Story as Vehicle: Teaching English to Young Children (Multilingual Matters, 57) - Softcover

Garvie, Edie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1853590495 ISBN 13: 9781853590498

Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 1989

Synopsis

This book deals with story as a methodology for the development of language, particularly in situations where young children are learning English as a second or foreign language, very often in multicultural/multilingual settings. The book is mainly for primary teachers and for those who educate them, the methodology used with the children offering a basis for training. The main thrust is shown in Part 3 where the practicalities of the classroom are focused upon, whilst Parts 1 and 2 deal with issues of language, learning and teaching which affect practice. Part 4 contains implications for trainers and others in teachers' support services. The word 'story' is interpreted in the widest possible sense-the story of life and the lingualism that goes with it - especially interesting and exciting in multicultural situations. It is suggested that the motivated teacher, working from a story bank rich in all manner of tales from a variety of cultures, can produce the kind of learning environment which stimulates and carries children forward, the many different literary genres and the crosscultural experience offering more and more sets of particulars from which more and more universals of life can be gleaned. It is in this sense that a learning journey is implied and that story is seen as vehicle.

About this title

Synopsis:

The ideas for this book have arisen from recent work in the United Kingdom and other places, particularly Malaysia and southern Africa. Teachers of English in various workshops of differing lengths have produced story kits which act as useful prototypes for other teachers and contribute to the multiplier effect in situations where those with some training act themselves as trainers of others. In Britain, teachers working abroad have come together with those working at home, focusing on story at Loughborough Summer School Courses. In Kent, a group of teachers, concerned with the needs of the bilingual child in particular, have organized a story working-party. Tutors in teachers' colleges in Malaysia and Africa have encouraged trainee teachers to make more use of the story vehicle and to design teaching materials accordingly, while serving teachers in many parts of the world have shared on their courses the potential of story. The importance of the vehicle for language work, not only in the story product itself but also in terms of teacher awareness, is in the process where so many ideas about language and its relation to thought and experience have been engendered and fostered.

About this edition

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 1853590495
• ISBN 13: 9781853590498
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 232