A Story-based Instructional Model for Teaching English to Young Learners: Unearthing Pre-Service English Language Teachers’ Orientations


Creative Commons License

Ünal Gezer M.

AELTE 2022 Conference, Ankara, Turkey, 27 - 29 May 2022

  • Publication Type: Conference Paper / Unpublished
  • City: Ankara
  • Country: Turkey
  • TED University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

The present study was a trend study which is a type of longitudinal research design. A total of 100 juniors (year 3 students in an English language education program) participated in the surveys and interviews at different time frames over three academic years from 2020 to 2022 at a private university’s English teacher education program in Turkey. This research design allowed the investigators examine a sample from general population over a time to yield data related to children’s literature integration to Teaching English to young learners (TEYL) curriculum (Cameron, 2005; Ghosn, 2002; Kang-Shin, 2006). Pre-service English language teachers were asked the following questions in an open-ended survey: (1) What is the function of authentic storybooks in TEYL? (2) Do you believe in story-based methodology? If so, what should it be like? (3) Do you think story-based early English language instruction is applicable in Turkish context with real classrooms and real young learners in Turkey? Lastly, pre-service English language teachers were asked to pick an authentic storybook to read to a group of young language learners. Then they are asked to explain the mechanisms at work while they were choosing the right storybook for the young English learners in target. The findings revealed majority of the pre-service English teachers believed in the functionality of integrating authentic children’s literature. Coded survey and interview data further revealed the orientations of teacher candidates differed. The study implications, from the perspectives of pre-service English teachers, support TEYL programs offer children’s literature as an integral component. Key words: teaching English to young learners, story-based pedagogy, pre-service English language teacher training