helping children to think of storybooks

8/13/2019 Helping Children to Think of Storybooks

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Helping Children Learn To Think in English Through Reading StorybooksPatricia F. Neymani!"

#lso published in the $nternet TESL %ournal& ' (') *++* (http,--itesl.com)

Introduction

/y interest in using storybooks 0or teaching English began 1hen $ 1as teaching

middle2school students in 3orea. /y search 0or material 1hich could pro4ide a basis 0orcon4ersation and 1riting in my classes led me to try some o0 the many all2English

storybooks a4ailable. Later $ began using them to teach English to t1o elementary2school students 1hom $ taught on the telephone. The latter e5perience has been so

success0ul that it moti4ated me to 1rite this paper.

The middle2school students had been e5posed to a lot o0 English 4ocabulary. Ne4ertheless& 1hen $ presented them 1ith a page o0 English 1riting 1ith no or 4ery little

ne1 4ocabulary& $ 1as surprised to 0ind that they seemed to ha4e great di00iculty 1ith it.

6Teacher& 4ery di00icult78 they 1ould say to me. $ concluded that they 1ere lacking inability to process English. Their English training has 0ocused mainly on the le4el o0

single 1ords (4ocabulary lists) and translation into their nati4e language. Readingselections in their elementary and middle2school te5ts are short and usually accompanied by nati4e language support. Perhaps this is 1hy the students had not mo4ed to the point

1here& upon encountering 1ords memori9ed& they 1ere able to instantly connect them to

the mental concepts embodied. Their processing probably 1as mainly occurring in their

nati4e language..

The ability to interconnect 4arious mental constructs 1ithout re4erting to nati4e2

language processing is essential not only to reading comprehension& but to con4ersationas 1ell. The proect described in this paper 1ith the elementary school children

con4inced me that early introduction o0 longer selections could be e5tremely bene0icial in

EFL training. Rather than 1aiting until the later grades& e5tensi4e reading should beintroduced as early as possible& in order to take ad4antage o0 the 0acility 1ith 1hich

children under the age o0 !* ac:uire language.

The key to the success o0 such reading& ho1e4er& is to keep the number o0 ne1

1ords or idiomatic phrases per page do1n to a ma5imum o0 one or t1o.. This point can;t

be o4er2emphasi9ed. The 1hole idea o0 such reading is to keep the reader engaged in the

story. $t re:uires that the reader be able to get the meaning 1ithout stopping o0ten& i0 atall& to 0ind out the meanings o0 ne1 1ords. $0 ne1 items seriously impede understanding&

students get discouraged< and it may turn into another grammar2translation e5ercise.

Tutoring project using readers

=hen $ began teaching them& >o2kyung 1as ' (=estern age)& and in *nd grade<

Chang2un 1as ?& in @rd grade. Chang2un 1as getting an hour a 1eek o0 English inregular school& and both had had some other e5posure to English 0rom another pri4ate

teacher. Ho1e4er& neither kne1 any English to speak o0.

From September *+++ through February *++! each child logged around A+ hours1ith me. Buring this period& each child;s daily hal02hour on the telephone 1ith me 1as



spent largely in reading te5ts like Let’s Go and Up and Away with English& 1ith

storybooks used 0or 4ariety. Then 0rom /arch through September& *++! each logged

another + hours. #gain& lessons 1ere daily. Thirty o0 these + hours 1ere 1ith me (@days a 1eek)& the other *+ 1ith another teacher (* days a 1eek). Buring the latter period

$ 1as tutoring them using e5clusi4ely readers& 1hile the other teacher 1orked 1ith them

using standard te5ts. They read a total o0 !' books 1ith me during this period. $naddition >o2kyung started to get one hour a 1eek o0 English in school 1hen she

graduated to @rd grade& and Chang2un continued to recei4e the same in Dth grade. =e also

had t1o personal 4isits& in the conte5t o0 outings 1ith the 0amily.

