Teaching English Literature Research Articles

The Challenge of Cultivating National and Cosmopolitan Identities Through Literature: Insights From Singapore Schools

AbstractSince the late 20th century, scholars have called for a need to broaden the aims of teaching English Literature away from its Eurocentric focus. Much effort has also been invested in making the subject more relevant through diversifying the texts studied and connecting texts to current social and global issues. It is pertinent now to ask what the significant role of Literature is in a globally interconnected age. In particular, what do teachers believe are key philosophical objectives of teaching literature, and how does this influence the texts they select, the instructional strategies they employ, and the values they seek to cultivate in the classroom? In this article, we report on the first National Survey of Literature Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Singapore schools. First, we review four key pedagogical movements that have underpinned the teaching of literature in schools around the world: New Criticism, Reader‐Response Criticism, Poststructuralist Criticism, and Ethical Criticism. These respectively represent four key constructs (text, reader, culture, and other) used in the design and analysis of our survey instrument. Next, we report on the survey findings, focusing on Singapore as a barometer of current trends given its identity as an Anglophone country negotiating conflicting global and postcolonial identities with an education system that inhabits colonial traditions. We highlight key tensions arising from the impetus to develop national and cosmopolitan identities through Literature, and reflect on the implications for future directions in teaching.

Approaches to the Teaching of English Literature Preferred by Students in Selected Malaysian Secondary Schools

In 2000, the English literature component was incorporated into the English language syllabus in Malaysian secondary schools. This program still attracts interesting discourse amongst researchers, educators, and policymakers. Determining an appropriate approach to the teaching of English literature is crucial in achieving positive literature learning outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to identify the most preferred approaches to the teaching of English literature in selected secondary schools in Terengganu, Malaysia. The study employed a descriptive survey method in which structured questionnaire was used as a data-gathering instrument. The data were gathered from a sample of 403 students across four different public secondary schools in Terengganu: SMK Kompleks Seberang Takir, SM Sains Sultan Mahmud, SMKA Dato Haji Abbas, and SMK Kompleks Gong Badak. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics via the SPSS statistical software package (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA, 20.0). The study found that the moral-philosophical approach to the teaching of English literature is the most preferred approach amongst the students, followed by the information-based approach and the language-based approach. This shows that teachers of English literature incorporate moral values in their lessons. It is envisaged that the findings of this study could be especially useful in the process of curriculum development, particularly in the Malaysian context. Besides, this study could raise teachers’ awareness of their students’ preferences for literature teaching approaches

A Review on Historical Aspects of Critical Pedagogy

This paper makes a review of inventory and application of critical pedagogy in education sector, in particular, and also in general practices of critical thinking, skepticism, decision making process, etc. Critical pedagogy as a concept originated and developed in academia, for development of critical mind of learners. Education broadens the students’ views of reality. Education is transformative, bringing all kinds of changes in human mind, as well as in the society and the nation. Education makes students critical and skeptical on the issues which are frequent in their daily life. Therefore, all kinds of social, cultural, economical and political issues are solved by critical mind of the learners. Education must be democratic in nature and system. People in power make education system in their own favour, dominating the powerless people. Therefore, education is political. Those who participate in critical pedagogy resist the constraints that those in power impose on them. Critical pedagogy can be applied in all faculties and subjects like music, economics, mathematics, sociology, political science, English language teaching, English literature teaching, and so on. Teachers also must be qualified with the critical pedagogy approach. They must be confident with the knowledge and skills for applying Freire’s methods of teaching effectively in the classroom. They must be critical thinkers, self-reflective, culturally conscious for the pedagogical situation to enhance students’ understanding of the world.
 The major purpose of this review is to point out the effectiveness of critical pedagogy in education and in general. After teachers’ role in critical pedagogy, knowledge of the language and of the world, consciousness or ‘conscientization’, power resistance, value judgments, perception of reality and truth, empowerment, transformation, decision making skills, critical thinking, skepticism, negotiation, problem posing and solving, and many other aspects of learning in critical pedagogy are explained in this review paper.

