Job Discussion Forums

[zorro (2)]

Does anybody use literature when they are teaching? Do you think that it's beneficial to your students? What kind of literature do you use? What are your attitudes towards using literature in an ESL classroom?

Just interested in this topic because there are some people who are staunch advocates for using literature and there are others who feel it's a waste of time.

[spiral78]

When I'm teaching immigrants in Canada, we sometimes use Canadian lit. I think that in this case, there is some level of cultural justifications for lit. But even for my high-level students, I hesitate to require lots of it - and I think you have to be careful about outdated language with classics...Overall, I think if the particular piece is interesting for the students, it's probably good.

[Ariadne]

I have senior English majors and they have lots of trouble with 2 or 3 page essays and excerpts from novels. They get lost in the words. They really don't believe me when I tell them they can get a good general idea of the text even when they don't understand some of the vocabulary. They constantly look up words and scribble down translations in Chinese. By the time they finish reading they might have a few new words under their belts, but they have very little understanding of the text.

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[furiousmilksheikali]

Depending on the composition of your class you could consider using "graded readers" texts. It sometimes takes very good judgment to pick a suitable text but I have found that it is a good way of introducing students to new vocabulary as well as giving a good range of model sentences.

Personally I try to tie the textbooks to a particular sentence structure and have the students use this in a variety of ways that are both related to the text and too their lives in general.

For example you can have a survey in which they should ask each other to predict what will happen in the text: "Do you think X will....?" etc and have them answer using modals such as definitely, probably etc.

Then have them read certain parts of the text with comprehension questions before moving on to questions about things that are related to them. "Do you think you will move to a foreign country?" etc...

You could do similar things with having them describe the appearance or personality of some of the characters and then getting them to do the same with famous people they are familiar with, people they know or even pictures of people.

I think there is a lot of scope for using literature providing you choose a suitable text and have enough activities to engage them in the source material.

[Glenski]

Sure, people use literature. It's a fundamental tool.

Just what literature one uses depends on the situation.

Graded readers. Newspaper articles. Novels. Want ads. Poetry. Science texts.

What is the purpose of your class, zorro? And who are you teaching?

[zorro (2)]

Actually I'm not teaching at the minute. I'm just doing general research. I'm thinking of using stylistic analysis of poetry in future classes and wonder whether any of you lot have taught this in your classes before? Was it a success? How do you feel about it? There is surprisingly little written about the benefits of the use of poetry in ESL classes (empirically speaking anyway) especially the use of stylistics and so I thought I would tap into the wealth of knowledge that is Dave's.

Hit me.

[rusmeister]

My kids enjoy memorizing poems by Tolkien. Having seen the Lord of the Rings, they get that maybe the literature (including poetry, a dead art form in the US today) isn't so stuffy and boring after all.
My 4th graders just voluntarily tackled (and some mastered) the Ring poem (3 rings for the elven kings...)

Beams with pride

Agree totally with FMS. Graded readers are a valuable tool for teaching people who are beginners and pre-intermediate. It's important that the kids (or adults) feel like they understand what they are reading, and that they don't have to grab a dictionary every 5 seconds - which turns the joy of reading into sheer drudgery.

[Glenski]

Poetry, worse yet the stylistic analysis of such, is hard enough for people to comprehend in their own language. I would never use it in a class, and I would raise both eyebrows at anyone who tried to analyze it with ESL/EFL learners. Crawl before you run a marathon.

[gaijinalways]

Actually, it can be done, but it does depend on the level of the students. In the English department at my university, one professor teaches a Lord of the Rings class, and another teaches a poetry class.

I have taught English haiku to students in a comprehensive English program, but they balked at writing it .

[denise]

Only in very small doses, like a short excerpt that ties in thematically to whatever else we're doing in class. So few students these days, or at least so few of the university-aged students in the countries that I have taught in, enjoy or even appreciate reading in their own L1. To motivate them to read, comprehend, form opinions about, and respond to texts, I have more success bringing in current news topics from the internet than classic "literature."

I've tried to get students in reading classes to find novels that interested them to do some semi-guided extensive reading, but so far I have had very limited success--they tend to bring in magazine articles, etc. There are always a few bright stars who enjoy reading and even challenge themselves to read in English, but certainly not enough to fill a classroom!

d

[zorro (2)]

raising two eyebrows is a lovely example of expressive/image laden language that poetry is full of.

I used to think that poetry was hard to comprehend before I studies stylistics. Actually stylistics is not all that hard to understand. Have you taught your students about 'the song of English', stress patterns or have you taught them about SVO? Poetry deviates from this pattern and so can be an 'authentic material' for you to use. I'm sure you've taught your students about metaphor before, and also about similes. In fact lots of the things you already do use a stylistic approach to the analysis of the language that you are studying.

People often believe that poetry is inaccessible and feel very suspicious of it. Stylistics gives you the tools necessary for having a deeper understanding of your own language and therefore a spring board for 'tackling' poetry.

Another tool for your ESL toolkit.

read mick short, exploring the language of poems, plays and prose. very accessible and it will broaden your horizons.

[nickpellatt]

Introduced the idea of Haiku in English Corner, and spoke in small groups about it.

Will be planning a lesson around the subject when I go back to China in 2007, but only with my better students - and I expect to use it to prompt discussion about comprehension, rather than having them write their own.

I think Haiku will work as it is short - I dont expect m students to get lost in the text with too much to comprehend. Generally, it is simple, but to understand and 'see' what the author see's may take more time.

In all honesty, I have found in my brief experience with Chinese students, that they are not great at using their imagination and thinking outside the box - give them concrete things to learn and they are fine, but ask them to be creative and they struggle - for me, introducing small bursts of Haiku will hopefully encourage them to be a little more creative in their way of thinking.

[rusmeister]

[Glenski]

[yaramaz]

Wouldn't the fact that the kids are interested in it be of benefit, if they are courses taught in English? I know that if we had had a course in LOTR or American hiphop lyrics in the high school in central Turkey where I used to teach, I'd have witnessed a lot more enthusiasm for the mandatory learning of English.