How to teach English lexis to preschoolers with use of English fairy tales (Обучение дошкольников лексике английского языка с использованием английских сказок)
статья по иностранному языку (1 класс)

How to teach English lexis to preschoolers with use of English fairy tales

Modern methodology of teaching foreign languages offers an incredible variety of techniques and methods which can used to make learning effective and motivational. Teaching EFL to preschoolers involves the use of special techniques. The learning process should be based on the satisfaction of cognitive and psycho-physiological needs and abilities of the child. The effectiveness of early language learning may be achieved through the use of the methods and techniques which correspond to the age characteristics of the child and also motivate him/her to learn the foreign language. Such method of teaching English to senior preschoolers is the use of English fairy tales

The choice of a fairy tale as a subject of study is not accidental. Fairy tales contribute to the full development of the child. The researches of such psychologists as L. Vygotsky (2009), A. Zaporozhets (1948) and others have shown that a fairy tale is a literary genre which is the most appropriate for preschoolers. Listening to fairy tales develops imagination, attention, memory and thinking. Fairy tales entertain, teach and act as a conduit between the child and the outside world.

The use of fairy tales contributes to the development of child’s empathy, allows him/her to be fully involved in the educational process. Lively language, unusual characters and events arouse children's interest and curiosity. The sociocultural component of the fairy tales allows children to get acquainted with features of the culture of the language speaking countries and its traditions.

At an early stage of learning foreign languages, the fairy tale should correspond the age characteristics of the child, his/her skills and abilities in foreign speech. Plots of fairy tales are simple and, for the most part, familiar to the child. It allows him/her to turn to his own experience and native speech for more effective mastering and understanding of foreign language speech.

Fairy tales contribute to the development of speaking skills and abilities, including lexical skills. Vocabulary which is used in fairy tales is usually widely used by residents of the language speaking countries. Colloquial expressions, verbal expressions, constant epithets, comparisons, alliteration, rhyme is often found in fairy tales. Frequent repetition of words and expressions allows children to learn new lexical units more quickly.

But, first of all, I need to answer the question: what is a fairy tale? There is no exact definition of a fairy tale as a literary genre in world literary studies. However, based on the opinions of such literature specialists as Braude (1997), Browning-Wroe J and Sherrill (2010) and Anikin (1997) who studied fairy tales, it can be concluded that a fairy tale is a prose narrative, folklore or by an author, the plot of which is some real idea, reflected in the content through the use of elements of the magic (fantastic, unreal) world: characters, events, attributes, etc.

Fairy tales play an uniquely important role in the child’s life and they contribute to his emotional, mental and social development.

At primary stage of learning of foreign languages, the aim of the teacher is to create a learning process using such teaching methods that correspond to the age characteristics of students, satisfy their cognitive, communicative, psychophysiological and personal needs and cause an emotional response in children. The educational material should create conditions for the development of abilities and skills, imagination and creativity of the children. As Utekhina (2017) states that one of the requirements for the selection of learning content is the inclusion of linguistic material, which includes subject-specific and cross-cultural vocabulary, since the samples of the children's culture of English-speaking countries are interesting for a child.

Taking into account the characteristics of fairy tales, their significance in

a child’s life and the interest that children have in fairy tales it can be concluded

that fairy tale have a great linguistic and methodological potential and they can be widely

used in the educational process. Summarizing all the above, I have identified linguistic and methodological advantages of using English-written fairy tales in EFL learning.

Linguistic advantages:

• variety of vocabulary on various topics: family, animals, colors, etc .;
• the use of various means of expression: metaphors, repetitions, words of intensifying meaning, diminutive words, etc .;
• frequent repetitions.

2.Methodological advantages:

• fairy tales never get obsolete (Snegova, 1994);
• in the interests of preschoolers;
• satisfy the preschooler's cognitive, communicative, personal needs;
• motivate to study the culture of the countries of the target language;
• contain linguistic and cultural material: information about the history, geography, traditions and holidays, life and lifestyle of the inhabitants of the countries;
• possible to use in all types of speech activities;
• can be used as a substantive basis for various communicative situations, role-playing games, dramatizations, and also as a connecting link at all the stages of the formation of language skills.

What kind of fairy tales should you choose to teach EFL to preschoolers?

Among the variety of genres, it seems expedient to use cumulative or chain tales (fairy tales which contain constant repetition and development of actions throughout the plot), magical tales and tales about animals. These genres of fairy tales are the most interesting and clear for the preschoolers.                           

