Using Literature in English Language Teaching

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Questions and Answers

What is a benefit of using literature in primary school ELT?

Improve critical thinking

Build self-confidence (correct)

Develop analytical skills

Promote cultural knowledge

Why is authentic communication encouraged in teaching literature?

To promote functional communicative competences (correct)

To encourage silence in the classroom

To develop literary competence

To improve reading skills

What is NOT a reason for teaching literature?

To improve reading skills

To promote intercultural understanding

To foster critical thinking

To restrict teachers in their choice of texts (correct)

What is a benefit of teaching literature in secondary school (Gymnasium)?

To develop analytical skills Signup and view all the answers

What is a type of competence promoted by teaching literature?

Literary competence Signup and view all the answers

What is a benefit of using diverse texts in teaching literature?

To explore different genres and media Signup and view all the answers

What is a key criterion for text selection in terms of length and difficulty?

It should be manageable for students Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary focus of literature for advanced students?

Short stories, novels, and graphic narratives Signup and view all the answers

What is a benefit of having a reading corner in the classroom?

It allows for collaborative and interactive learning experiences Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of literature for primary school students?

An emphasis on pleasure in rhythm and rhyming Signup and view all the answers

What is a goal for intermediate learners in terms of reading?

To become life-long readers with a appreciation for various topics and genres Signup and view all the answers

What is a consideration for selecting texts for students?

The text should be representative of diverse voices and cultural phenomena Signup and view all the answers

What is a key aspect of teaching literature in EFL classrooms using the Analytical Approach?

Identifying the rhyme scheme and rhetorical features of the poem to understand its literary devices Signup and view all the answers

What is a benefit of using literary texts in teaching inter- and transcultural competences?

They help develop empathy and sensitivity towards other cultures Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of the Reader Response approach in teaching literature?

Students engage in a dynamic interaction between the text and their own subjective mental images Signup and view all the answers

What is a goal of teaching media literacy to advanced learners?

To promote a critical reflection on values and actions Signup and view all the answers

What can modern adaptations of classics provide to advanced learners?

A comparison to selected scenes from the original, highlighting similarities and differences Signup and view all the answers

What is a key aspect of inter- and transcultural competences in teaching literature?

Literary texts are authentic cultural products that provide insights into foreign cultures and contexts Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary aim of production-oriented activities?

To generate new texts or rewrite existing ones Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of action-oriented activities?

Reconstructing a text from jumbled fragments Signup and view all the answers

What is the main objective of transforming a film scene into a poem?

To creatively expand the original text Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT an example of production-oriented activities?

Analyzing the themes of a novel Signup and view all the answers

What is the purpose of rewriting a text from different perspectives or in different genres?

To creatively expand the original text Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is an example of both production-oriented and action-oriented activities?

Transforming a film clip into a vlog Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary purpose of a pre-reading task in a literature classroom?

To familiarize students with the plot and setting Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of a bottom-up, analytical approach in literature teaching?

Analyzing the language and discourse of the text Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary purpose of a while-reading task in a literature classroom?

To encourage students to reflect on their reading experience Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of action-oriented work in a post-reading task?

Creating a mind map of the characters and their relationships Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of production-oriented work in a literature classroom?

Giving the characters a voice through taking on their perspectives Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary benefit of using creative tasks in literature teaching?

To encourage students to engage with the text on a personal level Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Session 10: Literature and Film

Why Use Literature in ELT?

Primary School:
- Knowledge of different genres
- New words in short texts
- Reading competence (comprehension)
- Fostering creativity
- Motivation
- Building self-confidence
- Listening to stories
- Speaking
Secondary School (Mittel- und Realschule):
- Improving critical thinking
- Communicative competences
- Authentic language input
- Getting to know diverse perspectives (insights into different cultures)
- Developing empathy
- Fostering creativity
- Expressing thoughts and feelings
Secondary School (Gymnasium):
- Cultural knowledge
- Exposure to non-standard forms of English
- Fostering analytical skills

Why Teach Literature?

