32031 using storybooks in school

,    “^uu,^us; “cs«icticany pwasrag Wustrations Uiat help clarify the text; eoodil-

lustrations provide opportunities for discussion where the key vocabulary canbe exolo-ited.    ^

Advantages of using storybooks wiłh young learners

The long-term effects of using story boolcs seem to be: morę confident writing (especially spelling) and better consciousness of the pronunciation-spelling correspondence. It ma-nifests itself in children’s correct guesses concerning word pronuńciation when encoun-tering words for the first time, and in remembering the spelling of words while doing writing exercises. Colin Davies (1995; ąuoted after Ellis and Moitow, 2004:7) argues that ^creal\ ‘authentic’ materials contribute exceptionally well to pupils’ overall language development in several ways:

Reading skills: Pupils are morę positive about starting new texts. Their knaginative re-sponses improve, and so does their personal engagement with what they reacL Their overall comprehension skills improve, and they flnd it easier to read on other subjects in L2. Overall, they come to see reading as a pleasurable rather than stressM activity. Language skills: Pupils develop a wider active and passive vocabulary. They use morę varied sentence structure, and get better at spotting and correcting grammatical mistakes in their writing and speaking. They show an overall improvement in writing skills and in-creased confidence and fluency in speaking.

Personal growth: Pupils show a morę positive attitude to studying in generał, They de-velop a wide knowledge of the world and an inereased understanding of other people.