The paper presents the potential value of using literature grammar in teaching language practice skills and criteria for selecting suitable text materials in an extra-curricular program for first-year students in the Department of Linguistics. English Language and Culture, University of Foreign Languages.
VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) 120*126 Using literary texts m language teaching N g u y e n T h i T h o m Thom * D epartm ent o f English - A m erican Language and Culture, College o f Foreign Languages, Vietnam N ational U niversitỵ, Hanoi, Pham Van Dong Street, Cau Ciaỵ, Hanoi, Vietnam Received 29 Pebrtỉary 2008 A b s tr a c t T h e w r i t in g r e v i e w s t h e p o te n tia l v a lu e o f u s in g lilc ry te x ts in la n g u a g e te a c h in g , a n d c rite ria fo r th e te x t s e le c tio n a n d s o m e p o s itiv e g a in s , w h ic h h e lp s E n g lis h la n g u a g e le a c h c r s tc a c h v a r io u s s k ills f o r t h e firs t y e a r s t u d e n t s a t Ih o D e p a r tm e n i o f E n g lis h -A m e ric a n L a n g u a g e a n d C u ltu r e , U n iv e r s ity o f L a n g u a g iis a n d In te r n a tio n a l S h id ie s , V N Ư T h e d is c u s s io n is o f g r e a t im p o r ta n c e in m a k i n g t h e le s s o n s m o r e in te re s tin g a n d p c tic a l a s it w ill e íío c tỉv e ỉy h e lp s tu d e n ts in d e v e lo p in g t h e i r la n g u a g e sk ills , th e ir in s p ir a tio n in s tu d y a n d a ls o th e ir a ^ n fid e n c c a n d in te r a c tio n w i th l ite r a r y te x ts , w h ic h s u p p le m e n t th e m a in o b je c tiv e s o f th e c o u rs e A lso , th e artícltì p r e s e n ts p e d a g o g ic p r a c tic e s a n d s e v e r a l s u g g e s te d a c tiv itie s w h ic h c a n b e u s e d fo r f r e s h m e n a t th e D o p a r tm c n t a n d in o t h e r l a n g u a g e c la s s r o o m s a s w ell In tro d u ctio n T h e p o te n tia l v alu e o f u s in g lite rd iy texts in la n g u a g e teaching The 1980 d e c a d e sa w a rem ark ab le revival of in te re st in lite tu re in language co u rse s M any rp se a rrh P F s ria im The idea o f using literary texts in EFL claữoroom ia su p p o rted by Gaikđỉa [\] w h o s e p a p e r e x a m i n e s th o ro u g h ly t h e p r o s a n d cons o f using literatu re in an EFL classroom T he au th o r a rg u e s th a t '^literature can be useful in dcvvbping lhí'' by L angston H u g h e s tD be q u ite suitable W hat the s tu d e n ts resp o n d to th e lesson took Ihe au th o r b y a su rp rise S econd/ teachers should help s tu d e n ts overcom e cu ltu l barriers by in fo rm in g s tu d e n ts of specifically cultural aspects fo u n d in the texts to b e used Third, such factors as p leasu re a n d enjoym ent sh o u ld also be taken g re a te r notice of because they serv e as "a m o tiv atin g factor" w hich in sp ires re a d e rs /stu d e n ts to read, to be in tere sted in re a d in g a n d to in terp ret the w orks N g a believes th a t teach ers sh o u ld take the p o sitio n of their s tu d e n ts to en su re th at the texts ch o sen w ill a p p e a l to students G en erally sp eak in g , th e a u th o r shares the sam e v ie w p o in ts w ith th e researchers above 122 Nguyeiĩ Thi Tliữm Thom / VN U Journal o f Science, Foreign LanỊ,uage$ 24 (200S) Ì20-Ì2S N evertheless, th e teaching objectives w ould be so m ew h at different A sta n z a of a poem^ for instance, m ig h t b rin g tcacher and stu d en ts an m terestin g w ay to d rill the so u n d s /sA Izl, /S/ a n d en d in g so u n d s in a pronu n ciatio n lesson: A n d we w ill sit upon the rocks, S eà n g the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals (The passio n ate sh ep h erd to h is iove* C hristo p h er M arlow ) Likew ise, w ith a sh o rt story, teachers