A survey of students motivations in studying literature at feel ussh vnu hcmc

their great awareness and high moti vati on wou ld not always le ad to their de ci si on s to volunta ri ly study this subject; 3 the subjec ts st ud ie d Britis h/A me rica n litera tur

V IETNAM NATI ONAL UNIVE RSITY - HO CHI M!NH CITY

UN IVE RSITY OF SOC IAL SCIENCES AN D H ~ : ! A N:T IE S

STUDYING LITERATURE

A THESIS SUBM ITTED IN PARTIAL FULF ILMENT

OF THE REQUIR EME NTS FOR THE DE GRE E OF MASTE R OF ARTS IN TESO L

Submitted by VAN T HI NHA T RUC Supervised by

Senior Lecturer NGUYEN THJ KIEV THV, M.A.

HO CHI fvllNH CITY,NOVEMBER 2004

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereb y cert ify my authorship of the the si s entitled "A Survey of Students ' Motivations in Studying Literature at FELL - USSH, VNU - HCMC".

This the si s has not previ ou sly been sub m itte d for any degre e or sim ila raward atano the r instituti on

1-10Ch i Minh City, Novem be r 2004

Van Thi Nha Tru e

THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firs t [would like to sa ve my most specia l and deepe st thanksfor my the sis

supervisor Ms Nguye n Thi Kieu Thu, who whole-heartedl y suppo rte d me during

the writing up of this the sis altho ug h she has been so busy with her doct oral

dissertati on and her famil y Her pain staking gu ida nce and valua b le advi ce didhelp me throu gh this challen gin g ta sk Moreov er, her de votion, understanding,

and friendline ss ha ve made a stro ng impre ssion on me

I am also de eply gra te ful to all my tea ch ers for their enthusiasm and

h lpful instru cti on during my stud y program

My deep gratitude is exp resse d to Dr Vu Thi Phuong Anh, Dr Le ThiThanh, Ms.Cao ThiQuynh Loan, Mr Le Huy Loc ,Mr Ngu yen Hoan g Linh, Ms

Nguye n Thi TuyetOanh, Mr Truon g Hon Huy ,and Mr Pham Le Sung Chinh, for

their valuable advic e and assi stan ce

[ am also thankful to Mr Pham Truon g Khanh, my dear friend, for his

techni cal suppo rt

I also would like to thank the secre ta ria l sta ff of FELL, who ne ver

compla ined abo ut my bothering them during the proce ss of the data coll e cti on

On the contra ry , they were kind and helpful enough to provide me with theinformati on need ed for my research

It would be a mistake if thankful acknowledgement were not made to the

ERCstaff who generously lent me a lot of reference materials

In addition , my gre a t tha nks go to all the stude nts who were v ry

responsive to th que stionnaire and the interview Without their cooperati on I

wouldhave never been able to com ple te the study

II

Iam de epl y indebted to my parents-in-l a w and my own parents, wh ha ve

be en taking turns in taking care of my dau ghters so that Icould resume my stu dy

and finish this the sis

My last thanks go to my husband and my twin dau ghters for thei r love and

ca re:the trio forms the major part of my life

This the sis inves tiga ted fu ll-time Eng lis h maj ors att itudes toward

litera tu re re a d ing and studyi ng, their mot ive s for and goals in study ing

British/Amer ica n literature thei r cho ice of this subjec t and the ir percept io ns of

motiva tio na l fa ct ors in stu dyi ng Briti sh /American litera ture at FEL L - USSH,

VNU - H eMe. The study in th is the si s aims at seek ing ways to enh a nce

students' mot iva tion s in studyi ng Britis h/A mer ica n literature at the fac u lty

The research was base d on the que sti onnai re s del ivered to a samp le

popu la tio n of 249 seniors at FEL L and the infor ma lfollo w- up inte rv ie w s with :nsubjectsof the surveye d popu la tio n

The dat a ana lys is re ve al ed severa l im po rta nt po in ts: (I) altho ug h a grea tnumber of the stude nts had a po sit ive att itud e to w ard lite rature re adin g and

study ing in gene ra l on ly a fe w of them viewed the study of FL litera tu re as an

easy tas k: (2) the maj orit y of the stu de nts were highl y aware of the bene fit s of

Britis h/Ame rica n lite rature study but this cou ld on ly resu lt from a long peri o d of

study ing this subject at the facu lty The stude nts unde r inves tigat io n were also

fair ly motiva te d dur ing their literature cou rses; ne verth el e ss their great

awareness and high moti vati on wou ld not always le ad to their de ci si on s to

volunta ri ly study this subject; (3) the subjec ts st ud ie d Britis h/A me rica n litera turewith both intrins ic and intrin si c mot ivati on s and with bo th inte zra ti ve ac- nd

instrum ent al orienta tio ns, and (4) the maj ority of the st ude nts viewed

te a ch er ' s qual itie s and tea ch er' s pre sentin g manner/t ea ch in g method s as the two

mo st import ant incenti ve s for moti vatin g the m to stu dy lite ra ture at FELL Other

influ ential factors (in orde r of importa nce ) were sup po rt mat eri a l/fa cili ti es

I V

selec tio n of te xt s for study, curriculum plann in g , te stin g/a sse ssmen t, and fina lly

class time distributi on

Based on the findings of the study, the the si s goes on to re commend (I the

devel opment of stude nts' habits of readin g literature and the prom oti on oflearner autono my: (2) a proper combin ation of different approaches to the

te a chin g and le arnin g of literature in orde r to crea te more inspirin g literature

classes : (3) ongo ing asse ssm ent and evaluati on of stude nt work to redu cestude nts' anx ie ty and competiti ven ess and to partly en ha nce their learning

enjoy me nt and cr itica l thinking ability: (4) a modificati on of the curr icu lu m

aiming at ca p ita liz ing on the inte rface of lan gua ge and literature to eq uipstude nts with lingui sti c and literary compe te nce before they em ba rk on theacade m ic study of literature during the last two years at the facu lty : (5) the

s le ction of te xt s for study that ca te rs for stude nts' profi ci ency le vel s as well astheir age intere sts, etc.: (6) the supp ly ing ofsup po rt materi al for literature stu dyillorder to fac ilit at e the tea ching and study ing of literature at FEL L, and (7) more

extra -c urricula r acti viti e s to crea te a more enjoya b le learnin g env iro nme nt forliterature study at FELL

It is hop ed that the re sults of the the si s ca n provid e some use ful

information for the en ha nce me nt of stude nts' moti vati on s 111 study ingBritish/Ame ric a n literature at FELL

