Apart from the obvious enjoyment factor, involving children in storytelling activities on a regular basis can build up their confidence as learners of a new language. They find support in the familiarity of stories and begin to realise that they can follow what’s happening without necessarily having to understand every word.

Listening to stories develops children’s active listening skills as they search for key words or simply enjoy the sounds of the new language. Story-telling allows children exposure to more complex language taking their imagination and linguistic knowledge to a higher level.

Questions

- Should you teach children key vocabulary from the story before the first reading?

- Actions and sound effects are effective tools in our repertoire of story-telling. What purposes do actions and sound effects serve?

Activity

When using stories in the classroom, perhaps on the second or third reading, try out the technique of asking children to pick out familiar language, counting the number of times they hear familiar words or phrases while listening to more complex language.