Interview with Alec Williams by Elsa Tsiakiri
Now that I am writing the report on Morale Williams’ plenary I realize why I was so engrossed in his talk. He kicked it off by telling us a story which included Greek greeting on his part. I can assure all readers of this report that Mr. Williams did thrill his audience with this gesture of politeness and empathy. He then directly linked the theme of our 22nd TESOL Macedonia Thrace Convention “Back to Basics” to storytelling by saying that stories are a basic human need as they are how we make sense of the world, how we entertain, how we pass on experience, how we break the news, and how we recall history. Stories have existed as long as humans have existed, Mr. Williams pointed out. And I can see why now…
“Bringing it alive” the title of his plenary is used by Mr. Williams because it works in two ways as he explained to the members of our association. Firstly, stories can be used in English teaching in order to bring alive the subject itself and thus avoid exercised-based teaching. Secondly, if teachers put a little bit of drama and expression, in other words their heart and soul, into reading and telling a story, they can lift the words off the page!
As for the reasons why we tell stories, Mr. Williams reminded to us that stories help with language and speech. We can always tell a child who has been read to. They are more concentrated, they are more confident of putting their hands up. Also, stories give a vocabulary that children wouldn’t otherwise hear. Book language has its own richness and rhythms so teachers should make room for it.
According to Mr. Williams there is no such debate as Reading versus Telling stories because he thinks both have different advantages. Reading has a more direct association with the printed text. It enables to share visual focus. It enables you to read stories you might not be able to tell from memory. It allows greater qge range. It involves prediction before you turn the page…
Telling stories without a book gives greater freedom to the teller. It stimulates the imagination. The stories are happening in front of the children!
During his talk Mr. Williams gave us a wealth of tips. Some of them are:
1. Story tellers in general, shouldn’t use a book with a large audience because they won’t be able to see.
2. Picture stories don’t work with a big audience but they are ideal for parents and children because they go over two laps. What an emotional touch!
3. He issued an appeal to the audience not to turn the pages of the book into quizzes. Instead, he asked us to let the stories explode in the heads of the children! Last but not least, natural follow-up is wonderful. What might that mean? Well, seeing the children re-enacting the stories they have just heard during the break. Or simply welcome immediate reactions by saying “What did you think of it?” or “My favourite bit was that.”
Our charmer left us with some of his wisdom.
”If you don’t do much storytelling, do more. If you don’t do any at all, do some. But above all enjoy that storytelling. Children will usually laugh with you rather than at you. And if they do laugh at you, it’s worth it in the long run to bring them that joy and that learning that comes out of it by including more and more stories as much as you can in your English teaching lessons.”
Thank you Mr. Williams.
By Elsa Tsiakiri
Photos by Margarita Kosior
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