STORYTELLING

READINGS
Pedersen, E. M. (1995). Storytelling and the art of teaching. English Teaching Forum 33(1), 2-5. Retrieved from
http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol33/no1/P2.htm
Click here: http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol33/no1/P2.htm

Malkina, N. (1995). Storytelling in early language teaching. English Teaching Forum 33(1), 38-39. Retrieved from
http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol33/no1/p38.htm
Click here: http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol33/no1/p38.htm

Ghosn, I. K. (1997). ESL with children's literature. English Teaching Forum 35(3), 14-19. Retrieved from
http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol35/no3/p14.htm
Click here: http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol35/no3/p14.htm

DISCUSSION
Here are some questions to get you started:

Why do you think storytelling is beneficial for developing language for early learners of
English in EFL contexts?

If you are currently teaching, what are your biggest challenges with storytelling in your
class?

If you are not currently a teacher, describe what you think would be the biggest
challenges for non-native speaker teachers when reading stories to children in English.

Storytelling and the Art

of Teaching
by E. Martin Pedersen

Storytelling is the original form of teaching. There are still societies in which it is the
only form of teaching. Though attempts have been made to imitate or update it, like
the electronic storytelling of television, live oral storytelling will never go out of fashion.
A simple narrative will always be the cornerstone of the art of teaching.

In dealing with stories, learners have an experience with the powerful real language of
personal communication, not the usual "teacherese" of the foreign-language classroom.
Colloquial or literary, unaffected or flowery-the full range of language is present in
stories. Oral stories develop listening skills in a unique way. The listeners benefit from

1
observing non-polished speech created on-the-spot.

While listening to stories, children develop a sense of structure that will later help them
to understand the more complex stories of literature. In fact, stories are the oldest form
of literature.

Through traditional tales, people express their values, fears, hopes, and dreams. Oral
stories are a direct expression of a literary and cultural heritage; and through them
that heritage is appreciated, understood, and kept alive.

Stories in the affective realm

Through a story, listeners experience a vicarious feeling for the past and a oneness with
various cultures of the present as they gain insight into the motives and patterns of
human behavior. However, many storytellers feel that cognitive enrichment is not the
primary aim of their art. Stories have numerous affective benefits for social and
emotional development. A story session is a time to share feelings. A relaxed, happy
relationship between storyteller and listener is established, drawing them together and
building mutual confidence. Stories help children to know themselves and to know others
so they can cope with the psychological problems of growing up. As Augusta Baker and
Ellin Greene (1977:17) assert,

Storytelling brings to the listeners heightened awareness-asense of wonder, of

mystery, of reverence for life. Thisnurturing of the spirit-self comes first. It is
the primarypurpose of storytelling, and all other uses and effects
aresecondary.

Storytelling is also a living art. Like music and dance, it is brought to life in performance.
A story will be altered by the storyteller's background: his/her choice of setting and
detail, and the rapport established with the audience. The storyteller's building materials
are words, sounds, and language patterns. The tools are the voice, face, and hands. The
product is the creation of a shared human experience based on words and imagination.

2
Storytelling is an individual art, and an imposed method or ready-to-use plan will prove
inadequate. Beginning storytellers must go beyond the rules. They must know their
personal strengths and develop their own unique style. As master storyteller Ruth
Sawyer (1951:26) puts it, "The art of storytelling lies within the storyteller, to be
searched for, drawn out, made to grow."

Selection

Selection requires an ability to evaluate stories and to discriminate between those

that meet your learners' needs and those that do not.

1. Read, read, read. Although learning stories directly from other storytellers
is the traditional method, you will learn most stories from books. Wide
reading gives authority to your telling. Read all types of traditional stories
and literary fairy tales, modern tales, picture-books, action stories, romances,
fantasies, juvenile fiction, nonfiction, and biographies, etc. Read different
versions of the
2. same story.
2. Choose stories you like. You can only effectively tell the stories that you feel
comfortable with and which have meaning for you. Choose stories that you can tell-
beginners should tend towards folk tales for their simplicity of structure and
language, and shy away from complex literary tales.

3. Choose stories appropriate for your learners. Find stories they will like, and
that match their age and language level. Fairy and folk takes, which blend fantasy
and reality, and use repetitive language, are good for beginners. Contemporary
stories which treat problems of personal identity with more elaborate language are
better suited for more advanced learners.

4. Choose stories with a simple structure. Look for a single, clearly defined
theme, a well-developed sequential plot, a consistent style, standardized
characterization (except perhaps for the protagonist), conflict resolution, dramatic
appeal, unity, interesting subject matter, and strong emotional content. Avoid
stories with long explanations or descriptions, flashbacks, subplots, and other
literary devices that break the flow of a story.

5. Choose stories with positive values. I prefer to tell stories that implicitly
express joy, compassion, humor, resourcefulness, and other positive aspects of
human nature. On the other hand, psychologists tell us not to be excessively
concerned about violence, fear, anger, hatred, lying, etc., in stories.

3
6. Study the story's background. Know something of the cultural, social and
historical background of the story and the country of its origin. If you can't put the
story in context, and its contents are not universal, consider choosing another.

