The Teaching and Assessment of Literature Studies

Teaching and Assessing Literature:

Models, Approaches, and Strategies
 “Literature makes us better thinkers. It
moves us to see the multi-sidedness of
situations and therefore expands the
breadth of our own visions, moving us
towards dreams and solutions we might
not otherwise have imagined”
-Judith Langer: Envisioning Literature
What moves you to read?
Motivation is the key in promoting
love for literature.
Literary Merit as described by
Gilmore (2011), is the quality of a text
that makes it valuable enough to
serve as a material for teaching and
learning.
1. Be of value to the readers
2. Be judged to have artistic quality
3. Have stood the test of time
regardless of publication and date
Sacks (2018) considered development,
diversity, reading level, thematic
connections, and literary strengths as
bases for choosing books and reading
materials.
 Learning Outcomes:
• Discuss the different models in teaching literature
• Differentiate the approaches to teaching literature
• Formulate questions in each level of
comprehension, and
• Apply one of the strategies in teaching literature
Understanding the Models of
Teaching Literature
Learning Competency 1
the language used in literature is
structurally complex, conceptually
difficult to understand, and unique to a
particular culture or authentic situation
and therefore does not support the
goals of teaching grammar or helping
students meet their academic and
occupational needs (Kay, 1982)
 Achieve Critical
Language pleasure and thinking is
development satisfaction stimulated
 Model 1:
Cultural Model
Model 2:
Language Model

Model 3: Personal-
Growth Model
The Cultural Model
Advocates of this model believe that
the value of literature lies in its unique
distillation of culture. In this model,
the class reads fiction or poetry as
part of their instruction about history,
politics, social mores and traditions.
The Language Model
Given that literature is built from
language, it opens a path for students to
construct their own understanding of
words and phrases. According to this
model, reading is for value for the same
reason it’s valuable in a student’s native
language: it gives them the tools for
more effective communication.
Repertoire of activities used in EFL teaching:
• cloze procedure,
• prediction exercises,
• jumbled sentences,
• summary writing,
• creative writing, and
• role play
The Personal Growth Model
In this model, the focus is on
engagement. Teachers use literature
to help students understand
themselves better and connect with
the world around them in a deeper
way by exploring universal themes.
Determining the Approaches to Teaching
Literature
Learning Competency 2
How to teach literature effectively?
How many language activities be
designed to maximize students’
learning of language?
Saan ako nagkulang?
Moody (1983) stressed that a teaching
approach provides a model, the
operations to be used in presenting the
content that leads to the development
of the reading skills.
What commonalities do you observe in
the three pictures?______________________
What message does each picture convey?
____________________________________________
How does that message relate to the
choice and adoption of teaching
approach? ________________________________
 Cultural Model
Cultural model is related to information-based approach
(Thumnithet, 2011). Literature is a source of facts or
information to be put across to students by the teacher. It
stresses the role of literature in condensing values, ideas
and wisdom that have accumulated within a culture over
historical periods (Aydin, 2013). Students need to
understand and search for political, literary, social, and
historical context from the learned text.
 Cultural Model
Information-based approach gives knowledge and
information to students (Thunnithet, 2011). It is teacher-
centered and demands a lot of teacher’s input in giving
students various contents of literary text like on historical,
political, and cultural and social background. Knowledge
of literature is delivered as a source of information to
students. It includes reading from criticism or notes,
explanations and lectures given by teacher for
examinations’ sake (Hwang & Embi, 2007)
 Language Model
Language model comprises paraphrastic approach,
stylistics approach, and language-based approach. It
integrates language and literature as a source to improve
students’s language proficiency while learning the
language (Hwang & Embi, 2007). It uses literature in
teaching different functions of language like grammar,
vocabulary, and language structures from the literary
texts to students (Aydin, 2013).
 Language Model
Paraphrastic Approach is primarily paraphrasing and
rewording the text to simpler language or use other
languages to translate it. Teachers use simple words or
less complex sentences structure to make the original text
easy to understand (Divsar, 2014). It is teacher-centered
and does not contribute much interesting activities
towards students (Hwang & Embi, 2007).
 Language Model
Stylistics Approach implies literary critics and linguistic
analysis. It is for students to appreciate and understand
the literary text in a deeper manner. It helps students to
interpret the text meaningfully and develops language
awareness and knowledge (Thunnithet, 2011). It analyzes
the language prior to the elements of literary text (Aydin,
2013).
 Language Model
Language-Based Approach helps students pay attention
to the way the language is used when studying literature.
It is student-centered and activity-based for productive
use of language. It improves student’s language
proficiency, and incorporates literature and language
skills among the students (Dhilon & Mogan, 2014). Role
play, cloze, poetry recital, discussions, forum and debate,
dramatic activities, making prediction, brainstorming,
rewriting stories ending, and summarizing are practiced
in this approach.
 Personal Growth Model
Personal growth model comprises personal-response
approach and moral-philosophical approach. It enables
students to develop their language, character, and
emotions by connecting and responding to the issues
and themes to their lives (Hwang & Embi, 2007). It
encourages students to love and enjoy reading literature
for personal development as well as to relate their
relationships to the environment (Aydin, 2013).
 Personal Growth Model
Personal-Response Approach encourages students to
make sense of their experiences and personal lives
with text themes. It also promotes students to
associate the subject matters of the reading texts
with personal life experiences. It engages individual
in literary text reading as personal fulfilment.
Brainstorming, small group discussions, journal
writing, interpreting opinions, and generating
views from a text are practiced in this approach.
 Personal Growth Model
Moral-Philosophical Approach. Learners seek moral
values from a particular literary text while reading
it. It helps students to be aware of moral and
philosophical values and identify them (Rashid,
Vethamani, & Rahman, 2010). Students need to go
beyond the text for moral and philosophical
inference. With this approach, students are directed
to self-realization and self-understanding.
 Activity: Quiz. Write the letter only.
The teacher asks the students to search about
the history of the place where the literary piece
focused on.
a. Cultural Model
b. Language Model
c. Personal Growth Model
 Activity: Quiz. Write the letter only.
Teacher Fe notices that most of her students are
afraid to make sentences. She then found out
that it is because they lack the basic knowledge
in grammar. What model can address her
situation?
a. Cultural Model
b. Language Model
c. Personal Growth Model
 Activity: Quiz. Write the letter only.
Student A were tasked to analyze the literary
elements of the short story A Rose for Emily.
What type of approach did Student A’s teacher
used?
a. Paraphrastic Approach
b. Language-Based Approach
c. Information-Based Approach
d. Stylistics Approach
 Activity: Quiz. Write the letter only.
After reading the story of Zacchaeus, Ben shared
to the class that just like Zacchaeus, he will avoid
cheating in the future.
a. Language-Based Approach
b. Personal-Response Approach
c. Moral-Philosophical Approach
d. Paraphrastic Approach
 Activity: Quiz.
Give one activity that you can do in your class,
following the Cultural Model
a. ____________
Understanding Levels of Comprehension
Questions
Learning Competency 3
Why are questions necessary in
literature teaching?
 What is your idea of
“active reading”?
What needs to be done prior to
having your students plunge into
the text?
Reading Strategies:
• Retrieving information
• Interpreting implicit and explicit ideas
• Integrating and reflecting on concepts
• Evaluating the information
Thomson, De Bortoli, and Buckley (2013)
said that as students read or view a reading
material, they can understand it on different
levels.
 CRITIQUE

ESSENTIAL

APPRECIATIVE

EVALUATIVE

INFERENTIAL

LITERAL
 LITERAL

We look for stated facts in text, data,

specifics, dates, character traits and
setting.
 LITERAL

Stated facts in text:

-Data
-Specifics
-Dates
-Traits and Setting
Write questions that have correct answers, which may be
found in the text. Write down all the facts, characters,
locations and sequential events. This can include the plot and
the themes, setting, turning points, anything that can be draw
directly from the text of the story and is factual.
Example:
Whom did Little Red Riding Hood’s mother send her to meet?

LITERAL
 CRITIQUE

ESSENTIAL

APPRECIATIVE

EVALUATIVE

INFERENTIAL

LITERAL
 INFERENTIAL
Builds on facts in text through prediction
using facts from texts, sequencing, and
determining what is meant by what is
stated.
 INFERENTIAL

Builds on facts in text:

• Prediction using facts from text
• Sequence
• Traits and Setting
Write questions and answers, which require the reader to make an
“educated guess” or prediction/s about what is going to happen in
the story or why something is so. Write down all the possibilities
that can be inferred (predicted or guessed) while reading the story-
ABOUT the plot, about the characters, about anything that you have
to GUESS what might happened next, or in the conclusion. If you are
reading a novel - (for your final project) then at the end of each
chapter write on a large post-it-note all the things you can GUESS
might happen in the story, or to the characters.
Example:
Do you think Little Red Riding Hood will make it to her
grandmother’s house safely? Why, or why not?

