"Storytelling in the Language Classroom" Abstract of the paper I presented at ELTAI national conference 2014, Jaipur

        Storytelling in the language classroom

Deepa Kiran                                ELTAI  2014

“There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” —Ursula K. LeGuin

Story of The sparrow and the banyan tree

Once upon a time there was a beautiful lush green forest which was the home to a variety of animals. The animals lived in the forest peacefully enjoying the lovely food and shelter it provided them. The big banyan tree right in the middle of the forest housed many nests and was the most popular shade for the animals and insects. One hot summer afternoon two travelers passing through the forest lit a small fire to cook their food and as they left they forgot to put off the fire. In a while the wind carried splinters into the air and onto the dry branches of the trees. Seconds later the branches caught fire and soon a raging fire spread all through the forest.

All the animals, insects and birds ran for their lives. “Run run”, they shouted to each other as they abandoned the forest. But one little sparrow didn’t have the heart to run away leaving behind the kind big banyan tree who had taken care of her all these years. “How can I leave you to burn and die? I must do something!” she cried. “Oh no”, said the tree “Go away my dear little bird. Save yourself.” All the other animals also advised the sparrow to simply run away, just like them. But the little sparrow would not listen. She wanted to somehow her friend, help the big banyan tree. So she flew to the pond at the end of the forest, she filled her small beak with a few drops of water and came back to the burning tree and poured the little drops from her beak on it. She went back and got more water and poured some more drops. She did this again and again. Seeing this scene the cheetah giggled, the elephant laughed, and the squirrel smirked and said “Oh how foolish of you. What use are those few drops for a huge raging fire?” But the little sparrow wouldn’t listen. She went on and on. She was tired, hot and sweating and yet she went on and on picking up little drops of water in her beak and pouring it on the tree and desperately trying to save it. From up in the heavens the Gods saw the sight of this little sparrow and her heart-felt attempt to save her dear friend the tree. They were so touched that it made them cry. As they say ‘When the Gods cry, it rains’. And so it rained, it poured and the forest fire was doused.

Storytelling invites you to journey through time and space using the simple strength of the speech and words to creatively visualize and craft almost-real experiences. It is such a fascinating and magical trip that it becomes infectiously engaging.

 “‘Thou shall not’ is soon forgotten, but ‘Once upon a time’ lasts forever.” 

                                                                                                            - Philip Pullman

STORYTELLING – BENEFITS

Look at storytelling as extensive literature that the child is exposed to and which she willingly joins in pursuing. Thus in a non-competitive and cooperative environment language acquisition is fostered using a conducive social platform.

Benefits for children:

ü  Language and communication all aspects (LSRWGV) are developed. Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Vocabulary and Grammar

ü  Engaging and enjoyable method of learning language which motivates the child to learn and communicate

ü  Confidence is built, memory improves, bonds more with teacher

Benefits for teachers:

ü  Learns to teach English not as a subject but as a a medium to explore the world, experience life and express one-self

ü  Develops whole-body-communication skills which makes the entire teaching process itself far more effective

ü  Better classroom management and lesser behavioral issues in class and better bonding with students

****Simon Borg (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36, pp 81-109. doi:10.1017/S0261444803001903.

Benefits for Institution:

ü  Engaged, confident and joyful students motivated to learn language

ü  Empowered and joyful teachers motivated and guided to facilitate early-years language learning in effective

ü  Less behavioral issues in higher classes –Many behavioral issues can be traced to improper language development in initial years of learning.

***Rod Ellis (2010). Second language acquisition, teacher education and language pedagogy. Language Teaching, 43, pp 182-201. doi:10.1017/S0261444809990139.

Whole Language Acquisition through storytelling     

“If you want your children to be smart tell them stories, if you want them to be smarter tell them more stories and if you want them to be even smarter tell them even more stories!”

                                                                                                                        - Albert Einstein

1) Learning English

a)        Listening:     

                                                          i.            Stories have ‘stickiness’ factor and engage the child

                                                        ii.            Dramatization and context scaffold listening comprehension          

b)                   Speaking:     

                                                          i.            Speech – pronunciation, diction, intonation are imbibed by the child

                                                  ii.            Questioning (non-threatening, open-ended) during and after storytelling        encourages child to speak – guessing, sharing their feelings

                                                      iii.            Sharing – or re-narration of story encourages speaking skills

                                                      iv.            Motivation to create new stories

c)                    Reading:       

Contrary to popular assumptions children are motivated to read a book after hearing the story. Perhaps the familiarity with the text has boosted their confidence in reading the text which is often the meaning deterrent ( the inability to make sense of the text by reading is often the primary obstacle for the learner)

                                                          i.            Reading motivation

                                                        ii.            Confidence with speech and comprehension

                                                      iii.            Comprehension of  reading techniques

d)                   Writing:        

                                                          i.            Post a storytelling session the listener is in a state of full-of-creative visualization potential. Creative writing (story writing) for older children can be successfully employed after telling a story.