7. Test your selection. Final selection is done through trial, ultimately through the
positive or negative reactions you get from your audience.

Preparation (prevents forgetting and flopping)

1. Learn the story. Learning the story means to make the story your own. Read it
from beginning to end several times. Read it out loud. Master the structure of the
story: the beginning (introduction of characters), the body (building of conflict), and
the climax (resolution of con- flict). Visualize the succession of scenes. Work on
creating sensual setting and character descriptions. Note unusual expressions, word
patterns, rhymes, and dialog.

2. Outline the story. Storytellers agree that memorizing word for word is not
useful. Learn a story incident by incident, and prepare notes that will help you
remember this structure. Typed skeleton outlines stick in the minds of visual
learners. Cue card outlines are also useful in preparation and storage of tales, but
should not be used in telling.

3. Control the story's length. Long stories can be simplified or serialized, but not
excessively modified or censored. Time yourself during practice. A "story hour"
should probably include a mixture of activities: reading storybooks, listening to
story tapes, reciting poetry, singing songs, playing games, etc. besides the oral
story itself.

4. Control the story's vocabulary. A rich vocabulary, with

carefully chosen adjectives and adverbs, gives color and texture
to the telling. However, you need to be comfortable with your
use of language and not try too hard to get things "right" or the
story will come out flat and nervous. Don't worry if the listeners
don't already know every word; guessing is part of language
learning.

5. Refine your storytelling style. Tell the story aloud to listen to your voice - your
instrument - which you can exercise, train, and even change. A pause and dropped
voice are often more effective than shouting. Take poetic passages slowly; report
conversation at natural speed; tell narration more rapidly, building toward the climax.

6. Practice, practice, practice. Practice aloud to yourself, your family or friends. You
could practice on audio or even video tape. Practice in front of a mirror to eliminate poor
gestures and facial expressions. Some say practice makes storytelling artificial and

4
studied, but it is essential to the beginner.

7. Relax before telling. Warm up as the situation allows with

breathing, stretching, and vocal exercises.

Presentation

A story should be presented in a way that emphasizes the "what"

of the story and not the "how" of the telling.

1. Start on the right foot. The beginning introduces the characters, sets the scene,
establishes the mood, defines the conflict or predicament of the protagonist, and
arouses pleasurable anticipation. Then the narrative carries the action. It is sometimes
essential for comprehension, before beginning a tale, to make some background
comments on new or difficult vocabulary or the cultural assumptions and setting of the
story. You might share an object related to the story or light a ritual candle to signal the
beginning of the special storytelling time.

2. Be your best self. Express enthusiasm, spontaneity, creativity, and enjoyment.

You can create a mood through your physical appearance and mannerisms. Don't
rush or ramble. Don't be condescending or phony. Don't reveal nervousness or
embarrassment. And most of all, don't let your technique show.

3. Concentrate on your voice. The audience absolutely must hear everything loudly
and clearly! Try for a pleasant, intimate, smooth, low-pitched tone of voice. You will
need vocal energy for projection, articulation, enunciation, and intonation. Altering
your speed and pitch-for example, giving different tones to different characters-adds
to the emotional impact.

4. Maintain eye contact. Eye contact is of the utmost importance as it not only
holds the listener's attention and involves the listener in the story, but it checks
understanding and gives instant feedback.

5. Help with your hands and body. The hands also create. Use only gestures that
come naturally, but be aware of your hands; don't hide them or flap them about. Facial
expressions and movement are also vital aids. Some tellers use very limited movement;
others almost mime a story.

6. Use props sparingly. Some storytellers are strongly against

the use of any objects, puppets, costumes, bells, etc. They
consider them a clever showman's device and an unnecessary
distraction. I don't feel so strongly and suggest that you try them

5
out and see the effect.

7. Pay attention to the physical setting. Some rooms can kill a good story.
You need a quiet, well-lit, acoustically acceptable, comfortable space. You can tell
a story standing up (for more freedom of movement) or sitting on a stool (for
better eye-contact) before a semi-circle of chairs or (for more intimacy) sitting in
a tight circle on a carpet.

Follow-Up Activities

While no follow-up is necessary-stories are valuable in their own right, but a

variety of options are available.

1. Ask comprehension questions carefully. If a story is followed immediately

by a barrage of comprehension questions, its artistic value is lost and storytelling
suffers. I would suggest waiting at least a day to ask the usual who, what, where,
when, how much, and why questions. There are other, more creative ways to use
questions. Multiple choice questions and questions that can be answered by
inference can be used. Suppositions can be made, like: What would you have
done? What should the character have done? Students may choose from a list of
questions provided by the teacher and ask a partner. It's even possible to give out
comprehension questions first and have the students construct the story.

2. Invent exercises in phonetics, semantics, and syntax.

There is no limit to the language exercises that can be based on a
story: introduction of new vocabulary in lexical sets, rhyming sets,
or grammatical sets; verbal practice and grammatical analysis of
repeated phrases: "Who's been sleeping in my bed?" "I'll huff, and
I'll puff and I'll blow the house down," just to name a few.

3. Do listening activities. After a tale, listeners can demonstrate

comprehension by: comparing, discriminating, predicting, sequencing,
classifying, transferring information, etc. Unlike other listening activities, stories
are often repeated, but never in exactly the same words.

