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UNIT 16

CHILDRENS LITERATURE IN ENGLISH. DIDACTIC APPLICATION TECHNIQUES

TO ACCESS LISTENING COMPREHENSION, PROMOTE READING HABITS AND
SENSITIZE IN THE POETIC FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE.

INTRODUCTION

I. CHILDRENS LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

A) Characteristics of childrens literature.
B) Selection criteria
C) Appropriate authors from different periods (epochs).

II. DIDACTIC APPLICATION TECHNIQUES TO ACCESS LISTENING

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COMPREHENSION, PROMOTE READING HABITS AND SENSITIZE IN THE POETIC
FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE.

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A) Didactic application techniques to access listening comprehension
B) Initiating and promoting of reading habits

C.) Sensitizing the students in the poetic function of language.

REPERCUSSIONS IN THE CURRICULUM

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION
Our current educational system is based on a methodological approach known as the
communicative approach, which considers language as an instrument of communication. Our final
goal is the development of our students communicative competence, which is the ability to use the
language to communicate in different contexts. We find that a useful means to develop this
competence are literary texts, which provide authentic language and are motivating. Literature is the
perfect vehicle to introduce the FL and culture.
Most children seem to be always ready for a good story. As soon as they hear once upon a time,
they know they are just about to enter a magic world. As teachers we can take advantage of their
eagerness for tales and use them for teaching purposes.

I. CHILDRENS LITERATURE IN ENGLISH.

A.) CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDRENS LITERATURE.
Childrens literature is one of the instruments children use to discover and interpret the world
around them. Among other characteristics we point out the following: it makes possible enthusiasm
and creativity, it is lineal, brief and with easy plots, topic and structure, and it is characterized by
simplicity and not simpleness.
Tales present the following features:

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- Vocabulary and structures are present within a context, which will help understanding and
meaning.

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- Natural repetition of words and structure, which will help to retain language items
- Simple grammatical structures. Tales dont have difficult language.
- In tales it is easy to predict what follows.
- Tales also introduce socio-cultural elements.

The use of stories in the English class has both psychological and didactic functions. The
psychological functions of stories in the classroom are that:
# They enable children to make sense of their feelings. Psychologists believe that stories help
children solve their affective conflicts.
# Stories develop students` imagination and creativity.
# They develop social integration in the class, because storytelling provokes a shared response of
laughter, sadness, excitement and anticipation, which builds up confidence within the group.
Regarding the didactic functions of stories:

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# They develop positive attitudes towards the foreign language, since they provide students with
fun, excitement and fantasy, creating in them a desire to continue learning.
# They encourage unconscious learning of language.
# The use of stories develops receptive skills: listening and reading comprehension.
# They provide a starting point for a variety of follow-up activities.
# Stories provide an insight into other cultures and the lives of others. They offer us opportunities to
introduce socio-cultural aspects.

When talking about childrens literature, besides tales and stories we can also consider, other
genres, such as nursery rhymes and riddles.
Nursery rhymes share some features with tales, such as:
- natural repetition of words and structures,
- simple grammatical structures,
- Introduction of socio-cultural aspects (food, childrens games, animals, etc).
However, they differ from tales in the following aspects:
- They are short. They are good for improving the attention span, and easy to be learnt by
heart.
- They have a marked rhythm and musicality, enabling children to grasp intonation patterns

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and pronunciation.
- Most of them can be accompanied by actions.

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- The reduced vocabulary makes them easy to learn.
The use of nursery rhymes also has didactic functions:
- They improve the pronunciation of English.
- They can be considered the initial stage of the introduction of literary language and
poetry in the English classroom
- They increase students` vocabulary and add new expressions without much effort.
- They bring variety and fun to the English class, creating a pleasant atmosphere.

Like nursery rhymes, riddles are short, with marked intonation and rhythm. They add a new
element, which is that children have to think about what is being described.