m ay take into acco u n t th e u se o f ling u istic item s to help stu d en ts revise th e g m m a r first and then basing on th e g ram m a r focus to practise oth er language skills as sp eak in g and w riting C ertainly, learn ers’ in terp retive ability will also be p a id a tten tio n to d u rin g the process It m ig h t be re w a rd in g because the level of difficulty is not to o m u ch above the stu d en ts' norm al read in g proficiency dnd the ten t is b o th interesting a n d relev an t to the stu d en ts' b a ck g ro u n d know ledge This w ill encourage stu d e n ts to g e t personally involved in an d b u ild th eir ow n interp retatio n a t a basic level S peaking an d w riting, furtherm ore, offer th e m a chance to drill in th e language arid to ex p ress their o u u t ability P u t it in an o th er w ay, th e text can give th em v alu ab le o p p o rtu n itie s to use a n d develop su ch su b skills as d ed u ctio n of m eam ng from linguistic a n d situational c o n te x t relating text to k n o w led g e and experience of th e w o rld , re sp o n d in g to te x t creative w riting, etc Beside skill developm ent, th e sto ry w ill also p ro v id e educational vaiue^ affectivc value, in d iv id u al v alue an d stim ulus value as m en tio n ed in Brian Tom iinson's article {5| P edagogic ap proach C arter an d Long (quoted in Z afeiriadou, Ị6]) describe the three m ain m odels related io specific p edagogic practices: the cultural model, the language model an d the personal grow th model T he first tw o m odels focus on the stu d y Í literature w hile the personal grow th model p u ts an em p h asis o n the u se of literatu re as a resource, aim in g to the dev elo p m en t of lan g u ag e com petence and literary com petence, b ein g b etter expressed in te n n s of pleasu re an d personal fuliillm ent R ather, this m odel aim s to "infuse a continuous love and appreciation o f literary texts, which would continue beyond the classroom " F urtherm ore, in this m odel, th e teacher is suggested to play a role a s an e d u c a to r and an enabler fo r the transm ission of k n ow ledge rath er th an a trad itio n al p o ssesso r of kn ow ledge w h o se beliefs greatly im pose on stu d en ts T his is m eant to m o tiv ate and enliven stu d e n ts in the classroom T he lessor^ therefore, m ig h t b e designed into certain tasks The stru ctu re o f the task is com posed of: i) specific goals o r outcom es; ii) som e in p u t d a ta (in the literary texts); an d iii) one o r m o re related activities o r procedures In o th e r w o rd s, th e task fram e (C anh, [7]) is as the following: Nguyen Thi Thom Thom / VNU loumal o f Science, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) J20-726 Preparation: Pri^task (Warm-up): Task: Planning: R e p o rt: Post-task activity: Language focus: Language practice: Optional follow up: 123 Tcacher (and sometimes students) prepare some suitable materials before hand To prepare students for the t a ^ to engage their attention To give students the chance to take part in the activities Students prepare their oral report of the task Students present the report For example, listening or exchanging the idcds among the groups To raise students' awareness about target language To give students some restricted written target language To give students an opportunity ịo repeat (and hopefully improve) the task A task; therefore, covers several skill areas, hardly just one, so Task-based teaching is a well-integrated approach to language teaching in general, and to the usừìg of literary texts in teaching language skills in particular S u g g e sted activ ities T here m ig h t be a variety of activities exploited from literary texts H ow ever, the rescarcher focuses o n th e u se of sh o rt stories to tcach