Teaching Techniques Implemented by Preschool Teachers in English Early Literacy Instructional Practices: A Case Study

This multiple case study aims to address preschool teachers’ practices implemented in early literacy instruction specifically in terms of the teaching techniques used by teachers during English early literacy classroom instruction. Four in-service teachers from three types of preschool which are private, government and non-government organizations located in a suburban area, were selected as the study’s participants. Data collectionsinvolved throughout the study were field notes, checklist, video recording and classroom observations. A teaching technique checklist is used as an instrument to analyze types of teaching techniques implemented by teachers. Results show that the preschool teachers only implement general teaching techniques and often do not implement specialist teaching techniques during English literacy instruction. The most common teaching techniques implemented by the teachers during English literacy instruction are: 1) demonstrating, 2) describing, 3) encouraging, praising, and helping, 4) facilitating, 5) listening, 6) positioning people, 7) questioning, 8) recalling, 9) singing and 10) telling and instructing. Generalization may not be fair at this stage, but the findings may reflect the need to provide appropriate training for preschool teachers. Larger samples are crucial to understand the scale of the teaching practice being appropriate or not for effective English language literacy instruction.

Impact of Teaching English Literature on the Improvement of EFL Learner’s Performance in English Language

The study aimed to investigate the impact of teaching English literature for EFL learners on the improvement and development of their performance in English language. The study carried out at Red Sea University, faculty of Arts and Humanities. The sample consisted of 10 EFL teachers and 30 students who are majoring in English. The researcher adopted descriptive analytical method for conducting the study. Two questionnaires were designed; one was responded by EFL teachers and the second one responded by EFL learners. The data of the study were presented by using percentage and mean. The study finds out that teaching English literature to large extent improves the performance of EFL learners in English language. The researcher recommends that, teachers should develop effective methods and strategies for teaching English literature for EFL learners to enhance their performance in English.

Motivational Role of Teaching English Literature in Language Learning

Motivational Role of Teaching English Literature in Language Learning

English Literature Education and Cybernetics

Cybernetics, particularly second-generation cybernetics, may provide the framework for thinking and learning necessary for contemporaries living in a hyperconnected era. The educational content and teaching methods of English language and literature need to be redesigned so that students can be more familiar with the products of modern science, including AI and virtual reality. In addition, English language and literature classes should demonstrate an inclusive and receptive attitude to the common languages of science, mathematics, and machine language as well as their achievements. The core competencies in the field currently classified as humanities need to be cultivated intensively so that graduates can contribute to social organization and live a meaningful life by providing values that can be shared with engineering and business students. English language and literature education needs to reinforce the core competencies of humanities in line with modern industrial structures. It seems possible to partially consider a convergent approach with cybernetics and related management theories with aesthetic content in classes. Expanding aesthetic sensibility education into practical disciplines such as engineering and business management can also be meaningful work.

Dialogic Pedagogy: Teaching English Literature in Korean Classrooms

Most of my students taking English literature courses have tended to be inactive and to have an anxiety about presenting their own views on literary texts. Many students preferred just listening to a lecture passively in their safe zone without being disturbed. I, however, am skeptical about passive learning because students have a better chance of realizing their potential when they participate in class actively. I think dialogic teaching can be a pedagogical alternative to a traditional lecture which allows students to be passive and uninvolved in class activities. Dialogue is not a one-sided but a two/multi-sided communication. And individuals grow through dialogic communications. Therefore, dialogic teaching which welcomes dialogues and communications does not look for only one monologic, authoritative and right answer/truth in classrooms. Dialogic teaching gives students voices and makes them creative as well. This paper deals with the possibility of dialogic teaching in English literature classes for Korean students. Firstly, the cultural backgrounds which make dialogic teaching difficult in Korean classrooms are discussed. In particular, Confucian virtues which can be obstacles to dialogic teaching are examined. Secondly, I explore the dynamics of dialogism which can be applied to teaching English literature, dealing with Paulo Freire’s pedagogy. Thirdly, I go over one of my English literature classes in which Eudora Welty’s “A Worn Path” has been discussed. And finally, I examine what the four-step routine is and how it works for dialogic teaching. Dialogic teaching makes students’ potential realized and their voices heard. Students learn how to communicate with each other, acknowledging the self-other relationship in a dialogic classroom. With supporting students’ growth, teachers are transformed as well.

