Story Telling in the Business English classroom

Thursday 8th March 10:30-12:00 at IH Barcelona

Biodata

James Schofield has worked for various organisations including the British Council around the world. He is now a senior communication consultant at Siemens in Munich. He is married and has seven children and is currently writing a best-selling airport novel so he can send them to university.

Abstract

This presentation looks at how effective storytelling can be for teaching language and culture in the Business English classroom. We'll explore why storytelling is important and look at examples from the 'Double Dealing' series.

Level

This talk is aimed at teachers with at least a year's experience, though it would also be of interest to advanced university level students concerned with intercultural issues.

Objectives

The central theme of this presentation is that storytelling is an extremely effective tool for making language and the related intercultural issues more easily accessible to learners. During the presentation we will explore some of the theory concerning the importance of storytelling for firstly gaining interest and secondly for transferring knowledge. Then we will look at how it can work with reference to examples from the Double Dealing series.

Process

1. Brief overview of the literature on storytelling including reference to storytelling gurus such as Michael Berman, Steven Denning, and Christopher Booker.
2. Practical example of how the theory can work in practice using the presentation participants as a resource.
3. Look at examples taken from the three levels of the Double Dealing series, covering introduction of lexis, functional skills (presentations) and intercultural topics.
4. Summarise the issues, outline potential difficulties, suggest solutions and answer any questions on the topic.