B) SELECTION CRITERIA
With stories we allow students to face language in a real context that is functional and meaningful.
Nevertheless, we must establish a certain selection criteria. We must take time analysing both text

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and students and then try and choose the most appropriate stories for them. Considering the work of
Ellis and Brewster some factors we will have to pay attention to are:

Age: children with different ages have different interests and language competence. Our first
and second cycle students will be more interested in fairy tales, fantasy books or animal
books, and our third cycle students will probably be more interested in everyday life stories or
adventure stories.
Subject: must be interesting, amusing and easy to remember, and if it includes socio-cultural
aspects and cross-curricular topics, so much the better.
Visual aspect: the illustrations must be appropriate for the age of our pupils, relevant,
attractive and colourful.
Participation: the story must promote participation in the form of repetitions, predictions, etc.
Potential for follow-up activities: the text must provide a starting point for language practice
in order to reinforce vocabulary, pronunciation and structures in a meaningful and memorable
way.
Curiosity can be aroused through the students wish to know more about the story, and more
about the target language culture.
Positive attitudes should be created towards the target language and the community. If the

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student feels good about the language and the society that he is studying, learning will be
easier.

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Besides these factors, other criteria we must take into account are:
Level of vocabulary, structures and functions: the level shouldnt be too easy or too difficult
for the students` level of English, and the language presented must be included in the course
syllabus.
Previous knowledge required: of social conventions and costumes, specific cultural references
and the cognitive level required.

C) APPROPRIATE AUTHORS FROM DIFFERENT PERIODS (EPOCHS).

If we take into account all that has been stated so far, it would be very difficult and impractical to
make a selection of English literary works suitable for Primary Education. There is a great variety
of volumes and numerous classifications. First of all we can mention the fairy tales that Charles
Perrault wrote in the 17th century (Sleeping Beauty on the Woods, Little Red Riding Hood or the

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Beauty and the Beast), or the Grimm brothers` collection, compiled at the beginning of the 19th
century (Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella or Snow White).
We can also include some novels or short stories written by important literary authors in the 18 th
and 19th centuries. Some examples are: Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe), Gullivers Travels
(Jonathan Swift), Alices Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carrol), Little Women (L.M. Alcott),
Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain), Treasure Island (R.L. Stevenson) and The Jungle Book (Kipling).
All these works can be found in a simplified version for children, and therefore they combine both
authenticity and real language.
We can also find more modern works, such as Beatrix Potters The Tale of Peter Rabbit, or A.A
Milnes Winnie the Pooh, with many short stories, very repetitive language, always the same
characters and many socio-cultural aspects. There is also a group of collections that are very well
known by English speaking children that need not be adapted to foreign students due to their
simplicity, such as Postman Pat or Thomas the Tank Engine.
We must also consider some recent literary works, such as those of Roald Dahl, who wrote Charlie
and the Great Glass Elevator, Matilda, The Witches and The BFG among others, Enid Blytons
Famous Five series, Dr. Seuss, most famous for The Cat in the Hat, C.S.Lewis, who wrote The
Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe or J.K. Rowlings universal literary phenomenon of Harry
Potter Books.

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Nowadays there is an endless proliferation of story books for children. A selection of some that

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work well with children are: the Snowman, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, the Bad-Tempered
Ladybird, Wheres My Mummy?, Winnie the Witch, Elmer, among others.

II. DIDACTIC APPLICATION TECHNIQUES TO ACCESS LISTENING

COMPREHENSION, PROMOTE READING HABITS AND SENSITIZE IN THE POETIC
FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE.
So far, we have analysed in detail childrens literature written in English, justifying its use,
establishing certain criteria to be taken into account in the selection process, and reviewing, in
general some specific works and authors, so now, the next logical step is to focus on how literature
is going to be used and exploited in the classroom. we will deal with such topics in three fields:
didactic application techniques to access listening comprehension, promote reading habits and
sensitize in the poetic function of language.

