Dear Sabah Zaib,

See through the link!

http://www.languageinindia.com/july2013/part2v13i7july2013.pdf

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1972.tb00705.x/pdf

I think the cultural model would be very effective as the student can relate and appreciate the content from having their own cultural experiences. This method would require relating the content to students past experiences/readings/societal or global issue.

Best regards,

Debra

Hi Sabah,

The resources listed above and the comments are very good suggestions.  I would also add that all three models are employed when good literature is used and the students have a chance to read by themselves and then discuss the literature in some way with peers. That way, the students can choose what catches their attention.  a fine way to do this is by using Literature Study Circles. This gets students involved in group discussion of a shared book that is individually read. Students can help one another with the language, discuss the book and deal with unexpected differences based upon cultural issues.  I have attached two fine resources. One is an article on Literature study circles and the other is a sample lesson plan. I have used these with grade school children, high schoolers (both ESL and native speakers), and with college level ESL students. It has worked at all levels. Good Luck!

Jack

It might be worth taking a look at Martha C Nussbaum's 1995 Poetic Justice: The Literary Imagination and Public Life (Beacon Press, Boston) which is based on a course of lectures she taught to law students using literary texts. 

A number of literacy educators have identified what is effective and ineffective

in secondary school literature instruction (Dias, 1996; Hiñes, 1995;

Langer, 1995; Probst, 1984; Purves et al., 1995; Rabinowitz & Smith, 1997).

However, others have cautioned that bringing teachers to change their practice

is not easily accomplished (Alvermann, 1990; Hynds & Appleman,

1997; Marshall et al., 1995; Mayher, 1990; Pradl, 1996). Simply calling for

high school English teachers to redefine their ideas about literary texts and

ways of reading them is clearly not realistic. Rose (1989) summarized the

heart of the problem in this way: "Each member of a teacher's class, poor

or advantaged, gives rise to endless decisions, day-to-day determinations

about a child's reading and writing: decisions on how to tap strength, plumb

confusion, foster growth. The richer your conceptions of learning and your

understanding of social and psychological dimensions, the more insightful

and effective your judgments will be" (p. 236).

Approaches to Teaching Literature

Having decided that integrating literature into the EFL syllabus is beneficial to the learners’ linguistic development, we need to select an approach which best serves the needs of EFL learners and the syllabus. Carter and Long (1991) describe the rationale for the use of the three main approaches to the teaching of literature: The Cultural Model

This model represents the traditional approach to teaching literature. Such a model requires learners to explore and interpret the social, political, literary and historical context of a specific text. By using such a model to teach literature we not only reveal the universality of such thoughts and ideas but encourage learners to understand different cultures and ideologies in relation to their own. This model is largely rejected by those in TEFL since not only does it tend to be teacher-centred but there is little opportunity for extended language work. 

The Language Model

The most common approach to literature in the EFL classroom is what Carter and Long (1991) refer to as the ‘language-based approach’. Such an approach enables learners to access a text in a systematic and methodical way in order to exemplify specific linguistic features e.g. literal and figurative language, direct and indirect speech. This approach lends itself well to the repertoire of strategies used in language teaching - cloze procedure, prediction exercises, jumbled sentences, summary writing, creative writing and role play  - which all form part of the repertoire of EFL activities used by teachers to deconstruct literary texts in order to serve specific linguistic goals. Carter and McRae (1996) describe this model as taking a ‘reductive’ approach to literature. These activities are disconnected from the literary goals of the specific text in that they can be applied to any text. There is little engagement of the learner with the text other than for purely linguistic practice; literature is used in a rather purposeless and mechanistic way in order to provide for a series of language activities orchestrated by the teacher.

The Personal Growth Model

This model attempts to bridge the cultural model and the language model by focusing on the particular use of language in a text, as well as placing it in a specific cultural context. Learners are encouraged to express their opinions, feelings and opinions and make connections between their own personal and cultural experiences and those expressed in the text.  Another aspect of this model is that it helps learners develop knowledge of ideas and language – content and formal schemata – through different themes and topics. This function relates to theories of reading (Goodman, 1970) which emphasise the interaction of the reader with the text. As Cadorath and Harris point out (1998:188) "text itself has no meaning, it only provides direction for the reader to construct meaning from the reader's own experience". Thus, learning is said to take place when readers are able to interpret text and construct meaning on the basis of their own experience.

These three approaches to teaching literature differ in terms of their focus on the text: firstly, the text is seen as a cultural artefact; secondly, the text is used as a focus for grammatical and structural analysis; and thirdly, the text is the stimulus for personal growth activities.  What is needed is an approach to teaching literature in the EFL classroom which attempts to integrate these elements in a way that makes literature accessible to learners and beneficial for their linguistic development.