0.2STATEMENTOF PURPOSE SIG NI FI C A NC E OFTHE STU DY,

ASSU M PTIO NS LIMITATI O NS AND DELI M ITAT IONS, DEFIN IT IONS OF

V I

C h a pte r 1 B ACKGROUND TO TH E S TUDY 12

1.1 THE ROL E OF LITERATURE INTHE CURRICULUM FOR EFLIES L

1.1.1 Ration al e for literatu re in EF LIE S L classes 1

1.1.2 The place of literatu re in the curr icu lum forstu de nts at FELL

1.2 DISCUSSION OF AP PROAC HE S TO LITERAT UR ESTU D YING AND

1.2.1 Gene ra lap pro aches/ methodologies adopted for l terat ure study ing

1.2 2 Approac hes/me tho dologies adopted for lterature stud y ing and

1.3 DESCRIPT IO N OFTHE LITERATURE SYLLAB US FOR THIRD- AN D

FOURT H- YEA R ENGLISH MAJORS AT FELL - USSH, VN U - HCMC 2 S

IA STU DE NT S' PROBL EMS IN STUDYI NG LITER AT UR E AT THE

2.1 THE NATU RE AND KINDS OF MOT IVATION AND MOTIV ATIONAL

2.1.2.1 Intrinsic and extrins ic motivation s 39

2.1.2 2 Inte grati ve and instrumentalorientati on s 40

2.1.3The relation ship between moti vation and learnin g 4J

2.1.4 Fa ctors affectin g moti vati on in langua ge learning 42

2.2MOTI V ATIO N AND MOTIVATIONAL FACTORS IN LITER AT UR E

2.2.1 Motiva tio n in lite ra ture readin gand study ing 45

2.2.2 Moti vati on al factorsin lite ra tur e reading and stud y ing 47

2.2.2.2Teach er' s manner of presentati on/t e a ching method s 48

2.2.2.3Tea cher'sass e ssment/evaluat ion 50

3.2.3 Data colle cti on and coding procedure s 70

\' iii

3.3 SUM MA R Y 7

n

4 1 1St udents' resp on se s to the que sti onn aires n

4.1.1 1Att itudes ,awa re ness,and choi ce: Question s 3 - 6 n

4.1.1.2 Moti ve sand go als:Que sti on s 7.1- 7.8 84.1.1.3 Percepti on s of motiv ati onalfact ors:Que sti on s 8.1- 8.7 96

4.1.1.4 Sugges tio ns : Que stions 9.1- 9.9 99

4.1 1.5 Stu dents' othe r ide a s on the que sti onnaire s I()3

4.1.2 Students' re sp on ses to the intervi ews 104

APPE NDI X 3:A BriefLook at the Ma x/Min Score s ofLiterature Study of

Students at FEL L (Aca de m ic Course 2000 - 20( 4 ) 1 0

AP PEN D IX4: The Ques tio nna ire (in Vietn am e se ) 1 7

APPEN DIX 5:The Que stionna ire (inEng lish) 1 2

APPEN DIX6: Summar y ofStude nts ' Other Idea s on the Questio nna ires 1 7

APPEND IX 7: Summa ryof Students ' Re spon se sto the Intervie ws 1 1APPENDIX8:Stra teg ies for Reading and Writing abo ut Literature 19()

APPEN DIX9: Re adin g and Writing about Literature 1

9'-1-APPEND IX 10:Critica l Re adin g Stra teg ies 198APPENDIX II: Useful Instruction al Strategie sfor

x

LI ST OF T ABLE S

Page

C ha p t e r 1

Table 1.1:Summary ofapproaches/me thodolog iesado pte d for literature

Table 1.2:Tim e distribution for British/American literature cours es

C ha pter 3

-

,-Table 3.1:Bio-data of th sample population (for the quest ionna ire ) 63

Table 3.2:Bio-da ta of the sa mp le populati on (fo rthe intervie w ) 64

C hapte r 4

Tabl e 4.1:Student s ' interest in rea din g literature 74

Table 4.2: Students"intere st in study in liie rat ur e 75

Table 4.3 :Com pariso n of intere sts in read ing litera ture by males and femal e s 77

Tab le 4.4:Com pa riso nof intere sts in study ing litera ture by male s and femal e s77

Table 4.5: Students" spec ific attitude to the study of FL ltera ture 78

Table 4.6:Students"perception of langu a ge enrichme nt 79

Ta ble 4.7:Students"perception of cultura lenrichment 8()

Table 4.8: Students' perception of person lgrowth/de velopment 8()Table 4.9:Stu de nts ' choice of British/American literat ure for study 82

Table 4.1(): Sum ma ry of learne r moti ves and goals 93

Table 4.13:Sum mary ofstudents ' percep tion s of motivationalfactors 97

Table 4.14:Summary ofstudents' sugges tions I()()

Figure 4.1:Centra l tend en cie s in gene ra linterestin literature 76

Figure 4.2: Compa riso nofstude nts ' percepti on s of the three model s of literature

Figure 4.3:Sum ma ry of attitude s,awareness,and choi ce S3Figure 4.4:Study ing for the mere sake of tests/e xam s X5

Figure 4.5: Studying for universit y achie vement 86

Figure 4.6: Study ing for culturaland social integrati on 87

Fig ure 4.7:Studyin g for future employment 88

Figure 4.8:Studyin g outof the percepti on ofone value of literature study 89

Figure 4.W:Studyin g for a feelin g ofcom pe te nce 91

Figure 4.1 1:Studyin for self-a ctualiza tio n 92

Figure 4.12 :Compa riso nof motive sand goa ls 94

Fig ure 4.13: Com pa riso nofcentra l tenden ci e s in extrins ic mo ti vati on and

Figure 4.14: Com pa riso n ofstude nts' percepti on s of moti vati onal fa ct ors 99Figure 4.15:Com pa riso n of centra ltend enci e sin stu de nts' sugges tio ns I03

X

Enu~lis h as a Second Lan gu a geFaculty of Eng lish Lingui st ic s and LiteratureForeig n langua ge / forei gn -Ian gu a ge

First lan gu a ge

Foreig n/seco nd lan gua gel) M FL Mode rn fore ig n lan gu a ge

10 OUP Oxford Univers ity Pre ss

I I.TESOL Teaching Eng lish to Spea ke rs of Other Lan gu a ge s

12 TL Target lan gu a ge

13 USSH Unive rsity ofSocia lScie nces and Human itie s

14 VNU - HC MC Vietna m Natio na l Unive rs ity - Ho ChiMinh City

INTROD UCTION

This research investiga tes full-time Eng lish maj ors' attitudes to wa rd

literature readi ng and study ing, especia lly towa rd FL lite rat ure study, the ir

motive s for and goals in study ing British/A merica n lite rature , as well as the irperceptio ns of moti vati on al factors with a view to enha nc ing stude nts'

motivatio ns in study ing British/Ameri can lite rature at FELL - USSH, VNU

-HCMe In this very first pa rt of the the sis, the problems that prompted atte mpts

for thisstudy are identi fied In additio n, the purpose s and the significa nce ofthe

study, assumptions, limitat ion s and del im itati on s, de finiti on s of te rm s, and the

structure ofthe rema inde rofthe the sis are also pre sented

Over the la st de cad e or so, Briti sh/Am eri can literature ha s be en an

acade mic subject cruc ia l to the who le curriculum for Eng lish maj or s of FELL USSH, VNU - HCM e More o ver, eithe r British or America n lite rature is one of