#t 0irst Chang2un progressed 0aster than >o2kyung& but 1hen he 1as absent 0or a

short period& she caught up 1ith him< and since then the t1o ha4e been reading the same

materials. #0ter the !!+ hours o0 tutoring described& they could easily read andunderstand the 50ord Classic Tales books at Elementary Le4el *& and 1ere beginning on

an Elementary Le4el @ book. Elementary * is listed by 50ord as ha4ing a head1ordii*"

count o0 @++ 1ords& Elementary @& a count o0 D++ 1ords.

=hen they had 9ero English 4ocabulary& they got meaning 0rom pictures and my

translations o0 1ords into their NL obtained 0rom dictionaries. This 1as 0ine at the beginning& but items not literally translatable and-or not 0indable in dictionaries appeared

4ery soon< and then $ turned to NL speakers 1ho could also speak English. Fortunately&

the children had already been trained to use a dictionary in English& and 1e increasinglylooked up 1ords in these. =e employed English2NL& English2English& and picture

dictionaries. $ say 61e8& because $ and they each had the same dictionaries. Later $ began

checking comprehension by ha4ing them do the e5ercises pro4ided in the readers& or by

asking them to gi4e me the meaning o0 a 1ord in 3orean. #s soon as they beganspontaneously speaking to me& $ changed the routine and started ha4ing them retell me

the stories in their o1n 1ords.

The kind o0 1ord or phrase translation $ ha4e described abo4e is the only translation

that 1as done. =e started out by going through one basic phonics book. They repeated

a0ter me. #0ter that& $ s1itched to ha4ing them read& 1hate4er book 1e 1ere using& andthat became the basic procedure. They read& and $ corrected their pronunciation. =hen

1e came to the past tense and 0uture tense& e5planations 1ith simple English 1ords 1ere

used (yesterday& tomorro1). Ho1e4er& $ did use some e5amples 0rom the little NL $

kne1 to get the time ideas across. nce they got it& $ only had to re0er to 6yesterday8 or6tomorro18 to remind them.

# list o0 1hat books 1e used is gi4en belo1iii@". This se:uence is roughly graded in4ocabulary& and $ pro4ide it only as a possible ser4ice to others. $ spent hours and hours

in bookstores looking at beginning2le4el readers. Some readers $ reected because $

didn;t like the story itsel0. Some seemed too e5pensi4e 0or the amount o0 reading they pro4ided. thers& especially those o0 certain publishers& 1ere 0illed 1ith untranslatable

idioms or 1ords 1hich are in0re:uently used. 0 course& there are many other possible

combinations& and many other books that $ didn;t see.i4D"



Results

=hat ha4e Chang2un and >o2kyung achie4ed& really #0ter around !!+ hours o0

instruction& they are easily reading books that 50ord rates as @++2D++ 1ord le4el. =hatabout the length and comple5ity o0 te5t they can handle =ell& the 50ord Elementary *

(@++ head21ords) te5t has around G+2!++ 1ords per page& and !' pages4" o0 te5t. Here

are a couple o0 sentences 0rom one o0 them, 6=hen the prince sa1 Cinderella& hethought& 6She is the most beauti0ul girl in the 1orld78 He 1ent to her and said& 6=ill you

dance 1ith me8 6es8& she said& 6$ 1ill.8 (Cinderella& 50ord Classic Tales). $ think it

is 0air to say that Chang2un and >o2kyung had gained the capacity to process a lot o00airly comple5 English at this point& and to do it rather easily. $ belie4e that many

teachers 1ho use predominantly the grammar2translation method in EFL teaching 1ould

be surprised that such young children could understand 1hat these children 1ere reading.

=hat about results 1ith regard to speaking Chang2un and >o2kyung;s

1illingness and ability to use 1ords mastered in reading at 0irst lagged noticeably behind

their comprehension o0 them in te5t. From the beginning& lessons began 1ith greetings

and a little con4ersation. Naturally it 1as di00icult at 0irst 1ith no 4ocabulary at all& andall o0 us 1ere 0rustrated at times. For :uite a 1hile& they resisted talking& and pre0erred to

get right to reading. >ut there came a point 1hen they began to really try to acti4ely usetheir limited @++2D++ 1ord 4ocabulary to get close enough to the meaning they had in

mind so $ could get it. ne o0 Chang2un;s 0irst such utterances 1as, 6Teacher& up page&

le0t. =hat is8 (=hat;s that at the top o0 the page on the le0t) #round that time& >o23yung said& 6$ 0ind book and bring tomorro1.8 >oth spontaneously produced se4eral

respectable English sentences ri4aling 1hat some o0 the uni4ersity 0reshmen $ 1as

teaching at the time could produce a0ter years o0 English training.

