Fukuoka JALT:

Using Literature in Teaching Language

Date: Saturday, September 15th, 2007 Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Speaker: Patrick Rosenkjar, Temple University

Description:
Most Japanese students (and many teachers of English as well) believe that poems, short stories, and plays have little or no place in classrooms oriented to developing communicative competence in English, or that literary texts are only for advanced learners. In fact, Japanese students often say that the study of both English and Japanese literary texts is boring and difficult. This unfortunate situation is probably the result of teaching literature in the wrong way: choosing extremely difficult texts, relying on word-for-word translation, and lecturing to students (often in Japanese) on literary criticism and the meaning of English texts. For EFL learners, this is surely not the way to develop either language skills or literary appreciation. Is there another way to use literature in the EFL classroom?

The basic premise of this workshop is that, yes, there is a better way. Effective literature-based lessons engage learners and capture their interest. They make learners excited about understanding how language is used to express an author's communicative purpose. They make learners active participants in tasks that lead them to discover objective language features and arrive at their own well-supported interpretations of a text. They teach learners that their own understanding of a text is worthy of respect, if it is supported by evidence from the text. They are the springboard for creative communicative post-reading activities. They make learners want to read further literary texts on their own.

Such lesson outcomes do not happen by accident; teachers must carefully plan for them. This seminar will be firmly based on the theoretical principles behind such lessons, but it will focus most heavily on experiential learning in a workshop format. So, participants will apply the theory to create highly motivating lessons that teach specific language features as a means of understanding poems, short stories, or plays. The main goal is that participants will come away equipped with a clearly defined set of practical skills to use in their own teaching. A second goal that usually is achieved is that seminar participants will themselves gain a fresh appreciation of literature.

Recommended Text: Mick Short, Exploring the Language of Poems

Organization: Fukuoka Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Fukuoka JALT)

Cost: free

Venue: Elgala Hall (Daimaru), 1-4-2 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka 092-711-5017

Location: Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

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Contact Fukuoka JALT

Website: www.fukuokajalt.org

Trevor Holster
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