Once upon a time : using stories in the language classroom

71 Pages·1983·6.028 MB·English

by  John Morgan, Mario Rinvolucri

CAMBRIDGE HANDBOOKS H1R IANGt:i\GE TEACHERS
Once Upon a Tillle
General Editors: Michael Swan and Roger Bowers
This is a series of practical guides for I"eachns of English and other
languages. Illustrative examples are usually drawn from the field of English Using stories in the
as a foreign or second language, but the ideas and techniques described can
equally well be used in the teaching of any language.
language classroom
In this series:
Drama Techniques in Language Learning - A resource book of
communication activities for language teachers
by Alan Matey and Atan Duff
]ahnMargan
Games for Language Learning
by Andrew Wright, David Betteridge and Michael Buckby
and Maria Rinvalucri
Discussions that Work - Task-centred fluency practice by Penny Ur
Once Upon a Time - Using stories in the language classroom
by John Morgan and Mario Rinvolucri
Teaching Listening Comprehension by Penny Ur
Keep Talking - Communicative fluency activities fot language teaching
by Friederike Ktippel
Working with Words - A guide re teaching and learning vocabulary
by Ruth Cairns and Stuart Redman
Learner English - A teacher's guide to interference and other problems
edited by Michaet Swan and Bernard Smith
Testing Spoken Language - A handbook of oral testing techniques
by Nic Underhitl
Literature in the Language Classroom - A resource book of ideas and
activities by Joanne Collie and Stephen Slater
Dictation - New methods, new possibilities
by Paul Davis and Mario Rinvolucri
Grammar Practice Activities - A practical guide for teachers by Penny Ur
The dgh, 0l,he
Unipe,s;ty 0/ Com})"dge
10 prult and ulJ
all manner of ooakt

"';03' granted. by

H~!Ir}' V/I! irt }JJf.

The -Ulllrns/ly Im.r plinre4

wld I'lIhli.fhCd COrtflntlously

,Iill(,( JJ8.f.
.11111,,111 (lJ1IVL'I~;ily Press
1.1'
"1\1.".1·, .
I I· , ,,' i I;, n' U." Ior ""
~i, 11" I,,,. ',.. 1", \
Contents

Published by the Press Syndicate of till" 1flllV~J .... If .d ( .11I1I11I1I1, ,c

The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, ( ':JJIIlll JIII~(' I '" lit I'

32 East 57th Street, New York, NY IODn, 1J:,,\

10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourn' \ 1/'1,.1\11'.1] "h:l

© Cambridge University Press 1983

First published 1983

Fifth printing 1988
Techniques Stories Page
Printed in Great Britain To the Teacher 1

at the University Press, Cambridge
Section 1 Telling a story The hunchback 5

Library of Congress catalogue card number: 83-5356
The river 12

Section 2 Stories and follow-ups 13

British Library cataloguing in publication data 2.1 Revenge questions The inventor 13

King Caliban 16

Morgan, John
2.2 Theme pictures Kacuy 18

Once upon a time - (Cambridge handbooks for 2.3 For beginners MrsPeters 20

language teachers) 2.4 Taking roles The bear that wasn't 23

1. English language - Study and teaching­ 2.5 Theme words Jack and the beanstalk 25

Foreign students 2.6 Discussion Peacocks 27

I. Title n. Rinvolucri, Mario Freyfaxi 28

428.2'4'091 PE1128
2.7 Shapes and characters Rumpelstiltskin 29

ISBN 0521252695 hard covers
2.8 Completion The two sons 31

ISBN 0 521 272629 paperback
Yvonne 32

2.9 Story to poem Willow 32

The singing mushrooms 34

2. J() In new clothes Th.epiperofRome 35

2.1 J Birth order The Billy Goats Gruff 36

2..12 Problem stories The two doors 37

Unexpected 38

.2..1'\ A serial story The sign ofthe broken 38

sword

2.1 /1 Story ro picture An anecdote 40

SCI:~ion 3 Hl'tl'llinl~ 41

'..1 1'.\1 ;.11('1 ~l11I"lC'''' Seguin 's goat 41

TIll:' (:{It that wal1ud by itself 42

n
Once Upon a Time was originally published in pilot form by Pilgrims If' ,Inee bears 43