-the compulsory subjects in the gra duatio nexam This is grounded on the fact that

the facult y is named 'Faculty of Eng lish Lingui stics and Lite rature ' (for me rly

Dep artment of Eng lish Lingu istics and Lite rature ) It is also argue d that throu gh

British/A me rica n literature , Eng lish major s can wide n their knowledge in terms

of culture, histor y nati on , and pe opl e, etc of the country whose lan gu a ge the y

are study ing In re spe ct to EFL lan gu a ge study, study ing foreign litera ture is

suppose d to be a good way to impro ve lan gu a ge skills, especia lly re ad ing and

writing Howe ve r, the re arises the que stion " Are E nglish majors awar e o f t he

i mpo rtance an d t he be nefi ts of t his s ubject ?"

In reality, the te a chin g and le arn ing of FL literature , namel y

British/Ame rican lite rature , at FELL - USSH, VNU - HCMC has faced several

cha lle nges From person al observa tions, from own experie nces in le arning and

tea ching British/A me rica n lite rature at FELL, and from info rm al tal ks with

colleagues and with stude nts, the researcher has noti ced five remarka ble

problems

Firstly, now ad a ys more and mor e pe ople are joining the Rat Ra ce in the

market econo my The y tend to le ad a fast-paced, he cti c, and even frantic way of

life, and thei r mon e y conce rns gradua lly erode their inte rest in lite rature Tod ay,

few young Vie tnamese pe ople spe nd time enjoyi ng a lon g no vel , re ading orcitinga poem in thei r nati ve lan gu a ge , let alone in a forei gn lan gu age.The y even

consider it a time- wastin g, dre ary, and even ridicul ou s activity, for the y think it

does not help them mak e mon ey No t only commo n readers but also 'e xpe cted

serious reade rs ' like lan gu age stude nts usu all y think of lite rat ure as some thi ng

too academic, intelle ctual , difficult , and impractical Not surpris ing ly, some

complai nts and que stion slike " I' m s tudying Briti sh/Am eri c an l iterature b ecause I

h av e no o ther choice It' s a co mpulsory s ubjec t ", " Why s hould I s tud y

Br itish /A m erica n li terature w hile I'm n ot ev e n in terested ill Vie tnames e lit erature ? " , "W hy do we ha ve t o t ake so m any co urses in B ritish/Ameri can

l it e rature, b ut n ot in B usiness, T ouri s m, or In terp retation/Tra nslation! ", " How

wi ll Br itish /Ame ri can lit eratur e be nefi t m e In m y f utur e ca reer !", etc are

sometimes he a rd amo ng Eng lish maj or s at FELL

successfully defended in 2000.

Secondly , stude nts ' lack of intere st in FL literature may also result from

the way Vietnamese literature hasbeen being taught in schoo ls, usu ally imposin g

and centra lize d, rather than motivating and inspiring Pupils and high school

stude nts are not usually allowed to interpret a literary work in their own way s or

freel y respond to it They seem to copy what their teachers hav e sa id abo ut the

work for their exa m papers In this way , their passivity and dependency are

exace rbate d, but their cre ativity and uniqueness are undermined ,which may end

up in their lossofenjoyme nt for this subj e ct This problem was also discussed in

the the sis entitled "Br idging the Gap between EFL Language Study andLiterature Study: De signing a Reading Course for USSH English Majors by

Using Twenti eth-century American Short Stories " of Pham Le Sung Chinh,

~ 1 H ",i l<-"o/ .

Thirdly, it isackn owledged that FL literature , e.g British/Americarr' is not

an eas y subject to study For the first reason, studying literature in general

r equires stude nts' skill Not all stude nts were born to ha ve an aptitude forliterature study Studying literature requires not only students' language skills but

also their 'a bility to think' Moreover, it is common that stude nts have to dealwith "unfa milia r background references" (Lewis, 1999:200) and allusion s in FLliterature , which may sometimes make them 'strugg le' with the reading and

hence take a way their pleasure in reading it Language barrier is another factor

that makes FL literature se e m to be inaccessible to some stude nts They often

complain that the language used in literary works is old-fashi on ed , even archaic,which istoo hard to internalize or 'dige st'

Fourthl y, British/American literature , to gether with lingu istics, is a

compul sor y subject for the graduation exam for stude nts at FELL: therefor e, te st

anxie ty I S inevita ble So metime s, stude nts are so much concerned abo ut

ques tio ns or topi cs which are likel y to appear on the ir end-of-co urse te sts and

graduat ionexam that the ymay fail to appreciate the lite ra ry works

Fina lly, acade mic subjects such as British/America n lite rature ,British/A merica n culture, and lingu ist ics are not tau ght until studen ts of FELL

finish thei r first two years of practicing lan gu a ge skills and sub-skills It follows

that some stude nts find it off-putting to confro nt such a sudde n turning po int in

the curric ulum This probl em was also addressed in the above-me ntio ne d the sis

of Pham Le Sung Chinh (2000) In fact, some third-yea r stude nts compla in tha t

the y are put unde r a lot ofpre ssu re whe n they are asked to do some cha llenging

tasks such as ma king oral pre sentati on s abo ut the lite ra ry works or writi ng

liter ar y essays

The above disc uss io n underlie s the ne ed for atte mp ts to solve the seproble ms As Le wis (1999 :76) remar ke d "lac k of motivati on drags pe ople down

in their lan gu age learn ing and high moti vat ion pulls them up" Motivatio n in

liter ature study, though somew hat differe nt from mot ivat ion in la ngu a ge

le arning, sho uld not be overloo ke d Accordi ng ly, moti vatin g Eng lis h maj ors to

study British!America n literature sho uld be the first step to do to solve the se

probl ems When Eng lish maj ors can be aware of the role of Brit ish/Ame rican

literature in the curric ulum as we ll as in thei r life , both pro fe ssion al life and

social life , the y may be inspired to study it Once the y are motiva te d, the y

them sel ve s ma y de vote more time and energy to their literature study and seek

ple a sure in it

Neverthe less, enco urag ing students to read and study British/Americanlite rature can be a cha lle ng ing ta sk, especia lly for young and ine xpe rie nce d

te ach ers In orde r to enha nce students' motivat ion s In stu dy ing this subject,

teach e rs ne ed to know abo ut the nature and kinds of le a rnin g moti vation They

also ne ed to identify how much stude nts are intere sted in read ing and studyingliterature as wellas wha t re a son s lie behind the ir interest and efforts In add itio n,

an unde rstanding of students' perceptio ns of moti vational cause s can help

tea chers encourag e students to le arn It is fortuna te for language teachers that a

h ge volume of research on mot ivat ion in langu a ge le arnin g has been reporte d

