ETL 531 TEACHING LITERATURE IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE CONTEXT
1ETL 531 TEACHING LITERATURE IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE CONTEXTIntan
Nurbaizurra binti Mohd Rosmi ( E30103110097
)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ASSIGNMENTSEPTEMBER 2013
COURSE CODE
ETL 531
COURSE TITLE
TEACHING LITERATURE IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE CONTEXT
PROGRAMME BACHELOR OF EDUCATION
STUDENTS NAME
INTAN NURBAIZURRA BINTI MOHD ROSMI
MATRIC NO.
E 30103110097
ACADEMIC FACILITATOR
PUAN LAILY BT ZAINAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i. THE ESSAY3 7ii. THE LESSON PLAN8 - 19iii. REFERENCES20
1.0 THE ESSAY
Literature in English should be Taught in the Primary School.
Discuss. 1.1IntroductionLiterature in English should be Taught in
the Primary School, from the statement I agree that the literature
in English should be start in primary school. Primary school was
the base of educational level. Literature must be apply to primary
school because they should know how beautiful the language figure.
Literature is a pleasure which arises not only from the things
said, but from the way in each they are said, and the pleasure is
only given when the words are carefully or beautifully put together
into sentences (Stopford Brooke, 1992).The term and definition of
literature must be clarified by teacher to their student. According
to (Rosli 1992), the numerous intricacies and potential pitfalls
involved in providing a definition of literature may render the
notion that it is not worth defining. Traditionally, literature is
defined by genre (novels, plays, short stories, poetry, essays), by
modes of discourse (narrative, expository, argumentative,
descriptive), by time periods (Elizabethan, Restoration, Victorian,
Twentieth Century), by nationality (British, Canadian, American),
or by quality (traditional, classics).Now days, Malaysian has gone
through the vast changes in difference fields since it attained its
independence in 1957. Among these changes there was implementation
of policies related to educational syllabus and the medium of
instruction where language was used to impart knowledge. To face
the challenge, ministry of education always finds out the way to
improve and add on the best syllabus in school. The country had
inherited a divide and rule system from the colonial era where the
schools in the past were set up along the ethic lines and conducted
in different languages (Darus, 2012). Along the learning process
teachers would expose students to different texts and contexts as
literary texts are not only rich resources for language learning,
but more importantly, sites for the development of critical
thinking skills. Students would also be able to acquire the skill
of expressing their understanding and views of issues and themes
portrayed in literary texts from the dynamic reading, thinking and
interpreting process. With exposure to texts of various genres and
cultural contexts, students would also learn about intercultural
engagement from literary texts that portray cultural and
ideological differences. The integration of literature in English
as an integral part of language programmes is a long term
commitment which primarily exploits the potential of literature for
educational enrichment (Rosli, 1992).
2.0Creative Methodology Learning Literature in EnglishIn the
primary school, the teaching and learning of literature is merely
to inculcate reading habits and hence no assessment is conducted.
This scenario in Malaysian schools reveals that literature is
merely a component taught devoid of its aesthetic appreciation. The
skills in the syllabus emphasis critical and creative thinking
skills, the examination dictates the teaching and learning
methodology in the classroom. When this has been done the teaching
and learning methodology will change thus ensuring the
sustainability of the teaching of literature as a standalone
subject. In fact more research into the potential and possibilities
of literature learning was proposed to be a contributing condition
that would support literature learning in the long term.There was
various ways to attract student in learning process. Immersion
activities was very common in learning process which is we
immersing the students in a range of creative activities before
reading the text. Means that, they are fully prepared, and excited,
about the reading journey ahead of them. Painting was the most
increasing the excitement activity for student to understand the
education activity. Through music composition, a film project, in
role drama or sculpture, the student have had a chance to share
vocabulary, ideas and concepts which gives their reading fresh
meaning and purpose.Reading literature must have the powerful way
to grab the student attention in class. For example, the Malay
story of Sang Kancil dan Sang Buaya. This book is nicely
illustrated for kids in pre-school. There are many colors and
images in the books which can attract the student to read. Every
page is illustrated and easy to understand, its easily to bring
student into the story. In primary school level, teacher and
parents should choose the best reading material such as the story
deals with values of ordinary life, the question of money, love,
family and health. Student could explain during the literature
activities with their own feelings and emotions from the story and
implement it with the real life.Focus on strategies being the main
things in successful each activities or project. One of the famous
activities was drama which to engage and inspire the students. The
use of drama is such a powerful tool. Taking the lead from our
drama specialist, all teaching staff uses a range of techniques to
promote the exploration of characters, situations and historical
events. This process expands the students imaginations, and
provides them with the ideas they need to give their writing that
extra spark and flair. A smart teacher present successful student,
from the statement shows that the most important in learning
process was how creative and proactive the teacher. Teacher must
find out the best way to teach literature in primary school. They
must create something simple but its too special and creative which
easy for student to understand. A teacher can make significant
difference in how a student is able to learn from and appreciate
literature in a foreign language. When encouraging students to read
literature we can start by assigning them fables, comic books or
songs to read. It depends on a level of students when they are
comfortable with one of those categories of writing it is time to
move to a more complex level of the written word (Petra, 2011).
