New Approaches to Literature for Language Learning

Jeneen Naji, Ganakumaran Subramaniam, Goodith White

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9783030152567
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This book unpacks recent changes in the landscape of literature and language teaching, and aims to find new explanations for the altered relationships between readers and writers, the democratisation of authorship, and the emergence of new ways of using language. By examining topics as various as literature and technology, multimodality, and new Englishes, the authors take a fresh look at the use of literature as a tool in the teaching of English to second-language speakers. More than simply a way of teaching aesthetic and ethical values and rhetorical skills, they argue that literature can also be used to help students to critically evaluate assumptions about society, culture and power which underpin the production and reception of texts. The book relates theories of language acquisition and literary criticism to examples of literary texts from a wide range of global literature in English, and discusses new ways of engaging with it, such as transmedia story telling, book blogs and slam poetry. It will be of interest to language teachers and teacher trainers, and to students and scholars of applied linguistics, TESOL, and digital literacies.

© The Author(s) 2019

Jeneen Naji, Ganakumaran Subramaniam and Goodith WhiteNew Approaches to Literature for Language Learninghttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15256-7_1

Begin Abstract

1. Why Is Literature Important for Language Learning?

Jeneen Naji¹ , Ganakumaran Subramaniam² and Goodith White³

(1)

Department of Media Studies, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland

(2)

School of Education, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia

(3)

School of Education, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia

Jeneen Naji

Email: [email protected]

Ganakumaran Subramaniam

Email: [email protected]

Goodith White (Corresponding author)

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

In this chapter we:

• Discuss some of the reasons for using literature in language learning
• Broaden the definition of literature to include digital literature and other multimodal texts
• Consider students’ and teachers’ views on the value of literature in language learning.

It may seem strange to be writing a book about using literature for language learning at this point in time, when it seems to have widely fallen out of favour. But we, the authors of this book, have always believed in the power and uniqueness of literature for achieving particular benefits in learning languages. We also believe that the time is ripe for a re-evaluation and resurgence in the use of literature in this learning context. In this first chapter, we hope to convince you of our case. We discuss some of the reasons which excite and motivate us to use literature in our language teaching. We mention some familiar reasons—but we also argue that there are some emerging ones which, in our opinion, make literature very relevant for language learners in the twenty first century. We hope that this book will encourage our fellow teachers to try out or return to using literature in the language classroom.

What are the emerging, new reasons? We think they include the following:

• Literature provides opportunities to develop multiple literacies. The focus of literacy over the last few decades has shifted away from writing or reading print texts and towards creating and consuming texts which are much more fluid and unstable. They may be digital and multimodal; becoming literate now involves the ability to produce and interpret texts which combine words with oral, visual, and spatial ways of conveying meaning (Dudeney et al. 2013). We’d argue that literary studies have long involved interaction with multimodal texts, such as films, plays, and performance poetry. Because our focus in this book is on ‘literary studies’ rather than a narrow concentration on ‘literature’ in the traditional sense of a print-based ‘canon’, we’d maintain that literary studies can cover any texts that contain literary forms, features, and purposes. The recent award of the Nobel Prize for literature to a songwriter, Bob Dylan, demonstrates how current definitions of literature transcend traditional notions. This means that multimodal texts, such as songs, films, and plays can be considered literary and studied from a literary perspective, as well as literary forms such as digital poetry and fan fiction which are ‘born digital’. It’s also the case that there is a whole new world of digitally produced literature and ways of consuming and producing it which language learners could engage with. In addition to a focus on multimodality and digital production, literacy now also frequently involves the ability to build on and critique the texts of others (these kinds of texts are known as ‘remixes’ or ‘redesigns’). Literature has been associated with such ‘remixes’ centuries before the digital era. One literary form has often been transposed into or served as the inspiration for another, for example, ‘film of the book’ or rewrites of famous classics in modern form, such as Jane Smiley’s ‘A Thousand Acres’ (book based on Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’) or ‘Ten Things I Hate About You’ (film based on Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’). The ultimate remix so far may well be the film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! Another important component of the ‘new literacies’ is the ability to interpret the ways in which different social and cultural contexts influence meaning (Kalantzis and Cope 2011). We’d contend that encounters with literature written in different times, places, and perspectives are likely to help learners to develop this skill.
• Learning the whole of the language. Contemporary linguists and literary theorists argue that so-called ‘literary language’ isn’t a separate concept from ‘ordinary language’; the two kinds of language coexist on a cline which depends on use, context, and interpretation. Creative/literary language and other features of literary genres such as narrative are found in many kinds of text, such as academic articles, speeches, and advertisements. We’d claim that students need to be able to understand and produce literary language and forms if they are to function fully in a language.
• Thinking skills. We would argue that exposure to literature provides excellent opportunities for language learners to develop skills particularly needed in the twenty first century world of work, such as creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.