However, there is no suc h a subs ta ntia l bod y of researc h on mot ivat ion in

literature study in FL cla sse s This has sp urre d the rese arch er to cond uc t the

survey to gain info rma tion about what stude nts fe el , think, need, and suggest so

tha tteache rscanrelyon it to seekways ofgiving stude nts ofFELL an impetusto

study British/A merica n lite rature ina more inspirin g way

OF TERMS, AND ORGANIZATION OF THE REMAINDER

0.2.1 Statement of purpo se

This study seeks to inve st igat e: (I) Eng lish majors' attitudes towardliterature and lite rature study ; (2) the ir motives for and goals in studyingBritish/American lite rature; (3) their choi ce of this subject, and (4) their

percepti on s of moti vational fac to rs In study ing British/Am eri can lite rature at

FELL- USSH, VNU - HeMe

To a hieve thisaim,a cro ss-se ctiona lsurvey was conducted and was ba sed

on: ( I) a questionna ire distri buted to fourth-year stude nts of FELL to elic it data

about the ir attitudes toward the reading and study ing of literature in gene ra l and

of FL literature in particular, their moti ve s for and goals in study ingBritish/American literature , their decision s to study this subje ct, and their

0.2.2 Significance of the study

The above-me ntio ne d the sis of Pham Le Sung Chinh atte mpte d to de sign a

entieth-century American short stories with an eye to familiarizing those students with

they study this subject during the last two yearsat the universit y

Anothe r the sis, which conc ern s about ho w to enhan ce le arning moti vation ,

is the one pre sented by Bui Diem Hanh (2000); ho we ver, her the sis focu sed on

high schoo l EFL stude nts, whodid not major in Engli sh

This thesis is the first to deal with Engli sh majors ' motivati ons in study ingBritish/American literature at the faculty and suggest ways to enhance their

0.2.3 Assumptions

This study is basedon the foll owingassumption s:

I The sa mple population of English major s in question is representative ofEnglish majorsof FELL - USSH, YNU - HCMe

and suita ble enough to obta in adequat e informati on for the answers to the

guid ing que st ion s/sub-que st ion s

3 The respo nde nts and the inform ant s are Sincere In re spon ding to the

que stionn ai re s and the interviews re spe cti vel y

0.2 4 Delimitation s and limitations

This study is de sign ed to apply to full-time Eng lish maj ors at FELL

-USSH,VNU -HCM C for the foll owing re ason s:

I Gene ra lly speak ing, the lan gu a ge compe te nce of full-time Eng lish maj ors

is considered to be much betterthan that of in-se rvice ones The former IS

also expecte d to be mo re confide nt and enth usiastic in respo ndi ng to

lite rary te xts

2 In-se rvice stude nts are usuall y working stude nts, so time constra ints

pre ventthe mfrom re ading and study ing literar y te xts thor ou ghl y

This study is also gene ra liza ble to Eng lish maj or s of Second University

De gre e bran ch atFELL - USSH, VNU- HCM e It isduly note d that in thiscase,

the study is subject to fle xibl e cha nges and ada ptatio ns for suita bility and

effective ness More over, furth er research ne eds to be don e , for the subjects of

this type posse ss some distinct ive characteristics For example , the y hav e morework and life expe rie nce but le ss time for thei r study ing than fu ll-time stude nts

do Anothe r commo nly percei ved probl em, which ha s not be en te stified yet, is

that the lan gua ge compe te nce of those stude nts is somew ha t lower than tha t of

full-time English maj or s

How e ver, this study lack s exte rna l validity, for the re sul ts canno t be

gene ra lize d to othe r populati on s orconditions outs ide the instituti o n

It must also be noted that this study ha s some re strictive weaknesses due to

the fact that the attitudina l que stionn a ire wa s administered at the end of the

acade mic year 2003-2004 (to ga in some information abo ut the wh le pro cess of

studying literature at the faculty), a 'se ns itive' time when stude nts had not ye t

re cei ved their grad ua tio n exam results This may ha ve affec te d thei r responses

Howe ver, as assume dabove, theirre sp on se s ca n be taken trust worth y eno ug h for

the re searcher to arrive at valid findings and concl us io ns Ano the r not e is that a

lon gitudinal survey is beyond the re search e r' s capaci ty due to a la ck of time.Thus, a cross-se ctio na l sur vey , which may not reveal thoroughly the

enha nce me nt of students ' moti vati on during the pro ce ss of thei r le arning , was

chose n To minimize the risk of bia s and to clarify the issu e , some related

que stion s we re rai sed during the in-depth interview

O.l.S Definitions of terms

Aptitude: This term refers to "the natural ability to learn " a subject, "no t

includ ing intelligence , moti vation , intere st , etc " (Richards, J., Platt, J., and Platt ,

H., 1992:198 )

Attitude: Attitude refers to "dis positio n to react favoura b ly orunfavourab ly to a classofobj e cts " (Sa rn off, 1966:279) (C ite d in Do Huy Thinh' s

doctoral dissertati on , 199 6 )

Autonomy: "T his term de scribe s the situa tio n In wh ich the learner is

tot all y re spon sible for all of the decisi on s concern e d with his learning and theimplementati on of those deci sion s " (Dic kinso n, 19 87: II) Ho we ver, as Sincl a ir

remark ed, Holec (1981 ) held "the more useful view that 'le a rner auton omy ' is

abo ut p otent ial le arner beha viour i.e the c apacity or a bility to le arnindependently " (Ca rte r and Mc Rae, Eds., 1996:140 )

Cross-sectional survey: This re se arch de si gn re fers to a surve y in whic h

"the survey informati on is collecte d atone point in time" (Creswell, I994:I 19 )

Curriculum: This is "an educa tio na l program me which sta te s: a the

educa tiona l purpose of the programme (the ends); b the conten t, teachingprocedure s and le arning expe rie nces which will be ne ce ssa ry to achieve this

purpose (the means);c some mean s for assessing whe the ror not the ed uca tiona l

ends ha ve be en achieved" (Richa rds, J., Platt ,J.,and Platt , H., 1992: 94 ) In this

thesis, the twoterms 'curriculum' and 'syllabus' are not interch an ge abl e

Full-time English majors:The se are stude nts of FELL who took Nationa lUniversi ty Entra nce Exam and who attend daytime classes