                                                        ii.            With lower grades you could bring in art responses first such as drawing the characters/scenes followed by creating titles and dialogue clouds which build in small opportunities for writing.

e)                    Vocabulary:       

                                                          i.            In storytelling you can introduce new words in context and with ample scaffolding through expressions; body language etc. which fosters both acquisition and comprehension of new words thus providing an excellent platform for vocabulary building.

                                                        ii.            Curiosity to comprehend- When new words are introduced in a story, children are often curious to know the meaning and make a conscious effort to find out

                                                      iii.            Employing the new words- Much like mother-tongue acquisition, when a story

f)         Grammar: Regular speech patterns are acquired effortlessly and their context and usage are acquired simultaneously

2)  Learning other Subjects

a)         Creates interest in other subjects:    Not only for ELT, storytelling can be effectively used in other subjects as well by using concept-based/concept related stories, stories of experts in that subject, interesting stories of milestones in the topic being taught.

b)         Concentration:      Storytelling is such an engaging art that it fosters concentration in the learner in a joyful and undistracted environment

c)         Memory:         You do not forget stories easily, do you? Stories are a great way to build one’s memory stores and retention.  

d)         Builds self-image:     Sharing stories gives a good boost to the learner’s confidence in spaces beyond language also.

e)         Trust-building: The storyteller takes the listener on a ride and brings them back safely. A web of trust is built between the teller and the audience. Storytelling is honest whole-body communication which generates faith.

f)         Calming and relaxing: Hyper active children and others in the similar category are known to settle down and be involved during story time. In a multimedia inundated multitasking world, the simple joy of focused un-distracted listening to a story is indeed relaxing for the child/adult listener.

g)         Creativity enhanced – The act of creating the story happens in the mind of the listener who is therefore involved in the engaging process of creative visualization

3) Non-academic benefits

a)         Builds and strengthen bond with the listener

b)         Promotes understanding of multi-cultural perspectives

c)         Invites introspection on values and one self

***Egan, Kieran. Imagination in teaching and learning: The middle school years. University of Chicago Press, 1992.

            STORYTELLING – Vs OTHER MEDIUMS

“The television knows many stories but the storyteller knows us”

– African saying

1)         MULTI-MEDIA VS ORAL STORYTELLING

a)         Individual creativity: Each listener actively creatively visualizes the story and weaves the entire story in his/her imagination.

b)         No human interaction:          However voice-sensitive, audio/video efficient a mutli-media presentation is, it cannot replace a human being and the attention one receives from the human being.

c)         No audience participation:      Audience is not involved in any shared physical activity with the storyteller.      

2)         PRINT VS ORAL TELLING

While print and oral telling both employ words, there is a vast difference between both mediums

a)         Linear (print) Vs Simultaneous (oral telling):         The setting, character, emotion, dialogue, dramatization can all happen at once in storytelling

b)         Story progression:        Teller chooses when to stop or take the story forward while reader chooses the same when it comes to print/reading. Thus the teller can moderate story progression based on understanding the audience requirement.

c)         Eye contact:               Eyes and hands are locked in holding the book and looking at thereby giving less scope for eye contact and free usage of the hands for dramatization.

STORYTELLING – TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Everyone can tell stories and everyone does tell stories. Here are some guidelines on how to make the telling much more effective.