Publications, Canterbury, England. This Cambridge Univcrslly Press echtlOn 1,,1',11'11-' 44

ha~ been extensively revised and cxpandcd. Itl'" I""'I1'/S 47

1I1I1"/"',II,! 4S
1/"/'1,,1'1}1/ \ I
Techniques St"".... Page Techniques Stories Page
7.5 Fire stories 94

Section 4 Before I begin... 54

7.6 Hiding things 95

4.1 Grammar practice (;oMduI';,>.,' 54
7.7 Heroes and heroines 95
'I 'f!/'l'I' 1I'lshl's 55
7.8 Stories from jobs The wrpark attendant 96

"Un' tIJlI'I' liltlt~ pigs 56
7.9 Shame The orchard 97

4.2 Theme sentences HreJllfslm'l'lJr'Silent 57

4.3 A picture starter (;dert 59

Section 8 Vanishing stories God in a matchbox 98
The IJigl'oll 59

4.4 Picture rose The qllilrrymall 60

Section 9 Revision
9.1 A story you really liked 102

Section 5 Co-operative telling
63 9.2 Music 103

5.1 In the language lab The unicorn 63 9.3 Doodlestrip review 104

Two brothers 65

5.2 Group story The ghost 65
Section 10 Story pool 105

5.3 Dictation The seventh rose
66 A Snow 105

No name wom,m 68
B The pullover 105
5.4 Scene to story The dragon ofNara
69 C Honour 106
5.5 A story from four words 72
D The figtree 106
5.6 Three item stories 73
E Ivar 107
5.7 Random story 74 F In the cellar 107

5.8 Picture composition 75 G The donkey 108

5.9 Dictogloss Solomon's judgement 77 H Oogledeboo 108

The forced burglar 77 I The man, the snake, and 109

the stone

Section 6 Students'stories 79
J The baby 110
6.1 Mumble, listen, tell 79
K The husband 110
6.2 Comprehension questions The giant tortoise
80 L Enkidu 110
6.3 Spoof stories Cambodian soupstone 80 M Ophir 111

Air travel 81
N A horse race 112
6.4 Story of the film 82
o The wisdom ofthe world 112

6,5 Love stories Rapunzel 82 P The princess and the pea 113

6.6 From beginnings... Frog in a well 83
Q Thepaem 114
Grandpa 84 R Analdman 114

Three-wheeler 84
S Ants 115
6.7 ... to endings Wild cat 85 T The magic barrel 116