Goa ls or tasks:The se are "objectives of a cognitive activityor enterpr ise"

(Dickinson, 1987 :34 )

In-service branch/section: This term refe rs to everung training course sdesigned for working stude nts, who ma y/m ay not ha ve a unive rsity de gree inanother field, inorde r to get a B.Ade gre e in English

Longitudinalsurvey:Thisre se ar ch de sign refers to a survey in which "thesurvey inform a tion is collec te dove ra peri od of time " (Creswe ll, 1994: I 19)

Motivation: This is genera lly de fin ed as "the factors that dete rm ine aper son ' s de sire to do some thing" (Richards et al., 1992 :238) In second andforeign language learning, mot ivation can be defined as "the combi na tion ofeffort plus de sire to achieve the goal of le arning the lan gu age plus favourab le

attitudes toward learning the langu age " (Ga rdne r, 1985:10) (Cited in Do Huy

Thinhs doctoral dissertati on , 1996) In this study, le arn ing motiva tion IS

opera tiona lly de fined as stude nts' attitudes toward, mot ive s for and goals Inliterature study, and thei rdecision sto study it

Motives:The se contex tua lly me an reasons for le arnin g

Second University Degree branch/section: This te rm refers to eveningtrainin g courses designed for stude nts, who alrea dy have a university de gre e inanother fie ld, inorder to get a B.A de gr e e in Engli sh.

Sylla bus: This term means "a de scripti on of the conte nts of a course ofinstruction and the orde r in which they are to be tau ght " (Ric ha rds, J., Platt, J.,

and Platt ,H., 1992 :368)

0.2.6Organization of the remainder of the st udy

The introducti on of the the sis identifie s the probl ems, states the purposeand the significa nce of the thesis, pre sents assumptio ns, sets limitati on s anddel imitation s, define s some termino log y, and introduce s the othe r sections of the

thesis The conclus ion at the end summa rizes the study and re vie ws theimplications and re commend ati on s The rest of the thesis is divided into fivecha pters:

Cha pte r I pro vide sbackground informat ion to the study with a look at therole ofliterature in the curriculum for FL learners, a discu ssion ofapproache s toliterature study ing and literature te aching in EFL/ES L classroo ms, a de scripti on

of the literature sylla bus for Eng lish major s at FELL, and an account ofte a ching

expe riences of the parti cip ant -researche r at the facul ty

Cha pte r 2 re vie ws the rel e vant lite rature to pro vid e the the or eticalbackground to the study In this cha pte r, the nature, kind s and moti vati on alfactors of le arning motivati on in gene ra l as well as mot ivati on and mot ivati on alfactorsin literature study inparticula r are critica lly reviewed

Cha pte r 3 report s the utilizati on of the researc h method ol ogy in the studyand is subdivide d into two sections : re se arch que stion s and rese a rch design In

the re se arch de sign , the re search methods are discu ssed and the subjects,

instruments as well asdata collection and coding procedure s are de scribed

Chapter4 analyzesthe data and pre sentsthe findingsthrou gh the report of

stude nts' respon se sto the questionnaire sand the intervie ws

Cha pte r 5 discu sse s the implication s ofthe findings and offers sugges tio ns

and re commend ati on s to enha nce stude nts' moti vati on s In studyi ngBritish/Ameri can literature at FELL- USSH , VNU- HCM e

Chapter 1: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

This chapte r presents the back ground informati on fa cilitat ing the

understanding of the issue s discu ssed in this the sis The cha pte r comprises four

main sections The first se ction look sat the role of literature in the curriculum for

FL le arn ers, with a spec ific refe re nce to the curriculum at FELL- USSH,

VNU-H eMe. The seco nd section discu sse s different approache s/m ethod ol ogie s

commo nly ado pte d for the teaching and studying of literature in EFLIESL

classroom s, especia lly with re gard to the cont e xt of FELL The third section

describes the literature syllabus for third- and fourth-ye ar Engli sh majors at

FELL.The la st section is an account of personal remarks by the re se arch er as alanguage and literature teacherat the fac ulty

1.1 THE ROLE OF LITERATURE IN THE CURRICULUM FOR EFL/ ESL STUDENTS

Before the role of literature in the curriculum for EFLIESL stude nts is

discu ssed, it may be better to re view the definition of 'lite rature' Although there

have been severa l definitionsof the word, the one by Mea gh er (1997 : 129 ) can be

conside re d a 'traditional' concept of lite rature: " written expressio n dealingwith human e xp e rience in fin ely c rafted work s with a rtisti c qualit y " (with

emphas is added )

1.1.1 Rationale for literature in EFL/ESL classes

In the la st few de cades, with the dominance of technolo gy and busine ss,

which entails a boom of audiovi sual ma ss media (e g tel e vision , the radio,

new spapers, the Internet, etc.) and with the shift from Eng lish as an aca de m ic

subject to Engli sh as ESP (Eng lish for Specific Purpose s) or mere ly as a me ans

for socia l communica tion, the place of literature in the curric ulum for EFL/ESLstude nts ha s be en shaky The ne gle ct ofliterature in the lan gu a ge classroom has

partly re sult ed from the fac t that the writte n langu a ge ha s tende d to give way to

the spoken one (Ca rte r and Lon g, 1991 ) The que stion " W h y tea ch literature? "

has been raise d and discussed by man y authors As Carte r and Lon g (199 1:2)stated, "the r easons for te aching literature ne ce ssaril y tran scend the pa rticularcircumsta nces,plac esand conte xts in whic h literature istau ght"

To be gin with, Sandra McKay (Bru mfit and Cat er, Eds., 1986 ) pointed out

seve ral valua ble ben efits of lite rature study for ESL cla sse s In the first plac e,

lite ratu re study can help de vel op learners' knowl edge abo ut the langua ge and

their ability to use the langu age Se condly , stude nts' reading enjoy me nt can

evoke the ir interaction with a text and then increa se their re ading profic ien cyneed ed for their adva nced educa tio nand/o r future occupa tio n Lastl y, a possibl e

better understanding of a fore ign culture throu gh literature examina tio ns

concern ing cultura l difference s may spur their own imag ina tive writin g

Like wise, Collie and Slater (1987) listed four main reasons for the use ofliter ature in the lan gu age le arning class: valua ble authe ntic materi al, cultural

enrichme nt, lan gu a ge enr ichme nt, and pe rson al invol vement Sim ila r to Collie

and Slate r's (1987) argume nts for literature study, Carter and Long's (199 1)

ra tiona le, based on the le arning objectives forthe stude nt oflite rature , consiste d

ofthree models:t h e c ul t ural m odel , th e lan gu a ge m od el , and t h e p e r sona l g ro wt h

mode l These two pairsofautho rsgave insightful rema rkson the role of lite ra tur e

in the EFLIESL classroo m According to them, the te aching and study ing ofliterature in the lan gu age cla ssroom serve se ve ral purposes, which comple me nt

each othe r: enha ncing stude nts' cross-cultura l knowledge ; imp ro ving their

lan gu age skills throu gh the scrutiny ofauthenticmat erial ('authe nt ic' in the sense

that the lan gu age wa s writte n for nat ive spea kers); offering stude nts chances to'engage' or 'invo lve' in the literary te xt to seek ple a sur e inrea ding i or to bre ak

free from the mere sake of tests and exams, and to refl e ct upon themsel ve s as

well as connec tthe mse lves with the socie ty and the world the y are living in and

thus they 'grow' The la st view is also sha re d by othe r authors who care for

te achin g literature to native stude nts For example, in his article, Maure en C

O'Connor (from Le e High School ) (2003) state d the role of literature with the

motto "Lite rat ure as mirro r, literatu re as he al er ", i.e better understanding of

onese lf and de epe r apprec ia tio n and tolerance for othe rs Ano the r autho r,

Terren ce Moore (Principa l of Ridge vie w Classica l Schoo ls in Fort Collins,

Colorado) (2004), conf irme d his view in the sta te me nt "Great lite ratu re ena bles

stude nts to unde rstand themsel ve s and othe rs" In othe r words, it is widel y

acknow ledged that literature conveys humanitarian values

In their essay, Pachl er and Allfo rd (Fie ld, Ed., 2000) also adva nced and

explore d the thre e main re a son s for literature in the langu age classroo m by

Carte r and Lon g (199 1) in terms of lan gu a ge , socie ty and culture, and person al

invol vement The y also ale rte d the re ad ertothe benefits ofliterature study in the

MFL class roo m In the first place , lite rat ur e study help s build up stude nts'

lan guage repe rto ire since "lite ra ry te xts, due to the ir specific cha ra cteristics,

require certa in re ading stra teg ies, which ne ed to be tau ght " (p 244) In thesecond place , literature can be a source of enjoy me nt, for lite rature can satia te

stude nts' imagin at ion and creativity and te mp ora ril y take the m away from their

dail y worries and care Finally, literature , as a form of entertainmen t, can also

serve asan ed uca tio na l tool, convey ing moral and socia lvalues "inan interestingway"(p.245)

Like wise, Le wis (1999:197 ) made an apt rema rk tha t "It [the study of

lite rature] intro duces them [FL stude nts] to ne w waysofthinkin g and viewi ng the

world as well as pro viding them with exte nsive pa ssage s of lan gu a ge in a range

of contex ts'' He went on to stress the import an ce of literature in lan gu age

courses with thre e param et ers: l earn er' s l anguage i mpro vement, a so urce of

i nformatio n, and ente rtainment.

While othe r author s pointed out the benefit s of stud ying literature in a FL

cla ssroom , Lado (1964) discu ssed the 'practica l' purpose of te aching literature of

a forei gn lan gu a ge Accord ing to him, the te aching ofFL literature is not to tra in

stude nts to be com e profe ssion al write rs in that lan gu a ge but to ena ble them to

apprecia te a fore ign lite rature , i.e "to experie nce it fully" (p 155 ) He also

prese nted anothe r perspe ctive of te a ch ing L2/ FL lite rature , which is simi la r to

the cultura l mod el above : "to expe rie nce artistica lly somethi ng of the ta rget

culture"(p 155)

Two othe r autho rs, J A Aebe rso ld and M L Field (1 C Rich a rds, Ed.,

1997:156),offe re d a list that embraces almost allofthe above re a son s for the use

ofliterar ytexts in the L2/FL re ading cla ssro om :

• Topromote cultura l understanding

• To improve lan ua ge profi ciency

• To give stude ntsexpe rie nce withva rio us te xt typ e s

• To pro vid e livel y, enjoya ble, high-inte re st read ings

• To personalize the classroom by focusing on human experiences and

ne eds

• To pro vide an oppo rtunityfor refle ct ion and pe rson a l growth

Allthe above ratio na le for literature te aching and study ing in the EFLIES L

classroom confirms the lon g-establi sh ed place of literature in the cur riculu m for

language stude nts altho ug h it ha s expe rie nced ups and down s from time to time.1.1.2 The place of literature in the curriculum for students at FELL -USSH, VNU - HCMC

Quite diffe rent from the unstable situa tio n of litera tur e in some othe r

institutio ns, the nich e of lite rature in the cur riculum for stude nts at FELL USSH, VNU - HCM e ha s be en esta blishe d for more than a dozenof years The

-aims and objectives of the whol e curric ulum emphas ize the utilitarian rat ion al efor EFL, i.e "a s a tool for social communi cati on " and ope n a windo w to future

employment and more advan ced educa tio n (see Appendi x I) In order to fulfill

the aims and obj ectives, a tra inin g program was de sign ed , with a tot al of 210

study cre dits (equivalent to 3,150 cla ss period s), distributed in thr ee d istin ctive

s ections: foundation subjects (all in Vietname se exce pt the second foreig n

lan gu age ); su bj e cts to develop language sk ills (fo r the first two years at

university), and core subjects togethe r with teaching practice and seminars(for the last two years), with 69, 56 and 8 study credi ts respe ctivel y Out of the

75 study creditsfor core subjects, British/Am e rican literature ta kesup 26 (34.7%)(13 study cre d its for British lite ratu re and ano the r 13 for Ame rica n lite ra ture)(see Appe ndix I)

The de scription of the time distributi on for British/Am eri ca n lite rature

prove s the 'pre stige' of this subject in the who le curriculum of FELL As for the

lite rature course objectives, it is claimed that throu gh the study of Ame rica n

fiction and poetry from the Puritan Age to the zo" century ,stude nts will be able

to "understa ndand apprecia te the Eng lish language used in literary works as well

as the writer ' s attitudes and emotions" and that throu gh the study of Briti shliterary works, stude nts will be able to "apprec iate litera ry values of lite rary

works refl e cted in individu al life and socia l life " (see Appendi x I)

T EACHI NG

As there are cha nges in the way lite ra ture has be en ackn o wled ged in the

curriculum for FL stude nts, the re are different waysin which literature is tre at ed

Inother word s, approa ches to lite rature the in EFLIESL classroom are driven by

diffe rent conce pts ofliterature

1.2.1 General approaches/methodologie s adopted for literature studying and te aching in EFL/ESL cla ssrooms

Carte rand Lon g (199 1) mad e a distin cti on bet we en literature for study andliterature asre source.The firstcon cept views literature as anacade mic subject inwhich literary te xts are studie d and ana lyzed in the light of litera ry criticism and

students are required to demon strate the ir ability to re ad , tal k, and write abo utliteratu re The second conce pt vie ws literature as a me a ns to exte nd studen ts'