3.0Positive Impact of Learning Literature in English In primary
school, while reading any authentic literature students are
naturally taken to stories and get into the situation. Using
literature in classes can improve students reading comprehension
skills. Students can learn about culture and social background of
main heroes in the book, so they can more understanding of
historical events as well. Students need to feel that they can
relate to what they are reading. Reading literature promotes
cultural understanding and awareness, trains mind and literature
itself can be memorized. Literature is open to interpretation. It
can serve as a basis for authentic interaction between students.
They will discuss about the excitement of story among them. A
teacher should enjoy the hunt for the knowledge and share the
enjoyment (Petra, 2011).Some students have opportunity to visit to
selected countries which give them valuable experience in cultural,
heritage and traditional lifestyle, but some students are not. Even
though, they not are there but they can learn and earn the
experience through reading story books, textbook and via media.
Familiarity with culture symbols helps students to feel more
confident and fluent. They need to become aware of the lifestyles
of people in the different culture. From the situation, I believe
that student should start learn the literature in primary school,
this way to promote or introduce them about different cultures and
lifestyle when learning the foreign language. This situation needs
involvement by parents to train the students instead of
teacher.
4.0Pros and ConsThere were lots of pros in learning literature
in English; therefore it can increase knowledge and experience. The
study of literature is important because it was the most basic to
improve reading and writing skills. When we able to used foreign
language, it will allow our interaction and communication in
English. For example when I read Arnab dan Kura-kura and there was
wonderful to me when I told my student about the story using simple
and easy English language. There was a lot of implicit meaning and
experience from the story. Literature offers students the
opportunity to discover, think, evaluate, and analyzed the world
around them in border and more universal terms. Studying literature
naturally lends them to involving those higher levels thinking in
future. Literature allows me and my student to talk to one another
more empathetically and knowledgeably. There were some cons in
learning literature in English. Now days, Malaysian faces a number
of challenges as far as the teaching of literature in English is
concern. Firstly, Malaysia should produce the most competent
teachers to teach in English. To provide the best competent teacher
it was long term cycle of education. Secondly, what is the best
approach to teach English to multilingual students from different
part of Malaysia. Thirdly, do we have enough competent teachers to
teach literature in English from the pre-school to year 6 for
primary school. Fourthly, its going to be extreme for rural areas,
many students lack the expose of English language. There was
limited communicative use of English. According to Darus 2009,
these issues need to given serious attention because whatever
policies the government holds for the teaching of English in
Malaysia, its successful will be determined by the teachers in
classroom.
