The appreciation of literature depends on the reader’s ability to understand the author’s use of words — how they are used individually to express explicit and indirect meaning, how they are used in partnership with others to make up set phrases, and how meaning can be distorted for literary purposes by changing a phrase or the order of words in a phrase, all within a specific cultural context. The educated first language reader, familiar with the context, is equipped to read between the lines and achieve a fuller understanding of the text in question. However, for second language readers, lacking that lexical and cultural knowledge, the situation is different and they are at a disadvantage in terms of being able to understand a work of literature. Teachers of English can help their pupils by drawing their attention to words — which words are used and how they are used. Support for this assertion can be found in the research into second language vocabulary acquisition. This tells us that readers need to know at least 95% of words in a text in order to understand that text, and that words must be encountered many times if they are to be learnt. The point of actively working with words over a period of time is twofold: firstly, to increase the reader’s lexical resource in terms of both number of words known and depth of knowledge about them, and secondly, by so doing, to increase the reader’s ability to understand, and therefore appreciate, literary texts. With reference to The Great Gatsby, I will illustrate how teachers of English to university students can extend their learners’ lexical knowledge and appreciation of literature.

This article reports on a research project which investigated the impact of working with authentic children’s literature on the vocabulary development of two classes of 10–11- year-olds in Sweden. The English classes were based on Roald Dahl’s The Magic Finger. For five weeks and three lessons per week, the teacher read the book to the children and the children read some parts of the book themselves. During this time, the children worked on a range of language-focused writing tasks to support their understanding and facilitate incidental acquisition of vocabulary. The children’s performance on these tasks also provided insight into control of grammatical structures, which the learners had already been taught, and emerging features, which they had not yet encountered explicitly in their lessons. Furthermore, many children thought that they had spoken more English through engaging with the project, a view supported by their teachers. While almost all of the children liked The Magic Finger, and most enjoyed the experience of working with it, some were ambivalent about working with another authentic book in future. This would depend on the topic and the level of difficulty of the text.

This article reports on a study in which, for five weeks, the English lessons of two classes of 11–12 year olds in Sweden were based on Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox. To promote the learners’ engagement with the text, support understanding, and facilitate incidental vocabulary acquisition, a range of language-focused tasks were designed within the framework of the Storyline approach. In Storyline, a fictive world is created in the classroom. The story develops when learners, working in the same small groups, collaborate on open so-called key questions, which structure the Storyline, introduce happenings and problems, and link with the syllabus. Another characteristic is the integration of practical and theoretical subject content. Learners’ art work and texts are displayed on a frieze, or walls of the classroom, creating a visual record of the developing story. The study also investigated the influence on learning of the book’s illustrations, and the learners’ own drawings. The majority of the learners made gains in vocabulary, as evidenced in pre- and post-tests, writing and speaking tasks. While some learners had never thought about illustrations and drawings as a support, for many, both of these were found to be helpful.

The Storyline approach is little known in language teaching contexts although it has much in common with task-based education. Learners play the parts of characters in an unfolding narrative, collaborating on tasks in small groups, a method which combines the use of language skills with practical work. A word often used by participants in a Storyline topic is `fun′. This article reports on a study in which I attempted to identify the features that particularly appealed to a class of Swedish 11–13 year olds, and how working in this way impacted on their learning of English. The data show that learners were strongly motivated by particular tasks and that the experience of taking part in a Storyline brought specific language benefits.

What do you do when someone dumps rubbish in your street? How do you deal with anti-social neighbours? How do you organize a street party? These are some of the questions faced by a class of 11–13 year olds working on “Storyline, Our Sustainable Street”. For five weeks they took on the roles of families who had moved into a newly built street in the fictive English town of Danbury. Working on tasks linked to the syllabus for English, they developed their skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing – and had fun.

Developing communicative competence in English is of central importance in the Swedish curriculum Lgr11. This book presents the results of a study into the impact of the Storyline approach on the second language classroom. It also provides excellent guidance for teacher education students and teachers of both younger and older pupils (aged 9–16) in how to adapt this Storyline for their own classes.