"produ cti ve lan gu a ge rep ertoir e " (Pac hle r and Allfor d) (Fie ld, Ed , 2000:238)through "valua ble exercises of lan gu age le arn ing " and to prom ot e perso na l

de vel opment by enco urag ing "grea ter sensi tiv ity and self-a ware ness and greater

unde rstanding of the world around us " (Carter and Lon g, 1991:3 ) The two

authors, Carte r and Lon g (199 1), placed emp has is on the 'enjoy me nt' and'fulfillme nt' that literary te xt s can brin g to readers Ho we ve r, they warned that

the two paradi gm s, thou gh not ne ce ssarily, could be mutuall y exclusive

The se two patt ern s of literature ensue the dispa rity betwe en kno wled ge

abo ut litera tur e and knowledge of literature The forme r was de fin ed as "theaccumula tion of facts" about lite rary works as much as possibl e whi le the latt er

emphasized "ple a sure and enjoy me nt" (Ca rte r and Lon g, 19 91 :4) The se two

authors advoca te d kno wle dge qfl ite ra ture by pointing outone possibl e weakness

of know le dge abo ut literature in te rm s of stude nts' lack of re sp on sivene ss andstude nts' lmied inte rpre ta tio n of a te xt , for there is not much active or

imagin ati ve inte rac tio n during the read ing thou gh it can help stude nts pa ssexams Anothe r disad vantage ofthe appro ac h 'kno wle dge a bout literature' isthedisrega rd of the potenti al interface of langu age and lite rature in lan gu a ge andlite rature study

The appro ac h of 'know ledge ab out literature' gene ra tes the product- and

te acher-centered method s of te aching literature How e ve r, the over-use of thisapproac h to literature and the foll ow-up method s can result in a bia sed , one -way

transmi ssion of informati on b the te acher, stude nts' loss of self-inte res t in

re adin g literature, and the ir lack of ability to invol ve in the me a nin g-cre ati onprocess Conse que ntly, stude nts tend to cra m for exams and rel y on "authoritie s

outside themsel ve s " (e.g the te a cher, histor ie s of literature, or book s of literary

criticism) (Carter and McRa e , 1996: xxi ) and the y canno t de vel op thei r lingu isticskills

Similar to Carter and Lon g ' s (1991)distinction between literature for study

and lite rature as resource, Mcra e's (1991) setof paradigms israther striking with

the two disting uishing conce pts of lite rature : Lite rat ure with a big 'L' and

lite ratu re with a small 'I' The former is considered a 'theoretica l' term, referring

to 'referential' texts (tha t inform ) whi le the latte r a 'practical' one, referring to

're presentational' te xts (that involve ) as well as 'ide a tional' texts (tha t evoke or

inspire) (these issues will be re turn e d inCha pter5)

Like Carter and Lon g (1991), who advocate d the lan gu a ge model andlanguage-approac hes to lite rature , Mcrae (1991) insiste d on the shift fromLiterature witha big 'L' to literature with a small 'I' altho ug h he did notdeny the

place for the 'high literatu re ', a term used by Brumfi t and Carter (1986) andPachler and Allford (Field, Ed., 2000:238), or "lite rature as the subject ofspecialiststudy" (Mcrae, 1991:17).Wha t he wanted is to make it 'more pra ctical '

by incorporati ng the use of "any te xts whose imaginative conte nt will stimulatereaction and response in the re cei ve r" into the "referen tia l use s of la ngu a ge "

(McRae , 1991:vii), i.e "with its emphasis on descripti on and de ixis " (McRae,

1991:3) Howe ve r, his approach seems to be more releva nt to re a ding course s in

a lan gu age progr am for lo we r-le vel stude nts than to academic lite rature study

courses for adva nce d stude nts As rema rke d by Brumfit and Carter (1986:25),

"the re may be a major confl ict in lan gu a ge pedagogy caused by the desire to use

litera ry te xts, and lite ra ry te xts ofte n carry pote ntia l danger if the reasons for

their use are not clea rly thou ght throu gh Good lite ra ry texts are not thereby

'good style ' for non-lite rary purpose s, and the y may indeed be misleading as

lingui stic mat e rial for le arne rs with non-li te ra ry le a rning inten tions"

The ne xt issue unde r discussion ha s somethin~g to do with the de sign of aliterature syllabus: in-bre adth sylla b us (which invol ve s a wide range of texts ) or

in-depth syllabus (which exploresa limit ed numberof text s) Advocate s of an in

-bre adth approa ch emphasize the ne ed for fluency in re ad ing and for referenceacross various kinds of te xts while suppo rters ofan in-depth approach arg ue thataccuracy must come before fluency by scrutinizing "the thema tic and lingui sti c

parti cularitie s of a te xt " (Ca rte r and Lon g, 1991:5) Howe ver, it is rea sonable

whe n they offe red a tentative suggestio n to combine the two approache s to

read ing literature

An ther set of approache s to literature is cha racte rized by s tylis tics ' andlanguage -based approaches

tw o

Accord ing to the se autho rs, sty listics tends to focus on produ ct-ba sed,

te acher-cente red classroo mpracticesand activitie s "even though an ultima te aim

isto provide stude nts with so me analytical tool s with which the y can find a 'wa

y-in' to texts for themselves"(p 7)

Based on othe r writings abo ut stylistics, in his pap er, Carter (Carter and

McRae, Eds")199 6) made a list of thre e adva ntages of sty listics: stylistics helps

foster stude nts ' interpretive skills and reading bet we en the lines of wha t is saidand hen ce build up their confide nce in understanding the work; stylistics

re a ffirms the role of lan gu age as the ae sthe tic mediumof lite rature , and sty listics

I Thi s t erm i s d e fined a s " a n a pproac h t o t h e s tudv of t ext s w hi ch i nvolve s a nalv sis of l anuuaue

~ '-'

u sc i n li terar y t ext s A mai n a im i s t o e mplo y a nal ysis o f t he forms of language to t ry t o acco unt

f o r p a rticular ef fects i n a t ex t A n th er a i m i s t o us e t h e a na lysis t o p romo t e u nd e r s t a ndin g of th e

li t erary p urp ose s a nd f unc tio ns t o w h ic h p art i cu l ar u s e s of l a n uage ar e p ut O ne o utcome of

s tyl is tic a naly sis i s t o be able t o ex p lore th c r elati o shi p betwee n what i s s a id a nd h ow i i s s aid ".