the lan g u ag e in an in teg rativ e lesson Som e practical su g g estio n s sh o u ld be considered a s below: a) Strong lines (EUsabcth B [bsen I8j) - ShiHpnts arp roquired to read a short story before h an d In th e class, how ever, they are not allow ed to look at th e story w hen follow ing th is acỉivity - In th e class, teacher asks students to have d quick look at the w hole story and underline "strong lines" that is the w ords an d expressions that they like o r that distu rb ứìem - D iv id e th e class into g ro u p s of th ree or four a n d ask s tu d e n ts to sh are th e strong lines w ith o th e r m em b ers in th eir group N ote: W hen s h a rin g , "strong lines" in class, s tu d e n ts m ay disco v er th a t they often select th e sam e lines- th a t is, they all ap p reciate lines o f g o o d literary quality In th is w ay, th e teach er can h elp stu d e n ts to identify g o o d q u alities in a literary text, w hich a g ain can ben efit Iheir o w n w riting * All the m em bers in one g ro u p discuss a n d choose one "strong line" favoured by m o st m em bers (they can vote if needed.) - U se the "strong line" as the title or the topic for an expressive piece of w riting For exam ple, w rite y o u r com m ents o n the sentence above (Note: All the g ro u p m em bers are su p p o sed to contribute to the g ro u p 's project The teacher m ay help stu d en ts w hen they h av e difficulty in in terp retin g the title o r the topic of their stro n g line.) -Ask each g ro u p to rep o rt their project M ake a class exhibition ii possible b) Storỵteỉỉing • S tu d en ts are required to read the short story before hand - The teacher picks u p 10-15 w ords from the passage W rite the w ords (in ửie sequence of occurrence m the text) on the board For example new s knock killed gentle m essage b lu rted loitered nightgow n iarm h o u se 10 b an g {The C o m p/anfiw^-Sherwood A nderson) • G ive stu d e n ts one m in u te to m em orise the w ords • C ross o u t all ửie w ords A sk stu d e n ts to rew rite the w o rd s in order w ith in m inute C heck stu d e n ts’ w o rd list Those w ho can w rite th e m o st w o rd s are the w m ners (Gifts sh o u ld be available in this activity) 124 Nguỵen Thi Thom Thom ỉ VNU Journal o f Sàeĩice, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) Ì20'Ĩ26 - Note: in fact, one effective w ay oí mem orising dll the w ord is th at students p u t the w ords in sentences related to the passage If so, they can recall the content of the passage - Ask stu d e n ts to tell the co n ten t of the p assag e (they can w o rk in d iv id u ally o r in p air/g ro u p works)^ using th e w o rd lists Then, ask them to w rite - Optional***: A sk stu d e n ts to u se the w o rd list to m ak e u p a n ew story It w o u ld be m ore challenging if th e teacher asks th em to w o rk in p airs a n d each pair creates stories by usin g th e w o rd s from to p to bottom an d from b ottom to top S tu d en ts sh o u ld m ake u se of th eir im aginaH on For exam ple: S tu d en t A: "Last night, I got a terrible piece of n ew s M y beloved p e l b ird got killed by a neig h b o u r s fierce cat " S tu d en t B: "I w as sleeping last n ig h t w hen I w as su d d en ly w oken u p by a b a n g I got o u t of m y bed and w e n t into th e kitchen to see w h at h ap p en ed T here I saw a stran g e r in a w hite nigh tg o w n " -A sk stu d e n ts to tell th e ir stories (The class m ay choose th e b est sto n es) A sk them to w rilc their ow n sto ry as a ho m e iddk c) Cap filling - S tu d en ts are required to read th e story before h an d In th e class, h o w ev er, they are n o t allow ed to look at ứ \e sto ry w hen follow ing this activity • Tcacher prepares another copy of the text in w hich there are som e gaps for the students to fill