Teaching literature – Article review and Critiquing my Lessons
Information about me:
I am currently a master’s student at a University in Germany, and I am studying Linguistics. I am focusing on ESL language development, specifically looking into how to apply the research into practice. To narrow down my interests, I focused on incorporation of literature into the classroom.
That being said, I took a class called Creative Forms of Working with Literary Texts. Last week, we were presented with an article about why literature matters and how to teach it in ESL classrooms. This was an incredibly informative article written by Grimm, Nancy, Michael Meyer, and Laurenz Volkmann, in 2015, and it explained different approaches to teaching literature in the classroom.
This was information that I thought necessary to write about and open up to other ESL teachers. This article is my own interpretation about the information I learned through this course. I want to compare it to my lessons, and how I could improve or maybe reward myself for how I design my lessons.
It is good to look at both positive and negatives equally in your lessons. I tend to criticize my work very harshly, and I am starting to learn how to pick out good things about my work.
In this article, I will refer to the article as follows:
(Grimm, et. al, 2015)
*If you would like to read this article, I am attaching the link to the book on amazon here*
On that note, let’s get into the article!
Beginning: What are the functions of literature?
We could probably come up with some ideas on what people generally read for: pleasure reading, emails, work, school, etc.
This book breaks down the functions of reading into two categories: personal interest and functional interest.
1. Personal Interests
Personal interest includes reading that might be for entertainment (Grimm, et. al, 2015).
For younger children, this would probably be picture books like “The Rainbow Fish” or “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”. Aside from being entertaining for kids, these are great learning tools (Grimm, et. al, 2015). They reach colors, verbs, and all sorts of vocabulary to children.
When it comes to teens, they might enjoy reading books like “Redwall”, by Brian Jacques, “Warriors”, by Kate Cary, Cherith Baldry, Tui T. Sutherland or “Harry Potter”, by Joanne K. Rowling. These are more relatable for teenagers and are entertaining because of the stories they tell and characters.
For adults, this could be reading of any interests that they may have including self-help books, astrology, baking, etc.
In my lessons,
I use books that include my student's interests to teach English. Books that are engaging and enjoyable to read. Something that they can relate with. I want to spark a joy of reading. This way, when I introduce readings that are more educational and less fun, they won’t immediately be bored with the materials. I base educational materials on the main source of literature (fun novels, interesting books) we use in the classroom.
2. Institutional Interests
Now we will discuss institutional interests. Growing up, my English class required us to read stories like “To Kill a Mockingbird”, by Harper Lee, and “The Grapes of Wrath”, by John Steinbeck. These books are chosen to broaden, our understanding of language, and grow our comprehension skills.
You can use these books to introduce social and moral conflicts, understand varieties of content, and develop their aesthetic taste (Grimm, et. al, 2015).
In my lessons,
I use books that are more modern, and may be of interest to the student, to try and teach about moral conflict. I have purchased the book “The Enemy”, by Charlie Higson and am trying to develop a lesson plan for it. This book is for entertainment. It is a teenage, horror book about zombies. (It is very scary) It is difficult to pull out comprehension questions and develop language from this book because of the way the book is written. It is not impossible, only a challenge.
Approaches to teaching:
Now the book delves into different approaches to teaching literature: intrinsic analytical approach, aesthetic and cultural analysis, and creative transformation and performance.
I am going to start with this graph.
(Grimm, et. al, 2015)
As you can see it has each approach intertwines with one another.
All of them are connected.
As with most things in life, we must have balance. And this model depicting approaches to teaching literature shows this type of balance.
Let’s take a look at each section with brief descriptions on activities that could be part of these approaches.
1. Intrinsic Analytical Approach
This approach is focused on the text itself, so looking at the way a text was written (Grimm, et. al, 2015). For example, if you are reading poems, you might look at the rhythm and patterns within the text itself.
Here are the conclusions drawn from this approach:
Benefits:
· Raises awareness of forms and functions of language and discourse.
· Example: imagery, syntactic structures, registers, discourse, narrative patterns.
Shortcomings:
· Implies that the reader only looks at the text objectively.
In my lessons,
This is an area I know I could improve upon in my future lessons. I often focus on a more Learner-Centered Approach with my students (teens or adults). I am still developing ways to look at a novel in an analytical perspective on the text. 😊
2. Learner-Centered Approach
This approach is based on the reader taking on the perspectives and experiences of the characters (Grimm, et. al, 2015).
There are three roles that the reader can take on:
1) Involved Participant (imaginative, emotional, ethical resources)
2) Detached Spectator (relating reading literary and cultural experiences)
3) Literary Critic (aesthetic making of the text)
Benefits:
· Learners make a subjective response to the text
· It’s an individual and social process
Shortcomings:
· Might be too limited.
In my lessons,
This is my strong suit. I enjoy seeing the student connect to the characters through different activities and in various ways. I am attaching some examples of writing assignments and speaking assignments that I felt helped my student connect with the main characters of the book.
3. Critical Literacy Approach
This approach claims that the other two approaches are simply too limited, and do not provide a well-rounded view of the text itself (Grimm, et. al, 2015).
Here is a quote that I really enjoyed from this text:
“Literature is not a mere source of information; it does not claim to represent factual truth …. but transforms information and interprets experience. Literature is a product or reflection of culture and a reflection on culture.” (Grimm, et. al, 2015)
This approach delves into interpretations and reflections on cultural beliefs, values, attitudes, etc. This type of teaching is where the students will dissect the characters behaviors, and often is connected with their cultural views (Grimm, et. al, 2015).
Some examples of this type of reading would be diaries, newspapers, journal entries, public speeches, advertisements, etc.
In my lessons,
I have had my student complete two speeches in the course for “The Giver”, by Lois Lowry, and in these speeches, they had to reflect on the culture of the people living in this society and determine whether their rules were justified. My student often stated that they were not and compared systems in different cultures to show similarities and differences between the society in the book and the cultural beliefs/behaviors of other countries.
I would like to include more outside resources into the literature lessons, like newspapers, documentaries (journals, diaries, etc), and other forms of literature. This is how I will continue to improve my lessons in the future.
Teachers who continue to education themselves and improve their materials are role models. I want to promote a growth mindset for all educators. I also want to improve the areas that I do include because I want to be the example for my students. 😊
Let me know what you think and leave a comment or like below! Feel free to subscribe to stay up to date on my blog. Bye! 😊
Bibliography:
Grimm, N., Meyer, M., & Volkmann, L. (2015). Teaching English. Tübingen: Narr Francke
Attempto.
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