What is a narrative and how can you use it to help your learner? In this series of posts, I describe the narrative teaching method, including to create a narrative and how it provides insight into which aspects of language your learner needs help with.
In this post and in future posts, I'll discuss what a narrative is and how it can be used by you and your learner for a more natural, personal form of learning.
A narrative is first and foremost a story. It can be about who you are or what you did on a certain day, or really anything. Anyone can write a narrative. A typical written narrative consists of around 100-200 words and sounds just like a conversation. Basically, it's as if you're talking to your learner in person about yourself or the events of your day.
Image Source: University of Iowa
We use narratives to teach English as a second language because they are rich in detail and full of the grammar that's used naturally in conversation. They aren't boring and they aren't forced. Your narrative should be readable to your learner; narratives are not necessarily literary masterpieces. Your learner should not have to struggle through a text while understanding only 10% of the words.
In order to get a relatively full understanding of what's being said in the narrative, you will have to give your learner a vocabulary list. Usually these lists include 10-15 words that are crucial to your learner's understanding of the text. Words related to your job, studies, hobbies, and daily habits are good options to include on a narrative vocab list.
You'll want to make sure that your learner has ample time and the necessary resources to find the meaning of everything on the list you give them. Don't rush them, and provide a dictionary or equivalent website so they'll be able to feel that they fully understand the words in front of them. Once they've grasped the meaning of the vocabulary list, they will have a solid framework in place to begin tackling the whole narrative. From my personal experience with the Arabic language, I know how hard it is --almost impossible-- to wrap your head around any sort of grammar if you don't first have a good understanding of the vocabulary in the text.
When creating a narrative, you want it to be easy to read for your learner, but you should consider a few other things as well. Your learner will read the narrative you've written and assume that every grammar structure and use of language is correct. They will think it's the way native speakers use English, simply because you're the tutor.
This is an opportunity for you to show your learner the correct usage of English, but you must be careful not to simplify the language too much. You want to avoid teaching your learner a form of the language that would seem silly to native speakers. This applies to both grammar and vocabulary. Don't try to work around important vocab words just because they're difficult. For example, you wouldn't want your learner to have to describe the word "escalator" to someone by calling it "moving stairs."
When used well, narratives can provide a different and fun way of teaching English to your learners. And while this post focused mainly on how to create a narrative, in my next post I'll describe how you can incorporate the narratives written by yourself and your learner into an effective, personalized lesson.
Happy tutoring!
Kris
Tufts University, Class of 2016
ENGLISH AT LARGE
Literacy and Learning for Life
Join the conversation
In this post and in future posts, I'll discuss what a narrative is and how it can be used by you and your learner for a more natural, personal form of learning.
A narrative is first and foremost a story. It can be about who you are or what you did on a certain day, or really anything. Anyone can write a narrative. A typical written narrative consists of around 100-200 words and sounds just like a conversation. Basically, it's as if you're talking to your learner in person about yourself or the events of your day.
We use narratives to teach English as a second language because they are rich in detail and full of the grammar that's used naturally in conversation. They aren't boring and they aren't forced. Your narrative should be readable to your learner; narratives are not necessarily literary masterpieces. Your learner should not have to struggle through a text while understanding only 10% of the words.
In order to get a relatively full understanding of what's being said in the narrative, you will have to give your learner a vocabulary list. Usually these lists include 10-15 words that are crucial to your learner's understanding of the text. Words related to your job, studies, hobbies, and daily habits are good options to include on a narrative vocab list.
You'll want to make sure that your learner has ample time and the necessary resources to find the meaning of everything on the list you give them. Don't rush them, and provide a dictionary or equivalent website so they'll be able to feel that they fully understand the words in front of them. Once they've grasped the meaning of the vocabulary list, they will have a solid framework in place to begin tackling the whole narrative. From my personal experience with the Arabic language, I know how hard it is --almost impossible-- to wrap your head around any sort of grammar if you don't first have a good understanding of the vocabulary in the text.
When creating a narrative, you want it to be easy to read for your learner, but you should consider a few other things as well. Your learner will read the narrative you've written and assume that every grammar structure and use of language is correct. They will think it's the way native speakers use English, simply because you're the tutor.
This is an opportunity for you to show your learner the correct usage of English, but you must be careful not to simplify the language too much. You want to avoid teaching your learner a form of the language that would seem silly to native speakers. This applies to both grammar and vocabulary. Don't try to work around important vocab words just because they're difficult. For example, you wouldn't want your learner to have to describe the word "escalator" to someone by calling it "moving stairs."
When used well, narratives can provide a different and fun way of teaching English to your learners. And while this post focused mainly on how to create a narrative, in my next post I'll describe how you can incorporate the narratives written by yourself and your learner into an effective, personalized lesson.
Happy tutoring!
Kris
Kristofer Pieper
Programs and Social Media Intern, English At LargeTufts University, Class of 2016
ENGLISH AT LARGE
Literacy and Learning for Life
Join the conversation
No comments:
Post a Comment