5.0ConclusionAs the conclusion, for the theoretical part there
was written why to use literature in English, the creative
methodology in teaching literature and benefit of literature in
English language in primary school. There are also described what
considerations the teachers need to make before starting with
depicted the role of reading. Most of the suggested teaching
strategies encourage the use of small group work as research
indicates that small group tasks provide opportunities for learners
to comprehend, produce and negotiate meaning, while increasing the
quantity of talk by individual learners will improving the quality
of student talk also allowing greater potential for the
individualization of instruction and promoting a positive affective
climate which increasing student motivation.It is understood that
most teachers would like to maintain the flexibility to select,
adapt, and design the teaching materials and activities for the
classroom. Teachers are not expected to implement all the outlined
teaching strategies in classroom, while they also should clear the
purpose, focused on strategies or projects and create the most
creative immersion activities. Social skills can give more
beneficial through learning literature. In primary school, social
skills will help student to be more interactive in their daily
routine either at school or their home. Students are able to relate
to the characters in the stories and are able to connect to their
own lives. As a teacher I will continue to influence their
behaviors in a positive way
From overall discussion, I totally agree for Literature in
English Should be Taught in the Primary School. This is one of the
best ways to open Malaysians eye about the important of English in
this era and how about others culture. Eventually Bahasa Melayu
(Malay) was declared as the sole of national language in 1967, but
English also should be learning as well. Another positive thing
about this program was that more students started to read in
English instead of their mother language. This is due to world
educational was in English meaning that to be the international
professional we need to start from the beginning learning English.
Primary school is the best place to start teaching literature in
English which they can learn a lot of new words, phrases, but also
what was important they learnt about foreign culture.
2.0 LESSON PLAN
Date : 28th October 2013Class : Year 5 Number of Pupils : 25 ( 5
Boys, 20 Girls)Time : 8.40 am 9.40 amTheme : World of
KnowledgeTopic : Unit 6: Splashes of colours; Helping HandsMain
Skills : WritingIntegrated Skills : Listening, Speaking and
Reading.Curriculum Specification :2.3.1 Name and identify
things3.4.2 Read aloud sentences in text observing correct stress
and intonation4.3.2 Construct simple sentences and compound
sentences.
Objectives : By the end of the lesson, pupils will be able to:i)
Identify and state the names of colours at least 6 out of 10
colours correctly.ii) Spell the names of the colours correctly at
least 6 out of 10 colours correctly.iii) Understand precisely of
adjectives and identify the correct answers by fill in the blanks
at least 5 out of 7 sentences correctly.vi) create simple form
using correct tenses at least 4 sentences out of 7 sentences
given.Previous Knowledge : Pupils already know the colours of
rainbow.Language Input : Simple WH - questionsTeaching Aids :
Colourful balloons, Graphic organizer, picture, worksheet,
flashcards, text bookMoral Values: Being grateful, thankful,
Unconditional Love, KindnessEducational Emphasis / Thinking Skills
: Active Listening, Arranging, Classifying, Cooperative,
Interaction, Questioning, interpersonal, intrapersonal.Multiple
Intelligences : Bodily-kinesthetic, visual-spatial, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, naturalistic, verbal-linguistic
Stage / TimeContentTeaching and Learning
ActivitiesRationaleRemarks
Set Induction(5 minutes)Teacher plans a game for
pupils.(Speaking and writing skill)1. Teacher gives several
balloons with different colours to pupils. 2. Teacher asks pupils
to move and find their friends with the same colours of balloons.
3. Teacher asks pupils to spell and write their colours on the
black board. If the spelling of the words is wrong, the other
groups can correct them.4. Teacher introduces the topic and writes
on the blackboard.SPLASHES OF COLOURS1. To allow pupils to enjoy
games and know the colours.
2. To allow pupils to spell colours correctlyResources:Balloons
with different colours. (Red, purple, green, pink, blue,
brown)Multiple Intelligences:Verbal-linguistic, visual-spatial,
bodily-kinesthetic
Presentation
(25 minutes)Youtube A poem about colours
Talking pointGroup discussion(Reading, listening and speaking
skills)1. Teacher shows a video clip of A poem about colours.2.
Teacher talks about the poem with pupils.3. Teacher explains on how
to create a simple poem using an adjective. 4. Teacher refreshes
the pupils about adjectives.5. In small groups, pupils identify the
adjectives 6. Teacher discusses the answers with pupils. 7. Pupils
read the sample of poem given by the teachers.8. Teacher checks on
pupils pronunciation and intonation.
