LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES Table 1.1: Introduction to Literature syllabus Table 4.1: Factors that cause difficulties in learning EFL literature Table 4.2: Students’ self-assessme
RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH
Over the last few years intensive and widespread debates have taken place concerning the nature and purpose of teaching and learning English literature There used to be a so high degree of uncertainty about the role of literature in the fast moving world that Zach (1989: 11) asked a very embarrassing, provocative yet truly fundamental question, “Are literary scholars today in the situation of dinosaurs on the verge of extinction?” To some people, literature reading can even be considered as a time-wasting, dreary, and even ridiculous activity Not only common readers but also ‘expected serious readers’ like language students usually think of literature as something too academic, intellectual, difficult, and impractical
The same thing happens to literature in foreign language classes nowadays Due to future employment prospects, the number of students who enroll the literature course is smaller and smaller More young Vietnamese are joining in a fast-paced, hectic, and even frantic way of life Their financial concerns and practical viewpoints gradually erode their interest in literature Even if English literature is a compulsory subject in the whole curriculum, students will have no choice but study literature with less effort than that for other subjects such as translation, business English, and language studies They rarely have time for the enjoyment of reading a long novel or citing a poem in their mother tongue, let alone in a foreign language
Moreover, students’ lack of interest in English literature may also result from the way Vietnamese literature has been being taught in schools, usually imposing and centralized, rather than motivating and inspiring Pupils and high school students are not very often allowed to interpret a literary work in their own ways or freely respond to it They seem to copy what their teachers have said about the work for their exam papers In this way, their passivity and dependency are exacerbated, but their creativity and uniqueness are undermined, which may end up in their loss of enjoyment for this subject
In addition, it is acknowledged that English literature is not an easy subject to deal with since the learning of English literature is not simply an involvement of the four language skills Learning literature requires not only students’ language skills but also their ‘ability to think’, which causes certain difficulties in learning the subject since not all students were born to have an aptitude for literature
Besides, it is common that students have to deal with “unfamiliar background references” (Lewis, 1999: 200) and allusions in English literature, which may sometimes make them ‘struggle’ with the reading and hence take away their pleasure in reading it
Another factor that makes English literature inaccessible to some students is the language barrier They often complain that the language used in literary works is old-fashioned, even archaic, which is too hard to internalize or
‘digest’ In fact, some students complain that they are put under a lot of pressure when they are asked to do some challenging tasks such as making oral presentations about the literary works or writing literary essays
Apart from the difficulties in learning literature, the context of the shift to the credit-based system training since the school year 2007 has called for big changes in the teaching and learning of literature at the Department of English Linguistics and Literature (henceforth DELL) of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (henceforth USSH) American Literature has no longer been a compulsory subject in the graduation exam which is crucial to the whole curriculum for English majors of DELL The latest curriculum reform in the DELL permits students to choose whether or not they take literature as a major subject after finishing the course of Introduction to Literature This reform to some extent has put literature in a really challenging position, especially when the prestige of natural sciences seems to gain the ascendancy in society
And even with students who choose literature as their major subject, they still find it difficult to enroll the other literature modules, namely Writing about Literature, Selected British Literary Works, Selected American Literary Works There exists a gap between the first and the second stage of the curriculum During the first stage, students are expected to spend time on building and developing the four major language skills namely speaking, listening, reading and writing through compulsory subjects such as phonetics, language studies, advanced writing, advanced grammar, etc Therefore, many students cannot cope with literature and the big changes in teaching methodology adopted for this subject during their second stage of learning Here appears a need to form a transitional phase to help students prepared for the new subject and learning methods in order to improve their both knowledge of and about the English language in general and literature in particular
It is evident that many approaches have been suggested to help teach English literature more effectively and practically Nevertheless, it can be a challenging task, especially for young and inexperienced teachers In order to apply a suitable approach to the teaching of literature, which enhances and motivates students to learn this subject, teachers need to know about the nature and kinds of learning motivation They also need to identify how much students are interested in reading and studying literature as well as what reasons lie behind their interest and efforts In addition, an understanding of students’ perceptions of motivational causes can help teachers encourage students to learn
Another inspiration for the study is the concern over learners’ autonomy, cultural awareness, and personal growth It is believed that literature can be a great source of interesting and easily assessable materials for later self-study Thanks to the authentic interactions with many cultural notions found in the literary works, learners’ cultural enrichment can also be developed And the process of their personal growth can thus be reinforced After graduation, students are expected to continue teaching themselves for the sakes of not only language improvement, but also cultural enrichment and self-fulfillment
However, there is no substantial body of research on a certain approach which can be used to teach EFL literature to Vietnamese learners in this new context
It is in such direction that this paper, an investigation of teaching literature to English majors at USSH in the light of an integrated approach is conducted.
