Group Storytelling and Culturally

Loaded Narratives in EFL

Author: Gbor Szekeres
Programme: MA in TEFL
Academic year: 2014-2015 Autumn
Courses: Narratives in TEFL & Teaching Culture

Focuses and aims:

The aim of my enquiry is to determine how culturally embedded narratives in EFL classes can
facilitate language learning and how using such narratives makes it easier for students to find
English language material more exciting and motivating. In this research I present a row of
tasks that revolve around extracts from Leslie Marmon Silkos Gardens in the Dunes, a piece
of literature by a Native Indian author about the life of an Indian family at the end of the 19 th
century. The tasks are designed to be carried out by groups of students as a kind of group
storytelling. In the process I expect that they do not only work with the target language and
improve their reading comprehension and speaking skills, but they also find it easier to clarify
and acquire new pieces of vocabulary because of the storytelling and interactive nature of the
tasks. I also believe that reading authentic target language literature in a non-threatening,
cooperative situation is ought to boost students confidence. Moreover, pinpointing cultural
phenomena and analyzing the text by concentrating on aspects on culture (Moran 2001)
should improve students ability to read, comprehend and value literary texts in the future too.
Literature review:
Schank&Abelsons (1995) book, Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story describes in great
detail the relationship between narratives and the way people remember things. In general
Schank&Abelson argue that we tend to store information in the form of stories and memories
stored this way are those, which are readily accessible on a daily basis. Root-learned
information on the other hand appears much less frequently in daily conversations. Their
argument is especially relevant to L2 teaching as our main goal as language teachers is
language acquisition, that is thoroughly internalized and ready-to use language, and not
language learning, which is knowledge about the language, its rules and vocabulary. The
former makes it possible to readily use language in conversations and various situations,
while the other does not.
If memory does work based on stories, scripts and schemas, the value of using
narratives in EFL should be apparent too. In narratives new pieces of vocabulary and
grammatical forms appear in a meaningful context, which makes it possible for students to
deduce meaning on their own, without further instruction from the teachers behalf. Often
there is no need to translate unfamiliar words to the native language, which is a success in of
itself on the one hand, learner confidence is boosted because students are able to understand
English language material on their own. On the other hand, less time is spent on explicit
instruction, which means more time for actual learning. In context new pieces of vocabulary

also tend to stick better into students memory, because they appear in a meaningful
environment rich with other pieces of information semantically linked to each other, which
makes it easier to recall specific words and details.
Williams (1995) in her essay Literature-Based Activities in a Foreign-Language
Nursery School describes how she is able to teach English to very young students with the
help of narratives, nursery rhymes especially. She also stresses the importance of presenting
the language in relevant, meaningful contexts, such as childrens literature, since they
provide a solid framework to support the child listeners. By carrying on this idea one should
come to the conclusion that doing the same with older audiences should also be beneficial in
foreign language teaching.
Teachers should try to find meaningful and relevant narratives targeted on the interests
of the group of students one is actually teaching. This challenge may present difficulties for
some teachers. The key to it is getting to know the students and understanding the problems
and topics that move them, things they find engaging and exciting (based on their nationality,
religion or their age).
Morans (2001) Teaching Culture. Perspectives in Practice describes in great detail
how culture affects language and language use altogether and that how language itself is, by
definition cultural. In his work he presents many language learning and life situations to prove
this point and there are also several chapters dedicated to the question: What is culture? from
a language teachers point of view. During the design of this paper I have adopted the view
presented in his book about the dimensions of culture: cultural persons, communities,
products, practices and perspectives, which basically relate to the people who are constituents
of a cultural community, the items, ideas and products relevant to the culture, what practices
do people engage in and what all these things tell us about the world view and underlying
beliefs of the target culture.
Morans exhausting analysis on the aspects of culture is of course too much for
a regular EFL classroom, but it is relevant to teachers, as it may help them identify cultural
information in the learning material and direct the students attention to these points of
interest. Also, carefully selected cultural material has great motivational value if it is relevant
to the students.
Like narratives, cultural information also presents a meaningful context to foreign
language teaching, because it is something students can relate to, something, which activates
background knowledge.

