Developing Early Literacy in Children Learning English inPrimary School: Interactive Storytelling in Focus
YAMANO Midori (Akada University)
AOMORI Akihiko (Aoki University of Education, Part-time lecturer)
BIWA Shinichi (Aoki University of Education, Graduate student)
KARATSU Hanako (Futasato Elementary School)
Keywords: literacy, interactive storytelling, English as a foreign language
AbstractThe current provision of foreign language learning for pupils in Years 5 and 6 in primary school
is aimed at developing not only oracy but also equipping them with early literacy experiences (e.g.,
reading and writing). Such provisions should in turn provide a foundation upon which to develop
communicative competence of a more comprehensive nature in pupils and also to better preparethem for the subsequent, more advanced learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in
secondary school education. One outstanding challenge here is perhaps a lack of consensus amongst
researchers, teachers and practitioners on how to prepare primary school pupils transitioning into
secondary school education for formal EFL instruction. This paper addresses this issue by exploring
language-based approaches to early literacy, drawing on the literature on both first (L1) and second
language (L2) acquisition. In so doing, particular foci are placed on oral language interventions
featuring interactive storytelling, followed by discussing approaches to effectively incorporatingsuch activities in the Japanese English-as-a-foreign language context.
1. Introduction
Increasingly, across the globe, a number of children are being offered foreign language (FL)
instruction in school settings. Furthermore, many countries are lowering the age at which primaryschool children begin FL learning as part of the curriculum (Murphy, 2014). Japan is no exception
to this global trend and as of April 2020, Foreign Language (predominantly English) Activities(FLA), known as Gaikokugokatsudō in Japanese, are implemented nationwide as a compulsory areaof study for pupils in Years 3 and 4, whereas English is taught as a formal subject to pupils in Years
5 and 6. While the primary objective of FLA lies in developing oracy (listening and speaking) inchildren through communicative activities that are closely linked to real-life experiences and othersubject-matter areas in the primary curriculum, formal instruction in the later years is designed to1

【Examples of ethical considerations】
3. Method
3.4 Ethical considerations
Parental consent was gained by distributing the information sheet via the participating schools.
The schools and parents were all informed that neither their child(ren) nor their school would beidentifiable in any research resulting from this study and all data collected would be accessible only
to the named researchers involved in the study. Further, it was ensured that all parents understandthat participation in the study was voluntary and they or their child(ren) may withdraw at any time
without giving any reason and without their education being affected in any way.

【Examples of table/figure numbers and titles】
Table 1
Descriptive statistics of tests A and B
Test A

Test BNM

SD95%CI

M

SD

95%CI

5th grade

71

13.18

2.81

[12.52, 13.85]

12.21

4.37

[11.18, 13.24]

6th grade

71

14.27

3.22

[13.51, 15.03]

14.03

4.83

[12.89, 15.17]

Note. Both tests had a maximum available score of 24.

2