful way. In the teaching and learning process, when the teachers are telling stories while the students are listening, they focus on meaning first. Some teachers may present the new language by repeating the stories several times, and they require students to listen carefully. However, some children complain that it is hard to retain them. They quickly forget the new words or sentences because the new language is not presented in a context. They would probably remember the words if they encounter them in a story.

When the students read the stories, they tend to pay attention to the key words, and new language can be naturally repeated in stories.

Furthermore, the usage of storytelling also enhances students’ listening skill. While children listen to stories, they try to guess the meaning of the new words and to grasp the main idea. Thus storytelling develops children’s listening skill – seeking details. Some teachers require children to listen carefully when they begin to say the new sentences or words. The result may be that while listening, the children just concentrate on the pronunciation of the words or sentences, but not their meaning or the meaning of a context . Here are some more specific recommended storytelling techniques adapted from Brewster, Ellis and Girard (2004):

• a.    If students are unfamiliar with storytelling, begin with short sessions which do not demand too much from them and over time extend their concentration span;

• b.    Read slowly and clearly. Give the students time to relate what they hear to what they see in the pictures, to think, ask questions, make comments. However, do vary the pace when the story speeds up;

• c.    Make comments about the illustrations and point to them to focus the students’ attention;

• d.    Encourage students to take part in the storytelling by repeating key vocabulary items and phrases. Teachers can invite students to do this by pausing and looking at them with a questioning expression and by putting the hand to the ear to indicate that they are waiting for them to join in, then repeat what they have said to confirm that they have predicted correctly, and if appropriate, expand by putting the word

into a full phrase or sentence;

• e.    Use gestures, mime, and facial gestures to help convey the meaning;

• f.    Vary the pace, volume and your voice;

• g.    Pause where appropriate to add dramatic effect or to give children time to relate what they hear to what they see, and to assimilate details in the illustration;

• h.    Disguise your voice for the different characters as much as you can to signal when different characters are speaking and help convey meaning;

• i.    Ask questions to involve the children;

• j.    Do not be afraid to repeat, expand and formulate. This increases the opportunities for exposure to the language and gives the children a second chance to work out the meaning and have it confirmed.

Despite the numerous benefits of the storytelling method in the classroom, some teachers experience certain difficulties in applying it. Setyariny points out some obstacles faced by teachers in implementing the storytelling method in their teaching such as:

• 1)    A large number of students is a challenge to the teacher’s ability to manage the class well. The students seem reluctant to concentrate and follow the teacher’s instruction;

• 2)    The students’ diversity is another challenge because the teacher needs to understand their individual characteristics;

• 3)    The teachers need time to prepare the story, media, and classroom activities;

• 4)    The time allotment is not sufficient to fully implement the storytelling method based on learning objectives;

• 5)    Stories that exist in the market are limited and not adequate for teaching, and teachers therefore have the challenge of having to create their own stories .