We will expand on these points later in the chapter and in the book as a whole.

The Benefits of Literature

Most societies tend to view literature as a ‘good thing’ even if, as we’ll discuss later, convincing scientific proof for some of its social benefits is hard to come by. As we wrote this book, we came across numerous examples of ways in which groups and individuals are using literature in the belief that it will ameliorate medical and psychological problems, and enable individuals to continue developing intellectually and emotionally. To give just a few examples: The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project in the United States and the United Kingdom finds that encouraging sufferers to compose poems helps memory and general well-being. People using doctors’ surgeries in the United Kingdom can pick up a leaflet called Poems in the Waiting Room, which features poems designed to transport them away from their health worries and the coughs and sneezes of their fellow patients for some precious moments. Saber Hosseini delivers a mobile library of story books to children in remote villages in rural Afghanistan by bicycle (http://​observers.​france24.​com/​en/​20160414-bicycle-books-isolated-afghan-children). He says ‘These kids live such stressful lives – they live in a society that is full of death and violence…so we want to keep delivering a bit of joy and calm in their lives through books’. Young people in war-torn Syria set up a secret library in a basement in Daraya, south of Damascus. One of them wrote: ‘Working on this library really helped me find a new purpose for my life. Before, I spent days feeling both bored and terrified as I waited for air raids. Now, I advise library members who come to check out books and we chat about what we have been reading’. The library was later bombed, but the volunteers did not forget what a sanctuary it had been for them (https://​edition.​cnn.​com/​2016/​10/​07/​middleeast/​syria-undergound-library/​index.​html).

World leaders have also extolled the benefits of literature. In late October 2015, President Obama was reported as saying that novels taught him how to be a citizen, and ‘the most important stuff I’ve learned I think I’ve learned from novels’. In an interview with the writer Marilynne Robinson, he went on to say that reading novels ‘has to do with empathy…with being comfortable with the notion that the world is complicated and full of greys, but there’s still truth to be found, and that you have to strive for that and work for that. And the notion that it’s possible to connect with someone else even though they’re very different from you’. In the same week, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and former teacher of literature, was quoted as saying ‘we need poets to change the world’ (although he did not go into any details about why that might be the case and how they might do it!).

What exactly is going on? Is this just an example of politicians leaping onto some kind of zeitgeist bandwagon? Or do these projects and comments signal a re-evaluation of the role of literature in personal and public life, including education? And for the purposes of this book, even if renewed arguments may be made for the relevance of literature to education in general, are these applicable to language learning? We’ll argue that, although it never entirely went away, this may be one of the times when literature is coming back into fashion in the field of language learning after a lean period in the wilderness when it has not played much of a role in mainstream teaching methodologies. We’ll also suggest that there are some new influences in play which will affect how it is used with learners. So we’ll start with a backward glance about how literature has been used in language learning in the past, and why it might have fallen out of fashion in some places and contexts.

Literature in Language Learning—A Historical View

The changing role of literature in education over time tends to reflect shifts in the ways in which a country views its national culture, its social and political history, and the job skills needed for economic success. There have been times and places when literature has played a very prominent role in language learning. Malaysia and India, for example, have been remarkably consistent in valuing literature as a means of teaching English over a long period, even if, in our experience, some teachers in these countries feel that it is elitist and not used well in the classroom or taken seriously enough as a methodology. Kramsch and Kramsch (2000) describe how, in Europe and the United States in the early 1900s, the main aim in learning a foreign language such as French and German was to be able to read and appreciate literature written in that language. They explain how there have been times over the last hundred years when the use of literature in la...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Why Is Literature Important for Language Learning?
• 2. Literature and Language Learning
• 3. Ways into Literature
• 4. Literature and Culture
• 5. Literature and Technology
• 6. Literature and Reading Communities
• 7. Literature and Multimodality
• 8. New Literatures in New Englishes
• 9. Literature and Personal Growth: A Look to the Future
• Back Matter