6.8 Objects tell stories 86 NI,I,". "HtI"II~',i',('''liIlIlS 117

6.9 Doodlestrips 87

6.10 Triple stories 88 PI""" Iipl 119

Section 7 From the past l)() \. ),,1,,\\,11"111:' 111"111'. 120

7.1 Photos l)()
7.2 Y~~rcrdHY ')2
7..~ Tilll"-! ravl'llllil'1'l'! 'I j
.LI I1 h''!'!Il'IL,·,lllI nil' qi
To the teacher
Thanks
Among both practising language teachers and applied linguists there
We wish to thank the following people:
~s an IOcreasmg awareness that successfu.l second-language learning
Students with whom we have learnt to tell stories. is far more a matter of unconscious acquisition than of conscious,
systemaric study. Stephen Krashen (Second Language Acquisition
Both sceptical and enthusiastic colleagues, in particular .lane
and Second Language Learning, Pergamon 1981) goes so far as to
Lockwood, Katya Benjamin, Paul Davis, Mo Stcll1gcman, Cynthia
say that 'the major function of the second-language classroom is to
Beresford, .lan Aspeslagh, Charles Williams, .lames Dixey, Michael
provide intake for acquisition'.
Swan, Margaret Callow, Carlos Maeztu, Richard and Marjorie
It ~s o~r view that the 'intake' required to facilitate language
Baudins, Elena Morgan, Lindsay Brown, Loren McGrail, Sarah
~cqUlS1tlOn wdl be very different from the materials currently provided
Braine.
m the dassroom as part of systematic structural or notional courses.
Bernard Dufeu who opened our eyes to the psychodrama use of If,unconscious processes are to be enlisted, then the whole person
tales. Will need to be engaged: we shall no longer be able to rely on the
learner's general 'motivation' or on the intrinsic charms of the target
The artistic oral tradition we know best is that of the Greek shadow
bnguage to sustain him or her through the years of monotonous
puppeteers and we particularly want to acknowledge the insights
drilling and bland role-play, Classroom activities will have to be
gained from working with Giorgos Charidimos.
slructurcd to serve immediate rather than long-term needs, to promote
Books that have helped us in our thinking about the oral story I'atl!cr than practise communication and expression,
include: ' This book is offered as a step in that direction. Within the frame of
Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment, Penguin 1978 srofytelling-that most ancient and compelling of human activities-we
Iona and Peter Opie, The Classic Fairy Tales, OUP 1974 Ill' >])OSC a \vide range of classroom exercises and more than 70 story
V1adimir Propp, Morphology ofthe Fo/ktale, Austin 1968 ol1dil1cS ('skeletons') for you and your students to work from. The
Gianni Rodari, Grammatica de/la Fantasia, Einaudi 1973 1''1: 'rcist's range honl introspective to highly i.nteractive; from beginner
Finally, this book owes a heavy debt to the various oral traditions of 1,) advanced; many are offered as communicative altemative~ to
which it 1S a curious continuation, and to individuals whose written I r:lditiollal language-teaching activities; all, we hope, arc engaging
stories we have 'skeletonised' in preparation for many oral ,lllll fL'w:ll'dlng Hl rhcl11,'dves.
tellings.
J (i\N'IIFl.l. ST01UIS' YOLlcouldberight,butifsoyou'rein
].M.
,I ',III:d~ lllillorily, III \1111' 1':-'I1('l'i('Ilt'~ very few teachers of English can
M.R.
/"",/ ,tlnll,I,It!nlll.lll'l " IlIll ,111110,';( ,dl 11;1\1(':1 hidd '11 talcr)! as story­
11'111'1'... ~('llillll I '011,1'.;':[" ',\\,1\", II1 ",,'hid, \,(111 Cln work from a bare
1111111T1i' III 111.1,,1, '1"'111 HI,I, 1111 '111.1 ~IL' Idlll'!',
11. '1".111,1) ,111i',II'Jlilll',I!l:11
• ',llll\ rlllll\'III,·,1 \',," 1l'11 1.11111'1
1'''111 dill ,1111111" "11 '111I"ll.d
To the teacher
To the teacher
shows the teacher modelling vocahulary from within a group; in 5.1
listening comprehension frolll 1;'11('. TIH' 1.1l1l"l" is always third-person
listening, a kind of eavesclroppill1',lI1.l1 i·. ~I r:\llgely uncompelling. To a use IS found for the language lahoratory.
be told a stOry by a live storyteller, Oil 1l1l' l'Olllrary, involves onc in
'I-thou' lisrening, where the IiSll'IllTS Jireedy influence the ORAL PRODUCTION There are stories hidden inside everyone.
