Teachers are always looking for ways to engage students in their World Languages classes. One dynamic way to get students’ attention is through story telling. However, we can take this one step further and get students involved in the story telling process as well. Story Asking emerges as a transformative technique that transcends traditional teaching methods. Rooted in the principles of Comprehensible Input, this approach captivates learners by immersing them in rich narratives, fostering linguistic understanding and fluency.
Story Asking revolves around creating and sharing stories in the target language, ensuring that the content is comprehensible to the learners. By weaving engaging tales, educators can provide a context that not only captures students’ interest but also enables them to grasp language nuances effortlessly.
The technique involves the following key steps:
- Story Creation: Educators craft a simple, compelling story, incorporating vocabulary and structures that align with the proficiency level of their students. The narrative acts as a vehicle for language acquisition, ensuring the input is both comprehensible and captivating. It is best to have a framework for the story beforehand and allow students to control certain parts of the story that will not affect the key linguistic structures that you hope to convey.
- Interactive Narration: Rather than presenting the story as a monologue, teachers engage students by asking questions, encouraging them to contribute to the unfolding narrative. This interactive process promotes active participation, making language learning a collaborative and enjoyable experience. For example, ask students: Is the main character a boy or a girl? What is his or her name? Where does he or she live? These will not affect the structures you want students to master, but it will give students some autonomy in the process. I even go so far as to say if you don’t like the name we choose as a class, you can choose a different name in your version when you write it.
- Visual Support: Enhance comprehension by incorporating visual aids such as drawings, images, or props. Visual elements serve as anchors for understanding, aiding students in connecting the spoken language with concrete representations.
- Repetition and Reinforcement: Through repetition of key vocabulary and structures within the narrative, Story Asking reinforces language patterns. This repetition is integral to the Comprehensible Input approach, as it solidifies understanding and aids in the internalization of language elements.
- Personalization: Tailor stories to the interests and experiences of the students, making the content more relatable. Personalized narratives not only sustain engagement but also create a meaningful connection between learners and the language they are acquiring.
Story Asking, as a Comprehensible Input technique, serves as a bridge between language theory and practical application. By embracing the power of storytelling, educators can ignite a passion for language learning, fostering an environment where students not only comprehend the language but actively engage with it, opening doors to a world of linguistic proficiency and cultural understanding.
In practice, I prefer to tell the story first and then have student write it with me. If I write it while telling it, I prefer for students to wait until the story has finished and then copy it. They are allowed to edit to their own tastes such as names, places, etc.
Do you use story asking? How do you use it in your classroom?