• Linguistische Treffen in Wrocław •

This research paper presents an affective storytelling method for teaching/learning a foreign language using the example of German as a foreign language lessons. The purpose of the article is to present a synthetic summary of previous developments in storytelling. Storytelling in the context of didactics is a language teaching method that uses stories and narratives as an educational tool. Language content is conveyed in the form of a story, which means natural language acquisition for the learners. Storytelling focuses not only on the linguistic structure, but also on the social and cultural context, which supports a more authentic transfer of information. Affective storytelling, on the other hand, is an approach that focuses on students’ emotions and emotional involvement in the learning process. In the field of foreign language teaching, affective storytelling aims to evoke positive emotions in the context of language acquisition. Research on affective storytelling encompasses aspects of emotion psychology, educational psychology and neuroscience. Researchers working on affective storytelling include Mary-Helen Immordino-Yang and Antonio Damasio. Their findings suggest that the affective involvement of students in the learning process can support the memorization of material and thus influence the lasting acquisition of language skills. After an outline of the concept of affective storytelling, a historical outline and the current state of research are demonstrated. Criteria for the selection of texts from popular literature are then presented, followed by a description of the development of language skills in German as a foreign language lessons using the method described (descriptive overview). Finally, the positive and negative aspects of affective storytelling are discussed.