(Ca rte r a nd L ong 1 991 : 1 1 )

can work better with non-native stude nts, for the y are said to be mor e sens itive

andco nsc ious of the target lan gu age

Neverthel e ss, according to Carter,during the 1980s, the ove r-e mphas ison

sty listics cause d some problems in the teaching of literature in EFL/ESL Forexample, the assumption that the text has one centra l me aning,which is suppose d

to be objective through stylistic analysis, is subject to dan gers

Be sid e s, this approach to texts is best suite d to adv a nce d student s and that

lan gua ge-b ased approache s sho uld precede stylistic analysis Another

disadvantage to this approach isthat serio us concern s about linguistic forms may

enta il an ove rloo k ofother contributing factor sin the meaning-rendering proce ss(e.g histori cal, soc ia l, cultura l background , point-of view , author-reader

relati on s) In this way, the interpretati on ofthe te xt can be bia sed In addition,

stylistics seems to place more emphasis on a limited number of genre s, most

preferably poetry and shortstories by some authors whoare well-known for their

distinctive sty les such as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway

The language-ba sed approach, on the contrary, vie ws proce sse s of reading

more import ant than linguistic forms in the text It follows that literature study isinte grated into the language program and that the teacher role must be shifte dfrom 'te ache r that dominates' to 'tea che r that facilitates'

Carter and Long (1991) advocated the languag e-ba sed approach toliterature , but the y pre sented some ca veats conc ernin g the use of this approach

Altho ug h langua ge-ba sed approaches tak e the conc ept of literature with a sma ll'I' as a principle , "re gularly seek a 'way-in ' to te xts throu gh lan gua ge and

re spon se s to langu age " (Carte rand Lon g, 1991:9 ), and do not focu s on expl orin g

2.

the ae sth eti c qualiti es of literature, the y still ne ed to evoke person al engage me nt

h '-' - - - -

-, Tl , ) ' ! I ~ ; , ;

IS ', \ 11 . " , "I

In te xts Further mo re, it sho uld not be mistak en that in lan gu age-b a sedapproac hes literary te xts are used me rel y as lan gu a ge te a ching mat erial and tha tthese appro ac hes ha ve n pla ce for lite ra ry goa ls It is import ant tha t the sele cted

te xtsfor study crea te stude nts' "emo tio na l and expe rie ntia l invol ve ment " (Carter

and Lon g, 1991:4 ) and foste r their reading enjoy me nt The two autho rs alsonoted tha t lan gu a ge -b a sed approaches are suita ble at initial stages for lan gu ageand lite rature stude nts

The thre e mod el s for lite rature in the lan gu a ge cla ssroom (t he c ul t ura l

m od el , th e l angua g e mo de l, and th e p ersonal growt h m odel) are in fact in par all elwith the two different conce pts of literature (li t e ratu re fo r s tudy and li terature a s res ource ) and with the two ens uing paradi gm s (kno wle dge a bo ut lite rature and

k owledge 4 lite ra ture)

As a matt e r of fact, different mod el s, different conce pts, and differentpar adigms of lite rature entail different mod e s of peda gogy This ca n besumma rize d in the follow ing table:

Th e cultural model The la/lguage Th e pe r s ona l gro wth

Con cepts - Literature forstudy - Literature as - Literatu re as

paradigms sma ll 'I' - Literature with a - Literature with a

objectoflite rar y - Language-based - Literaryte xts for

texts asa lan gu age enjoy me nt

te ach ing re source )

Pedagogi c - Tea cher- centered - Student-centered - Student-centered

- Produ ct-b ased - Proce ss-ori ented - Proce ss-oriented

Table 1.1: Summary of app roaches/metho do logies adopted fo r lit erature

1.2.2 Approaches/methodologies adopted for literature st udy ing andteaching in the context of FELL

As the nam e of the facult y, the objectives set forthe litera tur e courses.and

the time allotme nt for the se course s den ot e, literatu re is expecte d to ha ve aserious tre atment at FELL There se e ms to be more emphas is on re adingliterature for acade mic purpose s than on re ad ing lite rature for enjoy ment

The re for e , a literature -b ase d progr am for Ame rica n lite ra tur e study, coven ng

represe nta tive works ofdifferent period s,diffe rent write rs, and differen t genres,was esta blishe d (see Appe ndix I) More ove r, the main approach to lite ra ture issupposed to be sty listics so that stude nts will be ab le to "understa nd and

appreciate the Eng lish lan gu age used in lite ra ry work s as well as the writer's

attitudes and emo tions" (as quoted in 1.1.2) In re ality, there is some fle xibility

and ada pta bi lity in the way literature has be en tau ght at FELL Te a ch ers usu all y

do not strictly follow wha t the curriculum require s Be sid e s the core te xt(s) foreach literature course, te ache rs are allo we d to use some optio na l te xts outsidethe syllabus Since stude nts are expecte d to be ab le to ana lyze a lite rar y te xt bythem sel ve s, classroom pra ctice s and activities are usuall y a combi na tio n of

le ctures, whole-cl ass or gro up discu ssion s, group or individ ua l ora lprese ntat ions/res po nses, group or individu al essays/wri ting proj e cts Extra -curricular activ ities are mainl y pla y performan ce s and mo vie sho ws There are

also some pre-re ading activities to prepare and enco urage stude nts to re ad butthe re are almost no language exerc ises during literatu re classes Stude nts'assessme nt is don e throu gh out the course Yet, there is still a tend en cy fortre at ing literature with a big 'L' and study ing lite rature for exa ms Such

approaches can be suitable for acade mic purpose s (e.g adva ncing one'seduca tion), but for the most part, the y d not serve the purpose "to use Engli sh

effec tive lyas a tool forsocia lcommunica tio n " (see 1.1.2)

1.3 DESCRIPTION OF THE LITERATURE SYLLABUS FOR THIRD- ANDFOURTH-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT FELL - USSH, VNU- HCMC

As mention ed above, the total acade mic cred its for both British literatu re

study and Ame rica n literature study are 26, which are orga nize d into eight

courses (four for British literature and ano ther four for America n lite rature )

Stude nts only sta rt to study the se two subjects from semes te r 5 Some gene ra ldirectivesconce rn ing time distributi on for British/Am erican literature course s are

summa rize d bel ow:

British literature American literature

of' periods time/week of' periods time/week

*45 cla ss periods +15 periods for homework writing projects

Table 1.2: Time distribution/or British/American lit eratu re co urses

As far as the texts for study are concerned ,althou gh se ve ra l texts for study

are prescribed in the curriculum the se lec tion of te xts for study in reality is

subjec t to fle xibility in some cases Yet one or more core te xt for eac h of the

eight literature courses is usually identi fied so that the re can be the same to pic

for those who ha ve to re -sit in exams There for e , i is better to look at what