Unit 16
Unit 16
Unit 16
UNIT 16
INTRODUCTION
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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INTRODUCTION
Our current educational system is based on a methodological approach known as the
communicative approach, which considers language as an instrument of communication. Our final
goal is the development of our students communicative competence, which is the ability to use the
language to communicate in different contexts. We find that a useful means to develop this
competence are literary texts, which provide authentic language and are motivating. Literature is the
perfect vehicle to introduce the FL and culture.
Most children seem to be always ready for a good story. As soon as they hear once upon a time,
they know they are just about to enter a magic world. As teachers we can take advantage of their
eagerness for tales and use them for teaching purposes.
The use of stories in the English class has both psychological and didactic functions. The
psychological functions of stories in the classroom are that:
# They enable children to make sense of their feelings. Psychologists believe that stories help
children solve their affective conflicts.
# Stories develop students` imagination and creativity.
# They develop social integration in the class, because storytelling provokes a shared response of
laughter, sadness, excitement and anticipation, which builds up confidence within the group.
Regarding the didactic functions of stories:
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# They develop positive attitudes towards the foreign language, since they provide students with
fun, excitement and fantasy, creating in them a desire to continue learning.
# They encourage unconscious learning of language.
# The use of stories develops receptive skills: listening and reading comprehension.
# They provide a starting point for a variety of follow-up activities.
# Stories provide an insight into other cultures and the lives of others. They offer us opportunities to
introduce socio-cultural aspects.
When talking about childrens literature, besides tales and stories we can also consider, other
genres, such as nursery rhymes and riddles.
Nursery rhymes share some features with tales, such as:
- natural repetition of words and structures,
- simple grammatical structures,
- Introduction of socio-cultural aspects (food, childrens games, animals, etc).
However, they differ from tales in the following aspects:
- They are short. They are good for improving the attention span, and easy to be learnt by
heart.
- They have a marked rhythm and musicality, enabling children to grasp intonation patterns
Like nursery rhymes, riddles are short, with marked intonation and rhythm. They add a new
element, which is that children have to think about what is being described.
B) SELECTION CRITERIA
With stories we allow students to face language in a real context that is functional and meaningful.
Nevertheless, we must establish a certain selection criteria. We must take time analysing both text
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and students and then try and choose the most appropriate stories for them. Considering the work of
Ellis and Brewster some factors we will have to pay attention to are:
Age: children with different ages have different interests and language competence. Our first
and second cycle students will be more interested in fairy tales, fantasy books or animal
books, and our third cycle students will probably be more interested in everyday life stories or
adventure stories.
Subject: must be interesting, amusing and easy to remember, and if it includes socio-cultural
aspects and cross-curricular topics, so much the better.
Visual aspect: the illustrations must be appropriate for the age of our pupils, relevant,
attractive and colourful.
Participation: the story must promote participation in the form of repetitions, predictions, etc.
Potential for follow-up activities: the text must provide a starting point for language practice
in order to reinforce vocabulary, pronunciation and structures in a meaningful and memorable
way.
Curiosity can be aroused through the students wish to know more about the story, and more
about the target language culture.
Positive attitudes should be created towards the target language and the community. If the
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Beauty and the Beast), or the Grimm brothers` collection, compiled at the beginning of the 19th
century (Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella or Snow White).
We can also include some novels or short stories written by important literary authors in the 18 th
and 19th centuries. Some examples are: Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe), Gullivers Travels
(Jonathan Swift), Alices Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carrol), Little Women (L.M. Alcott),
Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain), Treasure Island (R.L. Stevenson) and The Jungle Book (Kipling).
All these works can be found in a simplified version for children, and therefore they combine both
authenticity and real language.
We can also find more modern works, such as Beatrix Potters The Tale of Peter Rabbit, or A.A
Milnes Winnie the Pooh, with many short stories, very repetitive language, always the same
characters and many socio-cultural aspects. There is also a group of collections that are very well
known by English speaking children that need not be adapted to foreign students due to their
simplicity, such as Postman Pat or Thomas the Tank Engine.
