1. Week 6 Exploring and exploiting
stories in the primary ESL classroom
2. Traditional literature
• Body of ancient stories and poems that grew out
of the oral tradition of storytelling before being
eventually written down.
• Features:
– Unknown authors
– Attribute to entre group of people / culture
– Stories are told as cultural or spiritual truths but some
are factual elements, most are considered fantasy
– A lesson can be learned from the story
3. Types of traditional literature
• Myths- stories of gods and heroes of a given culture (Puteri
gunung ledang)
• Epics- long stories of human adventure and heroism
recounted in many episodes (Ulysses in the Odyssey)
• Legends- stories based on either real or supposedly real
individuals and their marvelous deeds (Robin Hood)
• Folktales- Humorous
• Fairy tales- contains element of magic
• Pourquoi tales- setting is earthly (similar to myths)
• Fables- simple story that incorporate characters especially
animals (Sang kancil dan buaya)
• Religious stories
4. Criteria
• Appropriate to developmental age
• Integrity of the original culture should retain
• Illustration which can assist students in
interpreting the story
5. Benefits
• Encounter historical and folk heroes from a
particular culture
• Compare and contrast motifs and universal
truths valued by other cultures (appreciate)
• Awareness of literary options
6. Reasons (ESL classroom)
• Entertainment
• Rich heritage of the story
• Kindles imagination
• Window on diverse cultures
• Strong oral tradition of storytelling
• Moral models for children
7. Fantasy
• Cannot happen in reality
• Animals talk
• Written by known authors hence different from
traditional literature
• Imaginary worlds are inhabited and future worlds
are explored
• Plot, characters and setting must be well
developed so that the children will be able to
suspend disbelief and to accept the impossible as
real.
8. Types of fantasy
• Animal fantasy
• Personified toys and objects
• Unusual characters and strange situations
• Historical fantasy
• Science fiction
9. Realistic fiction
• Stories that could indeed happen to people
and animals
• Protagonists of these stories are fictitious
characters created by the author
• Their actions are quite like those of real
people or real animals
10. Criteria
• Portray optimism so that children will learn
that problems can be overcome
• Themes should convey moral values
• Stories must be believable and events must be
possible
• An element of humour