AIM OF THE RESEARCH
The urgent need of conducting a new approach to teaching literature is undeniable However, up to the present time, there has been no study with great focus on teaching EFL literature in the new context, especially the one that can meet the specific needs of English majors who are enrolling credit- based system at DELL-USSH
Therefore, the aim of this research is to figure out how effective it can be to teach literature in the light of an integrated approach after identifying learners’ difficulties in as well as expectations from the teaching and learning of literature.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
In terms of scientific significance, this research is to provide a theoretical framework for better understanding on an effective pedagogical method of teaching literature via the integrated approach, the new trend of teaching English literature to learners of other languages
Hopefully, this research will contribute practical significance to the application of the new approach to the teaching and learning of literature to students at DELL - USSH in order to better both the students’ study results and the teachers’ pedagogy
Besides the introductory chapter which introduces the rationales for the research, its aims, significance, and organization, this research covers five main issues which are dealt with in separate chapters
Chapter 1 provides background information to the study, consisting of (1) the new literature curriculum for students at DELL – USSH, (2) the Introduction to Literature module, and (3) the characteristics of English majors at DELL – USSH
Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature in four major sections, including (1) definitions of literature, (2) the knowledge about and knowledge of literature,
(3) the teaching and learning of literature in an EFL class, and (4) approaches to the teaching of literature
Chapter 3 sets out in details the methodology employed in this research, regarding (1) the research questions, and (2) the research design Accordingly, the subjects, instruments, data collection procedures and data analysis procedures are presented
Chapter 4 is to (1) analyze the data collected via pre-questionnaire, post- questionnaire, as well as class observation, and (2) discuss the findings from the analysis result
Chapter 5 ends the thesis by (1) concluding the main points drawn out from the research and (2) making some recommendations for later application
For an understanding of the study context, this chapter looks in detail at (1) the place of literature in the curriculum for students at DELL – USSH, and (2) the Introduction to Literature module at DELL – USSH
1.1 THE PLACE OF LITERATURE IN THE CURRICULUM FOR STUDENTS AT DELL – USSH
English literature has been a compulsory subject in the curriculum for full-time English majors at DELL –USSH for years After spending their first two years on learning and improving language skills via subjects such as listening, speaking, reading, writing, and phonetics, students had to take subjects on English Linguistics and Literature (including British Literature and American Literature) in the last two years The goals are set out as to enable the students to improve their language skills, to enrich their knowledge of the English people, culture, and history, to use English for their communication and future career, as well as to bring about a love for the target language More importantly, since they have to sit a graduation exam in American Literature at the end of the course, British Literature and American Literature have always been the subjects taken seriously by teachers and students Therefore, the place of literature in the curriculum for English majors is of great importance
Since the application of credit-based system to the university education in
2007, literature has under gone a number of changes and adaptation The number of literature modules included in the curriculum is reduced Except for the Introduction to Literature and Writing about Literature modules, the others are no longer compulsory subjects to learn Instead of enrolling eight courses in British Literature and American Literature (two courses for each semester during the two last academic years), students can choose whether or not they continue specializing in it Inevitably, students no longer sit a graduation exam in literature Since it is no longer a criterion for university graduation but a matter of optional choice, the important place of literature in the curriculum for English majors at DELL – USSH has been faded
1.2 THE INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE MODULE AT DELL – USSH
Introduction to Literature is the compulsory module in the curriculum of DELL
- USSH This module is made up 45 class meetings, which counts as 3 credits in the credit-based curriculum The teaching objectives of this module are to provide students with a basic comprehension of elements of fiction and to back them up with necessary skills to read, analyze and comprehend a literary work
In order to enroll the module, students are required to finish all Language Skills modules
The assessment policy for this module is based on two kinds of scorings The first one is from the mid-term test, which makes up 30% of the final result The second one made up 70% of which 20% is for attendance and participation, 30% for assignment, and 50% for the end-of-term test.
