Lecture 2. Literature as a model for Language Teaching
Questions to be discussed: Literature and Writing
Literature and reading
Drama, Benefits of Using Drama to Language Teaching
Improvisation and Role-Playing
Literature and Reading. ESL / EFL teachers should adopt a dynamic, student-centered approach toward comprehension of a literary work. In reading lesson, discussion begins at the literal level with direct questions of fact regarding setting, characters, and plot which can be answered by specific reference to the text. When students master literal understanding, they move to the inferential level, where they must make speculations and interpretations concerning the characters, setting, and theme, and where they produce the author’s point of view. After comprehending a literary selection at the literal and inferential levels, students are ready to do a collaborative work. That is to state that they share their evaluations of the work and their personal reactions to it - to its characters, its theme(s), and the author’s point of view. This is also the suitable time for them to share their reactions to the work’s natural cultural issues and themes. The third level, the personal/evaluative level stimulates students to think imaginatively about the work and provokes their problem-solving abilities. Discussion deriving from such questions can be the foundation for oral and written activities.
