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Approaches to Using

Literature
in the classroom

Definition
Literature means those novels, short stories, plays
and poems which convey their message by paying
considerable attention to language which is rich and
multilayered.

3 basic approaches
1. a language-based approach
2. a content-based approach
3. literature for personal
enrichment

1. A language-based approach
material is chosen for the way it illustrates certain stylistic
features of the language but also for its literary merit
integration of language and literature syllabuses
detailed analysis of the language helps students to make
meaningful interpretations or informed evaluations of it
increase of general awareness and understanding of
English
encouragement to draw on existing knowledge of
grammatical, lexical or discoursal categories to make
aesthetic judgements of the text

2. A content-based approach
texts are selected for their importance as part of a literary
canon or tradition

concentration on history, the characteristics of literary


movements, the social, political, historical
background, literary genres and rhetorical devices

3. Literature for personal


enrichment
material is chosen on the basis of whether it is appropriate to

students interests and will stimulate a high level of personal


involvement

material is often organised thematically (German:

Unterrichtsreihe), and may be placed alongside non-literary


materials which deal with a similar theme
literature as a tool for encouraging students to draw on their own
personal experiences, feelings, and opinions
it helps students to become more actively involved both
intellectually and emotionally and hence aids acquisition
excellent stimulus for groupwork

Task
The NRW curriculum
Englisch Sekundarstufe II : Gymnasium/Gesamtschule (p.
30) says the following about dealing with literary texts:
By dealing with exclusively authentic and thematically as well as
structurally complex literary texts, the students deal with demanding
topics, get to know different structural patterns, analyse examples of
differentiated uses of language, elaborate aesthetic effects and intentions
while at the same time taking into account factors that are external to the
text, and are asked to re-cast texts and create their own ones.
a)
find
b)

Which of the above-mentioned approach(es) can you


here?
What does that mean for your own (future) teaching?

A language-based approach to
using literature
Handout 1: Activities

Stylistics in the
classroom

Stylistics is part of a language-based approach


to using literature.
Stylistics, which involves a close study of the
literary text itself, has two main objectives:
(1) to enable students to make meaningful
interpretations of the text itself;
(2) to expand students knowledge and
awareness of the language in general.

Background
Traditional practical criticism:
students are presented with a text and expected to
arrive spontaneously at an appreciation of its literary
qualities
no explicit guidance as to how this is to be done
differences in the linguistic, cultural and literary
backgrounds between a native speaker and a language
learner intuitions about the language may differ
considerably
being expected to appreciate a text without being given
a clear strategy for doing so boredom,
mystification, demotivation

Instead:
Enable students to reach an aesthetic
appreciation of a text which connects its
specific linguistic features with
intuitions about its meanings.
Stylistics is such a way, as it uses
linguistic analysis to understand how
messages are conveyed.

Analysing a text for


classroom use
objective: to design activities for our

students which use stylistic analysis;

we ourselves need a procedure or


strategy for analysing the text;

one possible procedure which involves


two main steps:

Step 1
While looking at a particular text, note
down any linguistic features which are
particularly noticeable.
These features may be noticeable because
they recur with unexpected frequency in the
text;
they deviate slightly from what might be
considered grammatically or lexically usual;
if these features were paraphrased or
rewritten in a slightly different way, a very
different effect would be created.

Step 2
Develop a series of questions which alert
students to these features, and
encourage them to reach an
interpretation or appreciation of the
text bearing these features in mind.

A two-step procedure for


stylistic analysis
Handout 2: Example & Task

Preparation for next week


Please read pp. 35-38 and pp. 41-43 in:
Gillian Lazar (1993), Literature and
Language Teaching. (reserved reading
shelf).

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