1)         DRAMATIZATION – Bringing in dramatization in the manner of telling can raise the quality of the telling immensely. The entire focus is on whole-body-communication. This means employing the whole self to communicate with the audience.

a)         Voice:  Breathe, modulation of the voice (loudness and pitch), character voices

b)         Speech: Narrative styles, intonation, pronunciation, pace of speech: fast, slow, silence and pause

c)         Sounds:  Sound effects, onomatopoeic words

d)         Facial expressions:     Eye movements, eyebrow movements, lip and jaw movements, tongue movements

e)         Gestures:   Movements of the palm and fingers

f)         Actions:   Body language, stance, gait

2)         LANGUAGE -          The language used in the storytelling is critical to engaging/disengaging your audience. Make sure to use language which is

a)         Simple:   Flowery vocabulary will impress but not interest. So keep the language reasonably simply.

b)         Strong imagery:   Draw on vivid descriptions to help the listener in creating the story in his/her mind

c)         Interesting:   Simple language need not be lifeless. You can use clever and interesting language such as proverbs, idioms, synonyms, metaphors etc. can contribute.

d)         Dialogues:   Adding dialogues personalizes and adds life to the character

d)         Easy flow:   Long drawn and unwieldy sentences are difficult to listen and assimilate. Stick to using language that is easy for the audience to follow.

e)         Repetitions:   Like a ‘refrain’ in poetry, any repetition adds an anchoring element to the telling. Appropriately employ repetitive sentence patterns/phrases/words where the story permits. (you have to seek out these possibilities).

f)         Bilingual/Multi-lingual:   Our country India is a treasure trove of a number of languages. Bring in one or more languages in between your telling. It is a beautiful way to bring cultural connect with the audience.

3)         PARTICPATIVE -   World over UNICEF, CBSE board and various other organizations working with children and education, are bringing attention to the need for ‘participative’ learning environment. The learner is drawn in to participate (literally) in the session.

Note: It is important to perceive audience responses as their need to participate in the telling as well proof of their involvement and not as their attempt to interrupt the telling. Initiating and getting participation constantly shifts the audience from a receiving and listening mode to a speaking and acting (responding) mode.

a)         Questions:   Ask questions in the story and elicit responses so the listener can – either guess what would happen next or add finer details to characters/ambience in the story. The audience enjoys the speculation as well as the contribution of finer details gives them a sense of ownership for the story. 

b)         Interaction & Improvisation:   A lot of related thoughts often spring up in the listener when they listen to story. Using your discretion sometimes allow for the voicing out of these thoughts, acknowledging and even responding to them. It also conveys to the rest that their views/thoughts are respected..

c)         Music:   Weave in music into the storytelling can liven up the telling. You could build in simple rhythms, folksy rhymes/tunes; beats from dance/music are some ways of doing this.

d)         Dance:   Pepper the telling with small creative movements of the hands/legs or the body is great fun both for the teller and the audience. It also helps as it introduces some enjoyable physical activity for the listener in the middle of a passive sitting session.

STORYTELLING – TRAITS OF A TELL-ABLE TALE

1)         LANGUAGE:          Simple, interesting and easy to follow

2)         CHARACTERS:      Few, well-defined, and not appearing all at the same time in the story

3)         PLOT:   Uncomplicated and, ‘What next?’ plot where ‘what next?’ gets answered each time.  

*Universally loved story plot is a ‘Hero’s Journey’: A plot where a ‘hero’ sets out on a journey to achieve a goal/resolve a problem. She encounters people and circumstances on this journey and is helped by these or evolves because of them and finally ends her journey by succeeding /failing in reaching the goal.

4)         EMOTIONAL TUG:   Chose stories that tug at the heart so you can connect with your audience easily.

STORYTELLING – PERFORMANCE AND PRACTICE

Having understood the significance and strength of storytelling you are now better equipped to explore storytelling. However the journey has just begun. Some things to keep in mind when you make the decision to tell stories are:

1)         STORY SELECTION:        It is very important to chose the right story to succeed in your objective. Chose the right story based on the age, background, literacy level, and interests of the target audience as well as the context of the storytelling.

2)         IMAGINING:        It is important to imagine the story using all your five senses of smell, taste, sight, hearing and touch. It is important to view the story from different perspectives and also to feel and experience the story within you before you share with others.

3)         READ AND READ:                        It is important to read the story silently as well as aloud several times to find the right expressions and ways of saying.

4)         TELL AND RE-TELL:       As storytelling is a social art it needs to be told and rehearsed with an audience as well. Try telling an imaginary audience first like the mirror or the wall. Then tell it to a friend and later progress to a small group of friends/family and finally to the official target audience.

5)         IMPROVISE:            Once you are confident of the storytelling you can explore weaving in music, rhymes, rhythms and movement and other such participative activities into your story.

“The veil of the parable does not merely serve as a screen; it stirs our desire to seek the hidden mystery within”                                                                             - Clement of Alexandria