The context of the research:

The research is going to be conducted in an EFL study group as an extracurricular activity.
Students might come from several classes based on their level (B2). Because of this students
age may range from 14 to 18 years. Only a little preliminary information would be given as
for the nature of the activity. The students will be told that they are going to participate in an
extra English lesson in the afternoon and that they are going to work with extracts from
English language literature.
I decided that there would not be a time limit on the experimental lesson. I estimate
that it would take at least 45 minutes to properly go through the text on a strict schedule, but
extra time would be dedicated to longer discussions, should any of these arise.
Research questions:
1) How do students feel about using culturally loaded narratives in English lessons?
2) How are language skills developed by group work with culturally loaded English
language literature?
3) How well can group activities using English language literature be tiered without
simplifying texts for students with less ability?
Data collection instruments:
Data collection is going to be based mainly on my personal observations and experiences
during teaching the class. Additional information is going to be gathered via short, targeted
interviews about students feelings about the activities during the lesson and about using
narratives in class. They are going to be asked about their opinion about several things: was
the lesson successful or not, how do they think they benefited from the lesson, how they feel
about group work and reading English language literary texts in English lessons. During the
interviews more questions may arise due to the emerging nature of qualitative research.
Participants:
12 volunteers from several classes are going to participate in the research, in a Hungarian
secondary grammar school. On average their proficiency level should be B2, but students a
level a step higher (C1) or lower (B1) are not excluded either, because one of the research
questions is about making the tasks appropriate for different proficiency levels at the same
time and about the way group mates can help each other work with literary texts, which may
be more difficult for some students and easier for others.

Procedures:
The 12 participants are going to be divided into groups of 4 for work. Basically they may
choose their own group mates, although it is beneficial for the research if there are students
with more improved language skills in every group to help less successful language learners
complete the tasks.
At the beginning of the lesson, the groups are presented with proverbs for a brief
discussion. Together they should come up with an explanation regarding the meanings of the
proverbs. Afterwards they explain their proverbs to the other groups who may comment on
anything openly, every discussion is welcome as long as no single student starts to dominate
the lesson. In this case the teacher should move on to the next activity.
Students are asked to speak in front of others using the technique Numbered Head
Together. This technique encourages successful group work, because all members need to
know and be ready to explain their groups answer(s) and because, when students help their
group mates, they help themselves and their whole group, because the response given belongs
to the whole group, not just to the group member giving it. (Richards Renandya).
After the proverbs activity, students are asked to determine the origin of these
proverbs. After the students decide that they are all Indian, they are told that they are going to
read extracts from an Indian authors novel about the life of a young Indian girl, Indigo and
her family in the desert.
Every group is given a few different paragraphs. Their task is to read the extracts
together, discuss unfamiliar vocabulary and grammatical structures. Students who have more
advanced English reading skills or vocabulary are expected to help their groupmates, as
described by Williams (1995):
In cases of extreme complexity or confusion, small sections of the plot are translated,
and this translation is often done by the older children for the benefit of the younger
ones. The usefulness of this goes beyond the elucidation of meaning. What also
happens is that older children learn to use their language skills in a practical way.
In the case of my research, sections of the plot should not be translated of course, but
rephrased and simplified by stronger students. This way their speaking skills and their ability
to convey meaning improves. Meanwhile less advanced students listening ability improves in

a truly communicative situation where there is an information gap and real motivation to find
the answers.
Dictionaries may be given to each group to help them with specialized vocabulary.
Also, the teacher is there to help if any of the groups has come to a dead end. All activities are
designed so that no-one feels a sense of failure.
After a group has successfully discussed the text given to them, they are asked to
analyze the text based on the following guideline: Who (cultural persons) does what
(practices) with what kinds of things (products)? Of course the task is not presented to them
this way, because it would be confusing and the teachers intent would not be clear. Instead
they would get reading comprehension questions, which would subtly make them look for
cultural persons, practices and products in the texts. For example I include an analyzed
sample here:

