When I started teaching children, (almost 20 years ago!) there were hardly any EFL textbooks for children and I had to make my own materials. At that time my own children were starting to read and I would read them picture books, both in Japanese and English, before they went to bed. We had only a few English picture books and read the same books again and again but my children would not tire of these books.

Watching my own children enjoy English books so much, I hit upon the idea of creating a story time in my English lessons as well. Soon I found picture books offered many possibilities of learning. A story time became more than reading a book together. It was amazing how children would absorb the language presented and embedded in their favourite picture books.

When I was asked to join the team for the OUP English Time series, I fell in love with the concept of a new coursebook based on a 'storybook approach' and took up the challenge of co-authoring the Student Books and authoring the Storybooks for 6 levels. At this time in 2004, my biggest interest and passion still lie in using and developing picture books with young learners.

In this article, I will outline the basics of incorporating picture books into the EFL classroom for children and also provide a detailed lesson plan using one chapter of A Day at Storyland, English Time 3 Storybook. Please remember that the ultimate goal is for children to enjoy reading and learning.

Five reasons for using picture books

1. Picture books provide motivation for learning. Children love to read their favourite books, such as Eric Carle's work, in English. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, for example, can be found in every primary school library and children know the story in their first language as Harapeko Aomushi in Japan, as La chenille qui fait des trous in French, or as La Oruga Muy Hambrienta in Spanish. They are proud to read the original book in English.
2. Picture books promote learning and retention. Children learn the language in a context more quickly and easily and retain it better than otherwise.
3. Picture books offer well-chosen, rhythmical language. Text in picture books is not necessarily abridged for beginners but natural and authentic. In most picture books the narration is in the past tense and children hear the narration in a natural context. This is more natural than keeping the young learners in the present tense for the first two or three years of learning.
4. Pictures offer opportunities for extended learning. Art in picture books contain much more than is expressed in the written text. Children love to be read to again and again, as they keep finding new information from the art. This allows us to bring in cultural aspects into the classroom.
5. Picture books stimulate children to express themselves. Personalization activities can be developed, based on children's favourite picture books.

Choosing the picture books
There are two categories: authentic picture books written for English-speaking children, and graded readers written for ESL/EFL learners. Graded readers are easier to use as the language is controlled and the teacher can choose the appropriate level for the students.

However, many authentic picture books have controlled language that the authors use to get the message across to the target age level. In general, look at the amount of text on each page. Young children have short attention span and books with a small amount of English are likely to succeed. Also, look at how much of the text is repetition. Repetition offers children comprehensible input and sense of safety. They will be more willing to read along with you if the text has familiar words and phrases repeated in a certain pattern.

The most important thing is that you as a teacher like the book. Children are sharp people and sense whether the teacher is bringing a book only to teach the language or the teacher truly wishes to share the joy of reading it. Use the books you really, really like.

Three stages in using picture books

Stage 1. Pre-reading Pre-teach vocabulary so children will not be totally in the dark when they hear the story. If children have read the book translated into first language, you can skip this stage and read the book right away. If you are using a coursebook and integrate a picture book, you are fulfilling this stage by choosing a well-related picture book to the unit you are presently teaching.

Tips for English Time teachers: I read Where's Spot? by Eric Hill to all my new classes so children become familiar with location words (in, on, under, behind, etc.). Children can use this language when they talk about the scenes in the Student Book and want to tell me where Digger's bone is.

Stage 2. Reading together Use different voices, be funny, be dramatic, use sound effects CDs, and most importantly enjoy the book yourself. Talk about the art before you read the text. Ask children questions, and encourage them to ask you questions. Use big books, if available, so every child can see. Have volunteers to hold the books, turn the page so you can use both hands for actions and mimes. Put the books on the floor and have children sit around it so they can point to the art easily.

Tips for English Time teachers: You can use these techniques when you introduce a new unit of English Time Student Book in order to elicit children's English and also to assess how much English they have retained from previous lessons. English Time Storybooks can be treated the same way as described above. Even though I wrote the Storybooks as review materials, I do not take for granted that the children know the language and are able to read the text from the beginning. As I read aloud the storybook pages, using different voices for Annie and Ted and warfing and whimpering for Digger, children internalize the language and become ready to read aloud by themselves.

Stage 3. Follow-up Look at the key words and phrases children have learned. Have children role-play the story. You can replace key words with those of children's choices and thus create a new version of the story. Create activities so children use the language in a different context with a purpose.

Tips for English Time teachers: I approach Digger's World in the same way as above. I ask children to take up a role of Digger, Max, Pat and Doc and some children perform sound effects. As they act somewhat silly scenes in Digger's World, they use the language and retain it more easily than repeating it many times in a drill.

Find out about English Time.

By Setsuko Toyama