4. Do oral activities. Choral reading, story fill-in, add-on stories, building a tale
from key words, etc., are all options. Discussion topics can be taken from the
story's themes. Students can retell their favorite tales, or invent stories based on
their own personal experiences.

6
5. Do written activities. Rewriting, summarizing, or paraphrasing a tale are
obvious and worthwhile activities. Written exercises can include controlled
writing dictation and cloze paragraphs, guided writing (sentence extension or
sentence-combining exercises), or free writing using the tale as a literary model.
Other options include: journal writing, research projects, making up original
stories patterned on stories told to the group, and writing a poem or a play
version of a story.

6. Do visual activities. Story-related artwork can include: posters, models,

collages, crafts, masks, puppets, mobiles, photos, picture stories, blackboard
drawing, etc. Stories are part of aesthetic education and develop creativity.

7. Do creative drama activities. There are many story games to play. Stories
naturally lend themselves to be dramatized, mimed, or roleplayed. Prepared
dialogs from tales can be recited, or students can tell or retell stories they choose
or make up themselves.

Stories educate, illustrate, enlighten, and inspire. They give relief from the
routine and stimulate the mind. They are a great motivator for teachers as well
as for students. Stories are used in an exclusively positive scholastic setting,
i.e., no grades, no failures, no textbooks, no notepads, no dictionaries, no costly
audiovisual equipment- nothing coming between the listener and the teller. In
EFL, stories fosternderstanding and acceptance of the foreign language and
culture.

Storytelling is learned slowly over a long time, but the novice and the expert
storyteller can both experience success on different levels. A storyteller
eventually makes a personal collection of stories for various occasions and
purposes. Storytelling is a folk-art which can't be manipulated, intellectualized,
or mass-produced. Its magic is unique. The storyteller is always a teacher, and
the teacher is always a storyteller.

[Storytelling] can take many disciplines from the realm ofthe often dreary
textbook and raise them to great heights ofexciting, fruitful experiences
in learning. Storytelling asa pedagogical technique has been used by the
world'sgreatest teachers. Jesus used it, as did Plato, Confucius,and other
great philosophers and teachers. . . . The modernteacher who employs
this technique as a teaching tool isusing a technique of teaching that has
stood the test oftime (Chambers 1970:43).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

7
 Baker, A. and E. Green 1977. Storytelling: Art and technique. New York: R.
R. Bowker.

Barton, B. 1986. Tell me another: storytelling and reading aloud at home, at

school, and in the community. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Bauer, C. F. 1977. Handbook for Storytellers. Chicago: American Library.

Bettelheim, B. 1976. The Uses of Enchantment. New York: A. A. Knopf.

Breneman, L. N. and B. Breneman. 1984. Once Upon a Time: A Storytelling

Handbook. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.

Caduto, M. and J. Bruchac. Keepers of the Earth. Golden, CO: Fulcrum.

Colwell, E. 1964. A Storyteller's Choice. New York: Henry Z. Walck.

Chambers, D. W. 1970. Storytelling and Creative Drama. Dubuque, IO: Wm.

C. Brown.

Cook, E. 1969. The Ordinary and the Fabulous. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Cundiff, R. E. and B. Webb. 1957. Storytelling for You: Handbook of Help for
Storytellers Everywhere. Yellow Springs, OH: Antioch Press.

Ellis, G. and J. Brewster. 1991. The Storytelling Handbook for Primary

Teachers. London: Penguin.

Livo, N. J. and S. A. Reitz. 1986. Storytelling Process and Practice. Littleton,

CO:Libraries Unlimited.

Maguire, J. 1985. Creative Storytelling. Hightstown, NJ: McGraw-Hill.

Morgan, J. and M. Rinvolucri. 1983. Once Upon a Time: Using stories in the
language classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Pellowski, A. 1977. The World of Storytelling. New York: R. R. Bowker.

Ross, R. R. 1980. Storyteller. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill. Sawyer, R.

1951. The Way of the Storyteller. New York: Viking Press.

Schimmel, N. 1978. Just Enough to Make a Story: A Sourcebook for

Storytelling.

Berkeley: Sisters' Choice Press.

8
 Shedlock, M. 1951. The Art of the Storyteller. New York: Dover. Tooze, R.
1959. Storytelling. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Veilleux, J. 1967. Oral Interpretation: The Re-creation of Literature. New

York: Harper & Row.

Wagner, J. A. and R. W. Smith. Teacher's Guide to Storytelling. Dubuque, IO:

W. C.Brown.

Ziskind, S. 1976. Telling Stories to Children. New York: Wilson.

E. Martin Pedersen teaches English to future teachers at the Universit di

Messina, Italy. He has written on the role of folklore in education, storytelling, using
songs in ELT, composition, and literary appreciation.

http://eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol33/no1/P2.htm, 3 March 2011

Storytelling in Early Language Teaching

by Natasha Malkina

9
Stories are an effective tool for early language teaching. They meet the
emotional, cognitive and psychological demands of pre-school children: their
need to belong; to act; to share; to feel protected, etc. Stories and fairy tales are
inherently interesting to children. They speak to the "I" of the child, as Bruno
Bettelheim stated in his book, The Uses of Enchantment.