However, there are still chances for the teacher to replace the suggested literary texts by those which are still relevant to the teaching content and more suitable to the level and interest of the students Presented below is the preliminary syllabus for an Introduction to Literature course
Understanding biographical/cultural background Identifying the Formal Elements of Fiction
Concepts: Conflict – Complications – Climax - Resolution Practice: Plot in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
Concepts: Protagonist/Antagonist/Round/Flat, etc
Practice: Passages from short stories by J London, J Joyce and K
Concepts: Time and Place Practice: Setting in J London’s “To Build a Fire”
Concepts: First Person/Third Person – Narrative Voice Practice: Two versions of a fairy tale
6 Fiction: Image, Symbolism and Allegory
Concepts: Sense Impressions - Universal/Cultural/Contextual
Practice: Symbolism in Doris Lessing’s “Flight”
7 Fiction: Style, Tone and Language
Concepts: Language Conventions – Voice – Attitudes Practice: Style in Doris Lessing’s “Flight”
Concepts: Meaning Practice: Two versions of a fable by Aesop
9 How to Read and Understand Poetry
Concepts: Sound and Sense Practice: Analysis of “Stopping by Woods” by R Frost
Table 1.1: Introduction to Literature syllabus
This chapter has provided relevant information regarding the situation of teaching Literature at DELL – USSH The chapter also sketches a clear image of the course practitioners The description of the students’ characteristics adds final details to the picture of teaching and learning of Literature at DELL –USSH
The previous chapter has presented the background information crucial to the overall planning of the research This chapter provides the theoretical context of the study by reviewing the relevant literature in four major sections, namely
(1) definitions of literature, (2) the knowledge about and knowledge of literature, (3) the teaching and learning of literature in an EFL class, and (4) approaches to the teaching of literature The theoretical framework accounts for the design and implementation of the research It also serves as a cornerstone for the discussion in the subsequent chapters
Commenting on the efforts in defining literature, Meyer (1997: 4) writes,
“Understanding exactly what literature is has always been a challenge.” Critics and scholars have given numerous definitions of literature
According to Murdoch (1978), literature is a sort of disciplined technique for arousing certain emotions
As Selden (1989: 9-10) points out, literature is “a special use of language which achieves its distinctness by deviating from and distorting practical language.”
Rosenblatt (1995) supports the idea that literature treats the whole range of choices and aspirations and values out of which the individual must weave his own personal philosophy The literary works that learners are urged to read offer not only literary values, to use a currently favored abstraction, but also some approaches to life, some images of people working out a common fate or some assertion that certain kinds of experiences, certain moods of feeling, are valuable In other words, the literary work is not primarily a document in the history of language or society It is not simply a mirror of, or a report on, life
It is not a homily setting forth moral or philosophic or religious precepts
As a work of art, it offers a special kind of experience And as the language level, literature “is not qualitatively different from any other linguistic performance It is “an instance of the productive use of a limited number of linguistic structures in order to achieve communication” (Brumfit & Carter, 1997: 178)
And Barnet & Cain (2006: 87) clarify the term by regarding literature as
“human experiences”, but “the experiences embodied in literature are not simply the shapeless experiences – the chaotic passing scene – captured by a mindless, unselective camcorder.”