Integrating literature effectively in the teaching of language arts may appear to be a difficult task for an English teacher but this does not have to be the case. Different strategies may be employed for effective literature based integration; beginning from developing a safe environment for reading or literature experiences to actually developing strategies to integrate Literature in English.
Students' ability to interpret and appreciate literature is essential for their literacy growth and development. Firstly, students' interest needs to be captivated by choosing appropriate literature text. It is important that the teacher focus on the students area of interest; what they like to read about and their concerns as an adolescent.In order to do so students should be encouraged to read for pleasure or fun. According to Ivey(2001), " In the reading for pleasure stage students build knowledge of the vast array of vocabulary, sentence structure and text conventions they need for mature reading. They also amass a priceless store of background knowledge." Furthermore, Gillet and Temple (1994) recommended that students in this stage recieve regular opportunities to read books and engage in response activities either through writing in journals or participating in group discussions.
The standard for the English Language Arts ( International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers for English (1996) suggested categories of literature experiences they believe are useful for almost all adolescent readers. They are the opportunities to read young adult literature;opportunities for building bridges between text ; oral interpretation of literature and opportunities for responding to literature. These experiences creates an avenue for students literacy skills improvement as well as the ability to read as writers as they interpret meaning from the text.
Firstly, when the teacher provides students with the opportunities to read young adult literature which were chosen by the students themselves this increases their language fluency, expands vocabulary and allows them to apply comprehension strategies in a context which they are likely to succeed. Also, when students are given a novel that is deliberately chosen to introduce a theme or literary technique used, this is a method called 'bridging' suggested by Herz (1996). On the other hand, oral interpretation and responding to literature allow students to construct meaning from what they have read through speaking and writing. Prolst (1996) noted the appeal of journals to initiate the purposes of talking and writing in the classroom. Talk builds the interactive society of the classroom as well as other purposes, whereas, writing is needed to build personal reaction to the texts. He stated that a journal or log is a tool to make the reader more active, a strategy to transform reading from passive, receptive act to an active performance. After this experience, students should write longer responses in their journals that require a sustained examination of self and text. Thereafter, the teacher will notice whether or not these strategies have been effective and also the degree of the students improvements.
The employment of these strategies such as bridging, transforming reading from passive to active performance with the use of journal entries and logs will allow students to become interested in voicing their ideas orally and written as well as boosting their cognitive development. Therefore, it is my utmost goal to captivate my students interest in the the future by firstly selecting appropriate texts and employing these and other useful and gainful strategies in the classroom.
I quite agree that through literature students are able to not only improve their reading and writing skills but through journals are able to make meaningful contributions that the traditional way of teaching English is not able to.This may very well be the reason why so many of our students frown on English because we as teachers approach it too technically failing to incorporate its creativity.The nature of children is to have fun:explore,play,discuss, create. Any subject, topic, issue to which we can implement such element, will be voluntarily harnessed and nurtured by them.
ReplyDeleteThank you miss cox for your fine comment. Our students definitely need to be able to express themselves through comfortable means hence the use of journals. As u stated it will not only improve their writing and reading skills which teachers have paid particular attention to in either the teaching of english or literature. Therefore, as contemporary teachers you, myself and our fellow colleagues need to captivate students' interest by appropriate means.
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