Of course, literature can be used in different way in the classroom. When the course is a literature course, I think it is important that it leads the students to understand how literature works, and if possible, what it is, in contradiction to other things. Thus my literature courses often either presuppose or directly pose the question, what is literature?’ Commonly, the students have never thought about this, but are ready with examples, namely books they have been taught at other levels and for different purposes. In Nigeria, the books are often ‘engaged’ with social issues – or at least, that is how they have been taught to see literature. One of the immediate consequences is that poetry (lyric genre) is unpopular. So I try to offer an account of literature which emphasizes that it is first and foremost art, and that whether one is faced with narrative or lyric or drama, they are art on the same grounds. In discussing a literary work then, I try to keep the attention of the students focused on the elements and properties which result from answering the question, what is literature?

When I was in high school, my teacher asked us to draw pictures when we did Shakespeare.  Sentence for sentence, the words we understood.  It really helped a lot!    

Following Belinda's point, I think it's worth considering the relation between the visual and the literal. Most literature has a symbolic geography that helps define the major themes of the text. Also, how we define georaphical regions depends very much on our geopolitical perspective. My own experience of trying to make sense of literary texts - and trying to discuss them with friends, colleagues and students - suggest that the question of perspective is all important.

Dear Sabah,

I have taught literature at High School and university, students look forward to role play as a platform to engage with the theme, plot and characters. Then after, question and answer session can follow suit. Students improve their understanding through hands-on experiences.

Best Wishes!

I have used Literature Circles (reading circles)  very successfully with my learners; they are low-level young adult ESL students and they have been enthusiastic about this activity. See: http://eflliteraturecircles.com/   I use adapted novels, short stories and even news stories. For simplicity, all students read the same story. We have used the various role sheets that can be found online, but this can be a challenge, especially  when students don't show up or haven't completed their work. I have created my own Quote, Question & Comment sheets. I ask students to find  2 interesting quotes from the story, write 2 good discussion questions and give their own opinion of  the story. I give students class time to prepare for the reading circle and I can assist with their prep. They run the circles on their own ( in groups of 5 or 6); they learn to lead the circle, and listen carefully and speak respectfully. We have done extension activities such as small research projects afterward and I usually ask them to write a reflection on the literature and on their discussion.  Highly enjoyable and rewarding activity.

One technique used successfully in our William and Mary language arts units of study for advanced learners is the Literature Web whereby students explore the vocabulary, the ideas, the images, the symbols, the feelings, and the structure of a given short piece (short stories and poetry preferred).  As students complete the web, they move from simple to complex understandings of important aspects of literature and learn to appreciate their connections.  After exploring the literature web individually, students then discuss the elements as a group and compose a written response to the literary    piece, synthesizing its meaning.  The web acts as a tool for reading difficult text.

Dear Sabah

Enquiry and problem-based learning have been used effectively to teach literature. See a chapter on teaching English literature using enquiry-based learning in the attached A Practitioner's guide to Enquiry and Problem-based learning: Case Studies from UCD that I edited.

Best wishes with your research and teaching

Terry Barrett 

I prefer an ECLECTIC approach/method for teaching literature which can be a combination of many useful methods/models/techniques. For example, a technology-based method (e.g. online learning, blended learning, etc.) can be useful in this regard. Perhaps, a socio-cultural language learning pedagogy can be fine as well. Also, a multi-modal literacy approach might work very well, especially as far as digital resources and online stuff are concerned. Moreover, a circle approach - as mentioned above - is fine because learners are given a choice in what they will read and discuss. JigSaw and shared reading approaches might work as a solution. Best regards

Contextual and transformation teaching literature.... 

The teaching of literature faces many difficulties in the secondary stage, leading to a decline

The level of students in literary taste, and the most important of these difficulties for the use of language teachers

Arabic secondary stage to the method of dumping and lecture based on

Preservation, indoctrination, repetition and simplification of information, and this method weakens motivation

Students are about to learn Arabic literature and Arabic language, and they are a burden on

The teacher, who makes his effort and his time a lot, does not take into account this way feelings

And the needs of the human learner, and make it a negative future for information.

As for teaching poetry, especially of the shorter variety, I still find the New Critical method of close reading useful. There are quite a number of approaches to fiction like the new historicist, postcolonial, ecocritical, feminist and postmodern which can be used depending on the nature of work being taught.

literature and cultural competence

the best way to the teaching of literature in an EFL/ESL classroom is to combine it with structuralism and new criticism since they both deal with the function of lge in literature interpretation and analysis as they enhance students' critical thinking

you can even ask them to write short essays about a certain (appropriate) quote applying the rules you theach them in grammar and written expression ...or to summarisz a text using connectors, different types of phrases and sentences....

Learning by discussion and analysis.

Giving a student enough time to express his opinion about certain issue is necessary to encourage him/her avoiding fear, shyness, and hesitation. The encouragement starts with your agreement as a teacher to facilitate other difficult situations. Best Regards!

Teaching English with literature has more than one dimension. Yes, it can help inform about the culture of the language being learned.

But reading (at an appropriate level of difficulty) also gives the readers a feel for how the language works. It builds vocabulary and helps readers learn proper grammar at the intuitive level, not the level of drill and repetition.

I like to show how literature, art, and music are analogous. Check out this PowerPoint: