LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

TOPIC 1

IMPORTANCE OF STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

1.0 SYNOPSIS
This topic discusses the impact of stories on childrens life. You will be exposed to many factors
that illustrate how stories play different significant roles in the upbringing of young learners. Apart from
that, it will also identify and discuss the features of children stories.
1.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the session, you will be able to:

understand more on the importance and the impact of stories for young learners.

learn more about the features of childrens stories.

1.2 FRAMEWORK OF TOPICS

Importance of Stories for Young Learners

Features of childrens stories

Characters

Setting

Storyline

Diction

Length

Time
sequence

Illustration

LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

1.3 The Importance of Stories for Young Learners
Stories are not new to us. Children are exposed to stories at the very young age. Though
it may vary according to cultures, but the existence of stories or storytelling activities are
found in all cultures. Before stories were compiled into books, parents used storytelling
activities to convey stories to their children. Listening to stories enhances learning in
many different ways. Ellis and Brewster (1991, p.1) have stated the many benefits of stories to children:
1.3.1 Stories are motivating and fun.
The first benefit that stories offer to the teaching and learning of English is that it motivates the children to
learn English. Children love to listen to stories and to read them. So, by using stories to teach will increase
the learners motivation level. At the same time, stories overcome the problem of children having short
attention span. Since stories are arranged according to scenes and episodes, the attention span can be
increased as there will always be new things to expect.
1.3.2 Listening to stories is a shared social experience.
Our children come from different background. Stories discussed in the classroom can link different
experiences together. It is a shared social experience. By exposing our learners to different stories, they
will be exposed to different life and thus become more mature in life.
1.3.3 Stories provoke thinking.
Our revised Education System really encourages Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) questions to be
used in the classroom. Here, as a teacher you can ask your own learners many higher order thinking skill
questions when talking about issues in the stories. For example the question like Why it happened that
way? or Do you think he can survive? require higher order thinking skill among our learners. This will
groom our children to become more critical when looking at issues in life.
1.3.4 Stories are a useful tool in linking fantasy and the imagination with the childs real world.
One of the ways to nurture the childrens imagination is by having activities that promote the skill to
develop. Stories and discussion based on stories read can nurture the skill. Questions like if you are the
character, what will you do? or Can you imagine how he will look like in ten years time? can assist the
children imagination. They are free to fantasize their thinking. Thus, they will be able to think outside the
box at the very early age.
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LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

1.3.5 Stories enrich children vocabulary.
By reading stories, the children will be able to experience the use of English language in the real context.
They will know how sentence structures work. The learning of grammar becomes very authentic,
meaningful but less threatening. Apart from that, you can also conduct the class discussion based on the
stories read. This activity will help to improve their listening and speaking skills. As the focus is on the
issues in the story, the speaking exercise becomes very comfortable for the children and can lessen the
anxiety level.
1.3.6 Stories help students of all levels to understand literature.
Using stories in the classroom assist you in handling students of different level in learning literature. A
common belief among the learners was that literature was just meant for high achievers in the language.
However, using stories in teaching challenge this belief. As stories are experienced by everybody, then
everyone has a say of what happened in the text. Thus, now everyone can learn literature. (Does this
sound familiar to you?)
1.3.7 Childrens books offer universal truths.
Issues discussed in the childrens books are generally happen to all children in every part of the globe.
They are world issues. The solutions offered are also universally true. Thus, the issues are suitable to be
used by everybody. As a teacher, you role is to guide the discussion and encourage you learner to
respond to the issues. At the same time, the teacher should not imposed his or her value for the learners
to accept. Instead, they should be guided to come out with their own consensus based on the stories
discussed.
As a teacher, if you are able to effectively use stories to provoke classroom discussions, you will be able to
produce learners who become independent in their decisions making and thinking. Thus, they become
more competent learners and better citizens who are not scared to compete locally or even globally. This
fulfils the National Aspiration of our Education System of having citizens who are independent and
competitive.

Activity 1
In your folio, identify one famous book writer for young learners and discuss some
reasons why the books written by him/her are attractive to young learners.

LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

1.4 Features of Childrens Stories

According to Niemann Heidi (2002) as quoted by Mart (2012), there are some important
questions that we as teachers should ask when choosing stories or storybooks to be
read by our children. The questions are:

Are different types of storybooks represented in the classroom?

Are there differences in the style of illustrations between the books?

Are the main characters boys as well as girls?

Is the book suitable for the age group?

Can the children identify with the main character or with any other characters?

Will there be links to their personal experiences?

Is the book fun, has it got humor in it?

How does the language match the childrens language skills?

Does the book match cross-curricular topics?

Is it a book the children can read themselves?

Is it a book they can read words or passages from?

Is it a book they can understand without reading a text?

Those are some important questions that Heidi has illustrated (as quoted by Mart, 2012) that can guide
teachers as well as parents in choosing suitable stories or storybooks for the children. By asking ourselves
the right questions, we should be able to identify the most suitable books to use.
Basically, stories for young learners or children also contain similar features like stories which are meant
for adult learners. However, since they are meant for young learners, there are some special features that
are only special for them. The features are like characters, storyline, time sequence, setting, diction, length
and illustrations existed in both stories for young learners as for others.

