competence, most of them get into the program in the A1 level and scaffold ..... writing, brainstorming, and guided fantasy (Hwang & Embi, 2007) are used to elicit the readers´ ...... not live with this beast near me, however I felt the cats shadow.
USING LITERARY TEXTS TO FOSTER LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND STUDENTS´ APPRECIATION FOR LITERATURE.
MASTER EN LINGUISTICA APLICADA A LA ENSEÑANZA DEL INGLES COMO LENGUA EXTRANJERA UNIVERSIDAD DE JAEN
By: Tatiana Becerra Posada Tutor: Jesus Lopez-Pelaez Casellas
ITABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
4
1. CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH
7
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
8
2.1 LITERATURE
9
2.2 LITERARY TEXT
11
2.3 LITERARY COMPETENCE
11
2.4 WHY LITERATURE?
13
2.5 APPROACHES TO THE USE OF LITERATURE IN THE EFL CLASS
14
2.5.1 THE LANGUAGE MODEL
14
2.5.2 THE CULTURAL MODEL
15
2.5.3 THE PERSONAL GROWTH MODEL
15
2.5.4 THE INTEGRATED APPROACH
15
2.5.5 THE READER´S RESPONSE APPROACH.
15
2.6 RESEARCH BACKGROUND
16
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES
20
3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
20
3.2 GENERAL OBJECTIVES
20
3.3 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
20
4. METHODOLOGY
20
4.1 POPULATION
20
4.2 RESEARCH PARADIGM
21
4.2.1 ACTION RESEARCH
22
4.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
22
4.3.1 OBSERVATIONS
22
4.3.2 QUESTIONNAIRES
23
4.3.3 INTERVIEWS
23
4.3.4 STUDENTS ARTIFACTS
23
4.4 PROCESS DESCRIPTION
23
4.5 DATA MANAGEMENT
25
5. RESULTS
25
5.1 FINDINGS
25
5.2 RESULTS ANALYSIS
54
5.2.1 ATTITUDE TOWARDS READING AND LITERARY TEXTS
54
5.2.2 RESPONDING TO LITERATURE
55
5.2.3 BETTER LANGUAGE USERS
57
6. CONCLUSIONS
58
7. REFERENCES
60
8. APPENDIX
USING LITERARY TEXTS TO FOSTER LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT AND STUDENTS´ APPRECIATION FOR LITERATURE.
“The tragedy is that, whether in mother tongue or foreign languages, literature remains inaccessible to so many people” (Brumfit & Carter, 1996:34)
Even though the learning and teaching of classical languages such as Greek and Latin surged from the need to study the classical literary works, there was a period of time during which the teaching of modern languages grew apart from the use of literature in the language class. For many ELT professionals, the use of literature became inappropriate for teaching a foreign language. According to McKay the use of literature in ESL contexts was neglected since it had been claimed to: Contribute little to the teaching of the language grammar… Contribute little or nothing to helping students meet their academic and/ or occupational goals…Reflect a particular cultural perspective; thus, on conceptual level, it may be quite difficult for students. (1982: 191)
However, during the eighties a new interest in the use of literature rose, and it seemed literature had revived in the language classrooms as it became a tool that EFL teachers began to use in order to help L2 learners know about the target culture and experience authentic texts. Many EFL researchers such as Brumfit & Carter (1984), Long (1986), McKay (1986), Sage (1987), and Short & Candlin (1986) became interested in the use of literature in the EFL
classroom and research was done to support the fact that indeed literature was a beneficial tool in the foreign or second language classroom. However, the use of literature is still neglected within the language class in some contexts and schools; these schools may be aware of the importance of literature for EFL students who are not just learning a language but a whole new culture, but there is still lack of use and integration of literature in the classes students attend. That is the situation at the English Teaching Degree Program at the Universidad de Córdoba in Colombia, where many students are training to become in the near future the language teachers of the local, regional and national contexts, but are not being provided with the opportunity to experience literature and benefit from the rewards of using this tool, rewards as relevant as developing critical thinking, sharing their personal opinions and thoughts, and improving their language skills. It has become commonality among the teachers of this program to focus on language usage through the use of informative texts rather than on exploring the powerful linguistic and sociolinguistic value that is immersed in literary texts. Even though students are supposed to take the subject `English and American Literature´, there is little exposure to literary texts while taking these classes due to time constraints since each class consists only of a weekly session of two hours. For the teachers and students at the ELT degree program of this University, it is relevant to experience the possible advantages that the use of literature may bring to language learners in the local EFL contexts. It is our responsibility, ELT professionals, to overcome the prejudices and negligence that have been spread upon the use of literature in the language classroom; thus, it should be a major aim to analyze it in order to contribute to the better implementation of literature and to an improvement of our classroom performance. The main intention of this project that attempts to integrate literary texts into the language classroom is not to have students become literary scholars or critics through the development of their literary competence, but to give the students the opportunity to experience literature, and respond to it naturally. This is considered to be a meaningful experience for ELT learners during their training years. For instance, Bredella explains: The aesthetic reading experience is pedagogically significant for it allows us to explore how the reader is affected by the text, and what the ‘response’ might be. Here there is an opportunity to direct the reader’s attention to his/her images of the other and of oneself