We must also consider some recent literary works, such as those of Roald Dahl, who wrote Charlie
and the Great Glass Elevator, Matilda, The Witches and The BFG among others, Enid Blytons
Famous Five series, Dr. Seuss, most famous for The Cat in the Hat, C.S.Lewis, who wrote The
Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe or J.K. Rowlings universal literary phenomenon of Harry
Potter Books.
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Irrespective of the way in which the children will listen to the story, we will have to tell (or play)
the story more than once.
In the while-listening stage, we can ask the students to perform a task. It is important to remember
that listening is not a passive hearing of sounds; it is a complex active process during which the
students should understand the meaning of those sounds. We can use activities that actively support
learners understanding and guide their attention to specific parts of the story.
While listening to the story, children can:
- News articles. Students become journalists and report on part of the story. Focus on writing
good headlines and prepare the articles in the format of a newspaper story.
- Video parallels. If the book we are using in class has a film version we can use this to spot the
differences in the plot between the book and the film.
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- Quiz time: In teams students prepare questions about the books plot and characters. Questions
would be used in an inter-team quiz to see which group is the most knowledgeable.
We have to think how we are going to promote students reading habit in English if they dont have
it in their first language. Therefore, we will have to think of how the first contact between students
and childrens literature is going to be. This is a crucial moment, since the first impression can
influence their future attitude towards it. The first aim is to attract students to the text, calling their
attention in such a way, that they will want to keep on reading it when they are alone. One thing we
have to avoid is making reading a mechanical, boring activity they do in the classroom from time to
time when the teacher has to correct tests, for example. We must favour reading for pleasure
(without added pressure), take into account the already mentioned selection criteria (especially
interest), and occasionally allow them to choose the text. Another way of directing students
attention towards reading is to have a book corner in the classroom, which allows pupils to look
through books of their own choice and at their own pace. Reading should be an enjoyable task. If
some students are put off reading, it is probably because of the way it is dealt with in class. The
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# Rhythm: nursery rhymes have a marked rhythm and musicality, enabling children to grasp
rhythmic patterns.
# Rhyme: children are familiar with the rhyme. We can make them focus on how the verses rhyme.
- children look for the words of the verses that rhyme
- they can think of other words that rhyme with the ones they have found
- They can invent new verses for a rhyme.
# Stylistic features: once the rhyme has been learnt, the teacher can explain the semantic effect of
the images expressed by the words. The figures to be studied will depend on the childrens age
(metaphors, word order, alliteration)
CONCLUSION
As we have seen, there are very popular works specifically meant for children, which many
generations have enjoyed reading. We must introduce our students to these works to try and
encourage them to read. In other words, we must promote our students reading habits. Our first aim
is to attract students to the text, calling their attention in such a way, that they will want to keep on
reading it when they are alone. One thing we have to avoid is making reading a mechanical, boring
activity they do in the classroom from time to time.
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We must favour reading for pleasure and a good way of directing students attention towards
reading is to have a book corner in the classroom, which allows pupils to look through books of
their own choice and at their own pace. Reading should be an enjoyable task. We shouldnt test
students on their readings, but we can monitor them by asking general questions, we should choose
books we think will be fun to read and let them progress at their own rhythm, without setting the
pace. This way, students will consider reading as an exciting activity that will lead them to new and
fascinating worlds. As Jennifer Hill quotes Literature, carefully chosen, can open up and enrich
the language lesson, provide students with a window to new worlds and engage their intellect and
emotions in a way that study of the language alone cannot.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brewster, J. The Primary English Teachers Guide. 2002
Brewster, J. The Storytelling Handbook for Primary Teachers. 2014
Brewster, J. & Ellis, G. Tell it again! The New Storytelling Handbook for Primary Teachers. 2002
Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 2001
Varela, R et al. All About Teaching English. 2003.
Wright, A. Storytelling with Children. 1995
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