However, it is not enough to list suitable genres but what kind of texts should be used in the teaching process: authentic or specifically elaborated texts. Since the process of learning foreign languages is aimed at developing the ability to use a foreign language as a tool for communication in a situation of intercultural interaction (Galskova, 2006), the texts should be authentic. As Khaleeva (1990) writes, an uthentic text is a text which “native speakers produce for native speakers, that is, the original texts themselves, created for real conditions, and not for the learning situation” (p. 15). Nosovich and Milrud (1999) write that authentic texts are characterized by the naturalness of lexical content and grammatical forms, situational adequacy of the used language tools, logical integrity and thematic unity. Most of the researches in EFL teaching area have shown that working with various types of authentic texts enhances communication and cognitive motivation, forms linguistic-cultural competence, has a positive effect on the emotional state of students and allows a teacher to simultaneously turn to culture and language. Ciornei and Dina (2014) give several advantages of using authentic texts in a language classroom. Firstly, authentic materials (and texts as well) show students how exactly the target language is used by its native speakers. Secondly, with the authentic materials students are able to learn real-life expressions and they get confident to perform them not only at the classroom. Thirdly, authentic materials are less formal than usual textbooks and may become a basis for the further learning process. Also, as Passov (1991) states, authentic texts are the best learning tool for teaching a foreign language and a foreign language culture due to the cultural component of authenticity - ideas about the specifics of another culture, about the life and habits of native speakers.

However, the use of authentic fairy tales as a mean of learning is associated with some difficulties. These difficulties, Smirnova (2006) and Trygub (2006) write, may be removed by adapting or modifying the original text without compromising authenticity. One of the common forms of text modification in language teaching is text simplification which is defined by Davies (1984) as “selection of a restricted set of features form the full range of language resources for the sake of pedagogic efficiency” (p.183). It means that the given text is simplified in terms of making it more comprehensible for students.

Summarizing all the above, it is possible and appropriate to use a highly adapted English-language folk and literary tales in the process of teaching preschool children a foreign language. Fairy tales have numerous linguistic and methodical advantages of use in teaching. Due to its characteristic features, fairy tale is the optimal text for this age and language proficiency. Fairy tales allow you to engage children in educational and creative activities, develop motivation for communication and learning, and allow to acquaint preschoolers with the culture of the countries of the target language.

The studies of Sherbina and Lagoykina, Malkina (1996) and Solovova (2006) on fairy tales and their use in the process of learning and teaching foreign language, the following selection criteria for English-language fairy tales for teaching preschool children to vocabulary can be distinguished.

• Entertainment (taking into account interests and needs of preschoolers, the formation of motivation to learn).
• Accessibility of the text in the conceptual and linguistic terms.
• Linguistic value.
• Expediency (compliance with the goals and objectives of the learning process).
• The developmental capabilities of the tale.

While using a fairy tale in teaching lexis to preschool children, it is necessary to adhere to certain principles that meet the basic principles of teaching children of senior preschool age.

On of the most important principles, as Solovova (2006) writes, are accessibility and feasibility, thus compliance with the age characteristics of preschoolers and their level of foreign language proficiency.                           

At the early language learning stage, it is reasonable to use adapted cumulative (recursive, chained) fairy tales such as Russian fairy tales "Teremok", "Kolobok", "Turnip", and English fairy tales “The Gingerbread Man”, “Henny Penny” etc. The next principals follows this one naturally.

The adaptation and modification. For teaching senior preschoolers, the best texts are considered to be of strongly modified.

Visual aids. Fairy tales are fiction, artistic texts, i.e. for  full perception of which preschool children need some visual aids, such as illustrations, videos or toys. Rodina and E. Protasova (2010) emphasizes that visibility allows the child to control their own activities and contributes to the child’s motivation to learn, communicate and play in the target language.

Visual aids promote the understanding of the language material by children, contribute to the development of attention and guessing, make the learning process successful and enjoyable.

Methodology of working with fairy tales

The tale is the plot support of the whole learning process and at each stage performs certain functions. At the approximate preparatory stage of the formation of a lexical skill, the fairy tale performs the function of context, since the introduction, explanation and initial training of a new lexical material occurs inseparably from the text of the fairy tale. At subsequent stages, the fairy tale carries out a substantive connection: the techniques used by the teacher in stereotyping-situational and varying-situational stages have a common basis - the content of the fairy tale, and are directly related to each other.

It should be noted that working with an English-language tale for learning vocabulary should occur in conditions of active work and communication with children, to cause pleasure and interest. The use of fairy tales in teaching will allow children to motivate to learn a language: the desire to learn to call familiar fairy objects and to be in the place of their favorite fairy-tale characters will allow the teacher to fully accomplish the tasks set.

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