t ';111
Elementary students will bring them out in dramatic, excited half-sen­
telling. Even if you arc a non-native Il':lt her of English, the com­
municative gain will more than outwl'igh thl' 'un-Englishness' you tences; advanced speakers will reach out for ever more vivid or exact
expression. For all, adequate communication is an attainable miracle
may hear in your telling.
if the teacher is prepared to allow it. Section 6 provides frames for '
the recal,l or creation of students' own stories; Section 7 goes a little
FOLLOWING UP A STORY 'Compn'hL:l1sion ql1'estions' and
deeper-mto one's real or imaginary past.
paraphrase exercises are standard classroom follow-ups to listening
work: after a story they at best dilute, at worst de-stroy, its effect on
PICTURE STORI~S We arc all familiar with the 'picture story' as a
the listener. In Section 2 you will find a variety of alternative follow-up
deVice for provokll1g narrative work. Unfortunately, anyone with
exercises. 2.1, for example, gives the student all opportunity to no~mal eyeSight produces much the same story, which robs the
decide for himself or herself which questions (if any) he or she wants
te~lll1g of any p~int. In 6,9 -v:e provide symbolic pictures to provoke a
answered, and to hear the answers from a classmate. 2.4 uses role­
WIde range of dIfferent stones, Once they have created their own
assignment to explore the group's feelings towards characters in a
story, students are keen to tell them and to find out what others have
story; 2.14 uses a drawing exercise to help students 'cap' one story
made of the 'doodlestrip':
with another. All the exercises encourage the recycling of new
language.
RETELLING Being required to retell a story to someone who has
just heard it is a pleasure few of us would willingly repeat: yet this is
often what we force upon our students. Section 3 suggests activities
in which retelling is both necessary and enjoyable.
STORIES AND GRAMMAR Many traditional stories abound in
powerful repeated phrases (e.g. 'Who's been sleeping in MY bed?).
For elementary and intermediate students, such stories (suitably ~,T( ),R Y POOL At the end of the book you will find twenty story
chosen) can be used as an almost subliminal grammar input. 4.1 (1IIill1le~ to supplement those scattered through the exercises. We
gives some examples of this. ILIVI' Irf(;d to make these as varied as possible, but tecognise that we
It is also a fairly simple matter to angle your telling and/or follow-up , :1111101 ~P~lll d,le range of tastes of all the possible readers of this
exercises in such a way that particular structures are demanded of hook. 11 you hlltl pk;ls11re and profit in telling stories with your class,
the student: ftom common strong verbs to third conditionals. 111('11 Wl' hope yOIl wdl he abk to add your own stories to the pool.
In Section 8 you are introduced to the Silent Way reduction
technique which has the students working intensively on grammar, to. II( )' ,"I'() I( II~ <, Wt' h;IVl' consciously included a number of fairy
syntax, intonation and meaning all at the same time. After 20 minutes ',llIllC'~. 111 i1ll' hO<ll.., w,' It-l'IIIII''''' ;Ill-' ~lI,il:lhlc for work with both
intensive work the story they started out from has vanished! " I\' VIIIIII,', 1,',1111<'1', ,111.1 \\'ltl, ,lIltdl~;. hill lhl'y ;lrc prrh:1ps not a good
1"'1 11111111',\ ,I ',I', III "I, d" /, Ill', II1 till'. ,ll~l' !~r()llp W\' sugg 'st you
FROM I.ISTENINC TO OI{AI. I'ROIHI(TI()r-! III Sl'clioll S Wt' 'l'1' I 1111.1(1 "" 1111 • .I'l I,l< I,ll I', 111.1 1,,"hll'lll'iI411 ic";,
suggest W:lys of t'oll:lhor;llilll'. willl ·;lll1h'III'. III tI" 1lIll,ltl(lilll1 01 I'11"I II. , I,,, '. ,,. I \' I, \1 \•h 11" I}'.' " r11 IV' 11 I"Ill'. Ill) t.i I1 \ ',r I JI iC' ~
~;lllril'" ~ ',;how~.;1 11.111.11<111'111 (oI., I 11"'111 I•• 1111111111'; " H ,i1, ,,1.1. I I" ..,.1. I I,. 11.' 11 •• , f 1I'Idl.ll III ,,"t1111 {i1I\III1~j, '" 1,111111
To the teacher
in detail) in the student's 11Iot 111'1 1III 11',1 Il' • 1" ' LUlguage is simple ~et Section 1 Telling a story

