TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS
listener can affect the storyteller, giving
Onceupon
atime ...
Yaser Khajavi and Roohollah Heidari suggest
multiple strategies for storytelling.
S
torytelling is one of the oldest
human pastimes: it is as old as
language itself, and since the
dawn of human civilization,
people have used it to fight off boredom.
The art of storytelling evolved naturally
because there were always some people
who preferred telling stories and some
who preferred listening to them. In many
cultures, people wanted to keep records
and memories of past events alive, so
storytelling acquired an important
position and those who had a talent for
it became highly respected members of
society. Archaeology suggests that the
Egyptians were the first to write down
their stories. The Romans are known
to have been particularly good at
spreading stories – as are gypsies,
whose nomadic lifestyle enabled them
to carry tales far and wide. Throughout
the Middle Ages, royal families hired
storytellers or troubadours and they
told tales of courtly love and heroic
martial accomplishments.
Besides providing entertainment,
storytelling has been used to pass on
family lore, values, ideas and beliefs,
common history and heritage – in fact,
it has enabled the whole human
experience to be conveyed from one
generation to another and from one
culture to another. As a result, it can be
said that it is an inseparable part of
human civilisation.
• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 77 November 2011 •
Today, the art of storytelling
continues in different forms and we use
different devices to convey a story. In
this article we will focus on oral story
telling or oral reproduction of stories,
and will explore the use of storytelling
in teaching programmes.
Storytelling in
language learning
Storytelling has been widely used to
enhance the oral, auditory and visual
capacities of people of all ages. Indeed,
it is the oldest teaching method that
has been widely and consistently used
in different societies throughout the
world. E M Pedersen argues that
storytelling is the original form of
education, maintaining that a simple
narrative will always be the
cornerstone of the art of teaching.
At its simplest, storytelling is the
oral reproduction of a story, whether it
be a past memory or a piece of
literature. In fact, it goes beyond mere
story reproduction as the good
storyteller tries to recreate the
experiences in a story, not only through
words but also through such things as
gesture, posture, intonation, eye contact,
etc. What makes storytelling a unique
experience for the teller and the
listener is that both sides affect each
other in a reciprocal manner. The
instant feedback and reactions and
displaying understanding of the story. At
the same time, the storyteller can use
this feedback to guide the narration.
Storytelling can be used as an
effective tool to improve different
aspects of language learning. As
Natasha Malkina asserts, it meets the
emotional, cognitive and psychological
demands of pre-school children.
The first and the most beneficial
aspect of storytelling that we’ve noticed
in our own classes is that it provides an
opportunity for the teller to practise the
skill of speaking in front of an audience
and for a good length of time, with the
added benefit of instantaneous feedback.
In the process, both teller and listeners
are able to develop their understanding
of vocabulary and discourse
construction. Narration of a story can
involve a great variety of new words and
the teller can practise using these words
in context. This can greatly enhance
At its simplest,
storytelling is the oral
reproduction of a story,
whether it be a past
memory or a piece
of literature
both the storyteller’s and the listeners’
knowledge of vocabulary: they can get a
good sense of the primary and
secondary meaning of words, together
with a feel for the different connotations.
Another beneficial aspect of
storytelling is that it can improve the
storyteller’s awareness of grammatical
structures. Using appropriate tenses,
paying attention to the references of the
pronouns, using different types of clauses,
linking ideas, and so on are all involved in
successful storytelling. Besides all these,
which could be described as the verbal
aspect of language, storytelling can also
help both the listeners and the
storyteller to improve their non-verbal
abilities: the use of gesture and posture
to convey mood and meaning.



23
 TEACHING YOUNG LEARNERS
Onceupon
atime ...



It is often said that learning a
language is learning a culture. By using
stories from the language that is being
learnt, we can help to bridge the gap
between two different cultures. As
Malkina puts it: ‘in early language teaching,
storytelling can be one of the main tools for
children to become culturally literate’; or as
Susan Craig et al argue: ‘storytelling is a
great way to bridge apparent cultural divide
by encouraging many interpretations of the
core story the teacher is telling’.
