Learning English as a foreign language is important as this is the language that connects people all around the world – it is the language that is understood and spoken by most people. In the last decades languages are being learned earlier than before, which has impacted the schooling in Slovenia. Children are now being taught English as a foreign language in the 2nd grade, and in 2024/25 it will become obligatory in the 1st grade. Children are more receptive to language learning when they are younger, which could make learning easier. Additionally, early language learning promotes integrated child development, which results in adults, who are more educated, open, and tolerant. However, children learn differently than adults. Teachers need to establish an authentic learning environment that is familiar and at the same time challenging for students. Teacher’s role is quite important as they need to pick a contemporary approach that is best suited for their students. One of these is the Storyline approach, which we have tested, described, and compared with textbook learning.
Writing of my master’s degree began in September 2023/24 and lasted till May 2024. We did the research part in March 2024 in 8 English classes at a primary school. We did qualitative research, a case study with an experiment, which is a part of the action research. 49 students participated from two 4th grade sections in the primary school. 25 students were in control group and 24 in experimental group. Both groups learned the same topic My House, but in a different way; the control group learned it by using a textbook; the experimental group learned it by using the Storyline approach. We compared the development of writing with pre- and post-test in the form of a writing test and their feelings towards the approach during classes with questionnaires. Additionally, we described the process of designing Storyline lessons in line with the curriculum and gained an insight into students’ thoughts about the new approach – the Storyline approach.
We have concluded that students who had been learning by Storyline approach, were less bored during classes and therefore better remembered the content and used richer vocabulary in the post-test exam. Their writing also seemed to be developing faster, as their words were written more correctly and less phonetically during our research. They also wrote in one and/or multiple clause sentences. Storyline approach was mostly used in group work, thus encouraging collaborative learning. We found out that students weren’t used to this type of learning and were upset during the first classes. Moreover, some of the students were not aware they were learning, because they talked a lot and didn’t perceive that as learning English. If you would like to try this approach, we recommend spending more time on establishing group work in the classroom and fostering collaborative learning. Both present the foundation for developing student’s writing skills and keeping their interests up.
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