1. To allow pupils to talk and give ideas.
2. To encourage pupils to identify the adjectives correctly.
Resources:Text book (Activity A page 62, Activity B ,C, D,
page63)
Multiple IntelligencesVisual-spatial, verbal-linguistic,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic
Moral Value: Gratitude,
Stage / TimeContentTeaching and Learning
ActivitiesRationaleRemarks
Production(20 minutes)
Making sentences(Writing skill)1. Pupils write at least 10 names
of the colours they have learned, teacher gives the names of the
colours with a few missing letters. Let pupils fill in the missing
letters.(Appendix 4)2. For advance and intermediate pupils, teacher
encourages pupils to write out simple poem based on the colours
they have learnt.4. For low pupils, teacher asks pupils to fill in
the blanks in the sentences given.(Appendix 5)5. Teacher picks
volunteer to read the poem they have create.
To encourage pupils to write a simple and compound sentences
according to the questions given.ResourcesWorksheet, Text book
(Activity E page 63)
CCTS:Look for patternsMoral Value:Co-operation, diligence
Multiple Intelligence:Bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal
Closure(10 minutes)
1. Songs 2. Puzzle3. Worksheet1. Teacher plays the song of
colours and asks the pupils to sing along.2. Teacher ask pupils to
complete puzzle in activity D 3. Teacher discusses the
answer.(Appendix 6)3. Teacher asks pupils to do homework in the
textbook.Exercise A, C and F4. Teacher will discuss the answers on
the next lesson5. Teacher praises the pupils.To reinforce pupils
understanding on the topic.Resources:Worksheet
Multiple Intelligence:Verbal-linguistic, Visual-spatial
CCTS:Predicting
2.1 THE APPENDICS
Activity B text book page 63Look at the splashes of colours
below. Identify and name the colours.APPENDIX 11. yellow2. white3.
blue4. pink5. purple6. brown7. black8. green9. red10. turquoise11.
grey
APPENDIX 2
Spelling game 1. purple2. magenta3. turquoise4. beige5. orange6.
grey
APPENDIX 310 names of colours (any 10)
1. y_l_ _w2. _e_3. _ur_ _e4. g_ _e_5. _r_ y6. b_ _c_k7. _i_k8.
b_o_n9. _h_t e10. b_ _e11. _r_n_e12. b_i_e13. t_r_u_ _s_14. m_g_
_t_
APPENDIX 4SAMPLE OF POEM
APPENDIX 5COMPLETE THE PUZZLE BELOW.
6
123
4
5
ACROSSDOWN
1. The 2nd colour in the rainbow.2. Colour found in our national
flag
2. The sea is _______________.3. We must ___________ the
earth
5. The last colour in the rainbow.6. ________ have a perfect
colour
2.2 REFLECTION
As teachers of English our main concern is to help learners
acquire communicative competence. For this reason we tend to focus
on teaching standard forms of linguistic expression. Communicative
competence is more than acquiring mastery of structure and form. It
also involves acquiring the ability to interpret discourse in all
its social and cultural contexts. For this reason, the use of
literature in the classroom can provide a powerful pedagogic tool
in learners linguistic development. Literature in a language
classroom provides enough space for the learners to comment,
justify and mirror themselves. Such a class can enhance the
critical thinking abilities of the learners and at the same time
maintain a learner centre environment. Thus, it gives the teacher
an opportunity to open a broad context of language use for the
students. By using literary text the language class can turn out to
be lively and motivating. Literary texts are a rich source of
classroom activities and can surely prove to be very motivating for
learners. No wonder the use of literary pieces play a significant
role in English Language Teaching. Literature opens a new world to
the students. It cultivates the critical abilities of the
students.
The focus of literature teaching is to make the students
comprehend the meaning that the author tries to express and explain
at the same time to expand their thinking and language abilities.
Students can learn the four skills, namely reading, writing,
speaking, and listening and this can be learnt because of literary,
cultural, higher-order thinking and motivational benefits. Through
a piece of literary work a learner can get the chance to learn
vocabulary, discover question answers, evaluate evidence
individually and in group discussion, grow analytical power and
learn many grammatical aspects.
The learners in my class are mix abilities class students. The
class consists of 25 students, and I have arranged the desks in U
shape because I want to see them during our class time, and also it
is easy to have some group and pair works here. To make lessons
more fun I find some additional listening materials from online
sources or websites such as YouTube, ESL websites, etc. I usually
assign links to my students to watch or listen to, and give some
questions that I prepare so that they can practice their listening
at home. However, since English is not the first language at home,
they do not have much possibility to practice their speaking at
home. For this, I try to give them communicative tasks that they
can listen to at home and communicate in class. Furthermore, in
each class, we have projectors and computers for using technology
for the benefit of my students. That is why it is easy to apply the
new technologies to my classes. Briefly, since the curriculum not
included the literature terms, I need to use some additional
materials for my students with the help of the technology in my
classrooms.
