What a moving and beautiful TedTalk! Thank you, Sandra, for sharing this. You know I am a huge fan of telling stories in French class – in fact all of my curriculum is built around storytelling. The science, as shown in the talk, proves its efficacy – all of the lobes in your brain light up when you listen to a story. Oxytocin is released in the brain which causes the listener to trust the speaker. Data, which in language class could be seen as vocabulary lists and grammar rules, doesn't do this. Data needs a context and interpretation – a story. The speaker outlined that a great story includes three important parts: the context (the setting), the conflict, and the outcome. Sometimes stories in language class are silly ways to deliver, practice, and repeat vocabulary and structures, and sometimes they can become more sophisticated and provide literacy support to compliment what students are doing in their other classes. I loved the image of data and storytelling coming together as a power ballad. Our students are singing their way to proficiency!
I agree that telling stories is a good way to engage language learners.
What a moving and beautiful TedTalk! Thank you, Sandra, for sharing this. You know I am a huge fan of telling stories in French class – in fact all of my curriculum is built around storytelling. The science, as shown in the talk, proves its efficacy – all of the lobes in your brain light up when you listen to a story. Oxytocin is released in the brain which causes the listener to trust the speaker. Data, which in language class could be seen as vocabulary lists and grammar rules, doesn't do this. Data needs a context and interpretation – a story. The speaker outlined that a great story includes three important parts: the context (the setting), the conflict, and the outcome. Sometimes stories in language class are silly ways to deliver, practice, and repeat vocabulary and structures, and sometimes they can become more sophisticated and provide literacy support to compliment what students are doing in their other classes. I loved the image of data and storytelling coming together as a power ballad. Our students are singing their way to proficiency!
It works everywhere, from selling cars to saving the world. What better time than when learning a new language.