Necessary material
Text/video, objects, pictures, word cards, paper, pencils, glue
Objective of the activity
The objective of the activity is to invent little stories based on the sounds, words or sentences that the pupils can find in a text of the new language.
This should make them aware of the similarities and differences between the new language(s) and those they already know and strengthen their imagination.
Preparing for the activity
Each child listens to a different video and writes down the words they think they have understood in the new language(s) or in their mother tongue.
Significant benefit of the activity
Identifying words or phrases in different languages makes it possible to build a lexicon. When students use this lexicon for stories and narratives, they will develop their narrative competence.
Procedure
Children watch videos or read texts and note or underline the sounds, words or expressions they understand. In groups, they share their sounds, words or phrases and describe the context that helped them understand them.
Together they begin to tell short stories using sounds, words or phrases. They also draw their stories and prepare to present them together. Stories can be multilingual and presentations can include drama.
Example
Based on the story “La mitten” by Jan Brette
Source: Mewald, C. (2019) Across languages and cultures: Modeling teaching and learning with cross-comprehension. In: Achilleas Kostoulas (ed.) Challenging Boundaries in Language Education. Series on second language learning and teaching. New York: Springer, p. 141-164
©Mewald