the meanings are evocative ,11ll! 11l.IlIY 1.')"'I\'d; and the stones,bnng
back, often in a flood of cxcitCIlIl'1l1, 1111'IIIOd(',~ of one's own chIldhood
and that of one's children.
One day, while testing material for this book, we decided to tell the
same story in each of the two groups of students we were working
with, and to record ourselves while doing so. The story, a Ghanaian
folk tale, goes like this:
A hunchback girl protects her father's beans from wild
animals
In the fields, she is visited by fairies
They ask herfor bean soup
She says she can't bend down to pick the beans, because
of her hump
The fairies remove the hump
She picks the beans and cooks them
The fairies eat, thank her
They replace the hump and leave
Her father tells her: 'You silly girl, you should have run
away before they could replace the hump'
Next day, the same thing, She runs off before they replace
the hump
She hides in the hut from the fairies
A week later there is a dance in the village
She can't resist-joins the dance
While dancing, she feels a weight on her shoulders
She turns, sees the fairies leaving the village
(from Folk Tales and Fables, ed, p, Itayemi & P. Gurrey)
I11 OIl(' rooll1l11C stlldcllt. he~lrd:
TIlI'l!' \\';\', ,I I.ll'IlltT / ill rhe norrh of the country I who
\\',1', \'('1 \' I""" f ,llld 1](' jWil !l:ld <l couple of fields where he
)',1"\\ 1',1111', ,llId 1,,',111'. ,111.1 dllllJ'" i and he Jived by himself
\\ 1l11111" ,llll)',hl"1 ,lllt'l ,'VITV d:1)' hl' would 'go our to his
11"1,1',11111,1",, 1",1111111" 1',llIl', I IOllk:tfll'r his f:lI'Jll I his
,111\'1.", .0>1,1,11'," I '''1'\\1111111111 ! 1111l"!H'II:HI:lhllll1p
"11 11' I 11" I I" ',11111111 1.1',11 I ,111.1 ',I,," 1>111.111'1.1" ,Ill\, Ic':d
,,,,I 11" ""1,1,, I I" 1,,1 111,11"'11,,1. \ 1',1" ',', I" 111l' 1111>'"
,1'101" 1111,1,,,,1 11',1 "1",1111. I.. 1\1·,110>11,11., 1111111/' \' I
To the teacher
in detail) in the student's 11Iot 111'1 1III 11',1 Il' • 1" ' LUlguage is simple ~et Section 1 Telling a story

