Event

Vocabulary Acquisition through Storytelling

Saturday, October 15th, 2005, 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Speaker: Beniko Mason

Studies show that EFL learners need to possess at least 3000 word families (Nation, 1990) to be able to read an unsimplified text. Low intermediate EFL learners at a junior college in Japan must gain at least 700 words per year to reach that goal in two years. Using explicit learning strategies they learned 200 to 260 words per year in their secondary schools. Although it has been argued that implicit strategies are inefficient, listening to stories (a comprehensible input based approach) has been suggested as an effective method for increasing vocabulary size. This presentation will demonstrate an effective method to introduce 20 to 25 words to EFL learners in one lesson. An investigation shows that the acquisition rate using the storytelling method is as efficient as that seen in children acquiring English as a first language. Furthermore, this method is cost effective, as no textbook is necessary for learners.

Beniko Mason has been investigating the efficacy and efficiency of comprehension-based methods since 1985. She has published several studies on the use of extensive reading in the EFL class, and her recent focus is the use of storytelling.

NOTE: This presentation will be held at the International Conference Room, Kitakyushu International Association, Yahata as part of Kitakyushu International Week.

Organization: Kitakyushu Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Kitakyushu JALT)

Cost: free

Venue: International Conference Room, Kitakyushu International Association, Yahata

Location: Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

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