However, an analysis of existing Russian educational materials for teaching

English to kindergarten children shows that stories have been little used. If they
are part of the curriculum, they are Russian translations of English or American
stories and fairy tales. E. Garvie's The Story as Vehicle , presents the view that
storytelling can be a major component in an acquisition-based language
teaching approach. She discusses how to select stories, "unpacking" their
language potential, adapting the stories to syllabus needs, and finding ways to
tell them to foster comprehension, involvement and participation. A related work
is The Storytelling Handbook for Primary Teachers (Ellis et al.,) which discusses
the use of "real books," written for native-speaker children with students of EFL.
The books by Hester Stories in the Multilingual Primary Classroom , and Rosen
And None of it Was Nonsense are highly relevant, too.

In this article I will give a brief outline of the main points that should be
considered when using storytelling at the elementary level, and share with you
some of the ideas generated from my own teaching experience and
observations.

The scarcity of research on the use of storytelling in the foreign-language

classroom with young children may be partly explained by the complexity of the
problem itself. If we look at the problem as a whole, the first dimension that
comes into the picture is communication.

Storytelling as communication

Garvie sees communication succeeding if both the child and the storyteller are
good language users. In her terms, a good language user possesses an
awareness of linguistic, psycholinguistic, discoursal, communicative,
sociolinguistic, strategic, cognitive, and semantic features of the language.

Since the young learner is unlikely to be a good language user, teachers should
provide a classroom environment that will stimulate thought and feeling while
cultivating listening and speaking skills. Stories contribute to establishing that
kind of environment.

10
We might theorize that storytelling is experience. This is both life experience and
linguistic experience. The story mirrors the surrounding world and constructs a
reality of its own, meeting the cognitive, psychological and emotional needs of the
child. The Russian psychologist Zaporozhets pointed out that storytelling gives a
child a play-like experience. He called their mental participation "active
perception," believing that it enabled the child to enter the story, identify with its
characters, and actively participate in all of its events.

Cultural literacy

The experience that storytelling offers is not only personal experience, it is a

universal experience encompassing world cultures. Any story offers a
cultural experience. Fairy tales are part of the lore of ordinary folk; modern
stories mirror personal and/or national experiences.

A fresh look in the 1980s at the interconnection between culture and language
has opened up a new dimension for foreign- language teaching methodology.
Language has come to be viewed as a major means to acquire "cultural
literacy," a term popularized by E. D. Hirsh. In early language teaching,
storytelling can be one of the main tools for children to become culturally
literate.

Like learning a foreign language, stories create a new image of the world. If
we accept the premise that narrative is a child's main mode of making
meaning about the world (Mallan), storytelling can be a powerful force in
language teaching.

Story as text

The advantage of a story, as Garvie sees it, is that it is structured. It

follows a course of development that is predictable.

11
Recent work in discourse analysis has been concerned with the structure of text.
Text is viewed as having an outer and inner structure, the former represented by
the sequence of sentences, and the latter by a sequence of "elementary
meanings" (Kopylenko). In a wide sense, the story grammar comprises not only
structure and form, but also meaning units that the reader/listener draws upon
for understanding.

Storytelling as comprehension

Personal observation of classroom routines has given me new appreciation

for the role of listening comprehension. Comprehension can be described as
that process which enables the receiver to make meaning from verbal and
non-verbal information. Non-verbal information may include background
knowledge based on past experience or visual information (pictures). To
understand how children comprehend aural text, we must discover what
"clues" they pick up in the flow of speech to form a mental representation
of the story. If there is no construction or rather reconstruction of meaning
on the part of the child, the story will make no sense.

The point is to teach children "how to mean" in a foreign language. They can't
construct or reconstruct meaning without prior experience with life and
language, and they need language to cope with this new experience. With
storytelling we must teach strategies for text comprehension.

Storytelling as a coding-decoding process

12
This raises the concept of storytelling as a coding-decoding process.
Comprehension occurs if the text is organized to enable the listener to decode
it in the same way that the speaker-storyteller encoded the story (Kopylenko).
There is a variety of opinions regarding coding and decoding information.
Garvie suggests the idea of identifying main points which she calls "staging
posts" to facilitate comprehension. The idea is wonderful in itself, but the
teacher needs some assistance to know what these "staging posts" are, since
they depend on the child's personal experience with language and life.

Garvie sees the following stages of development in a child's ability to

comprehend:

1. The learner picks up "clues."

2. The learner develops coping skills.

3. The learner gets the gist of the message and much of the supporting
detail.

During the first stage when the child's linguistic field is limited, s/he should
be led to understanding by "guided comprehension" wherein words and
pictures help the child reconstruct meaning. In this process, each child
constructs his/her own story.

Bieva described how to map a child's comprehension of the story. She found
that at the age of four to five, children are able to identify 50 percent of the
story references when it is told in their mother tongue. She theorized that
comprehension results when meaning units develop apart from discrete
language units like words and phrases. My own observation and teaching
experience backs up this view.

