Using Letters to
Tell
Stories in the EFL Classroom
When we weave stories, one thread may be our personal life, another thread may be our
imagination,
and other
threads
may come from our social experiences. Writing as weaving may
be realized
when we develop a
story within another story
or
piece of writing. There are two activities in the based on some theoretical concepts that connect English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) learning with authenticity and communicative competence. The first activity is part of a lesson that involves writing
letters to introduce yourselves. The second activity, targeted at advanced
teenage learners, demonstrates
how
an epistolary story-a story told by a series of diary entries.
Introducing myself through a letter.
There are one activities in an introducing myself through a
letter.
This activity is a
letter from me.
Class : use beginning EFL learners
Materials : Copies of a letter found in an EFL textbook, a small
box, paper, and envelopes
Time required : One to two weeks, depending on class size
Write a letter to each
learner of your chosen class. Use simple language in which you introduce
yourself. In the letter, tell them who you are, where you come from, where you
studied. Put each letter in an envelope. Write your name and addressee’s name
on the envelope and sent to them. Depending on your learners’ permission and confidence,
once you collect their letters, you can read them aloud in class. You can turn
this follow-up activity into a game by reading a letter and asking the class to
guess who the author is.
Epistolary creative writing
In my teaching, I have used The Color Purple to generate fruitful
discussions around thorny issues. I have
adapted some of the letters to suit my learners’ language level by simplifying
vocabulary and sentence structure without changing the message the
author sought to convey. Because this novel may raise controversial issues, teachers may use other novels instead.
Together with reading excerpts from an epistolary novel, learners may also be
encouraged to develop their creative writing skills by resorting to weaving
their own stories together. One of the topics added to my Literature section
was “Letters,” which demonstrated the
use of writing of a short story through letters.
There
are one activities in epistolary creative writing.
This
activity is epistolary stories.
Class : Use advanced learners
Materials : Paper
Time required : About one month
Each learner writes a
letter to “Dear you.” Included in the letter is the beginning of a true,
fictionalized, or imaginary story. Collect
the letters and distribute them, making sure nobody receives his or her own
letter. Ask learners to reply to
the letter. In their response they need to ask, “And then what happened?. Now that each
learner has a letter relationship with another peer, ask the class to continue
for a month. While learners develop their stories through
the letter exchanges, organize some feedback sessions to provide language
support. When they
finish their
epistolary stories, collect them
to provide language feedback
and return them
for editing work Editing can be done in
class in small groups.
Both activities in this
article can be turned into larger projects or units of work that also bring in
speaking development if teachers ask students to deliver small presentations
about what they have written, describing the process and end product. All in all, the strength that I perceive in using letters is
that pedagogic tasks and input sources can be authenticated when there is a
real goal underpinning them, a goal that students appropriate and regard as
their own.
I think that using Letters to tell stories in the EFL classroom
method is the good method because it makes students remember and understand
content of lesson.