The deep sand held precious moisture from runoff that nurtured the plants; along the
sandstone cliffs above the dunes, dampness seeped out of cracks in the cliff.
Amaranth grew profusely at the foot of the dunes. When there was nothing else to
eat, there was amaranth; every morning and every night Sister Salt boiled up
amaranth greens just like Grandma Fleet taught her.
Later, as the amaranth went to seed, they took turns kneeling at the grinding stone,
then Sister Salt made tortillas. They shared part of a honeycomb Indigo spotted in a
crevice not far from the spring. Indigo cried when the bees stung her but Sister Salt
only rubbed her swollen arms and legs vigorously and laughed, saying it was good
medicine -- a good cure for anything that might ail you. Grandma Fleet taught Sister
Salt and Indigo all about such things.
Cultural persons are in italics, practices are in bold and cultural persons are underlined
here. I am going to use the same marking in the appendix where all the extracts from the
novel are going to be analyzed this way.
These two paragraphs are loaded with cultural information. Not only the close
relationship between Indian people and nature is shown here, but also the close-knit Indian
family in which labor is distributed and evenly and there is a great emphasis on passing on
ancestral knowledge to younger generation. Also, there is some information which shows us
the Indian peoples tendency towards natural healing.

Other extracts from the novel are as rich with cultural information as this one. After
the students have identified the cultural persons, products and practices in the texts by
answering some simple questions, they are asked to paraphrase their extracts (later on they are
going to be asked to tell the other groups what they read about) and to discuss what these
paragraphs tells them about the beliefs and cultural perspectives of Indian people.
The main task, that is retelling the story extracts to the other groups are conducted the
same way the first task, the proverb activity was done, with the help of Numbered Heads
Together technique. The lesson ends with a group discussion about cultural perspectives and
what we have learned about the culture of Indian people from Gardens in the Dunes.
Conclusions:
I am very much interested in the answers to my first research question, because it always
proves difficult to present interesting learning material to the students. I have chosen Gardens
in the Dunes, because Indians tend to be popular and many people find it interesting to read
about them, but at the same time it may happen that the target group remains quite
unconcerned about the topic. I expect however, that generally the participants are going to like
working with the narrative, because it of its entertaining value. They should also find it
meaningful, because of the cultural content.
As others (Schank&Abelsons (1995) and Williams (1995)) have stated it before me,
the use of meaningful narratives should provide a context which facilitates language learning
and which makes it easier for students to recall words and grammatical forms later on,
because the can remember it better. Also, the main task of the experimental lesson, the group
storytelling activity already makes them disassemble and reassemble the texts and use them in
a real communicative situation in the situation of telling the other groups the story of Indigo
and her family. The mosaic-like structure of the task presents an information gap. Without
successful storytelling, parts of the story remain obscured, which is a great motivational force
in of itself.
Finally, I expect that with well-structured group work, authentic literature can be
understood by students of lower proficiency. The key to this is the successful tiering of the
task, by making more successful language learners retell the stories so that the others may
understand them with their help.
References:

1) Schank, R. C., & Abelson, R. P. (1995). Knowledge and memory: The real story. In R.
S. Jr. Wyer (Ed.), Advances in social cognition. Volume VIII (pp. 1-85). Hillsdale:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
2) Moran (2001) Teaching culture: perspectives in practice. Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
3) Williams, R. (1995). Literature-Based Activities in a Foreign Language Nursery
School in Sell, R. D. (1995) Literature Throughout Foreign Language Education.
London, Modern English Publications, pp 21-35.
4) Richards, J. C. & Renandya, W. A. (2003). Methodology in Language Teaching.
5) Silko, L. M. (1999) Gardens in the Dunes. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, New York.
6) Indian proverbs: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-proverbs.html (16. 12. 2014)
Appendix:
Possible proverbs for the initial activity:
All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.
Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.
When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.
If a man is as wise as a serpent, he can afford to be as harmless as a dove.
Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your
children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.
Extracts from the novel with coded cultural information. The code is italics for cultural
persons, underlined for practices and bold for items.
Extract 1:
Sister Salt called her to come outside. The rain smelled heavenly. All over the sand dunes,
datura blossoms round and white as moons breathed their fragrance of magic. Indigo came
up from the pit house into the heat; the ground under her bare feet was still warm, but the rain
in the breeze felt cool -- so cool -- and refreshing on her face. She took a deep breath and ran
up the dune, where Sister Salt was naked in the rain. She pulled the ragged sack over her
head and felt the rain and wind so cool, so fragrant all over her body. Off in the distance there
was a faint rumble of thunder, and the wind stirred; the raindrops were larger now. She tilted

back her head and opened her mouth wide the way Sister Salt did. The rain she swallowed
tasted like the wind. She ran, leaped in the air, and rolled on the warm sand over and over, it
was so wonderful. She took handfuls of sand and poured them over her legs and over her
stomach and shoulders -- the raindrops were cold now and the warmth of the sand felt
delicious. Sister Salt laughed wildly as she came rolling down from the highest point of the
dune, so Indigo ran after her and leaped and rolled too, her eyes closed tight against the sand.
Over and over down-down-down effortlessly, the ease of the motion and the sensation of the
warm sand and the cool rain were intoxicating. Indigo squealed with laughter as she rolled
into Sister Salt, who was helpless with laughter, and they laughed and laughed and rolled
around, one girl on top of the other. They lay side by side with their mouths open and
swallowed raindrops until the storm passed. All around them were old garden terraces in the
dunes.
Sister Salt remembers everything. The morning the soldiers and the Indian police came to
arrest the Messiah, Grandma Fleet told Sister Salt to run. Run! Run get your little sister! You
girls go back to the old gardens! Sister Salt was big and strong. She carried Indigo piggyback
whenever her little sister got tired. Indigo doesn't remember much about that morning except
for the shouts and screams.
Indigo remembers they used to sell baskets at the depot in Needles while their mother washed
linens in tubs of boiling water behind the hotel; Grandma Fleet searched the town dump for
valuables and discarded seeds. They slept in a lean-to made of old crates and tin, near the
river. They learned to talk English while selling baskets to tourists at the train station.
Now, at the old gardens, the girls live alone in Grandma Fleet's house. Grandma had
returned a day after they did. Grandma saw Mama escape and run north with the other
dancers ahead of the Indian police, who grabbed all the Indians they could, while the soldiers
arrested the white people, mostly Mormons, who came to dance for the Messiah. The United
States government was afraid of the Messiah's dance.
Example questions to extract 1:
1) Who are the two girls?
2) What was their life like in Needles?
3) Who was the Messiah? What was the Messiahs dance?
4) Who are the Indian Police? Why did the soldiers come to arrest the dancers?