the meanings are evocative ,11ll! 11l.IlIY 1.')"'I\'d; and the stones,bnng
back, often in a flood of cxcitCIlIl'1l1, 1111'IIIOd(',~ of one's own chIldhood
and that of one's children.
One day, while testing material for this book, we decided to tell the
same story in each of the two groups of students we were working
with, and to record ourselves while doing so. The story, a Ghanaian
folk tale, goes like this:
A hunchback girl protects her father's beans from wild
animals
In the fields, she is visited by fairies
They ask herfor bean soup
She says she can't bend down to pick the beans, because
of her hump
The fairies remove the hump
She picks the beans and cooks them
The fairies eat, thank her
They replace the hump and leave
Her father tells her: 'You silly girl, you should have run
away before they could replace the hump'
Next day, the same thing, She runs off before they replace
the hump
She hides in the hut from the fairies
A week later there is a dance in the village
She can't resist-joins the dance
While dancing, she feels a weight on her shoulders
She turns, sees the fairies leaving the village
(from Folk Tales and Fables, ed, p, Itayemi & P. Gurrey)
I11 OIl(' rooll1l11C stlldcllt. he~lrd:
TIlI'l!' \\';\', ,I I.ll'IlltT / ill rhe norrh of the country I who
\\',1', \'('1 \' I""" f ,llld 1](' jWil !l:ld <l couple of fields where he
)',1"\\ 1',1111', ,llId 1,,',111'. ,111.1 dllllJ'" i and he Jived by himself
\\ 1l11111" ,llll)',hl"1 ,lllt'l ,'VITV d:1)' hl' would 'go our to his
11"1,1',11111,1",, 1",1111111" 1',llIl', I IOllk:tfll'r his f:lI'Jll I his
,111\'1.", .0>1,1,11'," I '''1'\\1111111111 ! 1111l"!H'II:HI:lhllll1p
"11 11' I 11" I I" ',11111111 1.1',11 I ,111.1 ',I,," 1>111.111'1.1" ,Ill\, Ic':d
,,,,I 11" ""1,1,, I I" 1,,1 111,11"'11,,1. \ 1',1" ',', I" 111l' 1111>'"
,1'101" 1111,1,,,,1 11',1 "1",1111. I.. 1\1·,110>11,11., 1111111/' \' I
Telling a story Telling a story
who would ("(1111" .111\\ 111'11111.1" ,,,,, ',I ,Hound / ol1e (bv she had a beanfield on the edge of the desert / and one of the
wentouttotlll·fit'l.I 1111,1 whikshewastherc'sotnt daughter's jobs was to go and watch the beanfield / and
fairies came oul ut 1111' "',,' ,.1 I ,Ill' I ,hked her for / make sure no animals or people stoic beans from.it / one
beans / they walll....1 111'1 '" I""I 1111'111 / and make them evening she was there / as night was falling / in this part
a meal/she said ;,he 'lllIl.11l 1 I",. ,1I1'.C' ;,Ill' couldn't bend to of the world night falls quickly / and as she was preparing to
pick the beans / SOIIIII',dllll"IIIJI"; ,UIH'uptoherputhis go home suddenly some fairies appeared on the edge of the bean­
hand on her back and lili<'.1 IIll' 11111111' oil h 'J' hack / and said field / and they came over / and one of them said to her
now you can pick b 'ans / ",..11,,111' ,hd llll~ she picked the / we're hungry / pick us some beans and make us a bean
beans and she put thell1 ill :1 I'''' 111,1111' ,I hrl' cooked the beans soup / but the girl looked at them sadly / and said / I
and gave them to the fairies / ,lllllllll'Y :lI',' them thanhd h-~r can't bend down to pick the beans / but the fairy / came
for them / and turned to gu ;llid ,I;' !I\L'y ldtthey replaced the close behind her and lifted / the hump from off her back /
hump on her back / WhclI sll\' (;11111' h;wk to the hut she told and she could stand upright and walk straight / she smiled
her father what had happened and Ill:r f:lch 'r said hOw if they / and began to pick beans / she made a fire / and she
come again / and they prohahly wiil / when they take the made the fairies a bean soup / which they ate greedily
hump off your back / don't f-';O ~\nd pick lhe he,lhs run away / and then disappeared / across the edge of the field back /
and hide / then you'll gn w lip str,light / like the into the desert / and the girl / ran home / but as
other girls / so the next day she we;:J1l our 1'0 the field and the she was running / suddenly / she felt the hump / com­
fairies did come and asked her for bean._ / and took the hump ing back onto her shoulders / and by the time she got home
off her back / and instead of going / out into the field she was stooped forward / and could only walk slowly /
to pick the beans / she turned and ran / as fast as she and she told her father everything that had happened / and
could / she rushed back to the village and hid in the hut / her father said to her / you acted wrong my daughter / you
that evening when her father came home / he advised should have run away as soon as the fairies took the hump off
her to stay in the house / because the fairies now would be your back / they couldn't have found you to put it back on
looking for her / but after a few weeks he thought they again / I'm sure they'll come back tomorrow / when it
would go away / so she stayed in the house / for a happens run away / before they can put the hump back on
week / and / then there was a festival in the village your shoulders / and so the next evening / the girl went to
and all the girls went out into the streets of the village / and the beanfield again and sure enough the fairies / appeared
they danced / and the girl looked / out of her window at over the edge of the field / and they asked her to make them a
the girls / in / their bright / costumes / dancing in bean soup again / and a fairy lifted rhe bump from off her
the street / and she couldn't resist it / she'd always loved back / and quickly she ran out of the field aud ran back
dancing and she'd never been able to dance and now she home to the viJlage / she hid in her father's house / and
could / and out into the street she went / danced with the she could walk straight / and she realised that she could
other girls / while she was dancing / she felt a weight / dance / for that evening there was going to be n dance / at
on her shoulders / turned round / and there she saw the the house of some ncighbours where there was a wedding /