BEYOND TRADITIONAL LITERACIES: A MULTIMODAL-BASED INSTRUCTION TO FOSTERING STUDENT DIGITAL LITERACY LEARNING

The fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) marked by artificial intelligence and cyber-physical systems has transformed the landscape of education including English literacy instruction. Some literacy educators claim that the success of students’ today as millennial kids (Gen-Zs) and future employees has been linked to digital literacy. This term is defined as the skills associated with using digital technology to enable users to locate, organize, understand, evaluate and create information and using those skills to solve problems in technology-rich environments. This study attempts to investigate the extent to which multimodal pedagogy helps improve students’ digital literacy skills in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) setting in a vocational higher education. A theoretical multimodal semiotic approach along with multiliteracies pedagogy is served as the overarching guideline in the overall instructional procedures grounded specifically from the principles of learner-centeredness, constructivist learning, and social interaction. A qualitative case study approach was adopted to provide an in-depth explication and analysis of students’ literacy development. Data collection included classroom observations and students’ digital artefacts. In the course of the study, the students were engaged in the creation of two digital projects of different genres: digital information report in the form of text-image creation and digital persuasive talk in the form digital video production. The key findings of this study suggest that multimodal pedagogy is an effective instructional method for digital literacy learning in that several aspects of digital literacy had proven to be significantly improved.

Do kindergarten teachers possess adequate knowledge of basic language constructs to teach children to read English as a foreign language?

The contribution of teacher knowledge to learning outcomes at the beginning stages of literacy acquisition is of growing concern because the ability to provide quality instruction is central to successful literacy acquisition, particularly for pupils with dyslexia. To date, the majority of research has focused on teachers of English as a first language. Yet, English is the most widely taught foreign language today. The present study extends the exploration of teacher knowledge by probing two heretofore unexamined groups of teachers who are responsible for teaching beginning stages of literacy in English as a foreign language: regular class teachers who are non-native English-speaking (N = 96) and native English-speaking teachers (N = 24) working in the kindergarten setting in Hong Kong. As these two teacher groups serve as gatekeepers of beginning English as a foreign language literacy for kindergarten children in Hong Kong, it is crucial to gather information about the depth and quality of their teacher knowledge. This information can be instrumental to improving the quality of beginning literacy instruction in English and assisting early identification of dyslexia. Both groups completed the basic language constructs survey (Binks-Cantrell, Joshi, & Washburn, Annals of Dyslexia, 62, 153-171, 2012a). Results showed while native English teachers performed significantly better than non-native English teachers, total percentage correct scores were below 50%, except for phonological awareness tasks. All teachers scored higher in items requiring syllable as opposed to phoneme manipulation. Only teacher type predicted teachers' performance on the survey. The need for quality instruction, particularly for children at-risk for dyslexia or those struggling at the beginning stages of literacy acquisition, is addressed.

Teaching English Literature in the Digital Era

Not many students (and teachers) like to study (andteach) literature. Reading, analysing and interpreting a literarywork may be a time-consuming and exhausting task especiallyfor those who are not bookworms. How can teachers motivatestudents to read literary works and make them develop criticalthinking? In the age of digital natives where everything startsand ends with a “click” on the swift keyboard, this seems to be afar-fetching undertaking. However, the use of audio-visualdevices and various online educational tools in teaching both –foreign language and literature – might trigger motivation andencourage the learning process. The aim of this paper is toidentify, explore and analyse innovative approaches to foreignlanguage acquisition, more precisely, the English languageteaching and learning, by using literature (prose and poetry) asan unconventional teaching tool. Apart from the works ofclassical literature, the creative works of pop culture such asfilms, TV series, video games and songs will be used as apowerful means of breaking boundaries, learning andintegrating, studying and having fun.

