Let's Tell a Tale: Storytelling Events in English L2 (original) (raw)

Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature, 2019

Abstract

57.3 – 2019 | 51 In Italy, cultural organizations and associations promote children’s literature and the pleasure of reading through storytelling initiatives. These initiatives support reading from very early childhood to adolescence, starting from parental storytelling and gradually proceeding to autonomous engagements with books. The initiatives are organized and take place in libraries, theaters, cultural centers, and schools where volunteer narrators and librarians run open-access storytelling events based on books for children or adolescents (Nati per Leggere, Crescere Leggendo, Youngster). To cater to the many different languages used in Italy and to promote inclusion through activities and initiatives that are relevant at the intercultural level for children, local libraries in Italy also organize storytelling events in languages other than Italian. For many years, the collaboration between the University of Udine and the Municipal Library “Vincenzo Joppi” in Udine (Northeast Italy) has given rise to initiatives that promote plurilingualism through children’s literature. A few years ago, a lecturer of the University of Udine, Maria Bortoluzzi, and the librarians of the main municipal library decided to offer some storytelling events in English as a second language (from now on English L2) in the main library of the town. For the children and the narrators, English is a foreign language. The main aim was to promote the acquisition of English L2 through narrative and informal modalities in libraries as significant and familiar contexts for children. Thanks to the local librarians, teachers, and educators, a series of storytelling meetings called “Let’s Tell a Tale” was organized. The events in English L2 have been taking place in the town libraries and focus on children from four to eight years old. The volunteer narrators have been offering to little boys and girls the opportunity to listen to stories in English inspired by books for children. The initiative promotes English acquisition not only as a second language but also as a multicultural means to offer a wider perspective on children’s literature in languages different from the native languages. The events have been taking place in recent years at the children’s section Let’s Tell a Tale: Storytelling Events in English L2

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