Fairy Tales and ESL Texts
Rachel M. Rufenacht, Philip M. McCarthy, Travis Alan Lamkin · IGI Global eBooks · 2012
This chapter describes a study that investigates the potential value of using traditional fairy tales as reading material for English language learners (ELL). Using the computational textual analysis software, the Gramulator, the authors analyzed the linguistic features of fairy tales relative to a corpus of ELL reading material and a corpus of baseline educational texts for native English speakers. The results of the analyses suggest that there are significant similarities between fairy tales and ESL texts, but differences lie in the content of the text types, with fairy tales appearing significantly more narrative in style and ESL texts appearing more expository. The study has important implications for educators and materials developers in the field of English as a Second Language.