Emergent Sound-Letter Correspondences in the Early Biliterate Writing Development of Simultaneous Bilingual Children

ABSTRACT Using a psycholinguistic and a holistic bilingual perspective, this study examined the writing conceptualization progressions in Spanish and English of 16 simultaneous bilinguals from preschool through kindergarten. The children were enrolled in a bilingual early childhood program where literacy instruction was primarily in Spanish. We adapted a clinical method used in previous studies to examine the evolution of their biliterate writing, paying particular attention to whether children pass through a syllabic period as they begin to establish sound-letter relationships. Findings indicate that children’s writing in Spanish and English developed in parallel without one language lagging too far behind the other, despite not receiving formal literacy instruction in English. The simultaneous bilingual children in our sample did not seem to begin establishing sound-symbol correspondence through the construction of the syllabic hypothesis. Instead, some children demonstrated their emergent understanding of sound-letter relationships by representing the first sound of a word. The majority of the children, however, seemed to have discovered the relationship between sounds and letters by attending to both syllables and sounds within a word. Both the essence of being simultaneous bilingual and the literacy instructional methods teachers used may have prevented children from constructing the syllabic hypothesis.

Doyle’un “Speckled Band” İsimli Öyküsünün İki Türkçe Çevirisinin Bir Yorumlama Şemasıyla İncelenmesi

This paper descriptively examines two Turkish translations – one published before Sherlock Holmes was popularized in visual media in the 2000s and one thereafter – of a Sherlock Holmes story entitled “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Arthur Conan Doyle to establish how the two translators handled certain aspects of the story deemed important for a literary interpretation. In determining these important aspects, it develops and uses an “interpretive scheme” inspired by Damrosch’s (2003) ruminations on “world literature.” The interpretive scheme contains three aspectual categories, i.e., “referential,” “genre-related” and “stylistic” aspects. The aim of this examination is twofold: first, it seeks to find out whether there are differences between the interpretations of these important aspects in the two translations and if so, whether these differences may be a result of the popularization of Sherlock Holmes. Second, it aims to explore the educational implications of translators’ choices in translating the aforementioned aspects, discussing how the use of an interpretive scheme in the analysis of translations may be helpful in choosing texts for the teaching of English literature to a Turkish-speaking audience.

Popular Approaches to the Teaching of English Literature among Students in Selected Malaysian Secondary Schools

The English literature component was incorporated into the English language syllabus in Malaysian secondary schools in 2000. This component incorporates short stories, novels, poems, and drama. The component has attracted interesting discourse amongst researchers, educators, and policymakers who tried to determine the most appropriate approach to the teaching of English literature to achieve positive literature learning outcomes. This study too attempted to identify the most preferred approaches to the teaching of English literature among students in selected secondary schools in Terengganu, Malaysia. Being the first study of this kind in this region, it employed a descriptive survey method with a structured questionnaire as a data-gathering instrument. The data were collected from a sample of 403 students across four different public secondary schools in Terengganu: SMK Kompleks Seberang Takir, SM Sains Sultan Mahmud, SMKA Dato Haji Abbas, and SMK Kompleks Gong Badak. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics via the SPSS statistical software package, version 20.0. The study found the moral-philosophical approach to the teaching of English literature as the most preferred approach amongst the students, followed by the information-based approach and finally the language-based approach. This evidence shows that teachers of English literature incorporate moral values in their lessons. It is envisaged that the findings of this study could be especially useful in the process of curriculum development, particularly in the Malaysian context. Besides, this study could raise teachers’ awareness of their students’ preferences for literature teaching approaches.