Extract 2:
The deep sand held precious moisture from runoff that nurtured the plants; along the
sandstone cliffs above the dunes, dampness seeped out of cracks in the cliff. Amaranth grew
profusely at the foot of the dunes. When there was nothing else to eat, there was amaranth;
every morning and every night Sister Salt boiled up amaranth greens just like Grandma
Fleet taught her.
Later, as the amaranth went to seed, they took turns kneeling at the grinding stone, then
Sister Salt made tortillas. They shared part of a honeycomb Indigo spotted in a crevice not
far from the spring. Indigo cried when the bees stung her but Sister Salt only rubbed her
swollen arms and legs vigorously and laughed, saying it was good medicine -- a good cure
for anything that might ail you. Grandma Fleet taught Sister Salt and Indigo all about such
things.
After the rains, they tended the plants that sprouted out of the deep sand; they each had
plants they cared for as if the plants were babies. Grandma Fleet had taught them this too.
The plants listen, she told them. Always greet each plant respectfully. Don't argue or fight
around the plants -- hard feelings cause the plants to wither. The pumpkins and squash sent
out bright green runners with huge round leaves to shade the ground, while their wiry greenyellow tendrils attached themselves to nearby weed stalks and tall dune grass. The big orange
pumpkin blossoms were delicious right from the vine; bush beans sprang up in the shade of
the big pumpkin leaves.
Grandma Fleet told them the old gardens had always been there. The old-time people found
the gardens already growing, planted by the Sand Lizard, a relative of Grandfather Snake,
who invited his niece to settle there and cultivate her seeds. Sand Lizard warned her children
to share: Don't be greedy. The first ripe fruit of each harvest belongs to the spirits of our
beloved ancestors, who come to us as rain; the second ripe fruit should go to the birds and
wild animals, in gratitude for their restraint in sparing the seeds and sprouts earlier in the
season. Give the third ripe fruit to the bees, ants, mantises, and others who cared for the
plants. A few choice pumpkins, squash, and bean plants were simply left on the sand
beneath the mother plants to shrivel dry and return to the earth. Next season, after the arrival
of the rain, beans, squash, and pumpkins sprouted up between the dry stalks and leaves of the

previous year. Old Sand Lizard insisted her gardens be reseeded in that way because human
beings are undependable; they might forget to plant at the right time or they might not be alive
next year.
Example questions to extract 2:
1) What kind of people are there in the family?
2) Where do they live?
3) What do they do there? What kinds of things are important to them?
4) Who is the Old Sand Lizard?
5) What do we get to know about the world-view of the Sand Lizard People?
Extract 3:
Grandma Fleet did not like the idea of town, but with a baby and a little girl to feed, they
hadn't much choice: to stay at the old gardens meant starvation. The others had already gone.
In the railroad town called Needles they managed to find a little to eat each day. Mama
washed dirty linens for the hotel next door to the train station. Grandma Fleet carried
Indigo on her back while she and Sister Salt scavenged scraps of lumber to build shelter for
them on the floodplain of the river. Other women and children lived there, from places even
Grandma Fleet had never heard of; they had been driven off their land by white settlers or
pursued by the soldiers and Indian police. Their first years there were very difficult, but the
Walapai women and the Paiute women shared the little food they had; a kind Mormon woman
brought them old clothing. As long as there was no trouble, the authorities left them alone;
but they knew they might be removed to the reservation at Parker at any time. Townspeople
hired them to work their gardens and to clean house and wash for them.
The older women watched the children and listened for the trains; they took the children to
the depot to meet the passengers, who sometimes gave them pennies after they took their
pictures. The train passenger especially wanted pictures of the children they called
"papooses." Sometimes train passengers, white women, made signs they wanted to hold
Indigo; one woman had even shoved paper money into Grandma Fleet's hand, making signs
that she wanted to take Indigo away with her. Before Grandma Fleet could throw the money
to the ground, the woman snatched up Indigo into her arms. "No" was the only word of
English Grandma Fleet bothered to learn, but she knew how to say it, knew how to summon
the sounds from deep in her chest and sharpen the edges of the sound in her throat before she

flung the word into the white woman's face. "No!" she screamed, and the white woman
stumbled backward, still holding the toddler. "No! No!" Each time Grandma Fleet repeated
the word, the white woman flinched, her face frozen with fear. Everyone stopped what they
were doing on the depot platform and all eyes were on Grandma Fleet and the woman. The
door of the depot office flew open and the stationmaster came running with a shotgun in his
hand. The woman's husband and the other passengers rushed over to see, and the husband
pried Indigo out of her arms and indignantly shoved the toddler back into Grandma Fleet's
arms. The stationmaster waved a shotgun after Grandma Fleet and the other Indian women
and children as they ran from the depot.
Example questions to extract 3:
1) What was the familys life like in Needles?
2) What did they do for a living?
3) What was their relationship with the townspeople?