Selection of stories

13
Nobody questions how important the selection of stories is for successful
storytelling. Our experience has demonstrated that though fairy tales and folk
tales are appealing, they may be inadequate for teaching foreign languages
because of their complicated and sometimes archaic language. We have been
searching through various collections for tales with natural language and a
traditional story grammar or rhetorical structure to make the story predictable-
facilitating comprehension. In our situation, original children's stories were
used, but the grammar was simplified; and the past tense was sometimes
changed into present. I suggest that a suitable story might include chain
structures-rhyming words, repetition, action words, sound words, etc.

The use of action words is important in storytelling since they allow children to
respond both mentally and physically. Our observation demonstrated that
children's physical involvement facilitates comprehension, giving the child a
unique opportunity to identify with the characters. This was the case with the
story Caps for Sale , a funny story about a man whose caps are stolen by
monkeys when he falls asleep. Children acted like monkeys, imitating the
seller's movements when he threatened them. This story was the most
popular with our children, perhaps because of their full participation in it.

With young learners, partial understanding of stories is very often the case. In
an action research project, children listened to the unadapted story The
Birthday Soup by E. Minarik. This is a story about a little bear who is having his
birthday party. Although the children grasped the general plot, they didn't
understand why the bear was cooking soup. This is important because it
suggests that understanding a concept like birthday soup requires a different
level of comprehension; and if children are not helped to explore the concept,
the whole story may be wasted. Some previous story orientation is necessary
through questions, games, rhymes, etc. This is especially important if we are
aiming at introducing the child to a new reality through the medium of
storytelling.

Conclusion

These then, are the main points for using storytelling in

early foreign-language teaching.

1. Storytelling should be viewed as an essential part of early language

teaching. It gives a child rich and versatile experience with language and
culture. Through storytelling, children acquire cultural literacy to make
their language learning meaningful.

14
 2. The curriculum for early language teaching can be story based.

3. Finding the right story is important. Story selection should meet certain
objective and subjective criteria. Objective criteria relate to story
grammar; subjective criteria relate to the child and his/her preferences.
When selecting a story for early language teaching, objective criteria are
the most important since they facilitate comprehension.

4. Text adaptation may be necessary to facilitate comprehension. A story

should be adapted in such a way that a child can easily pick up clues or
"staging posts" to construct the meaning.

5. Story comprehension and understanding is affected by the storytelling

technique used. We don't know yet which technique is the most effective
butit should lead to "guided comprehension."

6. Finally, guided comprehension is a process through which the child

learns strategies for making meaning. The teacher's role is to help the
child use different strategies and to adjust the storytelling process if s/he
loses the meaning.

Natasha Malkina is a doctoral student at State

Pedagogical University of Russia, St. Petersburg.

REFERENCES

Bettelheim, Bruno. 1978. The uses of enchantment. New York: Oxford

University Press.

Bieva, G. 1984. Factors influencing text comprehension /child-speech

research. Ph.d. dissertation. Institute of Language Studies, Moscow.

Brumfit C. J., J. Mood and R. Ton (eds.) 1991. Teaching English to children:
From practice to principle. London: Harper and Collins.

Ellis G. and J. Brewester 1991. The storytelling handbook for primary

teachers. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

Ermolayev, B. and M. Shaknorovich. 1975. Text comprehension by children.

15
 Paper presented at All-union Symposium on Psycholinguistics and
Communication Theory. Leningrad State University.

Garvie. E. 1990. Story as vehicle: Teaching English to young children.

Clevedon: Multicultural Matters, Ltd.

Hester, H. 1983. Stories in the multilingual primary classroom. London:

ILEA.

Kopylenko, O. 1975. The role of text structure in text comprehension. Paper

presented at All-union Symposium on Psycholinguistics and
Communication Theory. Leningrad State University.

Mallan, K. 1991. Children as storytellers. PETA.

Morgan, J. and M. Rinvolucri. 1983. Once upon a time: Using stories in the
language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rixon, S. 1992. English and other languages for younger children: Practice
and theory in a rapidly changing world. In Language teaching: The
international abstracting journal for language teachers. Cambridge
University Press, pp. 73-92.

Rosen, B. 1980. And none of it was nonsense. London: Mary Glasgow

Publications.

Stern, H. and A. Weinrib. 1977. Foreign languages for younger children:

Trends and assessment. Language Teaching Abstracts, 10, p.1.

Widdowson, H. 1978. Teaching languages as communication. Oxford:

Oxford University Press.

Zaporozhets, A. V. 1948. Perception of fairy tales by a preschool child.

Doshkolnoye Vospitanie, 5, pp. 45-48.

