Storytelling,
the art of narrating a tale from memory
rather than reading it is one of
the oldest of all art
forms, reaching back to prehistoric times.
Storytelling involves two elements– selection and
delivery. Many EFL
teachers are interested
in storytelling as a resource in teaching.
A
successful storyteller chooses adequate stories
and must be a good
performer, for the delivery is
crucial and requires both preparation and
rehearsal.
Storytelling is the original form of teaching and has
the
potential of fostering emotional intelligence and
help the child gain
insight into human behavior.
Benefits:
Storytelling
also promotes language learning by
enriching learners’ vocabulary and
acquiring new
language structures. Moreover, storytelling can
provide a
motivating and low anxiety context for
language learning. The
storytelling tips given in this
article are meant to help the teacher–as–storyteller
as s/he prepares for a storytelling"performance" for
students.
Other benefits for storytelling:
Inspires purposeful talking, and not just about the
story -- there are many games you can play.
Raises the enthusiasm for reading texts to find
stories, reread them, etc.
Initiates writing because children will quickly want
to write stories and tell them.
Enhances the community in the room.
Improves listening skills.
Really engages the boys who love the acting.
Is enjoyed by children from kindergarten to the
end of elementary school.
Gives a motivating reason for English-language
learners to speak and write English.
The approach of conversational
storytellers:
1.
The first step is an introductory lesson that
presents learners with a
model story and follow-up
questions to raise their awareness of the
story’s
generic structure
The approach of conversational
storytellers:
1.
The first step is an introductory lesson that
presents learners with a
model story and follow-up
questions to raise their awareness of the
story’s
generic structure as described by Eggins and Slade .
2.
Step 2 is a follow-up lesson that invites learners to
apply the Eggins
and Slade framework and practice
telling stories of their own. This
practice is combined
with a fluency development technique
3.
In Step 3 teachers make conversational
storytelling a regular feature
of their classes and
help their learners add interest to their stories
through the use of devices such as extreme
adjectives, idiomatic expressions, and direct speech.
4.
Finally, Step 4 draws attention to the active role of
the listener by
helping learners use back-channeling
and other linguistic devices to
show interest and
empathy as they listen to and interact with the
storyteller.
2.
Step 2 is a follow-up lesson that invites learners to
apply the Eggins
and Slade framework and practice
telling stories of their own. This
practice is combined
with a fluency development technique
3.
In Step 3 teachers make conversational
storytelling a regular feature
of their classes
and help their learners add interest to their
stories
through the use of devices such as extreme
adjectives, idiomatic
expressions, and direct speech.
4.
Finally, Step 4 draws attention to the active role of
the listener by
helping learners use back-channeling
and other linguistic devices to
show interest and
empathy as they listen to and interact with the
storyteller.
Teaching strategies to Include Stories:
1-Share your own stories, just for fun:
2-Use stories as introductions.
3-Use stories as illustrations:
4-Tie storytelling to learning goals:
5-Tell stories to engage reluctant learners
Types of Stories
A true story from your own life.
A true story from the life of someone you know,
like a friend, family member, or neighbor.
A true story from the news or a current event.
A story that took place sometime in history.
A fictional story, with made up characters or events.
Why Storytelling?
Listening
to stories allows the teacher to introduce or
revise 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.
Listening to stories develops the child’ s listening and
concentrating skills via:
1. visual clues (for example, pictures and
illustrations),
2. their prior knowledge of how language works,
3. their general knowledge.
This allows them to understand the overall meaning
of a story and to relate it to their personal experience.
Why Storytelling Works
In its simplest form, storytelling remains a powerful
element of
communication, with the narrative being
equally as compelling as essays
and textbooks.
They humanize learning. It offers us the opportunity
to connect to like-minded characters, or see the
world literally from
within someone else’s skin.
Stories touch our emotions and make us
laugh, cry,
fear, and get angry—a sharp contrast to a plain old
presentation.
As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage
students to explore their
unique expressiveness
and can heighten a student's ability to
communicate thoughts and feelings in
an articulate, lucid manner.
These
benefits transcend the art experience to
support daily life skills. In
our fast-paced, media-
driven world, storytelling can be a nurturing way
to remind children that their spoken words are
powerful, that listening
is important, and that
clear communication between people is an art.
Have Students Tell Their Stories
As you incorporate your own stories, recognize how
they connect with
students on a different level. But
why keep the power of storytelling to
yourself?
You can also actively help students become
their own powerful
storytellers, too!
Allow students to write, illustrate, and tell their own
tales.The
way you incorporate this may vary
depending on your curricular goals,
but it is essential
that children understand how to tell a good story
and how this relates to effectively accomplishing
an objective.
Students
can use stories in their essays and
argumentation—They can help in
remembering
processes or formulas, or connecting events with
one
another. The opportunities are endless, and
easy to employ.
Storytelling and intercultural understanding
There are a number of ways in which storytelling
can enhance intercultural understanding and
communication.
Stories can…
allow children to explore their own cultural roots
allow children to experience diverse cultures
enable children to empathize with unfamiliar people/
places situations
offer insights into different traditions and values
help children understand how wisdom is common to
all peoples/all cultures
offer insights into universal life experiences
help children consider new ideas
reveal differences and commonalities of cultures
around the world
Performance techniques
Telling a story can captivate an audience; that is,
with the right techniques and a little practice.
Remembering and retelling the plot:
map the plot as a memory technique
use story skeletons to help you remember the key events
think of the plot as a film or a series of connected images
tell yourself the story in your own words
create your own version of the story (adapt and improvise)
retell it numerous times until it feels like a story
My own attitude:
Storytelling
is a kind of self reflection. It is a kind of
dialoguing for the
learner with himself then with others. This is active the learning which
we we call and seek for.
Language is a means of communication. How
wonderful if the learner expressed his story with his attitude! It is a kind of analysis and analysis is one of the high levels of learning in
Bloom's taxonomy of learning. Look at the examples below:
Learners
who listen can recall the events through their natural times and order
them through composing events through sentences using: