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Use of Literature in Language Teaching Chapter 1 1 a1KX

There are several approaches to using literature in language teaching. The cultural model views literary texts as cultural artifacts and studies them from social, political, historical perspectives. The language model focuses on linguistic features for practice. The personal growth model emphasizes personal development and learner interaction with texts. When selecting materials, considerations include learner background, proficiency, interests to maximize engagement.

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101 views

Use of Literature in Language Teaching Chapter 1 1 a1KX

There are several approaches to using literature in language teaching. The cultural model views literary texts as cultural artifacts and studies them from social, political, historical perspectives. The language model focuses on linguistic features for practice. The personal growth model emphasizes personal development and learner interaction with texts. When selecting materials, considerations include learner background, proficiency, interests to maximize engagement.

Uploaded by

jinder
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Use of Literature in Language Teaching

1. What is literature?
2. What is literary language?
3. Do you think literary works are good resources
for language teaching? Why/ Why not?
4. What are approaches of the study of literature
in the language classroom?
5. What are the criteria for selecting literary
materials to teach in the classroom?
Introduction

• According to Hirsch (1978), literature includes


any text which is worthy to be taught to
students (p. 34).
What is literature?
• Literature is composed of literary works in a
language by which a community defines
themselves.
• Self-defining activity.
• Those literary works are defined as artistic and
aesthetic. (McFadden, 1978, p. 56).
What is literary language?
• There are distinctive features in literary texts
because of the language used in these texts.

• Therefore, it is generally demanding to explain


an argument in the literary texts.
• The study of literature involves an approach to
texts as cultural artifacts.
• Use of literature as a linguistic resource
• The study of literature also includes :
 “Metalanguage” (meaning in varied areas
to talk about language, images, texts)
 Critical concepts knowledge of
conventions.
Using literary texts as a source for language
teaching

• Three major benefits of using literary texts in


the language classroom:
 specific communicative goals
 an ideal resource for integrating the four
skills
 cross-cultural awareness (McKay, 2001).
Why do we use literary texts in the language
classroom?

As to Lazar (1993), benefits of using literary texts


in the language classroom are listed as follows:
 Motivating
 Authentic material
 Educational value
 Syllabi
• Cultural value
• Stimulus for language acquisition
• Fun
• Highly valued/ high status
• Language awareness
• Motivating to talk about opinions/ feelings
Sample course objectives for reading
literature

• As to Campbell (2007), the objectives are listed


as follows:
 Students will develop a variety of reading
strategies.
 They will identify the literary terms and study
how these terms contribute to their writing skill.
 They will develop skills to analyze literary texts.
• Students will develop discussion skills.

• Students will discover connections with the


literature they read.
text to self
text to text
text to world
• Students will understand the role of literature
which provides insights into the culture of
target language.

• For instance:
A play which allows language learners to participate
in the new culture helps them develop sensitivity as
to how speakers of the target language interact with
each other. (Stern, 1980, p. 209)
Approaches to study of literature

1 .The Cultural Model:


 language as a cultural artifact
 study of literary text from social, political, literary
and historical perspective (Carter&Long, 1991).

2. The Language Model:


 contextualized linguistic features (systematic
practice)
 regardless of literary quality of text or reader-text
interaction (Carter & Long, 1991).
3. The Personal Growth Model:
 language learning and cultural awareness
 personal development
 focus is on learner’s interaction with the text
and learner’s feelings /ideas/opinions (Carter
& Long, 1991).
Approaches to study of literature while
teaching English
1) Language Based Approach:
 study of language of literary text
 detailed analysis of literary text to
improve interpretation skills
 knowledge of grammatical, lexical/
discoursal categories
 literary texts regarded as great sources
for language activities
 a wide range of styles and registers
(Lazar, 1993).
 Open to multiple interpretations along with
the classroom discussions
 Focus on interesting topic (Lazar, 1993).

One of the Possible negative aspects of this


approach is:
If the analysis of the text is made in purely
linguistic terms, this approach to study of
literature becomes mechanic (Lazar, 1993).
2. Literature as content
• Literature is the content of the course
• Focus is on such areas as:
 history and characteristics of the
literary movements or periods
 social, political, and historical
background to a text.
 literary genres and rhetorical devices
• Reading texts along with literary criticism helps
learners acquire English.
• The teacher can also ask students to translate
these texts into their mother tongue.
• Meaning emerges in literary and historical
context.
One of the possible negative aspects of this
approach is:

 If the literary text is difficult linguistically,


students may depend on the teacher’s ready-
made interpretations.
 Therefore, the background information to be
supplied in this approach is important.
 Biographical information about the author
 Historical/ mythological events or characters
 Philosophical, political or religious ideas in
the text .
 Places, objects or other texts referred to in a
text
 Genre of the text (drama, poetry, fairy tales,
short story, folklore and to name a few)
 relationship between the text and literary
periods or movements
 historical, political or social background
against which the text was written.
3.Literature for personal enrichment

• Literature as a tool for encouraging students


to express their feelings and verbalize their
ideas
• It involves learner as a whole person.
• Material is thematically organized along with
non-literary texts (Lazar, 1993).
Using this approach may be a problem while
teaching English

• Some texts may be so remote from the


students’ own experiences.
• In addition, some students may not find
pleasure in discussing about their own
feelings/ emotions or reactions.
Personal Enrichment Model and Humanistic Approach to
Language Teaching by Williams and Burden (1997)

• Involving learner’s as a whole person


• Engaging feelings/ emotions
• Developing identity
• Encouraging self-knowledge and self-evaluation
• Establishing a sense of personal value in
learners
• Encouraging Creativity
Selecting materials
• According to Lazar (1993), there are three
things to be taken into consideration while
selecting the literary materials. These are:
 learners’ cultural background
 learners’ linguistic proficiency
 learners’ literary background
Important Issues while Selecting the
Materials by Coser (2011)

• Literary text should capture the students’


interest
• Literary text should be suitable for the
intended level, age group, interests, cultural
background
• A variety of genres and styles should be taken
into consideration
• Text should be associated with other media
• Text should fulfill teacher’s literary objectives

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