16
ESL with Children's Literature
The Way Whole Language Worked in
One Kindergarten Class
by Irma K. Ghosn

17
 A few years ago, during a series of workshops for primary
school English teachers, I came to realize that appropriate
materials were not readily available in spite of the fact that
English was introduced in early grades-often as early as
kindergarten. Most of the textbooks on the market fell into
two categories: texts intended for children learning English in
the United States, and texts for children learning English as a
foreign language in areas where English is not the language
of the community. The texts, written for ESL learners, were
not suitable for the average Lebanese kindergartners. First,
the content of the lessons assumed that students possess a
certain level of cultural awareness. Second, the texts were
not intended for four-year-olds but were geared more for the
cognitive level of six to seven year olds. Third, the cost of
these texts was often too high, especially for the less affluent
rural schools. The EFL texts intended for developing
countries, on the other hand, although less costly, were
limited in content and were structured around vocabulary
and grammar exercises-even when the aim was to address
communicative aspects of language. Furthermore, the
content of these texts was also inappropriate for very young
children. These fragmented exercises, so typical of many EFL
texts, clearly did not prepare the children to learn in English.
Yet many of these children were going to study science,
mathematics, and perhaps other subjects as well in English.
So something else was needed. (At the time of this writing,
the situation has much improved as several "Big Book" series
are available. However, the cost is still a problem for many
schools.)

Since I had used a whole language approach, had taught literature with
some success in teaching EFL students in university classes, and had read
about many successful literature- based, whole language reading programs
in L1 (Arabic) contexts, I began to look at available children's literature as a
possible tool to teach EFL to young learners. This idea was tested by a
cooperative kindergarten teacher in a private rural school in Lebanon.

18
Learning a whole language

Extensive L1 research tells us that children learn and create language not by
sitting at their desks doing pencil and paper tasks in isolation from their
peers, or drilling structures out of context, but by interacting with and
manipulating language and by engaging in meaningful use of language in a
community of language learners. Halliday (1975) and Vygotsky (1978),
among others, have stressed the social quality of language development.
Attempts to fragment language into parts-grammatical patterns, vocabulary
lists, or phonics-result in "abstractions and nonsense" (Goodman et al.,
1987), and destroys it (Rigg 1991). As a matter of fact, some educators
claim that the traditional reading skill time is difficult, and actually even
painful for many children (Holdaway 1991). If fragmented skill lessons,
workbooks, and endless worksheets are not the best way for L1 learners to
develop their language and master the art of reading and writing, they must
be much less appropriate for young foreign language learners who need to
learn a whole new language. These students need to learn to listen, to
speak, to read, and to write in a new language, often without exposure to
English outside school. Because language is an interactive process, children
learning a language need ample opportunity to interact in a meaningful,
interesting context and play with the language while developing vocabulary
and structures. They need the collaboration of their peers and teachers in
creating meaningful contexts and negotiating meanings in those contexts.
Constructivist theory suggests that they must "build knowledge from the
inside in interaction with the environment" (Kamii 1991). From this
discussion one can conclude that students cannot successfully acquire a
new language through decontextualized drills and skill exercises. Yet that is
still the way many primary grade EFL classes are set up.

As language teachers have come to accept whole language, materials

and textbooks advocating whole language have begun to appear on the
market. However, textbooks that claim to cater to whole language
actually contradict the whole philosophy, which advocates language
functions that are purposeful, functional, and real to the learners, within
a context of a curriculum that is flexible and evolves around the needs
and interests of the children.

19
Benefits of children's literature

Gianelli (1991:13) describes a successful thematically-based bilingual program

and suggests that thematic instruction works "because theme-related
language and vocabulary are used and reused in new contexts, all of which are
meaningfully related." The children's own, immediate environment-
themselves, family, neighborhood and school-are, of course, good sources of
theme units, but in addition to these, nursery rhymes and children's literature
offer a natural and interesting medium for language acquisition. They contain
predictable, repetitive patterns that reinforce vocabulary and structures,
provide relevant themes for young learners, and they are often highly
generative . Quality literature presents a multitude of discussion topics- from
the literal to those that transcend the story and allow children to link the story
to their own lives, at times making sophisticated generalizations, as
McConaghy (1990), has pointed out.

20
Just as children acquiring their first language begin developing it orally,
young children learning a second language need to develop their oral
language to some extent before they can be expected to function in
writing. However, in many classes that I had observed, young children were
copying words and phrases they did not understand and then in chorus
were "reading" them to the teacher. Carefully chosen children's literature
allows children to develop their receptive language in an entertaining,
meaningful context and naturally invites them to repeat many of the
predictable words and phrases, which they gradually take ownership of and
add to their receptive and productive language. All the activities of the
following experiment heavily emphasize development of oral language.
Language and the knowledge that children construct through the use of
language are very important to individual children, although they use
different means and strategies when engaging in learning. Thus, it is
important that the activities provided accommodate the diverse needs of
young learners. Open-ended activities that allow for children's interest and
input are essential. Newman (1985) aptly describes, not assignments, but
"invitations" to learning. The teaching still has objectives and goals, but the
means through which the objectives are reached must be flexible, as
should be, to some extent, the objectives themselves.

The following activities are just samples. This is the way it worked in one
kindergarten class one semester. In other classrooms, the outcome is likely to be
different, depending on the students and the teacher. The sample activities are
not intended as blueprints to be slavishly imitated, which would be against the
whole language philosophy, but as a guide for the teacher to allow the children's
individual and collective interests and abilities to mold the lessons. All the
activities can be done using one copy of the chosen story, as children will be
making their own books to read independently later on. This saves a considerable
amount of money in situations where the budget is very tight and parent
resources are limited.

