Approaches to using literature

Approaches to Using Literature in the classroom... Literature means those novels, short stories, plays and poems which convey their message by paying considerable attention to language w

Approaches to Using

Literature

in the classroom

Literature means those novels, short stories, plays and poems which convey their message by paying considerable attention to language which is rich and

multilayered

3 basic approaches

1 a language-based approach

2 a content-based approach

3 literature for personal enrichment

1 A language-based approach

• material is chosen for the way it illustrates certain stylistic

features of the language but also for its literary merit

 integration of language and literature syllabuses

 detailed analysis of the language helps students to make

meaningful interpretations or informed evaluations of it

 increase of general awareness and understanding of English

 encouragement to draw on existing knowledge of grammatical, lexical or discoursal categories to make aesthetic judgements

of the text

2 A content-based approach

• texts are selected for their importance as part of a literary canon or tradition

 concentration on history, the characteristics of literary

movements, the social, political, historical background, literary genres and rhetorical devices

3 Literature for personal

enrichment

• material is chosen on the basis of whether it is appropriate to students’

• material is often organised thematically (German: Unterrichtsreihe), and may be placed alongside non-literary materials which deal with a similar theme

 literature as a tool for encouraging students to draw on their own

 it helps students to become more actively involved both intellectually and emotionally and hence aids acquisition

 excellent stimulus for groupwork

The NRW curriculum

Englisch Sekundarstufe II : Gymnasium/Gesamtschule (p 30) says the following about dealing with literary texts:

By dealing with exclusively authentic and thematically as well as

structurally complex literary texts, the students deal with demanding

topics, get to know different structural patterns, analyse examples of

differentiated uses of language, elaborate aesthetic effects and intentions while at the same time taking into account factors that are external to the text, and are asked to re-cast texts and create their own ones

a) Which of the above-mentioned approach(es) can you find

here?

b) What does that mean for your own (future) teaching?

A language-based approach to

using literature

Handout 1: Activities

Stylistics in the classroom

using literature.

• Traditional practical criticism:

 students are presented with a text and expected to arrive

spontaneously at an appreciation of its literary qualities

 no explicit guidance as to how this is to be done

 differences in the linguistic, cultural and literary

backgrounds between a native speaker and a language learner

→

→ intuitions about the language may differ considerably

 being expected to appreciate a text without being given a clear strategy for doing so →

strategy for doing so → boredom, mystification,

demotivation

Enable students to reach an aesthetic

appreciation of a text which connects its

analysis to understand how messages are conveyed.

Analysing a text for classroom

use

analysing the text;

Step 1

While looking at a particular text, note down any

These features may be noticeable because

considered grammatically or lexically usual;

would be created.

Step 2

in mind.

A two-step procedure for

stylistic analysis

Handout 2: Example & Task

Preparation for next week

Please read pp 35-38 and pp 41-43 in: Gillian

(reserved reading shelf).