Using Narratives to Present an Integrated Approach to the Development of Target Language Skills and Linguistic Knowledge

Carol Griffith and Jiydegul Alymidin Kyzy, Turkey

Carol Griffiths has been a teacher, manager and teacher trainer of ELT for many years. She completed a PhD on the subject of learning strategies at the University of Auckland. She has taught in New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, China, North Korea, UK, and is currently Associate Professor at Faith University in Istanbul, Turkey. She has published widely, including her books ‘Lessons from Good Language Learners’, and ‘The Strategy Factor in Successful Language Learning’ and presented at many conferences around the world. E-mail: carolgriffiths5@gmail.com

Jiydegul Alymidin Kyzy has been working as a teacher at the ELT department at Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey. She completed an MA program at Gazi University in Ankara. Currently she is working on a PhD looking at the relationship among attribution, self-efficacy and achievement of EFL learners. She has recently completed an internship at Pilgrims Language School in Canterbury, UK. E-mail: jiydegul@fatih.edu.tr

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Teacher’s guidelines: The Nail Clippers
Student’s worksheet: The Nail Clippers
Appendix: The Nail clippers

Teacher’s guidelines: The Nail Clippers

Stories are universal and enjoyed across all ages and cultures. For this reason, narrative is invaluable in the language classroom because of its intrinsic interest value. With careful planning, narrative can be used to develop all four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing) as well as underlying linguistic knowledge (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation), thereby obtaining maximum mileage out of a small amount of material and out of the time spent in lesson preparation. This lesson plan will illustrate how this can be achieved by using a story called “The Nail Clippers”, adapted from a story written by a sophomore student in a Chinese university and published by HLTmag (2007, 9/5). A suggested sequence for using this story with an intermediate level class includes

1. Speaking: Before handing out the text, divide the students into groups and ask them to exchange stories about something they regret. If appropriate, selected students can be asked to tell their stories to the whole class as the activity winds down, although sensitivity may be required here, as not all students may feel comfortable broadcasting such information to the whole class. If students are reluctant, they should not be pressured
2. Listening: Before handing out the text, get the students to listen to the first two paragraphs and answer true/false questions. These paragraphs can be read by the teacher, or recorded if someone else is available to read them. (If the text is handed out before this activity, it becomes a reading activity rather than a listening activity)
3. Reading: Hand out the text and get the students read it either silently or aloud and answer questions to check comprehension and the ability to infer meaning beyond what is directly in the text
4. Vocabulary: Focus on the meaning of key vocabulary in the text
5. Pronunciation: Deal with how this vocabulary is pronounced
6. Grammar: Complete the grammar exercises which use items in the text that students must manipulate to suit the grammatical construction required. If the class has been working on particular grammar, the teacher can easily construct exercises which practice this grammar using the exercises here as a model
7. Writing: Get students to write a story on a related topic, correct the best ones and submit them to HLTmag or some other publication – students love to see their work in print

Using narrative in this way provides an integrated approach to the development of skills and knowledge in a target language

Student’s worksheet: The Nail Clippers

• Speaking: With a partner or your group, exchange stories about something you regret.
• Listening: listen to the story and say if the following statements are true or false:
  • The author was brought up by her aunt
  • The author’s mother had a job
  • The nail clippers belonged to the author’s father
  • Grandmother cut her nails with scissors
  • Grandmother’s fingers were stiff
  • Grandmother cut her nails every week
• Reading: read the rest of the story and answer the following questions:
  • What caused Grandmother’s lung cancer?
  • What was the author doing during the summer?
  • Why did the author go to school early?
  • Why did Grandmother find it difficult to speak?
  • How did the author feel about leaving home?
  • Why does the author keep the nail clippers?
  • What can you infer about where this story takes place? What tells you this? Could a similar story take place in your own environment?
• Vocabulary: find synonyms for the following words and use them in sentences of your own which clearly demonstrate the meaning:
  • Traditional
  • Fragment
  • Lacerating
  • Vacation
  • Doubtful
  • Cruelty
• Pronunciation: check how the words in the vocabulary list are pronounced. Pay special attention to where the stress comes in each word, and the pronunciation of the vowel in the unstressed syllables.
• Grammar: Put the correct form of the words from the text in the spaces provided:
  • I was grateful for his (recommend)___________
  • He looked at me very (doubtful)______________
  • We are making (preparing)_____________________for the big event
  • She was upset by my (refused)_______________
  • I wanted to (conversation)__________________with her
  • I (request)__________________it yesterday
• Writing: Write a similar story of your own based on your own experience

Appendix: The Nail clippers

By Sophie

Adapted from a story published in HLTmag, 9/5, 2007

For the rest of my life, I will never forget one thing – my grandmother’s nail clippers. I was brought up half by my grandmother, since my mother had to work. My grandmother was a traditional woman. She was afraid of new things, so she used to clip her nails with wine bottle glass fragments. Hence she really suffered from the lacerating of the glass.

Once I used my mother's nail clippers and found them very useful, so I strongly recommended them to my grandmother. She was doubtful at first, but I showed her several times how to use them. She tried hard, however, she was too old to learn how to use them, and her fingers were stiff and not easy to bend. Finally, I began to help her to clip her nails several times a year.

In May, 2002, she got lung cancer due to long-term smoking. It was too late to control at that time. That summer was hard for her, and also for me. While she was struggling with the cancer evil, I was preparing for the high school entrance exam. I passed the exam with high marks and was admitted in my dream high school, but my grandmother was getting worse and worse.

Although I planned to stay with her the whole summer vacation, the high school required me to enroll earlier in August for military training! The morning I left my grandmother will stay in my mind forever.

She had hardly been able to speak for several months, her breath was so tight, but she still wanted to say something to me: "Can you stay one more day? Just one day?"

I shook my head hesitantly.

"Only one day? You have not---clip ---my--- nails ---this time."

This time I refused directly. I did not know why I was so firm at that time; I cannot forgive myself even today. I went away from her as soon as possible and once on the bus, I could not refrain from crying!

One month later, just only one day after Mid Autumn Day, my grandmother passed away. She did not give me a chance to make up for my cruelty. That morning was the last conversation between us. That request was the last wish from her.

I picked up the nail clippers from her belongings and from then on, I have never changed the nail clippers. So that whenever I clip my nails, I will remember my grandmother.

Please check the Methodology and Language for Secondary Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.