Background

Teaching languages in schools where children speak many languages at home requires new ways of thinking. Often, schools focus only on the new language, seeing a child's home language as something that gets in the way. However, research clearly shows that using a student's home language in smart ways can actually help them learn better and develop stronger thinking skills.

Digital storytelling, especially stories that children can listen to, offers excellent opportunities for teaching in two languages. Stories are naturally engaging and familiar to children. Listening to audio stories provides valuable practice in understanding spoken language. When these stories are carefully designed to be bilingual, they can help children improve in both the new language they are learning and their home language. This creates a learning experience where both languages support each other, rather than competing. In Tamil Nadu, students already experience various forms of Tamil (the one found in textbooks and the one spoken daily) along with English. This daily interaction with multiple languages helps them develop a special awareness of how language works - an ability known as metalinguistic awareness. This program aims to build upon that existing understanding to enhance their overall language learning.

Program rationale

This program teaches teachers to use simple audio recording tools on a smartphone. This allows them to create bilingual stories and learning materials that are relevant to their students and can be used without an internet connection in any school setting. All materials created in the workshop will be shared freely as Open Educational Resources. This means they can be used, changed, and shared by other teachers, ensuring the program's long-term use and widespread availability.

Storytelling is an excellent way to activate these language skills. Stories follow patterns that are understood across all languages, and they offer rich opportunities for learning new words, understanding how sentences are put together, and gaining cultural knowledge. Audio stories are particularly effective because they improve listening comprehension and can be used by students at different reading levels and with varied learning preferences.

Strategically combining different language varieties within the same stories serves specific teaching purposes. Parts of the home language can help children understand the content more easily and feel a stronger connection to the story. At the same time, parts in the target language (the new language being learned) provide structured opportunities for exposure and practice. This approach focuses on designing language experiences that achieve specific learning goals, moving beyond simple word-for-word translation or unplanned language switching.

Tamil's unique structure, where there is a literary form (used for writing) and a spoken form, offers specific benefits for this teaching method. Students who can already move comfortably between Literary Tamil and spoken Tamil varieties already possess a good sense of how language changes based on the situation. They have linguistic flexibility. These existing skills can become strong foundations for learning additional languages, while also strengthening their command of different Tamil varieties.

Workshop objectives and methodology

This intensive workshop is designed for the professional development of teachers who are currently participating in the CELT programme at RIESI, Bengaluru. Its objectives are to:

Explore the methods of bilingual storytelling and understand the research ideas behind using both languages in teaching.
Practice working together to write scripts, transforming challenging lessons from textbooks into engaging story formats.
Develop practical skills in creating bilingual audio stories using easily accessible smartphone technology.

This intensive session emphasizes hands-on creation and the immediate use of new skills in different language learning situations. Participants will learn that creating bilingual scripts is a thoughtful teaching strategy, not just a simple translation process. It involves making deliberate decisions about when, where, and how to include different language varieties to support specific learning objectives.

During the collaborative script development part, teachers will work in small groups. They will transform difficult textbook content into engaging story formats while making strategic choices about using multiple languages. This practical approach ensures that the skills learned can be directly applied in the classroom, whether teachers are focusing on Tamil language development, English acquisition, or combined teaching methods.

The technical aspects of the workshop will focus on developing storytelling skills and practical audio recording techniques using a smartphone. Participants will learn basic methods for capturing audio, managing their sound files, and improving sound quality, all within the resources typically available in schools. A professional audio recording setup will be provided, allowing for the recording of ‘finalized’ audio stories and resources for wider sharing.

Expected Outcomes and Applications

Teachers will leave the workshop with practical tools for creating bilingual audio stories specifically designed for their students and curriculum needs. Beyond gaining technical skills, participants will develop new insights into how students' existing knowledge of their home languages can actually speed up, rather than complicate, the process of learning new languages in various situations.

The workshop aims to produce sample audio stories that can demonstrate effective bilingual integration while serving as templates for future resource creation efforts. More importantly, participants will be able to explore underlying principles that guide effective bilingual story creation, enabling them to adapt the approach across different content areas, grade levels, and language combinations.