Finally, a very important aspect of
class management is creating a positive
atmosphere in which the students can
reveal their utmost abilities. Storytelling
can create this atmosphere; as Pedersen
points out, a story is a time to share
feelings. If a relaxed, happy relationship
between storyteller and listener is
established, it draws them together and
builds mutual confidence. Teachers
should provide a classroom environment
that will stimulate thought and feeling
while cultivating listening and speaking
skills: stories can contribute to the
establishment of just that kind of
environment.
We would agree with Herbert
Puchta and Mario Rinvolucri that
students’ motivation relies to some
extent on the atmosphere of the class
and on the relevance for the students
of the activities set by the teacher. In a
class which is focused solely on
linguistic exercises, those with strong
linguistic intelligence will benefit, while
others may do less well.
Storytelling
strategies
This brings us to the second part of
our article, in which we suggest some
strategies to strengthen, by means of
storytelling, the different types of
intelligence proposed by Howard
Gardner in his theory of multiple
intelligences. We don’t propose to define
24 • Issue 77 November 2011 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •
each of these intelligences here as this
has been done many times before in ETp.
1 Linguistic intelligence
In order to help the students develop
their linguistic intelligence, ask them to
retell and/or rewrite a story that has
been told to them in their own words.
In addition, you can ask them to try to
choose adjectives which best describe
the characters in the story.
2 Logical-mathematical
intelligence
Ask your students to look for rhythmic
patterns, repeated words, sequences
and recurring themes in the stories. It
can also be good to read them only the
first part of a story and get them to
guess the rest.
3 Musical intelligence
Play background music for the students
during the reading or retelling of stories.
Ask them to find a suitable rhythm for
reading a story aloud. Suggest that they
try to find sound patterns in the story,
add rhythms to enhance the action and
words, make some sound effects for the
story or tell the story in rap or rhyme.
4 Spatial intelligence
Let the students draw pictures
illustrating the events in the story in
sequence or ask them to draw pictures
of the characters. Use a concept
mapping technique to create a
summary of the story.
5 Bodily-kinaesthetic
intelligence
Get the students to use movements
and gestures instead of words to tell
parts of the story and to mime the
events of the story. Creating a dance
that tells the story can also be helpful.
One good idea is to roleplay the story,
getting the students to play the
different characters.
6 Interpersonal intelligence
Have a discussion about the social and
personal relationships of the characters
in the story. Ask your students how
they feel about these relationships and
how they could be improved.
7 Intrapersonal intelligence
Get the students to discuss whether the
events in the story have an echo in your
own lives. Ask your students to reflect
on the stories by finding similarities with
things that have happened to them or
to people they know.
8 Naturalistic intelligence
Tell stories of how things in nature
might have come to be as they are.
There are many stories which are
related to animals and nature. These
can be very helpful in activating the
students’ naturalistic intelligence. ETp
Pedersen, E M ‘Storytelling and the art of
teaching’ English Teaching Forum 33 1995
Malkina, N ‘Storytelling in early language
teaching’ English Teaching Forum 33 1995
Craig, S, Hull, K, Haggart, A G and
Crowder, E ‘Storytelling: addressing the
literacy needs of diverse learners’ High
Beam Research (www.highbeam.com/doc/
1P3-72379878.html) 2001
Puchta, H and Rinvolucri, M Multiple
Intelligences in EFL CUP 2005
Yaser Khajavi is an ELT
instructor and teacher
trainer. He currently
teaches English in high
school and at Islamic Azad
University, Izeh branch,
Iran. He is also an editorial
board member of Theory
and Practice in Language
Studies. Articles by him
have appeared recently in
English Language Teaching
and HLT magazine.
yaserkhajavi@yahoo.com
Roohollah Heidari has an
MA in English literature.
He teaches English
literature at Islamic
Azad University, Izeh
branch, Iran. He has also
taught English literature
and translation courses at
Payam Nour Universtiy
and State University of
Shahrekord, Iran.
rh.heidari88@gmail.com
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