Engaging English Storybooks in the Child's Spontaneous Play: A Case Study of a Young Korean-English Learner

The benefits of learning English through stories have been well established in second language acquisition (SLA). However, few studies have examined how young English language learners (ELLs) link English storybooks to their spontaneous play. This study therefore aims to explore how a young Korean-English learner enacts English stories in her free home play in the immersion context. A review of selected literature examines the role of English storybooks in child SLA and in book-related dramatic play. This study takes the form of an exploratory case study involving a mother as researcher and her 5-year-old daughter participant. The data was collected from multiple sources including video and audio recordings, artwork and field notes. The findings identified three themes regarding the child's book-related play: (1) acting out; (2) symbolic object transformation; and (3) emergent writing. Despite the limitations of case studies, it is concluded that this study has pedagogical implications for EFL practitioners and parents of young ELLs in Korea.