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A). DIDACTIC APPLICATION TECHNIQUES TO ACCESS LISTENING

COMPREHENSION
We can work on listening comprehension by means of a literary text in different ways: we can
listen to a recorded tape, or the teacher can read it aloud. In addition, the teacher can also tell it
directly, without reading, in the case of a story, a poem, a song or a riddle. The main aim of using
storybooks is to encourage general comprehension and to stimulate purposeful language-learning
activities. Stories offer variety and can be used to provide extra language practice by supplementing
and complementing the course book.
We have to point out that children are used to listening to stories in their mother tongue, but in a
foreign language its hard work. We must ensure that their understanding is clear. Visual support,
facial expressions and gestures are essential elements in storytelling. We can follow a simple guide
to storytelling, dividing the process in three parts: pre-listening stage, while-listening stage and
post-listening stage.

Pre-listening stage: we present activities to arouse childrens curiosity and expectations

- Identify elements in the pictures, listing the words they already know.
- Explain the context, key words, etc.,
- Predict what they are going to listen to.

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- Guess the story from the cover.
- Jumbled chapter titles: Give strips of paper with the chapter titles on to students in pairs

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or groups. They decide the best order for the chapters and think about the possible story.
- Find out about the author.
While-listening stage: the students are now ready to listen to the story or read it themselves. We can
play it on a tape or CD or read it out.
Using a recording has the following advantages:
- The voice provides a model of English spoken by a native speaker.
- It provides a variety of voices and sound effects, which is motivating and helps understanding.
If we are the storyteller, there are other advantages:
- It allows closer proximity to children. We can involve the children actively by asking them
questions, for instance.
- We can use gestures, intonation, repetitions, etc.
- We can use different voices for characters to help convey meaning and to attract students
attention.

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Irrespective of the way in which the children will listen to the story, we will have to tell (or play)
the story more than once.
In the while-listening stage, we can ask the students to perform a task. It is important to remember
that listening is not a passive hearing of sounds; it is a complex active process during which the
students should understand the meaning of those sounds. We can use activities that actively support
learners understanding and guide their attention to specific parts of the story.
While listening to the story, children can:

- sequence the pictures of the story

- complete true/ false exercises

- repeat key vocabulary items or phrases

- News articles. Students become journalists and report on part of the story. Focus on writing
good headlines and prepare the articles in the format of a newspaper story.

- Video parallels. If the book we are using in class has a film version we can use this to spot the
differences in the plot between the book and the film.

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- In the characters shoes. Students role-play an interview with one of the characters. Take a
couple of the main characters out of the book and bring them into the classroom! Assign

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students the roles of the characters and the rest of the class prepare questions they would like to
ask them. The students playing the roles of the characters must try to put themselves in the
characters shoes and give suitable answers.
Post-listening stage: these are follow-up activities that consolidate the language presented in the
story.
- Mime the story.
- Description of characters and places of the story.
- Role-play: it is a more difficult activity, since it involves the students speaking.
- Read the story out loud.
- Comprehension questions about the story
- Sequencing the pictures of the story
- Drawings. Students can re-draw characters, the setting, or their favourite sequence.
- Handicrafts. Children can create their own puppets, hats or masks.
- Singing a song about the story or its characters.

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- Quiz time: In teams students prepare questions about the books plot and characters. Questions
would be used in an inter-team quiz to see which group is the most knowledgeable.

B). INITIATING AND PROMOTING OF READING HABITS

We have to think how we are going to promote students reading habit in English if they dont have
it in their first language. Therefore, we will have to think of how the first contact between students
and childrens literature is going to be. This is a crucial moment, since the first impression can
influence their future attitude towards it. The first aim is to attract students to the text, calling their
attention in such a way, that they will want to keep on reading it when they are alone. One thing we
have to avoid is making reading a mechanical, boring activity they do in the classroom from time to
time when the teacher has to correct tests, for example. We must favour reading for pleasure
(without added pressure), take into account the already mentioned selection criteria (especially
interest), and occasionally allow them to choose the text. Another way of directing students
attention towards reading is to have a book corner in the classroom, which allows pupils to look
through books of their own choice and at their own pace. Reading should be an enjoyable task. If
some students are put off reading, it is probably because of the way it is dealt with in class. The

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teacher shouldnt test students on their readings, but they can monitor them by asking general
questions such as are you enjoying the book what are the names of the characters?, the teacher

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should choose books he/she thinks will be fun to read, and the teacher shouldnt set the pace for the
children, letting them progress at their own rhythm.

