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A
college teacher and two elementary teachers in Taiwan worked together
as an action-based research team for promoting children’s literature.
The purpose of the study was to develop an understanding of (1) how
the research team worked together to use three fairy tales—“Rapunzel,”
“Snow White,” “Sleeping Beauty”—to develop
lessons which integrate English with art; (2) how class activities (e.g.,
group work, children book design) help students improve their language
skills as well as their creative thinking skills; and (3) how students’
perceptions toward EFL and art classes have been changed. 35 grade-six
students agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected by
interviews with students, classroom observation, and various written
documents (e.g., lesson plans, teachers’ journey entries, students’
exercise sheets, and students’ written works). Results found that
(1) through using fairly tales, teachers created a variety of interesting,
fun, and authentic activities to help students increase their learning
interests in English and art. (2) Students enjoyed reading English versions
of fairly tales. They comprehended the content and the story structure
easily because they felt familiar with these stories. Repeated language
patterns in texts along with activities also help students understand
how to use these patterns appropriately in real life. (3) students’
English language skills and their creative thinking were enhanced when
they created their children’s books in English. Students also
changed their learning attitudes in art and English classes.
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