Is Teaching English to Young Learners through Interactive Storytelling More Effective than Digital Storytelling?

Abstract

English Language teaching is significant at early ages. Young learners have a big innate capacity to learn new languages during those years. In their first years of life, human beings observe the environment in which they grow up and try to understand the process of their own development. If they have an opportunity to observe the environment enriched by their parents, teachers, or friends, they will become more peaceful, creative, autonomous, and independent individuals. Even though they have a powerful learning ability, imagination, and memory, it is hard to take their attention and preserve it for a long time. Over the years, numerous teaching methods have been used to have more motivated, self-confident, autonomous learners. Therefore, for many years, educators have attempted to find out the most powerful way for teaching languages. Hence, they have used many strategies and techniques to make their lessons more joyful, efficient, and challenging. One of the most entertaining and captivating techniques in this regard is storytelling. It has a significant role in involving young learners in the learning process. It supports learners’ imagination, creativity, understanding, self-confidence, self-awareness, language fluency, vocabulary knowledge, speaking and listening skills. This paper aims to identify the benefits of using interactive storytelling in 1 MA Candidate, Istanbul Aydın University, English Language and Literature, ebruisiner@stu. aydin.edu.tr, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1482-2278 2 Asst. Prof. Dr., Istanbul Aydın University, English Language Teaching, aysetoplu@aydin.edu.tr, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1482-2278 Makale geliş tarihi / received: 03.09.2020 Makale kabul tarihi / accepted: 08.10.2020 DOI: 10.17932/IAU.EFD.2015.013/efd_v07i010 Is Teaching English to Young Learners through Interactive Storytelling More Effective than Digital Storytelling? 210 teaching English to young learners in comparison to digital storytelling. In the present study, a qualitative research method was used. In a classroom setting, teacher diary entries and video recordings were used to collect data. The research was conducted with 24 young learners at a language course in İstanbul, Turkey.