Methods Of Teaching English Literature For Students Of Graduation In Andhra Pradesh


 Y.L MARREDDY
 
 English is recognized as a universal language. Learning English is inevitable in this present global scenario. It also acts like a link language. Especially, English literature enables learners to develop critical thinking skills, helps to discover and enlighten themselves. It is quite challenging task to teachers to teach literature for studentsin non native English countries like India. The role of the language teachers becomes predominant and the methods of teaching literature according to the students’ level of understanding also play a significant role because studying literature assists students’ tohave real time experiences, passion for language acquisition and think innovatively. In this context, it is necessary for teachers to distinct between teaching literature for special purposes or it is used as a resource language for teaching this foreign language. This paper throws light on the importance of teaching literature, several approaches and methods of teaching literature at graduate level. Literature connects the cultures across the world, throws challenges to solve and even to heal some cultures. It really provides an individual space for learners to express themselves and improve competence levels among them. It allows learners to share their participation in the experience of others, strengthens to shape, alter their attitude and meet their expectations.

Decolonial pedagogy and English literary studies: problematics in a Pakistani context

ABSTRACT We propose a decolonial pedagogy in the teaching of English Literature at the undergraduate level in postcolonial Pakistan. We argue that the English literary texts that are taught in conjunction with different supplementary materials retain a West-centric tilt that requires disbanding. Therefore, we administered carefully designed worksheets. These encouraged marginal thinking across the differential socio-historical canvases that outline the prescribed texts, online lectures, supplementary reading materials and the students’ situatedness. The students used these resources as tools for practising a decolonial hermeneutics. By directing these tools towards their own lived situation, they intervened within the Western means of knowledge production and undid their alterity and historical silencing. By analysing the students’ assignments as sites of decolonial articulation, we propose that decolonial pedagogy can be used to generate an intercultural intellectual solidarity that allows the formerly colonised to rethink themselves in a manner that no longer talks back to the Empire.

Reform of Teaching of English Literature for English Majors in China

Reform of Teaching of English Literature for English Majors in China

Teaching English Literature Through Popular Culture in China: Record and Reflection

Teaching English Literature Through Popular Culture in China: Record and Reflection

Drawing Maps for Research in Creative Writing through A/r/tography

The return of Creative Writing to the academia was intended as an answer to rigid approaches employed in the nineteenth century’s teaching of English Literature. This comeback has since brought back a new perspective in seeing body of literature as a living body but at the same time also introduced clash between dominating research paradigm in the academia. The writers who were hired to teach creative writing tended to prioritise their creative practice, while the general consensus in academia called for more theoretical-oriented research. In order to compromise, the practice-based research method was born. Despite various justifications that creative process is the same as research inquiry, the heavier emphasis on creative works in this method still invites criticism, such as the lack of research rigour (Biggs & Büchler, 2007). New framework to balance and bridge practice and research rigour is thus needed – especially one that can accommodate the non-linear thinking trajectories in creative practices. Due to the possible non-linearity, the new research platform should not follow the reigning ‘arborescent scheme’ in the academic research tradition, but incorporate the concept of Deleuzian rhizome. A/r/tography – developed based on the premise of art and art creation as a rhizomatic process / activity – is proposed as one of the potential practices for creative writing research. The non-linear view of a/r/tography towards arts practices suggests a rhizomatic role in the mapping of creative writing process. As it addresses and accommodates multiplicities, a/r/tography also facilitates non-native English speakers to conduct and map his journey in art creation and research inquiry. Author’s project of writing a collection of bilingual poems based on classical Javanese song cycle – Sekar Macapat – is presented to illustrate the claim.

Apology for Literature in Engineering Curriculum

The need for English literature teaching in technical institutions becomes imperative in the changing global scenario that is increasingly becoming multilingual and multicultural. Technocrats who command machines and systems created by the human brain need to be distinguished from these gadgets. They are thinking and feeling beings capable of making decisions in unpredictably critical moments because they are not programmed the way machines are. English language teachers with a very strong base in English literature can play an exceptionally vital role in acquisition of creative/critical thinking skills and human values. English language teachers in technical institutions need to re-invent their role from being a mere ‘facilitator’ of language skills or being ‘high priests’ of ethics through explication of literary texts to becoming a ‘catalyst’ in the formative process of the young technocrats’ affective and cognitive domains through exposure to appropriate literary texts. This article examines the role of English literature teaching and the complementary role of humanities and sciences in the formation of young technocrats, who should be academically bright, intellectually upright, ethically honest, and spiritually inspiring.