Telling a fable, folktale, legend, or story using visuals to make it comprehensible
01
What is it?
Story Listening
is a strategy in which the instructor tells a story using gestures and visual images
to make the story comprehensible, compelling, rich and consistent. In Story
Listening, the learner focuses on understanding the story, and it is the job of
the storyteller to make the story comprehensible. This low stress process
engages the learner without the pressure to perform in the language. Just like
a child, language is acquired naturally through understanding messages.
02
Why & How?
The teacher uses simple drawings, voice inflection, gestures, and pausing and
pointing at the drawings to make the story comprehensible. They use simplified language & short sentences to explain the original text, scaffolding to insert words from the original text with simple synonyms and drawings.
This strategy is great for sharing classic, cultural stories in the target language in a way that is comprehensible and engaging.
Story Listening in action
Featured video:
Watch Dr. Beniko Mason, creator of this strategy, as she demonstrates story listening in English, telling the story "The Ungrateful Son".
Story Listening Demo - German Story Listening Demo - Spanish
More Thoughts and in-depth Discussion
Where did Story Listening come from?
Story Listening was created by Dr. Beniko Mason, from Osaka, Japan. Dr. Mason developed the Story Listening Toolkit with the Stories First Foundation in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Krashen and several classroom
teachers who are using Story Listening in their classrooms. Visit their website to find free leveled readers in multiple languages.
Isn't this just storytelling?
Story Telling and Story Listening may look the same superficially. However, Dr. Mason explains the differences by what story listening is NOT: it's not for entertainment, not a read-aloud, does not require speaking or writing exercises, does not require costumes or other theatrical bits, nor are the chosen stories shared in order to change social, political, or religious beliefs.
How long do you spend on Story Listening?
The goal of Story Listening is to lead students to a higher proficiency level through providing rich, compelling, comprehensible auditory input. Teachers who engage Story Listening might tell a story in every class. Some might only use this strategy a few times a semester. Some stories might take 20 minutes to go through. Some might only take 5 minutes. Some classes you might be able to do more than one class! It all depends on how you choose to implement this strategy.
What kinds of stories are best for this strategy?
Dr. Beniko Mason strongly suggests that fables, folktales, or fairy tales make up the bulk of the stories shared. The written versions of these stories contain rich language. Roughly 85%
of each story is written using words from the most frequent 2000 words
of English (high frequency words). Themes cover a wide range from deception, betrayal, poverty, and courage to loyalty, friendship,
mercy, and discipline to name a few. This is a great opportunity to share cultural tales from the target culture too!
At it's core, Story Listening requires no output of any kind. The magic is in the engagement of the listener as they listen to the rich, compelling story. However, one option to get feedback on how well you as the teacher were able to convey the story is to ask students to write out (in the L2 or L1) a summary of the story to demonstrate comprehension. Students could storyboard what they understood. Or you can make embedded readings of the story shared and jump into a literacy strategy.
USE MOVEMENT!
Check for comprehension (aka formative assessment!) by getting your students moving. Ask yes/no questions based on the information discussed. If the answer is yes, students move (stand up, move to a new location, etc.) Ask a question with multiple options. Students move to a corner of the room that aligns with their chosen option... and so much more!
OTHER WAYS TO ASSESS...
Using the write-up from write & discuss, do a quick quiz or written assessment. Students take out a piece of paper and answer true / false questions, either/or questions, or open-ended questions about the story. This falls under the "interpretive" category - students are receiving input and making sense of it, then demonstrating that comprehension.
Can-Do statements - have students self-reflect using Can-Do statements to see how they feel about their own capabilities. Free-writes - Give students 5 minutes to write down anything they can, bullet format or full sentences, drawing pictures or illustrations, to demonstrate their comprehension.
There are so many ideas for assessment! For a better, more comprehensive deep dive into assessments for standards-based and proficiency-oriented language teaching, read Martina Bex's article on assessments for language classes and standards-based grading. Also Scott Benedict's articles on assessments and standards-based grading.
Story Listening in your classroom
Do you use Story Listening in your classroom? Do you have tips, resources, a story or video demonstration to share? Drop me a line!
