engleski

Stories in teaching English in the first years of primary school

Storytelling and reading stories aloud (cf. Ellis & Mourão, 2021) are among the most appropriate approaches in early language teaching. Listening to stories is natural, motivating, enjoyable, it promotes creative thinking and provides a meaningful context for language learning (Ellis & Brewster, 2002). Ghosn (2013) highlights the role of storytelling in developing children’s emotional intelligence and empathy. In addition, storytelling creates positive attitudes toward literature, foreign languages, and other cultures (Ellis & Brewster, 2002). The aim of the present comparative study was to investigate the frequency and ways of using stories in the English classroom in the first three years of primary education in Slovenia (ages 6-8) and Croatia (ages 7-10). A questionnaire was used to gather data, with responses provided by 199 teachers of English from Slovenia and Croatia. The research results revealed a considerable difference between participants from Slovenia and Croatia as regards textbook use, namely, teachers from Croatia largely rely on texts offered in textbooks, whereas teachers in Slovenia mostly use authentic picturebooks instead of textbooks in their lessons. We also observed that stories are rarely employed to promote students’ intercultural competencies and that the main challenge for teachers is to find suitable materials. In light of these findings, we recommend that teacher education programmes provide more support for (prospective) teachers to develop learners’ communicative, social, and cultural skills using stories, and that schools are better equipped with reading materials. Based on teachers’ needs, recommendations for selection of appropriate stories have been put together, considering students’ age, prior knowledge, and interests.

reading ; storytelling ; teacher experiences ; young learners

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