Hi Whizzes!
So…stories. As you know, language acquisition is a by-product of receiving comprehensible linguistic input in the target language⚡️, and, therefore, there are many roads one can take to get there or facilitate the getting there for others. But here are 10 reasons why I believe (and thankfully I’m not the lone preacher in the square here 🤗), stories speed up language acquisition:
1. 📖 We are made up of stories, just as much as we’re made up of DNA, blood and bones. Indeed.
2. 🥻 We learn more about ourselves through processing stories than by talking about ourselves. Hollywood, Bollywood, Netflixwood and all their cousins know this, and take full advantage!
3. 🤯 We remember more about characters/people and the events in their lives than we do random words or sentences. Do NOT memorize or make others memorize random lists of words!
4. 🧐 Curiosity triggers a dopamine rush that tells learners to pay attention, and allows them to enjoy themselves. When learning through story, learners are eager to hear what happens next. There is frequency of language, but it goes unnoticed by the learner because they are more focused on the story than on the language. They sometimes even forget (yippee!) that the whole phenomenon is happening in their non-native tongue, and when this happens it is gold!
5. 🎭 With stories, the opportunities for input-processing in different modalities broadens, ranging from theater to comprehension-based tasks and many things in between. It’s fab.
6. 🦖 There is an evolutionary purpose to story-telling. Since time immemorial, stories have been the main way that humans transfer critical knowledge of how to navigate the physical, moral and social perils of this world. When the facilitator uses a story that resonates powerfully with learners, their ability to effect positive change in the world magnifies. Look for awesome question related to this below.
7. 🗺 Language acquisition is not just about language, it’s about this subtle and unpinnable phenomenon called culture, and culture is best transferred through stories. Think about the difference between a facilitator showing learners a slide of the Eiffel Tower and telling them it’s in Paris and is awesome, versus learners getting to hear, act, and embody a powerful story that involves the Eiffel Tower as a key location. When they finally visit it…it’s going to be EPIC. Mais…oui!
8.🪩 Teaching through story is a boon for the facilitator. They don’t get BORED EITHER and look forward to facilitating just as much as the learners look forward to learning. I cannot stress how important this point is. The energy that a facilitator brings to the learning environment is a key factor in how the learners will feel and therefore how prone they will be to acquiring language. Never a dull moment!!!
9. 📜 Reading speeds up language acquisition, because the amount of vocabulary one can introduce through stories far outweighs the vocabulary present in regular conversation (even amongst two native speakers).
10. 📰 Learners master spelling and grammar faster through reading and comprehending.
♦️ Here is a link to “The Far Pavilions”, by M. M. Kaye, a story I read so young (just grabbed it from my parent’s home library in Lima). It is epic, romantic…a masterpiece. It got me connected to my Indian heritage and also to all the British influence in my life (kindergarten and middle school in Lima, mom’s friends in Lima and eventually my own). I cannot overstate the power of this story. It’s one of those fat books that go by in a jiffy, and you’re SO SAD when it’s ending. I’ve read it more than once and am thinking it might be time to visit with Juli, Shushila and Ash all over again.
And, wanna know something funny? I pronounced her name M. M. Kah-YAY as a child, and still do in my head, because I only started acquiring English for reals at the age of nine 🤪. I have various things that I did this with, like pronouncing one of my father’s favorite perfumes ⚱️—Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene—as Grey Flah-NELL. Still do, in my head. I wear the perfume myself, so I see it on the daily. Hard to let go of childhood things and things that link one to people long gone.
Constanza Ontaneda
your own personal Language Acquisition Witch 😉