Participating teachers will become part of a phone-based community. This community will support ongoing collaboration and allow for the sharing of resources and ideas. This continuous interaction will ensure that the bilingual storytelling method continues to grow and improve beyond the workshop, with teachers contributing new ideas and refinements based on their actual classroom experiences.

Pre-Workshop Preparation

To ensure participants gain the most from this workshop, the following steps are suggested to be completed before the workshop begins:

Form groups of 3 prior to the workshop.
Together, choose one story or chapter from the textbook (for any class) that students find challenging to understand. Participants are to carry these books to the workshop.
Try to identify what makes it challenging (difficult words, cultural references, syntax etc.).
Think of ways in which you and colleagues have tried to address these challenges in your classrooms.
Bring your textbooks and the chosen story to the workshop.
Fill out the Google form shared with your story choice and group details.

Workshop schedule and agenda

Time	Session Name	Description of Activities	Resources**
10:00 AM to 10:30 AM	Introducing the Workshop	1. Introduction to the workshop and agenda 2. Scope and setting expectations	Workshop Concept Note, TOER Page Link
10:30 AM to 11:00 AM	Deconstructing myths related to language learning and rethinking pedagogy	1. recap from krashen session 2. How can bilingual/multilingual pedagogy help in the classroom?/ in their own learning process?	inter-relationship b/w two ways of speaking the same language, TA - diglossic language, add resources - links to papers
11:00 AM to 11:30 PM	Storytelling in a multilingual classroom	How do we make a story bilingual/multilingual? (exploring with exemplars) Strategies for bilingual storytelling	Slide-deck [we need to bring some arguments, ideas - citations] - context specific : EN-TA, TA(st)-TA (col.), TA-HI
11:30 PM to 1:00 PM	Script-writing (group activity) + Review + Recording	1. What makes a good story? (story components, story modification guidelines) - what are we expecting as an output - all variations acceptable can be discussed, resourcelets 2. Script-writing using bilingual storytelling strategies discussed 3. Guidelines for story reviews, for story recordings 4. Group Review activity	Slide-decks/ mind-maps
1:00 PM to 2:00 PM	LUNCH
2:00 PM to 3PM	Recording	Recording + playing some kathe khajane stories as exemplars + narration practice - basic + interactive demo strategies for improving their language proficiency
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM		Playing their recordings, quick editing demo with a recorded story, Classroom technology toolkit
4:00 PM to 4:30 PM	Wrapping up, way forward	1. Reflection on the experience 2. Feedback form 3. Group photo

Note on the table

A few characters in the Resources column are genuinely difficult to decipher from the image, particularly the abbreviations in the third row. I have preserved what I can read as closely as possible rather than silently correcting or guessing them. In particular:

EN-TA, TA(st)-TA (col.), TA-HI is how I read the text, but the exact abbreviation/notation is somewhat unclear.
The text immediately after this appears to include something like HI on a separate line. I have retained it as part of that resource entry.
The rest of the table is sufficiently legible to transcribe confidently.

From workshop to the classroom

The bilingual storytelling approach can effectively address significant gaps in current language teaching methodologies. Instead of viewing students' ability to use multiple languages as a difficulty to manage, this program treats these abilities as valuable linguistic resources to be strategically used. This shift in perspective can profoundly change classroom dynamics (including encouraging students to support each other) and improve learning outcomes across all languages.

Especially for older students in high schools, such approaches can facilitate the transfer of advanced language skills from their home language to the target language. Creating digital stories empowers teachers to develop teaching materials that are directly relevant to their students' real-life experiences and cultural backgrounds. This localized approach significantly increases student engagement and builds stronger connections between classroom learning and community life.

The program's long-term success and widespread use are ensured by its simplicity and adaptability. Teachers can begin implementing the approach immediately using their existing resources and technology, and then gradually expand their skills as their confidence grows. This fosters long-term adoption and continuous improvement based on real classroom evidence and reflections.

References

Garcia, O., & Wei, L. (2022). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2019). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. Routledge.
Schiffman, H. (1998). Standardization or restandardization: The case for “Standard” Spoken Tamil. Language in Society, 27(3), 359-385.

Bilingual Storytelling Program - RIESI

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