in The gaps can be passive vocabulary, adjective vocabulary, etc so th at students will have a chance to revise th e lexis later • A sk stu d e n ts to fiii in th e gaps, exchange th e an sw ers in pair/g ro u p R em ind th em of th e related gram m atical focus • G ive them a chance to drill in the lan g u ag e/g ram m ar if possible Example: T eacher can leave o u l the relative p ro n o u n s {who, zohich, where, w hen ) or adjectives o f d escrib in g the people (L ater, ask s tu d e n ts to u se th o se adjectives to describe the ch aracters in th e story.) d) Storylines ( A lla n M alleỵ, Ị9Ị) - S tu d e n ts a re n o t p ro v id ed w ith th e text b efo re the lesson - F rom each p a rt of th e stoiy, select o n e or tw o key sentences, th at is, ones w hich g iv e an in d icatio n of th e storyline W rite o u t these sen ten ces in o r d e r an d m ak e them u p in to a ta sk sheet If teach er w ishes to m ake ứ \e activ ity slig h tly easier, h e/sh e could also add th e o p e n in g p a g p h a n d the ending - A sk s tu d e n ts to w o rk in g ro u p s o f three G iv e each g r o u p a copy of the ta sk sheet S tu d e n ts d isc u ss w h a t they th in k h a p p e n in th e story, a n d fin d a possible ex p lan atio n ior each o f th e sentences - T he g ro u p s com pare their different v ersio n s o f th e sto ry - C lass discussion: A sk the class to call o u t th o se sen ten ces fro m the story w hich th ey fo u n d m o st difficult to explain L et them co m p are th e ir su ggestions, fin a lly reveal w h a t actu ally h a p p e n e d in the story - N ole: A lth o u g h th e activity is best su ite d to u n fa m ilia r m aterial, it can also be u s e d as a fo rm o f m em o ry test to refresh fam iliar texts, a n d it is p articu larly suitable fo r rev isin g se t w o rk s o r texts w h ich m ay fe a tu re in exam in atio n T his activ ity h elp s to overcom e o n e of the m ain d ifficu lties o f w orking w ith literatu re in class: h o w to d e a l w ith longer texts H ere, the s tu d e n ts a re in a sen se o f sk im m in g th ro u g h a lo n g e r tex t w h ich th ey m ay read later on th e ir o w n T each er w ill find o u t th a t the in tere st a ro u se d is u su ally g reat an d th a t by th e e n d of th e activity, the stu d e n ts actually w a n t to read th e w h o le text This eagerness to 125 Nguyen V ỉi Thom Thom f VNU Journal o f Sàence, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) Ĩ20-Ì26 know w h at h a p p e n s is n o t easily a ro u sed w hen stu d en ts are sim ply ask ed to plod th ro u g h the text p ag e by page • O p tional*^: th is activ ity can be m odified into a P rediction G am e T h e teacher reads/plays th e tap e of a p a rt of th e sto ry an d stop to ask stu d e n ts to guess w h a t th e a u th o r is going to w rite ab o u t, w h a t h a p p e n s next It w ould be m o st usefu l w h en s tu d e n ts are asked to p red ict th e en d in g L ater, they will have a chance to com pare th e ir w o rk s w ith Ihe original texts A F ollow -up activity m ig h t be the oral su m m a ry of the s to ry o r an o th er ending If th e stu d e n ts are g re a tly in terested in the activity, then the teacher can ask ỉhem to write any p art of ứie story in th eir o w n w ords, or change the plot at any p art they like e) Creative w riting (as Home Tasks) O ften, th e hom e task sh o u ld be a piece of creative w riting T eacher m ay a sk s tu d e n ts to w rite w h at they feel a n d re sp o n d after reading th e story This is so m e w h a t like asking ab o u t th eir perso n al in te rp reta tio n Plot su m m arizin g is also a g o o d id ea as P au la VVilloquel M arico n d i [10] stales; ’T h is dssignm cnt is both a record a n d an act OÍ understan d in g " A n o th er h o m e ta sk m ig h t be