Motivation
Reading skills
Functional communicative competences (reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing)
Authentic communication (encouraging questions, reactions, statements)
Literary/visual competence (genre- and media-specific knowledge)
Affective/emotional learning
Critical thinking
Social competence when negotiating meaning
Intercultural understanding (change of perspective, empathy, tolerance)

What Texts Should We Teach?

Literature for All Ages:
- Beginners: rhymes, songs, picture books, fairy tales
- Intermediate classes: short stories, poems, comics
- Advanced students: short stories, novels, plays, poems, graphic narratives
Literature Everywhere:
- In the classroom: reading corner, classroom/school library, internet/mobile reading
- Outside of the classroom: independent study at home, public places, internet/mobile reading

Criteria for Text Selection

Texts and films should be:
- Manageable in length and difficulty
- Interesting, engaging, motivating, and appealing to students
- Authentic and representative (with regard to the depiction of cultural phenomena)
- Adequate in terms of topic and age group
Texts should:
- Be thought-provoking
- Add to a representation of diverse voices
- Enable active, creative, and critical reflections
- Allow students to develop literary competences

Primary, Intermediate, and Advanced Learners

Primary School

Pleasure in rhythm, rhyming, harmony, (nonsense) stories, physical activity, and singing
Interest in unusual and exciting stories
Playful repetition and performance
Vivid story-telling with the help of Big Books
Holistic response
Lexical, narrative, and visual understanding
Describing and talking about pictures and stories, reenacting scenes

Intermediate Learners

Life-long readers
Various topics and genres
Original texts
Graded readers, simplified versions (adaptations of original texts and classics)
Meaningful communication and interaction

Advanced Learners

Media literacy
Inter-, trans-, and intracultural similarities and differences
Critical reflection on values and actions
Modern adaptations of classics in comparison to selected scenes from the original

Inter- and Transcultural Competences

Literary texts as authentic cultural products provide insights into foreign cultures and contexts
Fictional characters and settings can help develop an understanding for other norms, values, and world views
Change and coordinate different perspectives
Develop empathy and sensitivity

Approaches to Teaching Literature in EFL Classrooms

Analytical Approach

Close readings to experience form as meaning-producing itself
Typical task: identify the rhyme scheme and the rhetorical features of the poem
Content and context → interpretation
Make students aware of how the text works and how it influences the reader in their reception

Reader Response

Text as a source to be discovered and engaged with
Responsive reading (dynamic interaction)
Between reader and text
Sociocultural schemata of text stimulate reader’s associations and ideas
Reader infuses text with subjective mental images and interpretations
Sharing and coordinating perspectives
Recognition or critical resistance

(Text) Production-Oriented Activities

Aims:
- Generating new texts
- Rewriting a text
- Creatively expanding a text
- Alienating the original
Examples:
- Personal response in a reading or viewing diary or log, email, or blog
- Transformation of a film scene into a poem, a poem into a newspaper article, a film clip into a vlog
- Poster, a character profile of a protagonist, digital collage
- Book or film reviews edited digitally in teams and published online
- Alternative endings and various forms of rewriting from different perspectives or in different genres

Action-Oriented Activities

Aim: acting out or transposing a text into a different medium
Examples:
- Reconstructions of a text or film script from jumbled fragments
- Scenic re-enactments of a film scene or a dialogue, freeze frames, and spatial arrangements of certain scenes or conflicts
- Fake interviews with the film director or author
- Transformations into a different type of medium, for example, text into film, an image, a pantomime, music, or radio play

Classroom Approaches and Teaching Methods

Pre-reading example:
- Bottom-up, analytical approach (decoding and analyzing the work)
- Creative task: students write their own story after hearing just the title and the first sentence
While-reading example:
- Note down your impressions while reading the story
- Mood
- Spontaneous feelings concerning the characters and places
Post-reading example:
- Action-oriented work: create a mind map about the characters and their constellations
- Production-oriented work: give the characters a voice through taking on their perspectives, write an email about the short story

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Description

Learn about the benefits of incorporating literature into English language teaching, including improving reading comprehension, fostering creativity, and building self-confidence.