The Lebanese KG experience with whole language

21
The Very Hungry Caterpillar , by Eric Carle was selected as an ideal
"language story" because it had the potential of being highly generative
and allowed several themes and concepts to be generated by the children
(and the teacher). The story also contained much repetitious language, the
days of the week, and the numbers one through five that were part of the
requirements for the class. The story is about a hungry little caterpillar
which eats through a variety of edibles over a week, gets a stomachache,
and, after spending time in a self-built cocoon, emerges as a colorful
butterfly.

The class of 26 four-year olds was taught by Betty Saade, a Lebanese-

Canadian teacher in a private rural school in Lebanon. Before Betty
introduced the story to the class, we had identified potential concepts and
vocabulary for the story that met, or exceeded, the requirements for the
program set for the class. (See Table 1 .) After discussing the whole language
philosophy and how I thought it might work for the children she taught, we
made a plan of possible activities. Betty then introduced the story to the
children by asking if they would like to hear a story she had just received
(instead of the usual "today we are going to learn about." she had been
accustomed to doing). As predicted, the children reacted to the idea with
enthusiasm, and she proceeded to read the story. However, at the conclusion
of the story, she did not begin to ask the usual questions about the events
and details of the story. Instead she sat and waited for a few seconds. She did
not need to wait for more than that when children began commenting on the
story. All through the discussion, Betty followed the leads the children and
decided to follow the most prominent interest: food. Most of the children's
discourse was in L1 since the children, with few exceptions, had had less than
four months of exposure to English. When the children engaged in L1, Betty
used reflective listening and "echoed" back comments in English, often
extending a question to other children:

Rania: Ana ma bhib elkabees (I don't like pickles.)

Teacher (nodding to Rania): "You don't like pickles?"

(To class): "Does Rania like pickles?" (pointing to the pickle in the book.)

Class: "No!"

Teacher: "That's right. She doesn't like pickles. Pickles are sour (makes a face to
indicate sour taste). Who likes pickles?"

22
Three children: "Ana, Ana!" (Me, me)

Teacher: "Ah. You like pickles. Hani, Tanya, and Zeina like pickles. I like
strawberries (pointing to strawberries in the book); they are sweet. Mmmm!
Who likes strawberries?"

Several children: "Me!" "[Ana!]" (Me)

Teacher: "It seems that we all like strawberries. They are sweet. Are
strawberries sweet?"

Class: "Yes!"

This provided necessary modeling and repetition without the out-of-context drill
flavor. Children were enjoying themselves and were actively participating in a
meaningful use of new language. With young children, it seems to be an
advantage if the teacher is familiar with the children's native language, even if
she uses only L2 herself. Betty's knowledge of Arabic enabled her to repeat
children's comments in English and reduce the frustration and loss of
motivation that may result from the lack of communication between the teacher
and the children. This is especially significant with young children whose
communicative skills even in L1 are still developing and who are already facing
the stress of being separated from the familiar home environment and their
caregiver. When classroom discourse is structured so that the teacher
frequently solicits hypothesis formulation-something that books with their
predictable format are excellent for-and asks questions, children's thinking is
stimulated while teacher's frequent modeling of structures and vocabulary
builds their receptive language.

After the story session, children were given the customary "free time." They
could choose the writing/drawing table supplied with paper and crayons, the
house-keeping corner, or the block and toy center. After the first reading of the
story, some children headed for the writing table. The story reading continued
during the week. Betty read the story several times, at times using the pointer
to follow the text as she read. Some children began to repeat the key words,
and soon the class was reading in chorus. Some children began to seek the
book out during their free time, taking turns to "read" it to each other. After six
days, the demand for the book became so great that it was natural to suggest
that each student should have his/her personal copy. By the time the books
were ready, most children were able to "read" their story and take it home. One
copy was made for the class library. Figure 1 describes three sample days from
the experiment, the first and the second day, and a day approximately one

23
week into the unit.

Other activities that were introduced included picture-sorting, number or picture

bingo, dramatizations with a sock puppet, painting butterflies, and making
papier- mYch, cocoons. A grocery store corner was set up that incorporated
concepts related to the story, mainly fruit and other foods. In this class, children
incorporated much vocabulary and many concepts from the story into their
daily free time activities from day one, with the number and frequency of words
increasing as the days went by.

Caveat

For the whole language approach to work in an EFL context where the children
get very little or no exposure to English outside the class, the teacher must
have near-native fluency in the target language and should be familiar with the
children's L1. Without L1 knowledge, the teacher will not be able to use
reflective listening, and thus communication will be limited.

Irma K. Ghosn teaches English and Education at the Lebanese American

University in Byblos, Lebanon. She has lectured and conducted teacher
development workshops in Lebanon, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and the
United States.

Return

References

Carle, E. 1987. The very hungry caterpillar. New York: Philomel Books.

Gianelli, M. 1991. Thematic units: Creating an environment for learning.

TESOL Journal, 1, 1, pp. 13-15.

Goodman, K. 1987. Language and thinking in school. New York: Richard C.

Owen Publishers.

Halliday, M. 1975. Learning how to mean. London: Edward Arnold

24
 Holdaway, D. 1991. Shared Book Experience. In Early literacy: A
constructivist foundation for whole language. eds. Kamii, C., M. Manning,
and G. Manning. Washington, DC: National Education Association.