s tu d e n ts research o n the a u th o r o r their com m ents o n som e stro n g lines F or instance C om m ent on the last scnlerĩce o f the story Create a new version from the crrdifig o f the story for u sin g literary texts m language learning classroom s, basing on h er real w orking condition It is u n deniable th a t even w hen the texts are m ainly u sed for skill d ev elo p m en t in th e lessons, the holistic value of literatu re is to be discovered to the m ost possible extent as in B aurain's opinion: "K now ing w h a t your stu d e n ts need, w a n t lacky an d d esire in their stu d y of literatu re is a key of succcss" [11] R eferences |1 | S M a c K a y , L ite rd tu re in th e ESL C la ssro o m , TESOL Quarterty 16 (1982) 529 (2) M J A d le r, How io read imaginative Literature, O x fo rd U n iv e rs ity P ress, 1972 [3] G L azar, U sin g L ite ru rc a t L o w e r LíĩveL O x fo rd Journal 4S (1994) 115 Incorporating Literature into English Classes in Vietruim, T c a c h e r's E d itio n - U n iv ersity P r e s s [4Ị T r a n T h i N g a , M a r d i 2003- [5] B T o m lin s o n , U sin g P o e try w ith M ix e d A b ility L a n g u a g e C lasses, O x fo r d U n iv e rs ity P ress ELT Journal 40 { m € i 33 (6] N Z a /e iria d o it On Literature in the EFi classroom, TF550I O rw ro Ctr^(*co, 7001 (7j L e V a n C a n h , Lecturt NoUs on Mithodology in LMnguagt Teaching, V ie tn a m N a tio n a l U n iv e rs ity , H a n o i 2004 |8 | E.B Ib se n , The Double Role o f Fiction in Foreign ÌMnguage Learning: Towards a Creative Methodology, E n g lish T e a c h in g F o ru m , 1990 [9] A M aioy, Literature, th e d : O x f o rd U n iv e rs ity P re s s , 2000 C o n clu sio n |1 | P M a ric o d i, In te g tin g ESO L S k ills T h ro u g h L ite tu re , TESOL Journai W in te r (1991) 12 In this article, th e a u th o r h a s ju s t m a d e an a ttem p t to ex p ress h e r p erso n al p h ilo so p h y |1 ] B Đ a u râ in , Learning and Enjoying Liierature in English, T e a c h e r's E d itio n “ S e p te m b e r, 2000 126 Nguyen Thi Thom Thom I VhiU ỉoum al o f Science, Foreign Languages 24 (2008) llO 'ilB Sử dụng ngữ liệu văn học giảng dạy kỹ thực hành tiêhg N guyễn Thị Thơm Thơm Khoa Kgơn n g u Vẵn hóa A n h - M ỹ , Trường Đại học Ngoại ngử, Đại học Q uõcgia Hà Nội, Đtrờng Phạm Vãn Đong, Cau Giâỵ, Hà Nội, Việt N am Bài v iê \ trình bày giá trị tiềm n ăn g việc sử d ụ n g n g u liệu v ăn học tro n g g iâ n g d y kỹ n ăn g thự c h àn h tiến g tiêu chí lự a ch ọ n n g ữ liệu v ăn p h ù hợp với ch n g trìn h ngoại khóa cho sinh viên n ăm th ứ I K hô N g n n g ữ Văn hóa A nh - M ỹ, T rư ng Đại học N goại ngữ, Đ ại học Q uôc gia H Nội N h ữ n g p h â n tích n ày q u a n trọ n g tro n g việc g ó p p h ầ n xẳỵ d ự n g học hâ'p d ẫ n hon^ g iú p sin h viên p h t triển kỹ n ă n g n g n ngữ , tính tự giác tro n g học tập tự tín tư n g tác vói n g ữ liệu v ăn học vốn th n g đirọc coi kh ỏ tiế p cận Bài b ao củng đ a p h n g p h p giáo học p h p b ản có tin h ứ n g d ụ n g n h d t đ ịn h , thời cung cap n h ữ n g h oạt đ ộ n g giáng d y cụ th ể đ ã đ ợ c lựâ chọn áp d ụ n g hiộu q u cho sinh viên năm th ú nhâ't cũ a K hoa cũ n g n h vói m ộ t sơ đơi tư ợ n g học viên khác ... hardly just one, so Task-based teaching is a well-integrated approach to language teaching in general, and to the usừìg of literary texts in teaching language skills in particular S u g g e sted... class in an interesting and effecHve way A n o th er reason fo r choosing literary texts is th at curriculum a n d m aterials in th e course can h ard ly satisfy th e objectives of language teaching. .. find th em selv es c«ipablc of giving their em otional responses Personally, it w o u ld be m ost ad v an tag e o u s w h en u sin g literary texts in teaching language, especially if th e lessons