Second language acquisition through folklore

Smriti Dutt

Note: I am writing this article from my experience at the university level. However, teachers of English can use the ideas presented in this article at any level depending on the familiarity of their students with the language – either in primary school itself in English medium schools or in higher classes if the students are first generation learners of the language.

Second language acquisition can be a difficult task for many, majorly because of the impact of the mother tongue as well as the undeniable presence of cultural differences as is seen with English in India. This concern has led to the establishment as well as initiation of various programmes, schemes and language support centres within university spaces. One such crucial initiative is the Language Buddy Programme created and introduced by the language cell of Ambedkar University, Delhi to support and help first-year undergraduate students in their struggle with the English language, coming from different linguistic backgrounds and grappling to find a place in the English-medium space of the university. The programme helps students through a peer mentoring model allowing them to collaborate with second and final year students in order to work on their English language skills. Many students apply annually to become language mentors and they go through an arduous and rigorous selection process. Several orientations and thoughtful workshops are organized by the professors that comprise numerous creative activities and methods to break the existing stereotypical ways of learning English and discuss about creating a space that embraces a multicultural environment.

These workshops often question and challenge pre-existing beliefs and assumptions that students have regarding English language acquisition. The workshops include discussions around reading and writing skills and how creative activities can be designed to help learners acquire those skills. Each buddy is assigned four or five students and his/her foremost task is to help the learners with grammar, reading texts, writing assignments and research papers and guiding them with the proper use of Internet along with making them aware of plagiarism and the significance of original writing. Movie screenings and several language games creatively designed by the professors and mentors, help in making the learning process intriguing and enjoyable for the learners. Towards the end of the academic year, the language mentors are awarded with certificates for their hardwork as well as rewarded through the Earn while you Learn Scheme, another initiative by the university to keep the students inspired and motivated. Language Buddy Programs help to fabricate a non-intimidating space that encourages mutual learning and benefits the students in their academic life at the university. Students who have been part of this programme elucidate it as an extremely benefiting and thoughtful initiative that helps an individual overcome his/her struggle with English as well as to become more confident and comfortable in an English medium space and in general.

Being a part of this programme gave me an opportunity to think about some unconventional tools and techniques for teaching English as a language mentor. As a literature student interested in folklore, I began to use folkloric examples inadvertently in my sessions with my mentees. I began willingly planning folkloric sessions after reading a very encouraging and positive feedback from my mentees about how they were able to relate and engage more in the process with the inclusion of folktales and fairy tales in the lesson plans. I even developed activities and games using folktales and fairy tales in order to focus on areas like vocabulary, articulation, diction, narration, writing and syntax along with fabricating and learning an appropriate way to execute such an unconventional and inventive lesson plan. Some ideas worked and some didn’t and so in the process of teaching, I found myself learning from the experience. I personally think that stories are capable of finding eager listeners in any generation and therefore they can easily be incorporated into lessons especially when teaching a second language because storytelling is culturally universal and folklorists have often found similar folktales around the world, which establishes that teaching through folktales helps cater to the problem of cultural differences and disassociation often faced by learners along with making the learning experience more enjoyable and fun as these tales bring in the world of wonder and magic.

An effective teaching session demands a thoughtful lesson plan and it is often difficult to fit folktales or fairy tales into a lesson plan in their original form and therefore it is important to make modifications to these tales so that they fit in the context as well as interest the listeners. I began my first session with a bright picture of Red Riding Hood and asked my mentees to give me the words that came to their mind when looking at the picture. They gave me words like girl, wolf, pretty, forest, kind, etc. I wrote these words on the blackboard and classified them into nouns, verbs, adverbs etc., and explained the difference to the learners. The introduction of a familiar picture and story provided me with a creative approach to arrive at the eight parts of speech that helped the learners concentrate better and longer. Furthermore, I asked the learners to make sentences using the words on the board. They gave me simple sentences, such as ‘The little girl is in danger’; ‘She is beautiful’; ‘The forest is dark’, etc. I then asked them to replace certain words they used in their sentences in order to introduce them to the concept of synonyms along with helping them with vocabulary as well as appropriate sentence formation. After that I distributed some sheets that contained the story of Red Riding Hood in 12 simple sentences in an incorrect order and asked them to read the story and give the sentences their proper sequence. I used slightly advanced vocabulary and gave them a dictionary to refer to after telling them how to use it. It is evident how a little creativity can help learners learn several important things in the limited time of an hour or two and how the inclusion of folktales/fairy tales can enhance the learning experience for a beginner.

There are certain factors that make folktales or fairy tales appropriate and suitable in the context of second language acquisition. These tales follow a certain pattern and are often repetitive in nature, which means that certain words and phrases recur throughout the narration and in order to learn a new language, the learner must listen to relevant content like new words and sentence structures, repeatedly. This helps in establishing a connection between what learners hear and its meaning and helps them memorize certain parts of the vocabulary and phrases used. It is important to make them use the words they acquire to create different sentences so that they learn to use the acquired information in multiple contexts. For example, if a learner remembers words like midnight, glass slippers, evil, etc., from the story of Cinderella, s/he must be encouraged to form sentences or maybe an entirely new story revolving around or constituting the specific words. Folktales and fairy tales also seem useful in the teaching process because of the presence of rich and authentic vocabulary. One of the activities that I found extremely useful was to ask the learners to narrate any tale they remember from their childhood in the language they are comfortable in and then try and write it down in English using simple sentences and words. The learners should be encouraged to ask the English translation for a particular word they are struggling with which gives them the chance to enhance their vocabulary as well as learn its appropriate usage. It is extremely helpful if the learners share these stories by reading them aloud because that gives them the opportunity to get exposed to language patterns that are not found in everyday communication. For instance, listening to stories repeatedly can help them make distinctions between words like fear and threaten when they hear or read about how Cinderella was fearful of her stepmother because she threatened her constantly; realizing the distinctions between words and their usage can prove extremely significant in a learning context.

These tales and stories instigate creative thinking and imagination that inspire learners to find new solutions to the characters’ problems. Learners should also be told unfamiliar tales that belong to the culture of the targeted language and encouraged to predict the following events. It is extremely helpful to share half the story and give them the freedom to frame the other half as it allows them to relate the stories with their own personal lives and shape them according to their personal experiences using their own vocabulary, leading to the genesis of unique stories. They should be given the space and freedom to give any direction to the story. The teacher must keep stimulating them by asking questions like: Why do you think this happened? or What would you have done if you were in his place? Such questions guide the learners in their creative journey and keep them motivated. It is evident that the role of the teacher or mentor becomes extremely crucial in the context of second language acquisition. The presence of a mentor and constant encouragement and guidance between activities can help build an inclusive and non-threatening space for learning to take place. A good lesson plan, creative ideas, fun language games as well as a comfortable environment collectively form the key to efficient and appropriate learning. Through this article, I attempted to briefly analyze and document my journey and experience of manoeuvring my interest in literature and folklore to think and formulate inventive methods to teach.

The author is an active member of the American Folklore Society. She realized her passion for writing at a very young age. She has co-authored books like Tangerine, Sanjh aur Tum, Marmalade and Imagenes. Her upcoming book is titled, Dusk till Dawn. She has presented several academic papers nationally as well as internationally. She can be reached at duttsmriti9876@gmail.com.