1.4.1 Characters
Characters are individuals depicted in a narrative or a drama. There are many different types of characters
like flat characters, round characters, major characters or minor characters. The characters that do not
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LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

change at all through the course of the story is known as the flat character whilst round characters change
in the course of the story in terms of attitudes, beliefs or they way they react to issues. The major
characters are the important characters in the story while the minor characters are the supporting
characters. The main character in a story is also known as the protagonist and the one opposing the
protagonists are known as the antagonists. To know characters, we have to study the dialogues, how they
respond to conflicts or maybe by reading the descriptions given by the writer.
In stories for young learners, generally the protagonists will be characters of their age as to enable them to
associate themselves better to the story. The antagonist and other characters in the story are also
generally of the same age.
1.4.2 Storyline
Another name for storyline is plot. The storyline reveals how characters develop to fulfill their goals.
Generally a storyline would consist of the beginning, a climax and a resolution. At the end of the story, the
conflicts or problems would generally be resolved.
For young learners, the type of conflicts or problems that the characters faced may of course not be a
serious as the conflicts faced by adults. Definitely the conflicts are much simpler to suit their level of
thinking. The conflict can be as simple as not knowing how make new friends or how to conduct
themselves at a birthday party.
1.4.3 Time Sequence
The time sequence describes the time background as it is built into the plot. The main characters will
develop themselves through it.
The time sequence for young learners must suit their thinking level. The sequence will of course, be
simpler and more straightforward.
1.4.4 Setting
The setting is where the story takes place. It includes geographical setting as well as cultural setting and
also social setting. It can also be created setting like fantasy or fictions like realistic fictions or modern
fictions.
For young learners, the setting play very significant role in the stories. Young learners love to imagine and
fantasize. So, having stories of fantasy would definitely nurture their imagination to the fullest.
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LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

As teachers, you should create many opportunities for them to explore the stories in many creative ways
as to allow your learners to practice their imagination.
1.4.5 Diction
Diction is how words are uttered clearly .It can also mean different choices of words. In stories for young
learners this skill is important to assist them in speaking skill.
As teachers, how would you improve your learners diction? There are many ways to do it. One of them is
by practicing reading aloud. The teacher can lead by reading a few lines as a model then the learners can
be asked to read in groups or individually. Through this activity, you can assess and improve your
learners diction. Apart from that, during discussion the learners diction can also be taught in a less
threatening situation.
1.4.6 Length
The length of the stories for young learners should be suitable to suit their attention span which is much
shorter compared to adults. When choosing stories or storybooks for your learners, you should consider
this factor. Simple short stories with repetitive language generally work best for young learners. Malaysian
students are of mixed ability. In a classroom you may have many low achievers with some intermediate
and a small number of high achievers. So, the stories or the books chosen should suit their levels. Thus,
the activities that you designed should enable you to use different stories or storybooks to meet the
different levels of your learners.
1.4.7 Illustration
Illustrations include pictures, line drawings, maps or diagrams, colourful paintings, creative presentation of
pages, special shapes , smells or sound that help illustrate the stories. In stories for young learners,
illustrations play a very significant role. Young learners ( maybe adults as well) are easily attracted to
books or stories with fascinating and attractive features. Good illustrations can stimulate the young
learners imagination as well as arousing their interests.

Activity 2
Create a checklist of features of childrens stories and analyse any cover of books
meant for young learners using the checklist that you have created.

LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

Conclusion
Therefore, based on the discussion above, it can be concluded that:

Stories are important for young learners due to many factors like :
Stories are fun and motivating
Stories is a shared social experience
Stories exercise the imagination
Stories are a useful tool in linking fantasy and the imagination with the childs real world
Stories allows the teacher to introduce or revise new vocabulary and sentence
Stories help students of all levels to understand literature
Stories offer values which are universally true

Some important features of stories for young learners are :

Character
Storyline
Time sequence
Setting
Diction
Length
Illustration

Activity 3
Recall the first book that you have read during your childhood. In your folio,
discuss what attracted you to the book.

LGA3103 STORIES FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

REFERENCES
Cox, C (2008). Teaching Language Arts. A Student-Centred Classroom.(6th Ed). Massachusetts:
Allyn & Bacon.
Ellis, G and Brewster, J (1991). Handbook For Primary Teachers. Penguin Books.
Niemann, Heidi (2002). Encouraging Young Learners To Learn English Through Stories.
English Language Teaching Journal, Volume 5.
Norton, D.E. (2006). Through The Eyes of A Child. An Introduction to Childrens Literature (7th Ed). New
Jersey : Merill Prentice Hall.
Sawyer, Walter.E (2004). Growing Up With Literature.(4th Ed). New York: Thomson.
Scott W.A. and Ytreberg L,H. (1991). Teaching English To Children. Longman.

Prepared by:
Muhaimi Saifuddin Bin Hj Mohamad Salleh
IPG Kampus Kota Bharu.