fairies / quietly / going off / out of the village and she / later on in the evening she crept out / and
w('nl 10 th(' hflll~t: / fo the ncighbour's house / and joined
In the other room the students heard: Ihl' J:lIH'illg / ;llld Ihl'n she saw / on the edge of the /
d;III' 1111', 1'I'lll'Il' / 1111' f:lirics / suddenly / her hump was
Once upon a time there was a village / on the edge of a
111('1" 1111111'1 11,1< I. ''11,1111 / ;,h(' stooped f()[\vard / she could
desert / in the village there Jived a mall who had seven sons
11.1111 LOlll) 111IJl('
he also had one d<.1ughter / his sons were straight and
uprig-ht / but his daughter / well/she had a hUlllp OJ1 '"01
her b;1Ck / alllI she, kid ro w;llk hCllf OV(T / and rI,r... 111:1<11' llin
lh(' fTl;11l vny vl'l'y 1I11h:IIlPY :111,1 il 111.1,1(' ,Ill' !',id VI'I\' 1'('1\­
IlIdl.\I'I'\' I ,.Ill" ",d. hi" Ill' I Il,,,,,,, "I' ,.Ill" 'lId,III-' ,lift./ 11"111' 1,11111111'1 1111""llllolll' III
w dl, I 1" "I" d\ 11,.1 .1" . ""1.1,, I ,111'11' "," '" Ill' I I,l IV11 I I I,,, I " .. III I' I.. ,". I ,1 '"I" Iill. I 11"I,11 I ' I"" I, .," 111/1'
Telling a story Telling a story
in numerous ways. Onc L';\I) r(';lddy 1111.1)',111(' till' wide range of factors Finding and choosing stories
that might go to producing Sill h dilk"'IIll"~,: lilt· mood ofthe teller
when he or she first encoLlmLTcd lIll' ",1111 \'; Ilis or her mood while Stories are everywhere: in selecting for this book we have drawn on
telling; the background exrwri('llll'S Ih,ll k:lll, (nr example, to one traditional fairy stories, folk tale collections, newspaper reports,
teller seeing forest where the 01hLT S:I VI' dc.nt landscape; the numher literary short stories, films and plays, personal anecdotes, rumours,
and seating of the audience; the lc1kr's rd;lliollship to the audience; stories from our own childhood and from the childhood of our
and so on and so on. And thcse difkrl'IlLc'. :Ire in rum reflected in the friends, students and colleagues, and on our own imagination, We
language: sometimes fluent, soll1l'tiIlIl'S 11l'"j t;llll alld uncertain, have learned stories from our children and their friends, and from
broken by irregular pauses, but always lh-lillildy s/JOken language, professionals like Propp and Rodari.
the language of personal communicatioll I hat is so often absent from In selecting storics for the classroom, we have been guided by two
the foreign-language classroom. main criteria: is this a story that we would enjoy telling and is this a
In some ways teUing is easier than reading aluud: the reader may story our students might find entertaining or thought-provoking?
be forced to interpret speech patterns ami rhythms very different We have seldom been influenced by purely linguistic considerations
from his or her own; he or she is forced to bccomc aware of things in our choice (though this does play Cl part-see 4,1), and we have
normally taken for granted, such as breathing; and these technical never aUowed the language of an original text to determine suita-
problems may become a barrier hetween him or her and the author I ility-indeed, many of the stories we have used have been taken
just as the book he or she is holding may hccome ;1 physical barrier from originals in languages other than English.
between him or her and his or her audience In telling, on the other
hand, one can shape the story to one's own needs, and while this
may require the development of certain, perhaps huried, skills, the Making skeletons
advantages are very great. In the first place, one can address one's
audience directly: one can make eye contact or not as and when one We found early on that a brief written outline ('skeleton') provided
chooses, use gesture and mirlle freely, expand or modify the form of (he hest way for us to store material for storytelling. The skeleton
one's telling as the occasion demands, and in general establish and should give, in minimal form, a plot outline, background information
maintain a community of attention het\....een teller and listener, where necessary (e.g. cultural context if the plot is heavily dependent
Again, from the learner's point of view, it is of immense benefit to oil this), apd a certain amount of character detail. There is no
witness the process of framing ideas in the target language without, ohligation to produce a continuous text-indeed, this could be an
as in conversation, constantly having to engage in that process l~hsr;1c1e to improvisation-or to observe the conventions of punctua­
oneself: forcing students always to hear polished speech (or, worse, IlClll Jud 'complete sentences', The aim should be to record all those
the bland monotony of specially constructed oral texts) does tbem a (·I('IIlCllts that are essential to the story, but only these. (The decision
great disservice. ,d)(l\lt what is essential is entirely, and rightly, subjective: faithfulness
Since first starting to work with stories, we have come to realise 10 an original text or to Cl 'writer's intention' play no part in this
something of the extent to which narrative underlies our conversa­ work.)
tional encounters with others, and of the deep need that people have !\lllIw s[oriL's PITSl'lltl'd ill this book are given in the form of
to tell and exchange stories. We have also learned something aboLlt ',k,'klll"'. Tlll'Sl' :11"1' pl"illll'd ("ClL.:t1y as we would use them ourselves,
the ways in which storytelling can take place in the foreign-language ,1I1l1 \-\l'II.I\'(' Ill" ;llll'lllpll'" to provide;1 'standardised form'. We
classroom. 1111111 1111'\' wl1lll1' ,11 1",1',( ,ICII'ljl':lll' ,IS tlll'y SI:lI1d, and are sure that
1(',1l /11"1', \\1111 \\/,.1,111 \\1111 IIOIlI 1IIl'lrtlwl1ll1:I!(,l"ial, :1nd thus
1'1, ,dll" ,11"11 "\ I1 ',I'll \ ',I , 11 I,",'" W dI dl'\'('lop I hei I' own Sf le and
I" /lllt'I'I' 11111'1 1 I, '1111,1, 1,1',' I ,!t.tl Ill,' '.I,,'klll" lIlt'n'lv pro"idl"
" I, I, ", 11 I /110 ," 1I,. i ' '" I, -, 1110 I, 11, I I'I \\" I1 I. fI 0111 _ ,Ill d 11111 ~; I 1101
J" "I.,,,.lr,,d