‘Storyline’ a task-based approach for the young learner classroom.doc

‘Storyline’: a task-based approachfor the young learner classroomSharon AhlquistThe Storyline approach is little known in language teaching contextsalthough it has much in common with task-based education. Learners playthe parts of characters in an unfolding narrative, collaborating on tasksin small groups, a method which combines the use of language skills withpractical work. A word often used by participants in a Storyline topic is`fun′. This article reports on a study in which I attempted to identify thefeatures that particularly appealed to a class of Swedish 11–13 year olds, andhow working in this way impacted on their learning of English. The datashow that learners were strongly motivated by particular tasks and that theexperience of taking part in a Storyline brought specific language benefits.IntroductionThe Storyline approach was developed in Scotland in the late 1960s as aresponse to the introduction of environmental studies into the primarycurriculum. In an attempt to address the challenges of interdisciplinaryteaching, teacher trainers at Jordanhill College of Education, nowpart of the University of Strathclyde, created a story-based frameworkin which different curriculum subjects could be included. Originallyknown as ‘topic work’, the name Storyline was adopted in the 1980s.A fictive world is created in the classroom with learners, working ingroups, taking on the roles of characters in an unfolding story. Theykeep these roles throughout the Storyline (which might last for severalweeks), speaking and writing in role. Although much of the workis carried out in the group, there are also opportunities for pair andindividual work.Storyline topics are self-contained, situated in a particular time andplace, and with a clear beginning and end. The story develops as thelearners work on tasks that are designed on the basis of curriculumcontent and which integrate theoretical knowledge and subjects suchas art and drama. Artefacts and written work depicting the de