The impact of the students' age on the literary text analysis approach: Teaching methods and approaches in primary education

Daniela Andonovska-Trajkovska

doi:10.5937/inovacije1703057a

Abstract

Literary text analysis is part of the Language Arts and The Language and Literature Curriculum in the primary education. Teachers are expected to practice different types of teaching methods depending on the age of the students, such as: demonstration, whole class work, reading and working on a text, discussion, conversation, students' oral presentations and creative writing. Students can also do literary analysis in groups, pairs, individually and in whole-class work. The aim of this paper is to answer the question whether teachers employ different teaching methods and approaches in the process of students' responses to literary texts and the literary text analysis depending on their age and if they prefer some of the methods over others relative to students' age. We have collected the necessary data for this descriptive research by conducting surveys that were specifically designed for the purpose of the research with the random sample of primary school teachers in the Republic of Macedonia (total N=75). Descriptive analysis and ANOVA - single factor were used as well. The results have shown that the teachers practice different teaching approaches depending on the students' age in the process of literary text analysis in class, which is graphically presented and discussed in the paper. The results did not show any significant differences among the general teaching methods used in different classes in primary education. The methods and approaches that teachers use are compared to the ones that are considered to be part of the modern trends according to the latest research. The results of the research will help scholars to build a broader picture of the literary analysis lessons in the primary school in the Republic of Macedonia regarding the teaching methods and approaches that are employed for the purpose of obtaining the age-appropriate classroom atmosphere. It will also contribute to the process of teacher reflections about the methods and approaches that they are using in order to improve the quality of teaching while bearing in mind the contemporary trends of building interactive classrooms in which the students are responsible for their own learning.

Highlights

Students can do literary analysis in groups, pairs, individually and in whole-class work. e aim of this paper is to answer the question whether teachers employ di erent teaching methods and approaches in the process of students’ responses to literary texts and the literary text analysis depending on their age and if they prefer some of the methods over others relative to students’ age
Descriptive analysis and ANOVA – single factor were used as well. e results have shown that the teachers practice di erent teaching approaches depending on the students’ age in the process of literary text analysis in class, which is graphically presented and discussed in the paper. e results did not show any signi cant di erences among the general teaching methods used in di erent classes in primary education. e methods and approaches that teachers use are compared to the ones that are considered to be part of the modern trends according to the latest research
Literary text analysis in primary schools in the Republic of Macedonia is a part of the school subject Macedonian Language which consists of several teaching areas: Language, Literature, Expression and Creation, Media Culture, and Reading and Writing for Beginners, Listening and Speaking (1st grade)

Summary

Introduction

Literary text analysis in primary schools in the Republic of Macedonia is a part of the school subject Macedonian Language which consists of several teaching areas: Language, Literature, Expression and Creation, Media Culture, and Reading and Writing for Beginners (for the lower grades), Listening and Speaking (1st grade). Methods e aim of the research was to answer the question whether teachers use di erent types of work and teaching methods in the process of literary texts analysis relative to the students’ age. We formulated the following hypotheses (H1.1.-H1.7.): e implementation of demonstration/ conversation/ discussion/ oral expression/ creative writing/ lecture/ text as teaching methods in the process of literary text analysis in the primary school classroom depends on the students’ age; H2.1.-H2.4: Using the whole class work/ pair work/ group work/ individual work in the classroom in the process of literary text analysis in the primary school classroom depends on the students’ age. Qualitative analysis was applied to describe the features of the methodological approaches used by the teachers

Results and Discussion

Within Groups

Class Work