Using storytelling to teach vocabulary in language lessons: does it work?

Abstract

It has long been claimed that stories are a powerful tool for language learning. Storytelling is often used as a discrete pedagogical approach in primary modern foreign language (MFL) lessons in England. There has, however, been little investigation into how storytelling might impact on vocabulary learning in the primary classroom. This article focuses on how a London primary teacher used stories in German lessons in a Year 6 class (ages 10–11), and analyses the words and sentences the case-study children remembered over a brief period of time. Data were collected over two terms through observations, interviews and post-tests. The findings illustrate the wide range of teaching strategies that allowed for explicit and incidental learning and encouraged meaningful language use. They also show that children recalled a considerable number of words and sentences.

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my thanks to Ms Schmitt and the six children who participated in this study. I am also grateful to my colleagues Jim Anderson and Charmian Kenner at Goldsmiths who provided me with helpful comments on earlier versions. Finally, I would like to thank the reviewers of the article who helped me improve the scientific quality of the article.