RUNNING HEAD: Non-native Literatures in English as a Resource
for Language Teaching 1
Prof. Jonathan Acua Solano
Critique on Non-native Literatures in English as a
Resource for Language Teaching
By Prof. Jonathan Acua Solano
Sunday, June 7, 2015 Twitter: @jonacuso
Post 174
Brumfit (1986) describes an attempt to reject set books approach
to teaching
literature and suggests to develop with students an attitude to
works of literature. The
problem with Brumfits idea is that, though he wants to give
learners freedom of choice
when it comes to selecting literary pieces, he continues to
circumscribe students within
the idea that we should teach real English literature (Kachru,
1980), an idea that many
literature instructors hold. However, Kachru (1986) proposes a
very different way of
dealing with literary studies: the use of non-native English
texts in the classroom.
What are the benefits of using a corpus of literary works that
include non-native
English texts? For Kachru (1980), the inclusion of non-native
texts imply relevant areas
RUNNING HEAD: Non-native Literatures in English as a Resource
for Language Teaching 2
Prof. Jonathan Acua Solano
of ethnography of communication, language pragmatics, and the
sociology of language.
In the eyes of Kachru (1980), nativization or the use of English
by non-native speakers
to write literature can also expose non- and native readers to
lexical innovations,
translation equivalences, contextual redefinition, and
rhetorical and functional styles.
The use of such non-native literary texts, then, provides a
challenge not only to the non-
native teachers and learners, but also to teachers and learners
who use English as their
native language (Kachru, 1980).
If non-native literary texts were included in a course syllabus
or school curricula,
would it have an impactful effect? The imminent result of the
use of this kind of literatures
is that learners can also be trained cross-culturally or even
intra-culturally. In the case of
the Costa Rican teaching context, several pieces have been
written by members of the
Afro-Costa Rican community that can enrich our mestizaje
heritage. For example, Dixon
(2004) focuses on the literary contributions of Afro-Costa Rican
writers and how their
treatment of place, language and nation configure a cultural
identity that is no longer
West Indian and is in contestation with the dominant
Europeanized culture of Costa Rica.
The promising of using non-native literary texts is immense and
potentially fruitful in
many senses.
As Kachru (1980) concludes, the use of this kind of literatures
provides learners,
a repertoire of resources for providing linguistic and
cross-cultural explanations.
Students can then be exposed to how English is modified,
innovation in writing styles and
its effect on comprehension, and what is meant by acculturation
on English in non-
English social and cultural contexts (Kachru, 1980).
