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This paper looks at how children
aged 3;0 – 6;0 acquire a second language (L2) by listening and
repeating simple stories. At L2 kindergartens stories (just like songs,
rhymes and chants) provide opportunity for repetition of words and phrases
and acting out. In this context there is hidden the syntactic device
of modified repetition based on grammatical frames occurring in the
stories. I investigate how movement and gesture illustrate meaning while
children are exposed to stories and how negotiation of meaning helps
L2 acquisition. We can witness children’s mental organization
at this stage of their development. We will see how they organize their
world while they are learning an L2 (in our case English) and how stories
told by the teacher and repeated by the children help forming and refining
concepts about the language and ideas both about the L2 and the world.
The new experiences and information got by listening and repeating stories
in English help children further develop not only their L2 but organization
of ideas about the language and the world. I will investigate the role
of L2 teacher (the story teller) in this organization as the main supplier
and organizer of comprehensible English language input.
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| Biodata |
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Laszlo
Magocsa is a senior lecturer at the Institution of Foreign and Ethnic
Languages, József Eötvös College, Baja, Hungary. Holds
a university doctorate degree from Debrecen University, in philology.
His research field: EFL acquisition at kindergartens. Teaches courses
in second language acquisition, language teaching methodology, English
literature at the college. |