The class went as I expected, even though I could not get the
responses that I expect from the students in my microteaching. In
other words, since the students a bit awkward and do not know much
about literature, they were somewhat surprised when they
encountered with the integrating activities on literature which is
poem. This made me feel unconfident at the beginning although I
gained my confidence back after interacting with them. At the
beginning of the class, I felt anxious because felt that students
cannot cope up with the activities that Ive planned. This made me
feel anxious although I tried not to seem anxious; however, through
the end I got my confidence back. I especially liked the
presentation of the poem because the students had a lot of fun. One
of them wanted to be famous A Samad Said, and his imitating A Samad
Said was fun and we as a whole class enjoyed the presentation part
while listening to student poem.
Moreover, the integrating lesson with literature have open my
eyes that lesson could be much fun and lively yet communicative
approach succeed. I also gave the students a voice in class while I
was the facilitator or a guide. Secondly, since I believe that the
evaluation should be based on alternative assessments in language
classrooms, I applied such techniques as role play and discussion.
Additionally, I assert that communication and interaction among
students should be encouraged, and I tried to create interaction
opportunities among students with the help of pair and group work
activities. Also the material was authentic and the atmosphere that
I created was low filtered one so that students can focus on the
main issue.Lastly, after I watched my video taken during my
microteaching, I realized that I was anxious and I, myself, replied
some of my questions to students at the comprehension questions
part. Also from my friends feedback, I realized that I could have
asked some other eliciting questions for the role play part. Some
of my friends think that writing some of the vocabularies and
idioms on the board and using technology and visuals were good
techniques of mine. Furthermore, I seemed confident most of the
time and I was organized and prepared. My friends think that
students may get bored of such a long listening passage and they
suggest me to divide the listening passage into a few parts;
however, in my teaching context, students encounter listening
passages just like this one and maybe longer ones at the exam. So I
had to use a listening passage that is longer from one aspect or
that is at a normal length when the students level is considered.
Another point is that I should have applied more error corrections
after they have finished their role play; however, I could not find
enough time to do error correction because of time limitation, so
the lesson ended with their role plays and giving homework. Having
such a chance as my friends feedback and the video recording helped
me a lot to see my weak and strong sides in teaching L2. And also
the idea of videotaping the micro teachings was a good idea because
I believe that one can criticize himself/herself if he/she watches
the video without caring about the other peoples ideas even if that
person is sensitive to cultures and cannot accept criticism from
other people.
In conclusion, there are many benefits to using literature in
the ESL classroom. Apart from offering a distinct literary world
which can widen learners understanding of their own and other
cultures, it can create opportunities for personal expression as
well as reinforce learners knowledge of lexical and grammatical
structure. Moreover, an integrated approach to the use of
literature offers learners strategies to analyse and interpret
language in context in order to recognize not only how language is
manipulated but also why. An integrated approach to the use of
literature in the language classroom offers foreign language
learners the opportunity to develop not only their linguistic and
communicative skills but their knowledge about language in all its
discourse types. The use of literary texts in the language
classroom can be a potentially powerful pedagogic tool.
3.0 REFERENCEAnonymous, 2012. The Role of Literature in The
Malaysian English Language Classroom. University Malaya,
Malaysia.Michael Lomonico. Why We Teach Literature (and How We
Could Do It Better).Petra Faktorov, 2011. Using Literature in
English Lessons in The Basic School Recognizing Cultural Images and
Symbols. Masaryk University BRNO.Rosli, 1991. Teaching Literature
In ESL in a Malaysian Content. University of Nottingham. United
Kingdom.Saadiyah Darus, 2009. The Current Situation and Issue of
The Teaching of English In Malaysia. Malaysia.Stopford Augustus
Brooke, 1992. The History of Early English. Macmillian and Co. page
2.
ETL 531 TEACHING LITERATURE IN THE SECOND LANGUAGE CONTEXT