INFERENTIAL
 CRITIQUE

ESSENTIAL

APPRECIATIVE

EVALUATIVE

INFERENTIAL

LITERAL
 EVALUATIVE

The judgement of text is based on

appropriateness, fact or opinion, validity,
comparisons, worth (acceptable,
desirable ideas), the cause – effect.
 EVALUATIVE
The judgement of text is based on:
• Fact or Opinion
• Validity
• Appropriateness
• Worth: acceptable, desirable ideas
• Comparisons
• Cause and Effect
Write questions and answers that require the reader to make a
judgment about an aspect of the story such as a character’s
actions. Write all possible judgments about characters and issues
within story - we judge people around us everyday. JUDGE the
characters as if you knew them as if they were real. Is someone
cranky? or Mean? Justified? Or self-righteous? or stuck-up? or
a bully? Judge the characters.
Example
Do you think it was right for Little Red Riding Hood’s mother to
send her off into the woods alone? Why or why not?

EVALUATIVE
 CRITIQUE

ESSENTIAL

APPRECIATIVE

EVALUATIVE

INFERENTIAL

LITERAL
 APPRECIATIVE

The response to text is based on personal

reaction and reflection and author’s
purpose; places readers in story.
 APPRECIATIVE
The response to text is based on:
• Personal reaction and reflection
• Author’s purpose
Write questions and answers that require the reader to make a
personal response to a character or situation in the story or to the
author’s purpose. Write all possible items to be appreciated
fromYOUR point of view - if you lived this story or the lives of these
characters. How would you (I)feel if... is the basic question. This is
the ONE paragraph that you can use the “I” statement.
Example:
How would you feel if you were sent off into the woods alone?
EXPLAIN your answer.

APPRECIATIVE
 CRITIQUE

ESSENTIAL

APPRECIATIVE

EVALUATIVE

INFERENTIAL

LITERAL
 ESSENTIAL

The response to text is based on the

ideas drawn from the entire text; world
views; big ideas and themes, and applies
the themes to today’s world. This is also
where we could input our IFLL.
 ESSENTIAL

The response to text is based on:

• drawn from the entire text;
• Looks at the big ideas and themes of the text
• Looks at the world view that the text brings up
• Applies the themes to today’s world
• IFLL
Write questions and answers that requires the reader to consider an
issue that is addressed in the story “outside” of the story. Bring the
concepts of the story to the world today, can this happen today, does
it? Write down all the possible world issues that the story discusses or
implies. Every story has a theme, apply the themes to the world today.
Example:
How old should a child be before he or she is allowed to go out
alone? What parameters would you set for the child? Explain your
answer.

ESSENTIAL
 CRITIQUE

ESSENTIAL

APPRECIATIVE

EVALUATIVE

INFERENTIAL

LITERAL
 CRITIQUE

The response to text is based on author’s

language use and reaction to author’s
ideas, values, imagery, style, execution
The response to text is based:
• Author’s language use
• Reaction to author’s ideas,
• Reaction to author’s values, imagery,
style, execution

CRITIQUE
Write questions and answers that require the reader to make a
judgment about the author’s use of language, style of writing, execution
of the text, or the author’s ideas in the text. Recognize the value of the
authors use of language and descriptions, images, style and values of
story concepts, look at the authors work of writing the story - did they
tell a good story - why or why not? Did the author use descriptive
words? or plain flat language? Did they make you SEE the scenes they
wrote in your mind because they were so descriptive? This is where you
JUDGE the author and how well they wrote the story.
Example:
Did the author write the story so that it is relatable for kids/adults?
What style or form did the author write in, was the language authentic,
and was the description rich? EXPLAIN your answer.
CRITIQUE
5 Types of Reading
Comprehension
Reading comprehension is the ability to
easily and efficiently read text for meaning.
Hillock’s Ladder 3 Types of
Questions
Type 1 are the literal questions which are
considered the ‘right there’ or ‘on the
page’ questions since answers are directly
found in the text and do not require
student’s much thinking.
Ex. What is the conflict between the two
characters?
Type 2 questions, the Inferential type of
questions are those which require the
students to figure out the answers. These
are also called the ‘think and search
questions’ or ‘between the lines questions’
requiring thought and making connections.
Ex. What do you think that means?
In Type 3, generalization questions
themes are deduced to inform personal
action. They are also known as evaluative
questions characterized by ‘beyond the text’
questions, requiring students to ‘think
outside the box’.
Ex. How does the theme impact the way we
view ourselves?
Employing Assessment Strategies in
Teaching Literature
Learning Competency 4
 What essential principles of
assessment should an English
teacher bear in mind?
Possible Assessment Tasks:
• Locating and engaging with a variety of
literary and theoretical sources.
• Extracting key points from articles.
• Identifying arguments as well as the
evidences that support these arguments.
• Participating in a debate in set text and
resources.
Since literature is open to interpretation,
It can serve as a basis for genuine
interaction between the students.