Towards a Reappraisal of Literary Competence within the Confines of ESL/EFL Classroom
الموضوعات :Mohammad Mahdi Sharifi 1 , Mohammad Reza Talebinejad 2 , Mansour Koosha 3 , Akbar Afghari 4
1 - Instructor, Amin Institute of Higher Education
2 - Associate professor, Islamic Azad university, Shahreza branch
3 - Associate professor, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan branch
4 - Associate professor, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan branch
الکلمات المفتاحية: literary genres, ESL/EFL instruction, literary competence, culture transmitters, literature instruction assessment,
ملخص المقالة :
The present paper aimed at highlighting the judicious incorporation of literary genres (i.e. novel, short story/fiction, drama, and poetry) as a supposedly inspiring teaching technique and an allegedly potent learning resource into ESL/EFL curricula. The rationale behind this pedagogical inclusion is to promote both teaching and learning effectiveness through capitalizing intensively on the genres so as to teach basic language skills and language areas- macro and micro levels. Much mention was made of the 'why' (i.e. justification and benefits), the 'how' (i.e. logistical considerations), the 'where' and the 'when' (i.e. spatiotemporal factors) aspects of introducing literary texts into the confines of the ESL/EFL classroom. What this vigorous discussion spawned was some detailed accounts of literary competence as an overarching term consisting of morphological, lexical, phonological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, discourse, stylistic, and sociolinguistic / sociocultural knowledge bases . Afterwards, evaluation process as the last but most important element of the teaching-learning process was explicated. In the end, seven solutions to the problems and dangers of using culture transmitters in the ESL/EFL classroom were suggested in an attempt to bring literature and ESL/EFL pedagogy into a happy contact leading to teaching and learning effectiveness maximization.
Akyeland, A., & Yalcin, E. (1990). Literature in the EFL class: A study of goal-achievement in congruence. ELT Journal, 44(3), 174-180.
Ariogul, S. (2001). The Teaching of Reading through Short Stories in Advanced Classes. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Ankara: Hacettepe University Birchbichler.
Birchbichler, D.W., & Muyskens, J.A. (1980). A Personalized Approach to the Teaching of Literature at the Elementary and Intermediate Levels of Instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 13:517-27.
Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents. Second Edition: White Plains, NY: Longman.
Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents. Second Edition: White Plains, NY: Longman.
Chastain, K. (1971). The Development of Modern Language Skills: Theory to Practice. Chicago: Rand.
Collie, J. M., & Slater. S. (1990). Literature in the Language Classroom: A Resource Book of Ideas and Activities. Cambridge: CUP.
Cubaku, F. (2001). Use of Poetry for EFL purposes (Unpublished article). Izmir:
Elliot, R. (1990). Encouraging reader-response to literature in ESL Situations. ELT Journal 44(3), 191-198.
Erkaya, O. R. (2005). Benefits of using short stories in the EFL context. Asian EFL Journal, 8, 1-13.
Gajdusek, L. (1988). Toward wider use of literature in ESL: Why and how. TESOL Quarterly, 22(2), 227-257.
Helton, C.A, Asamani, J., & Thomas. E.D. (1998). A 'Novel' Approach to the Teaching of Reading. Tennessee State: Tennessee State University, p.p:1-5. Retrieved from: http://www.nade.net/documents/SCP98/SCp98.19.pdf
Hiller, J.P. (1983). Teaching Poetry in the Foreign Language Classroom: Theory and Practice. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Stony Brook: State University of New York.
Hismanoglu, M., (2005). Teaching English through Literature. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies.
Howie, S.H. (1993). Critical thinking: A critical skill for students. Reading Today, 4(1), 32-48.
Krashen, S. D. (1982). Principles and Practice in SLA. Elmsford, N.Y.: Pergamon Press.
Krashen, S.D. (1983). Applications of Psycholinguistic Research to the Classroom. In C.J. James (Ed.) Practical Applications of Research in Foreign Language Teaching. Lincolnwood: National Textbook Co.
