Integrating children’s fiction and Storyline in the second language classroom

ABSTRACT

This article reports on a study in which, for five weeks, the English lessons of two classes of 11–12 year olds in Sweden were based on Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox. To promote the learners’ engagement with the text, support understanding, and facilitate incidental vocabulary acquisition, a range of language-focused tasks were designed within the framework of the Storyline approach. In Storyline, a fictive world is created in the classroom. The story develops when learners, working in the same small groups, collaborate on open so-called key questions, which structure the Storyline, introduce happenings and problems, and link with the syllabus. Another characteristic is the integration of practical and theoretical subject content. Learners’ art work and texts are displayed on a frieze, or walls of the classroom, creating a visual record of the developing story. The study also investigated the influence on learning of the book’s illustrations, and the learners’ own drawings. The majority of the learners made gains in vocabulary, as evidenced in pre- and post-tests, writing and speaking tasks. While some learners had never thought about illustrations and drawings as a support, for many, both of these were found to be helpful.

KEYWORDS:

• young second language learners
• children’s fiction
• vocabulary
• pictures
• drawings
• Storyline

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Kristianstad University Research Platform Collaboration for Learning.

Notes on contributors

Sharon Ahlquist

Sharon Ahlquist is a senior lecturer in TESOL and applied linguistics at Kristianstad University, Sweden. She teaches English on the teacher education programmes for lower and upper primary, as well as lower secondary. Her main research interests are the Storyline approach, and the use of children's literature in English language education. She is the author of  `Storyline - developing communicative competence in English´ and `English is Fun! Challenges and Opportunities, English in Years 4-6´, both published by Studentlitteratur AB, Sweden.