Using Stories in TEYL

USING STORIES IN TEACHING
ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

Teaching English to children has become very
important in recent years due to the
introduction of primary English Language
Teaching (ELT) both worldwide and in Turkey.
The crucial questions here are:
How to teach English to young learners more
effectively?
What techniques should be used for teaching
a foreign language to children?
Discussions about Teaching English for Young
Learners is interesting because of many reasons.

One of them is the childrens characteristics. It is very
different when we teach to adults or teenagers.
According to Brewster, Ellis and Girard

(2002), young learners are different from
older learners because children have a lot of
physical energy and need to be physically
active.
They are emotionally excitable and have a
wide range of emotional needs.
They get bored easily.
They learn more slowly and forget things more

quickly than adults do.

In short, Children are
ACTIVE
CREATIVE
EAGER TO LEARN
CURIOUS
ENERGETIC
EASILY FRUSTRATED/ BORED

Therefore, they need
ATTENTION
ACTIVITIES
SONGS
GAMES
REINFORCEMENT
MOVEMENT
ATTRACTIVE CLASSROOM MATERIALS

Teachers should take into consideration

these peculiarities since it is necessary to
adapt teaching strategies and styles
according to age characteristics.
Activities designed for young learners should
correspond to those peculiar characteristics.

When teaching a foreign language to young

learners is of concern, it is also necessary to
consider the peculiarities of their secondlanguage acquisition.

Met & Lorenz (1989) state that the most
relevant point in childrens second language
acquisition is
the necessity of Comprehensible Input.
According to many researchers, more
effective language acquisition occurs when
the input is meaningful, interesting and
comprehensible.
(Krashen, 2002; Zdorenko &
Paradis, 2007; Muoz, 2010)

Using stories is one of the ways of providing
children with both comprehensible and
interesting input.
They are even considered one of the most
efficient and motivating ways for teaching a
foreign language to young learners.
They allow the teacher to use an acquisitionbased methodology by language input that
is slightly above the level they are expected
to produce.

Stimulating
Traditional
Oral, original
Relaxing, rhythmical
Interesting, imaginative
Educational, easy to adapt
Social

However, NOT ANY STORY is SUITABLE to young

learners.

Loukia (2006) mentions certain
characteristics of stories for young learners.
If you want your learners to benefit from a
story, it should possess some characteristics.
Appropriate language level
Appropriate vocabulary
Appropriate structures
Content
Interesting and fun
Motivating and memorable
Engouraging participation

Visuals
Attractive
Potential to work with
Motivation
Developing imagination
Arousing curiosity
Drawing on personal experience

Language learning potential

Skills development
Enabling language practice, recycling,
prediction
Potential in terms of learning other subjects.
Such characteristics help you select story
books.

IMAGINE YOU ARE A
STORYTELLER !

Telling a story can captivate an audience with
Right techniques
A little practice
Remember to
Map the plot as a memory technique
Use story skeletons to help you
rememberthe key events
Tell yourself the story in your own words
Create your own version of the story
(adapt and improvise)
Retell it as many times as it feels like a
story.

When you improvise / practice in advance:
It will be easier to respond to the studets
You will be able to keep eye contact with
the learners
You will be able to move around the
classroom and use your body and act
more.

Some Techniques to be used when you tell a
story

When you mime conversations:

When you improvise / practice in advance:
It will be easier to respond to the studets
You will be able to keep eye contact with
the learners
You will be able to move around the
classroom and use your body and act
more.


The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an amusing
story about growth and change. A very tiny
and hungry caterpillar grows from a small
egg to a beautiful butterfly.
It is a repeating story featuring counting and
sequencing, told in the simple past narrative.
This story has become a modern classic of
childrens literature and the very hungry
caterpillar is the most famous of Eric Carles
characters.

Linguistic objectives
Skills covered
Listening: for general understanding and
specific information.
Speaking: repetition of key vocabulary and
phrases; asking and answering questions;
singing a song; saying an action rhyme.
Reading: recognition of key vocabulary and
phrases; reading instructions for the games.
Writing: vocabulary sets; labelling diagrams;
simple sentences; completing charts; food
diary.

Functions/structures
Asking for and giving information about
quantity: How many are there?/There are
Asking about and expressing likes and
dislikes using Do you like?/Yes, I do./No, I
dont.

Vocabulary
Days of the week, numbers, fruit, colours,
food.
Life cycle of the butterfly: egg, caterpillar,
cocoon, butterfly..
Cross-curricular links
Maths: numbers and quantity, completing a
calendar.
Art and design: making models, colouring.







THANK YOU FOR

YOUR PARTICIPATION

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USING STORIES IN TEACHING

ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

According to Brewster, Ellis and Girard

They learn more slowly and forget things more

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

Teachers should take into consideration

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

When teaching a foreign language to young

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

However, NOT ANY STORY is SUITABLE to young

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

Language learning potential

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

THANK YOU FOR

USING STORIES IN TEACHING

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