0 course& this little trial run should be replicated 1ith more children and some

controls. Perhaps Chang2un and >o2kyung are ust e5ceptionally bright children.

Perhaps the 0re:uency o0 classes a00ects the results& or the moti4ation pro4ided at home.They may be listening to English on TI. $ actually belie4e the 1ork 1ith me 1as a

primary 0actor& based on 1hat $ kno1< but be0ore these results 1ith regard to speaking

can be taken as anything but promising& the method ob4iously re:uires systematic testing.

$t can de0initely be said& ho1e4er& that this set o0 obser4ations sho1s that a graded

series o0 readers can pro4ide a 1ay 0or children to rapidly increase their ability to handle

English te5t< and that translation is not needed i0 the stories are correctly graded.

Current ESL theory and storybooks

$0 correctly chosen& storybooks 1ould correspond to the 6comprehensible input81hich ESL theorists say should be emphasi9ed in the communicati4e classroom.4iA"

Reading stories or literature can greatly a00ect one 0actor kno1n to be critical in learning

a language,moti4ation.4iiG" =hen beginning readers can read a 61hole book8 it is asource o0 pride and it also sho1s them that they actually ha4e a use 0or the language they

are learning.



E5tensi4e reading has been ad4ocated as a means o0 building 4ocabulary 4iii'" i5?"

and in ESL training 5!+" 5i!!" #lthough Seal& !??!&5ii!*" cautions that the idea that ESL

learners can e00ortlessly ac:uire large amounts o0 4ocabulary through conte5t is 6largelyuntested8 & some studies do indicate that reading and listening to stories positi4ely

in0luence learners; 4ocabulary and comprehension 5iii!@" 5i4!D". Elley and /angubhai 54!"

documented the results o0 a literature2based reading program in ' schools in Fii. They0ound that a0ter ' months in the program& the Dth and th graders sho1ed progress in

reading at t1ice the usual rate. #0ter *+ months& the gains had not only continued by had

spread to other language skills. $t is 1ell2documented that 1hat is read is re0lected in thesyntactic structure and style o0 1hat children 1rite< and that it can impro4e 1riting more

than 0ormal grammar instruction 54i!A" 54ii!G"

Factors 1hich in0luence ease o0 comprehension o0 a book by a reader go beyond4ocabulary& idioms& and synta5 (the primary criteria 0or the books selected here).

Re0erences to things the reader is unac:uainted 1ith (including culturally2speci0ic ones)&

the presence o0 0igurati4e language& and s1itching bet1een narrati4e and e5pository style

make comprehension more di00icult.

54iii!'"

5i5!?"

Patterned language (repetition) and predictability o0 structure make it easier 0or beginning readers.

Discussion and Conclusion

To some people& stories read 6ust 0or 0un8 might seem like a 1aste o0 time.

Ho1e4er& e4en in simple step2one stories& the amount o0 language pro4ides an impressi4eamount o0 English practice. Take Po-po& 0or instance (50ord Start =ith English

Readers). =hen you look at indi4idual pages& 1ith an a4erage o0 only around !! 1ords

per page& it seems like 4ery little language. >ut the @21ord te5t typed2out 1ould

occupy a block about G cm long (single2spaced& !*2point type) on a page !G cm 1ide.This simple book has AD head21ords& including !! 4erbs& * nouns (not including proper

names)& and G adecti4es and ad4erbs. The amount o0 repetition 0ar e5ceeds 1hat a

student 1ould tolerate in a normal class lesson. For e5ample& the 1ord 6is8 and 4ariants(is not& isn;t) occurs A! times& 6look and 4ariants *G times& 6his8 *D times& 6it8 !? times&

6at8 !' times& 6this ' times& and so on. $n other 1ords& the amount o0 English practice is

:uite signi0icant< and it is practice that encourages 6thinking in English8

$n non English2speaking countries& using story books in the classroom could be a

1ay to greatly increase the e5posure o0 children to English during that early critical

period be0ore the age o0 !*& 1hen they ac:uire language so easily. Storybooks could beused e4en by teachers 1ith poor English& because they can use the tapes that come 1ith a

book.