In the Storyline approach a fictive world is created in the classroom. Learners create and take on the role of characters in a story (lasting typically for four to six weeks), which develops as they work in small groups on practical and theoretical tasks linked to the curriculum. The approach offers conditions considered to promote second language development in young learners, namely an engaging, meaningful and motivational context in which communicative language skills are practised holistically. The word learners most commonly use to describe learning English through Storyline is `fun´; one aspect of the work which rates particularly highly is group collaboration. This presentation is based on a research study, Storyline, Our Sustainable Street, in which a class of Swedish 11-13 year olds created families who moved into a new street in a fictive English town. During the course of the Storyline the families took part in a project to live in a more sustainable way, and also had to deal with the problems of illegal rubbish dumping and anti-social neighbours. I will demonstrate how cooperative principles are integral to group tasks in Storyline and how, through cooperation, communicative language skills are developed.

In the Storyline approach, a fictive world is created in the classroom, with learners working in small groups, taking on the role of characters in a story. The story develops as they work on a range of tasks which integrate the practical and theoretical content of the curriculum. This article reports on a study based on the syllabus for English, in which a class of Swedish 11-13 year olds took on the roles of families who had moved into a new sreet in England, and highlights the role played by cooperative group work in the second language learning process.

For many primary student teachers, English at school was characterized by a diet of textbooks, public teacher correction and peer ridicule. Such students approach English in teacher education with a lack of enthusiasm, even dread. If we are to produce competent, enthusiastic professionals, this must change. In English didactics, the objectives at Kristianstad University are 1) that students develop language proficiency and theoretical knowledge 2) understand how English can be taught creatively and be able to demonstrate this in practical and written assignments.

Classroom relationships are often said to lie at the heart of successful language learning (Stevick, 1980). One example of a relational pedagogy, which fosters cooperation and mutual support, is Storyline, in which a fictive world is created in the classroom. A story develops as learners, in small groups as characters in a story, work on a range of meaningful tasks, combining theoretical and aesthetic subjects. At Kristianstad University, student teachers work for two weeks intensively on a Storyline about families moving into a new street in a fictive English town, using English in different ways. At the same time, they analyse what they are learning and how. This has a number of benefits. By working with Storyline, as opposed to just reading about it, the students experience its pedagogical benefits, and not just for the teaching of English. At the same time, their proficiency develops, not least because they are working closely and intensively together on motivating tasks in a supportive classroom atmosphere.

Hattie (2009) contends that achievement is higher where there is enjoyment. Storyline helps to raise achievement levels because it engages affectively and cognitively, helps to forge closer classroom relationships and through practical work makes visible abstract content (for example, educational and linguistic theories), thus facilitating student learning, as this paper will demonstrate.

In the Storyline approach a fictive world is created in the classroom. Working in small groups, the learners create characters to people a story, speaking and writing in role. The story develops as the learners work on open key questions, based on curriculum content and integrating linguistic and practical skills. A word often used by participants in a Storyline topic is `fun´. I investigated which features of the Storyline approach particularly appealed to a class of 11-13 year-olds who took part in Our Sustainable Street and what impact working in this way had on their learning of English This paper reports on that study, which concluded that the Storyline approach offers significant benefits for the development of communicative competence, and shows how Storyline can meet the requirements of the curriculum.

In the Storyline approach a fictive world is created in the classroom. Learners become characters in a story, which develops as they work in small groups on open key questions, devised by the teacher on the basis of curriculum content and in which practical and theoretical tasks are integrated. Though established in first language contexts, Storyline is less known in second language education, although it would seem to offer conditions considered to promote language development in young learners: the story framework provides an engaging and meaningful context in which learners use their language skills holistically, in tasks which simulate the way they might use English in the real world, and in which they can use their creative talents. This multi-strategy case study investigated the language development of a class of Swedish 11-13 year olds who took part in Storyline, Our Sustainable Street, lasting five weeks. In the topic the learners were families living in a new street in a fictive English town. The aim was to consolidate their existing structural and lexical knowledge, develop their language skills and introduce the lexis of sustainability. Findings show that the learners became engaged when they worked with the Storyline, and that this impacted positively on their language development, especially regarding the learning of new words, losing the fear of speaking English before their peers, and in the voluntary production of longer and more structurally and lexically complex written texts. Features which contributed most to learner engagement were found to be group work, art work and the variety of task types, with the boys also motivated by not working with a textbook and girls by opportunities to use their imagination. The results suggest that inclusion of the Storyline approach in a teaching repertoire can facilitate language development in young learners.