Who doesn’t love a good story? Everyone does. Stories make us think, imagine, and remember. As teachers, we constantly try to bring that same magic into our classrooms—to engage, motivate, and make learning feel real. When students can fully understand and even take part in the story, the experience becomes unforgettable. That’s exactly what the “Narrative context” approach invites us to do: not just to tell a story, but to live it.
Jerome Bruner once wrote: “It is narrative and narrative interpretation upon which folk psychology depends for achieving this kind of meaning. Stories achieve their meanings by explicating deviations from the ordinary in a comprehensible form.” (Bruner, 1990) – (1)
On a psychological level, stories engage both the heart and the mind. They help learners visualize, feel, and connect ideas in a more efficient way than any worksheet can.
When students are emotionally involved in a story, their curiosity grows and their brains naturally link new information to what they already know. It isn’t theory anymore, it becomes “real life”, consequently the “new information” lodges in the mind. The new vocabulary or grammar becomes more meaningful.
To sum up
Storytelling doesn’t just teach language; it helps students live it.
When first learning about narrative context, I didn’t feel confident enough to try this approach. It seemed abstract and required a lot of preparation and creativity. However, the resources provided during the course inspired me to take a risk and try it for my final TYLEC observation. I decided to take the plunge and try something completely new: designing a lesson framed entirely within a specific context.
What Is Narrative Context?
A narrative context lesson, as defined in the TYLEC input workbook, “… is built around the idea of turning the class into a story by following a narrative arc as the lesson framework.” (2) . That helps increasing learners’ engagement and gives a meaningful context for using the target language.
Students and the teacher become actively involved in a scenario where they are the main characters; with a problem to solve through completing various language tasks. Learning is disguised as a roleplay where the language use is more meaningful.
As Vygotsky (1978) explained through his concept of the Zone of Proximal Development, children learn best when they engage in social interactions with knowledgeable peers or adults. It’s during these moments of shared problem-solving that they stretch their understanding and build new knowledge collaboratively. (3) With this idea in mind, I started planning my last TYLEC observation: A narrative context lesson, based on the classical “Alibi”.
The main aim was to teach a group of twelve Moroccan students, aged between 13 and 14 years old (A2 CEFR level); where they would use the past continuous in the context of police investigation; without explicitly mentioning grammar at any point.
Most importantly, students had to believe they weren’t students for that class but freshly graduate police officers who must solve their first criminal case.
It went as follows
First of all, the classroom was transformed into a police station, with a banner “Police station” on the classroom door, background noise of police sirens sound, people talking, radio (talkie-walkie) as well as typing sounds.
There was an alibi board, a mugshot background wall and a prison cell on another wall.
Second, another room became “the crime scene” from where in the story four laptops were stolen.
I placed footprints on the floor, scattered evidence around the room such as: a backpack, a computer mouse with fingerprints, and markers on the floor “Crime scene do not cross”.
Third, students had to discover and play their roles. They were introduced to “Detective Holmes” who would help them solve their first criminal case. The teacher (i.e., the detective – Me) was dressed differently than usual, wore a badge and welcomed the “officers” to their new office.
Afterwards, the officers (i.e., students) received their badges and were introduced to the various tasks in order to identify the culprit by the end of the lesson.
The officers discovered crime vocabulary (fingerprints, CCTV, footprints, suspect …) in the first stage of the lesson as it was displayed around the classroom and also available on a handout given to the students.
The officers read confidential “police reports” as well as suspects files, inspected the crime scene during the investigation stage, for which they received evidence sheets, latex gloves and plastic bags.
Together, the students compared their notes regarding the evidence collected, the alibis, wrote reports and identified the thief. It took students some time to discover their activity, which increased their curiosity. By the end of the lesson, students were using the past continuous naturally, they were fully immersed in their roles and working together in teams to solve the crime.
The narrative context lesson was both extremely rewarding and challenging for me as a teacher.
Time management was the most challenging aspect for me, but also making sure students kept focused on the task and used the past continuous correctly without leaving the Detective role and becoming the teacher again.
Would I do it again? Absolutely!
It was one of those rare moments in teaching when you realise that stepping out of your comfort zone can actually bring you closer to your learners. By letting things unfold naturally, students engaged more, were more curious and more autonomous.
On the other hand, the teacher becomes more observant, more responsive, and more creative. “Going with the flow” leads to more authentic interactions, better learning moments, and even a deeper sense of satisfaction as a teacher.
To sum up, this narrative context lesson was successful because it allowed students to practice grammar while using their imagination in a context that allowed them to remember the language better.
It was a good balance between structure and creativity, even the shiest students came out of their comfort zone.
Narrative Context: Dos and Don’ts
| ✅ DO: | ❌ DON’T: |
| Stay in character at every stage of the lesson.
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Don’t assume students know what is expected from them, model every activity.
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| Pre-teach the key vocabulary that students will need to navigate the story.
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Don’t let students feel lost or overwhelmed, monitor closely and support them throughout.
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| Use visuals, accessories and props that can help you set and maintain the context.
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Don’t break character, it might disrupt the lesson flow.
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| Keep tasks simple and time-bound
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Don’t overcomplicate the storyline: Keep the story simple so the language part remains the focus.
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| Allow students to reflect on the lesson at the end of it and take their feedback into consideration.
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| Keep a detailed checklist of everything you need to prepare for the lesson: the accessories, worksheets, visuals, and digital materials that should be downloaded in advance (and have a hard copy of them to anticipate any technical issues). |
Download the full “Alibi” worksheet for your classroom here
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(1) Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of Meaning. Harvard University Press.
(2) Trinity College London. TYLEC Narrative context workbook (2025)
(3) Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Dans M. Cole, V. John-Steiner, S. Scribner, & E. Souberman (Éds.), Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (pp. 79–91). Harvard University Press.
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