Labo-Popoola, S. O. (2010). The Place of Literature in the Teaching of English Language as a Second Language. The Social Sciences, 5(1), 49-54.
Lao, C. Y., & Krashen, S. D. (2000). The impact of popular literature study on literacy development in EFL More evidence or the power of reading. System, 28, 261-270.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. New York: Oxford University Press Mead, R. 1980 On Teaching Literature in Today' World. Hispania, 63, 536-39.
McLaughlin, B. (1987). Theories of Second Language Learning. London: Edward Arnold.
Mengu, H.I. (2002). A Suggested Syllabus for the Drama Teaching Course in ELT Departments. Unpublished M.A. Thesis. Ankara: Hacettepe University.
Murdoch, G. (2002). Exploring well-known short stories for language skills development. IATEFLLCSSIG Newsletter, 23, 9-7.
Muyskens, J.A. (1983). Teaching second language literatures: Past, present and future. The Modern Language Journal, 67, 413-423.
Nayar, P. B. (1997). ESL/EFL dichotomy today: Language politics or pragmatics? TESOL Quarterly, 31, 9-37.
Obiate, M. (1997). Language vs. Literature in English Departments in the Arab World. English Teaching Forum, 155.
Onukaogu, C.E. (1999). Effective and efficient ESL and Nigeria mother tongue literacy acquisition: Can literature be a catalyst? Language Culture and Curriculum, 12(2): 143-158
Onukaogu, C.E. (2002). A Literature –Based English Language Curriculum in Nigeria Schools and College. Inc: Lawal Adebayo et al. (Eds.). Some Reflection on Minimum Requirements in Perspectives on Applied Linguistics in Language and Literature, pp. 334-344.ISBN:978-032-041-5.
Oster, J. (1989). Seeing with different eyes: Another view of literature in the ESL class. TESOL Quarterly, 23(1), 85-103.
Oswalt, W. H. (1970). Understanding Our Culture: An Anthropological View. New York: Halt, Rinehart and Winston.
Perrine, L. (2004). Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense. The United States of America: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
Richards, J. C., & Rogers, T. S. (2005). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Robinson-Stuart, G., & Nocon, H. (1996). Second Culture Acquisition: Ethnography in the foreign language classroom. Modern Language Journal, 81, 361-375.
Rogers, C. (1951). Centered Therapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Likely.
Rosenkjar, P. (2007). Using Literature in Teaching Language. Modern Language Journal, 80, 431-449
Sarac, S. (2003). A Suggested Syllabus for the Teaching of Poetry Course in ELT Departments of Turkey. Unpublished M.A. Thesis. Ankara: Hacettepe University
Schulz, R.A. (1981). Literature and readability: Bridging the gap in foreign language reading. Modern Language Journal, 65, 43-53.
Schumann, J. H. (1976). Social distance as a factor in second language acquisition. Language Learning, 26, 135-143.
Shanaham, D. (1997). Articulating the relationship between language, literature, and Culture: Toward a new agenda for foreign language teaching and research. Modern Language Journal, 81,164-174.
Sivasubramaniam, S. (2006). Promoting the prevalence of literature in the practice of foreign and second language education: Issues and insights in English language teaching and research articles. Asian EFL Journal, 8(4), 11-24.
Stage, H. (1987). Incorporating Literature in ESL Instruction. New Jersey: Prentice -Hall, Inc. Stevick, Earl. 1976. English as an Alien Language.
Vandrick, S. (1997). Reading and responding to novels in the university ESL Classroom. The Journal of the Imagination in Language and Teaching. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.njcu.edu/CILL/vol4/vandrich.html.
Widdowson, H.G. (1983). Talking shop: H.G. Widdowson on literature and ELT. ELT Journal, 37(1), 30-35.
Young, A. (1996). Introducing critical thinking at the college level with children's stories. College Teaching, 44(3), 90.
