Story-based teaching: Activities for young learners

Abstract

Storytelling has been a productive listening activity, which exposes students to lots of comprehensible input, and which has a theoretical principle, as stated by Krashen (1982). The job of a teacher is to create an atmosphere where they can engage the entire classroom, and with the art of storytelling, it never fails to attract young learners. Storytelling has been a device used in every era and different circumstances all over the world. Even in Nepal, much before the formal education began; the elderly members often told stories to educate younger members in the family. There are different kinds of stories that can be used in a classroom of young learners; some of them are traditional stories, fable tales, personal experience stories, and personal imagination stories. Any form of a story telling can be used in an English classroom, but it should match the theme of the lesson. While reading the story, picture plays a very powerful role, as it keeps the eyes as well as ears full on focus so the use of picture book has been widely used all over the world. According to Bader (1976, p.1), “a picture book is text, illustration, total design; an item of manufacture and a commercial product; a social, cultural, historic document; and foremost an experience for a [reader]. As an art form, it hinges on two facing pages and on the drama of the turning page.” as cited in Mourie (2015).