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[rickinbeijing]

If this thread looks familiar to you, you're not suffering from double vision. It's also posted on the China Forum-Job Related. So please indulge me.

I'd like to discuss what I consider to be an essential element in any comprehensive secondary EFL program: authentic literature. Hong Kong professor David Nunan (1989) defines authentic literature as "any material which has not been specifically produced for the purposes of language teaching."

I have taught Amy Tan's short story, "Two Kinds" (also a chapter in her best-selling novel The Joy Luck Club) with moderate success to both first year and third year key senior middle school students, also adapting it as a one-act play and a series of duets. Since then I have also used poems by Robert Frost and Walt Whitman, again with moderate success.

Not surprisingly, I found that these students had little understanding of literary analysis, partly because they had only read abridged and/or adapted literature (or graded readers) before in their English classes and partly because they had little practice in reader response in their Chinese language classes.

What is your take on this issue?

1. Do you agree that authentic literature is essential to a comprehensive secondary EFL curriculum or merely desirable? If you find it necessary, what does it offer the L2 learner that other materials cannot?

2. What kind of experiences have you had with authentic literature, good or bad?

Special Request: If, in particular, you have taught or would like to teach the Amy Tan short story/adapted one-act play to senior middle school students, please PM me or post a reply here.

[Glenski]

1. Tough question. Desireable or essential? I'd have to waffle on the side of desireable. EFL in high school (what I figure you meant by "secondary EFL curriculum") is often mostly about grammar. Slip in a little writing and oral communication, and it's pretty much complete in most countries. That's what I've seen in Japan, anyway.

2. I teach in a private high school in Japan. My English lit classes are limited to 15-20 kids in a special high level class. We use graded readers and some young adult books for an extensive reading program. Those are for outside reading. We also give the kids 1 or 2 novels a little tougher than that to finish in the year. They are used for classroom discussion/quizzes/lessons/etc. Depending on the book, they fizzle drastically or they make a lukewarm response, which is pretty much predictable for Japanese kids. I also throw in some reading skill lessons to help them improve their reading (in either language), just to make it somewhat complete. More than half of my kids have never read an English book before they set foot in my class, despite their "high level" of English.

[rickinbeijing]

Glenski,

Thanks for your input from another cultural setting, albeit with strains of neo-Confucianist learning.

It doesn't speak well of the prospect for authentic lit in Japanese high schools if you're at one of the finest and these students are still grasping at bamboo shoots. Then again, do you teach the first year (entry level) students? If so, that would explain a lot.

If you have the inclination and time, try Amy Tan's "Two Kinds" and tell me what its reception is. Granted, it's set in a Chinese and Chinese-American context but I think many of your students would identify with the parental pressure conflict in it.

Why do you suppose its predictable for your students to give these longer works a lukewarm response? Have you tried culturally revelant literature or m/c Japanese-American or Japanese-Canadian young adult literature?

I have to say that 15-20 students is rare and a good number for generating substantive class discussion I should think. Or do you find your students are restricted in their response as much by a lack of familiarity with literary analysis as limited vocabulary to express one's ideas effectively and affectively?

[dmb]

OK it's not literature but it is authentic. I teach mainly high level business people. I often use newspapers, the economist and downloads from the internet.

[Glenski]

[moonraven]

I believe literature is necessary in an ESL secondary curriculum.

In an EFL curriculum--where emphasis is on language learning, it is only desirable.

[jr1965]

Rick,

I agree with Moonraven: that in an EFL setting, lit is desirable, but not always essential. However, I will say that when students reach a certain level, they very much appreciate reading so-called �authentic� texts in English versus those that have been written for an EFL audience (i.e., a lot of reading material you see in EFL textbooks).

I will also say that I've used excerpts from "The Joy Luck Club" in both EFL and ESL settings with GREAT success. It's a terrific source to use if you're teaching literature, in my opinion.

I�ve also used short stories by Ray Bradbury (a student favorite), William Carlos Williams, Kate Chopin, Jack London, O. Henry (he�s always a good one), and others that I can�t remember at the moment. Most of these I used in an ESL setting (with senior high school and first-year college students), but I do believe that all could�ve been used in an EFL context as well.

[amandajoy99]

good question!
i think what makes using authentic lit in class tough is that you have to teach your students how to read in a foreign language before you can get anywhere at all. they are used to reading short passages which are intended to help them learn vocabulary and grammar, so they're used to stopping to look up every word they don't know, and analyzing each sentence. they have to learn how to read without knowing every word they see - which is inevitable. they have to be able to understand words by context whenever possible so that the enjoyment of reading isn't taken away by hauling out the dictionary every couple of words.
i would be interested in hearing if anyone has had success teaching students how to go about reading this way. i'm working on weaning my upper level students away from their bilingual dictionaries and doing some context exercises.
a book in a foreign language can be a scary thing the first time someone tells you they want you to read it. i took a french lit class in high school and i thought my teacher was crazy when she told us we were going to read l'etranger. but now that i feel like i know how to read in a foreign language, i have no problem reading stuff in portuguese and italian.
the director of my school is pressuring me into using those horrible adapted texts, but i just can't bear the thought of my students reading mangled dickens or twain. especially since i know they are capable of reading the real thing.
so, yeah. desirable. not essential. and inauthentic adapted material is highly undesirable.

[moonraven]

Reading strategies--especially deducing the meaning of unfamiliar words from their context--are included in all the TOEFL courses that I am familiar with.

I start employing that strategy with students at the intermediate level by having them read news articles from TIME and NEWSWEEK, as well as short excerpts from stories.

[rickinbeijing]

jr1965:

You indicated that you have taught The Joy Luck Club in both ESL and EFL settings? Did you happen to teach it with Chinese students? If so, can you briefly describe the encounter? If not, with which nationality and which conflict most engaged those students? Thanks.

amandajoy99:
Fine point and important for me to note in my research, namely, that as an EFL teacher you must first move your students away from dissection and explication (what is done in intensive reading courses) before you can nudge them into the realm of global awareness of the text at hand.

Glenski:

You demonstrate how daunting the task of introducing authentic literature can be especially in view of the language and other cultural advantages of your students. From what you have said thus far, it would appear that Japanese secondary classrooms are no more liberated pedagogically than their mainland Chinese counterparts despite a more democratic societal impetus. Should I infer from this that neo-Confucianist thinking still reigns supreme in Japanese education?

[Glenski]

[Glenski]

[moonraven]

Dissecting complex sentences word by word--to find errors in grammar--is applicable to the grammar section of the TOEFL. (Have never done it that way as it is boring as hell--this is one of the sections of the TOEFL where I employ "calisthenics" to accompany error detection.) It is not useful for improving scores on the vocabulary and reading section.

[Scott in Incheon]

I have successfully used metacognitive reading strategies developed for mainstream students and at-risk students in my classes.

Most of my own research into teaching readng to esl/efl students seemed to indicate that most teachers do not teaching reading strategies beyond skimming/scanning/context clues...and it is really important to develop in students the ability to connect to the text on different levels and interact with it. This is something that good readers do naturally. Many students don't realized that they should be using the same reading skills with their L2 that they use with their L1. And many students have never been taught reading skills even in their L1.

With respect to authentic lit or any authentic text...I think that important thing is whether the students can find a connection with the text and believe that the text will be in someway useful to them. Authentic texts seem more likely to accomplish this.

[moonraven]

The key to reading well is thinking critically about the text while reading. I have successfully used many of Paulo Freire's critical approaches when teaching learning strategies as well as when teaching critical writing.