C.) SENSITIZING THE STUDENTS IN THE POETIC FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE.

The most usual answer to the question What is language used for? is to communicate ideas and
feelings. But it would be wrong to think that this is the only reason why language is used.
According to Jakobson, there are six language functions: conative, expressive, referential, phatic,
metalinguistic and poetic. The poetic function predominates in literary texts. It refers to the
appreciation of poetic language, which is specially arranged to be enjoyed. Literary texts enable
children to be initiated in the appreciation of the value and beauty of literary language. Students can
become aware of the rhythm, special word order, alliteration and other stylistic effects. So, lets
consider how to introduce our students to the appreciation of the poetic language:

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# Rhythm: nursery rhymes have a marked rhythm and musicality, enabling children to grasp
rhythmic patterns.
# Rhyme: children are familiar with the rhyme. We can make them focus on how the verses rhyme.
- children look for the words of the verses that rhyme
- they can think of other words that rhyme with the ones they have found
- They can invent new verses for a rhyme.
# Stylistic features: once the rhyme has been learnt, the teacher can explain the semantic effect of
the images expressed by the words. The figures to be studied will depend on the childrens age
(metaphors, word order, alliteration)

REPERCUSSIONS IN THE CURRICULUM

The importance of using literature in the English classroom is justified in the LOE 2/2006, 3 rd May,
not modified by the LOMCE 8/2013, December 9th, which highlights in its article 19.3 the
importance of developing reading habits in Primary students with the promotion of the Reading
Plan.
Also, in Andaluca, the order of the 17th of March 2015 that develops the curriculum for Primary
Education emphasizes the importance of literature by including in its 3rd block of contents and

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assessment criteria the reading and understanding of different sorts of texts, as well as pointing out
that the development of reading skills has as one of its objectives the approximation to literature to

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reinforce reading habits.
Besides, the order ECD 65/2015 which describes the relationship between the key competences,
contents and assessment criteria in Primary Education, states that the acquisition of the key
competences is one of our main objectives. It highlights the importance of having access to a
variety of texts in order to develop reading habits and to access more knowledge and as a source of
enjoyment, thus developing competence in linguistic communication.

CONCLUSION
As we have seen, there are very popular works specifically meant for children, which many
generations have enjoyed reading. We must introduce our students to these works to try and
encourage them to read. In other words, we must promote our students reading habits. Our first aim
is to attract students to the text, calling their attention in such a way, that they will want to keep on
reading it when they are alone. One thing we have to avoid is making reading a mechanical, boring
activity they do in the classroom from time to time.

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We must favour reading for pleasure and a good way of directing students attention towards
reading is to have a book corner in the classroom, which allows pupils to look through books of
their own choice and at their own pace. Reading should be an enjoyable task. We shouldnt test
students on their readings, but we can monitor them by asking general questions, we should choose
books we think will be fun to read and let them progress at their own rhythm, without setting the
pace. This way, students will consider reading as an exciting activity that will lead them to new and
fascinating worlds. As Jennifer Hill quotes Literature, carefully chosen, can open up and enrich
the language lesson, provide students with a window to new worlds and engage their intellect and
emotions in a way that study of the language alone cannot.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Brewster, J. The Primary English Teachers Guide. 2002
Brewster, J. The Storytelling Handbook for Primary Teachers. 2014
Brewster, J. & Ellis, G. Tell it again! The New Storytelling Handbook for Primary Teachers. 2002
Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 2001
Varela, R et al. All About Teaching English. 2003.
Wright, A. Storytelling with Children. 1995

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