MITSUE ALLEN-TAMAI (AOYAMA GAKUIN UNIVERSITY)
KATSUHISA HONDA (Faculty of Education)

A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ORAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IN YOUNG EFL LEARNERS THROUGH STORY-BASED ACTIVITIES : TEACHING YOUNGER LEARNERS

All language learners, especially children, should be exposed to comprehensible input when learning a foreign language. By listening to stories, children are exposed to a large amount of language in context and are expected to develop their ability to understand and use foreign languages while enduring ambiguity. It is also an effective teaching method for promoting understanding of cultural backgrounds. The story-based curriculum developed by the presenter has been implemented and practiced in a district in Tokyo, Japan, with more than 11,000 students each year. The curriculum consists of two main parts: storytelling and “joint storytelling”. The curriculum begins with storytelling, where students use background knowledge to understand English input without translation. After listening to a story, learners move on to the second stage, called “joint-storytelling,” a term coined by the presenter. Students are taught to tell a simplified, dialogue-based version of a story. Many gestures are introduced to enhance students' memory and scaffold their learning. The workshop begins with a discussion of the participants' favorite childhood stories to understand the importance of storytelling. Then, three "joint-storytelling" activities will be presented; one for lower grades, one for middle grades, and one for upper grades. After practicing these three joint storytelling activities together, participants will learn how to write a storytelling script, add gestures, and create a parody song. Participants will present their drafts to the group and discuss the benefits of implementing this activity in their own classrooms.

Mitsue Allen-Tamai is a professor in the Department of English at Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan. She received her EdD from Temple University. Her research interests are in the areas of teaching English to young learners and second language acquisition. She has taught pre-service and in-service courses.

Katsuhisa Honda is a professor in the Department of English Education at Chiba University, Japan. His research interests are in the areas of teaching English to elementary to high school students. He as taught preservice and in-service courses.