# big point in 0a4or o0 storybooks is their 4ocabulary. He4er 55*+" reports on a

study by /. Lung at Stockholm Jni4ersity comparing the 4ocabulary o0 te5ts intended

0or S1edish high schools 1ith the general 0re:uency o0 1ords in English (using a corpuscompiled at the Jni4ersity o0 >irmingham). He reports that in the TEFL te5ts many

1ords are under2represented< and that the under2represented 1ords are& in general&

0re:uently used 1ords. That is& they are common in ne1spapers& maga9ines& and TI

broadcasts and discussions. Story book dialogue and 4ocabulary o0ten is 4ery close to



1hat is used in ordinary con4ersation. There0ore they are :uite rele4ant to programs

1ishing to produce students 1ho use English 0or oral communication.

=hat about using storybooks in the classroom& especially 1ith large classes For

4arious reasons& it is impossible in a large class to ha4e each child heard as he or she

reads& and to correct indi4idually. $ think the solution might be tapes& and choral reading.First& ha4e students repeat line2by2line a0ter a tape. Then& read the 1hole passage again&

out loud. E4ery 0e1 pages ha4e the children do comprehension and re4ie1 acti4ities that

are also 0un and interesting. Look 0or the books that ha4e these acti4ities included K thereare some.

Cost could be a consideration. The readers 1e used are relati4ely e5pensi4e

compared to regular te5ts. Three small beginning books cost more than one te5tbook o0the kind usually used in schools& and 1ould pro4ide only a 0e1 hours o0 reading and

talking at most& 1hile the te5t 1ould last 0or a semester. $t might be 0easible& ho1e4er&

0or schools to o1n sets o0 readers 1hich 1ould be 6borro1ed8 by a teacher 0or use in a

class 0or a period o0 time. /any schools in the Jnited States do this. Each copy in theset bears a permanent number. The teacher keeps a record o0 1hom each copy is issued

to. The books currently being used could be kept on a shel0 in the classroom. E4erychild 1ould kno1 1hich is 6his-her8 book& and get it o00 o0 the shel0 e4ery day& returning

it there be0ore lea4ing. E4ery child could ha4e a gi4en number 0or the duration o0 the

term& and this 1ould eliminate the problem o0 book2issuing 0or e4ery ne1 book read bythe class. Each child 1ould use the copy 1ith his or her number 0or e4ery book the class

read.

$ ha4e pro4ided the list o0 1hat $ used because it can be challenging and 4erytime2consuming to establish a se:uence o0 graded readings& unless you buy all o0 one

publisher;s series. This& o0 course& suits the publishers& but might not suit the indi4idual

or school planning the program. =hat 1ould really be help0ul is to establish standard4ocabulary corpora o0 increasing le4els o0 di00iculty& like the ones 50ord has done.

There has been one attempt to re4ie1 and to classi0y a large number o0 graded readers

according to one scale 55i*!"& although the scale;s criteria are not included in the re4ie1articles.

#ll o0 the English2only graded2series readers $ ha4e seen are being produced by

publishers in English2speaking countries. There are a se4eral series o0 readers produced by 3orean publishers (reprinted English stories)& and they are much cheaper than the

0oreign2produced te5tbooks. $;m sure the same is the case in many other countries.

Ho1e4er& these series are not usable in the 1ay $ ha4e described 0or beginning readers.There are not enough books o0 the same le4el& they are too long& they are not

supplemented 1ith pictures& and the introduction o0 ne1 1ords and phrases is not

gradual. True& notes are pro4ided in 3orean on e4ery page 0or e4ery 1ord or phrase thatmight cause a problem< but this 0ormat isn;t desirable because it thro1s the student back

into translation mode.



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helping children to think of storybooks

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