Kamii, C. 1991. What is Constructivism? In Early Literacy: A constructivist

foundation for whole language. eds. C. Kamii, M. Manning, and G. Manning.
Washington, DC: National Education Association.

McConaghy, J. 1990. Children learning through literature. Portsmouth:

Heinemann.

Rigg, P. 1991. Whole Language in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly, 25, 3. pp. 5-23.

Newman, J. 1985. Whole language theory in use. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Vygotsky, L. 1978. Mind in society. eds. M.Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner,

and E. Souberman. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vol 35 No 3, July -
September 1997 PREVIOUS ... CONTENTS ... SEARCH ... NEXT
Page 14

Figure 1

Day 1

Story: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Children arrive

Calendar activity and "morning conversation" Story time

The teacher reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. After reading
the story, the teacher follows the children's lead and the discussion
focuses on their favorite foods. Much of the discourse is in Arabic, the
children's L1, with the teacher repeating comments in L2, elaborating and
extending questions to different children.

Free time

Several children settle down with paper and colored pencils to draw "things
they like" as invited by the teacher. Several food items appear in the
drawings, demonstrating the influence of the story.

Physical activity indoors (due to rain)

25
 The teacher asks the children how they think caterpillars move, and the
children eagerly demonstrate.

Washroom visit before snack time

The teacher has the children line up and go through the doorway (If
resources permit, the preposition could be demonstrated by hanging a
large paper fruit across the doorway for the children to go through, just as
the caterpillar went through the fruit).

Snack time

The children spontaneously refer to the story as they identify some of the
caterpillar's food in each other's lunch boxes and munch through their
food. Animated discussions ensue in L1 with a sprinkling of L2. The teacher
circulates among the children, making comments in English and asking the
children questions.

Whole class activity

The teacher introduces picture bingo to the class. Pictures are drawn from
the story and the teacher goes through and identifies each picture. Many
of the children repeat the words after her.

Free time

The children have a choice of puzzles, picture books, and art table. A brief
break follows, after which the L1 teacher takes over the class.

Day 2

Children arrive

Calendar activity

The day is Tuesday, and the children want to remember what the
caterpillar had eaten on Tuesday. There is some disagreement, and the
teacher suggests they check it in the story. The story is brought out and
the children request a reading of the whole story after checking Tuesday's
food (This went as we had planned).

The story is read again

26
 The teacher directs the children's attention to the numbers in the story,
and a math lesson naturally follows. The children are all familiar with
numbers one and two and now focus on the number three. The children are
eager to demonstrate their knowledge of numbers and much counting
goes on.

Free time

Again the children have the choice of activity. The influence of the story is
clearly increasing as children playing with blocks count them and organize
them into groups. At the writing table, numbers appear next to drawings of
fruit and other food items.
Before snack time, the teacher introduces, "The Caterpillar Chant," written
for this project and the children eagerly join in (See Table 2).

Snack time

The children continue to be interested in food items and try to find who has
"caterpillar food' in their lunch box. Some counting of cookies and candy
bars also goes on. Some children chew holes into their flat Arabic bread,
saying they are caterpillars.

Outdoor activity

Several children "pop" around as caterpillars which have emerged from

their eggs and float around butterfly fashion: "Look, look, butterfly!"

A week into the unit

During the calendar activity, the children still refer to the caterpillar's diet.
The children are now joining the teacher in choral reading of the story, and
some children express interest in reading the story to the class. Two little
girls have prepared themselves and take turns "reading." They have
memorized several lines of the story. Their presentation is highly enjoyable
to the class, and many children chant parts of the story with them. The
teacher suggests that perhaps the class could retell the story so she could
write it on the flip chart for everyone to see the words. As children begin to
retell the story, there is much discussion before they agree on the correct
lines.
The teacher has brought in three silkworms from a local grower, and
children help her set up a corner where the silkworm box can be kept
safely. Children examine the mulberry tree leaves, the food that the

27
 silkmoth caterpillars eat. The color and texture of the leaves are discussed,
but the children's main interest is the caterpillars. They note that these are
not the same color as the caterpillar in the story. The children spend much
of their free time observing the caterpillars.
The teacher observes that several children seem to have internalized the
number concepts of "three," "four," and "five" and can rapidly identify the
number of items in a group without actually having to count.
The children play alphabet bingo using vocabulary from the story. They
also recite "The Caterpillar chant."

Caterpillar Chant

Sing to the tune of Frere Jacques, or chant as a Jazz chant

Caterpillar, caterpillar,

How are you? How are you?

Inside your cocoon, inside your cocoon

What do you do? What do you do?

Table 1

Concepts and target vocabulary identified for

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

butterfly life cycle days of the week

on; through; out of; inside hungry

food groups eat; ate

numbers 1- 5 caterpillar

stomachache cocoon

apple; plum; orange; strawberry tiny; big; fat

28
Note: In the experimental class the vocabulary grew to include particular
children's favorite foods: hamburger, fries, bananas, honey. In another class,
with another group of children, the vocabulary will reflect the particular
children's interests.

29