and to explore the dual process of involvement and detachment. This happens as the reader participates in this imagined world while at the same time observes his/her own involvement. This reflective element connecting reader and text encourages the adoption of different points of view and broadens the readers’ horizons.(Gonçalves ed. 2010:5)
The integration of literature into the language class can be an opportunity for the language teacher to make a contribution to the development of the reading habits in our society; Colombia has been reported to be one of the countries with the lowest reading habits in the world; according to Mielo “la mayoria de los colombianos leen 1,6 libros por año” (2008:27) In addition, in 2001 Colombia participated in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study – PIRLS, in which reading comprehension levels of fourth graders were evaluated. Colombia was 30 among the 35 countries that participated in the study; its score was 422, below the international average of 500 and very far from Sweeden´s highest score of 561. This is surely a worrying fact if we take into account that the development of the reading skill is central in any attempt to improve the educational levels in a country. Moreover the reading habits of the students from the ELT program at Universidad de Cordoba are low. In the study “Teachers´ Beliefs Towards Reading in the English Teaching Degree Programme At Universidad De Cordoba”, it was found that 81% of the students from the ELT program read between 1 and 3 books per year which is a very low amount of books to be read by a college student in a school year. It is then necessary to change this reality and create among students the necessity to increase their reading habits. Furthermore, the educational levels in the department of Córdoba are still low, 78% of its schools have the lowest level of education and it is one of the departments with the highest rates of illiteracy in the country, 14% of its population does not know how to write or read. Following Fowler, the educational system plays a very important role in the development of the students´ communicative and literary competence. However how much students develop these competences is the result of the socio economic and cultural conditions of their community: The overall point is that both groups the excluded and the included, as well as the different levels of more-or-less qualified people in between the extremes, obtain their communicative competence, and their knowledge of literature, within an educational system; and an educational system is very much the product of the economic, political, social, and ideological conditions of
its time. So the literary competence we acquire changes as historical conditions change. (1996: 249)
Taking into account Fowler´s statement on the role of the educational system in the development of communicative and literary competence and the educational levels in the department of Cordoba, it becomes urgent to start changing and improving the quality of education in the social and geographical context of Cordoba. The inclusion of literary texts within the communication class of the future English teachers of this department can have beneficial effects as it might account for the formation of more critical and competent professionals who are able to appreciate and respond to literary texts as they improve their language performance.
1. CONTEXT
Montería is a small city located in the northern Colombian coast; it is the capital of the department of Córdoba which is part of the Caribbean region. Monteria is one of the ten most important cities in Colombia due to the wide farming and agricultural activities that make up its economy, hence it is also known as the “farming capital of Colombia”. Monteria is also a culturally diverse city as it is home of different cultural heritages. Cultural heritage from its first settlers the Zenu Indians as well as from African descendents, Spanish descendents, and Arab immigrants are found in the wide variety of music, pottery, handicrafts and gastronomy of this town. As of 2005, Monteria had an estimated population of 378,970. Monteria is home of Universidad de Córdoba and Universidad del Sinú, there are also other universities which have set their campuses more recently such as Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, Fundación Universitaria San Martín and Fundación Universitaria Luis Amigó. All these universities, except by Universidad de Cordoba are private universities which offer undergraduate as well as postgraduate programs. Universidad de Córdoba is the largest university in town and it is a state run university; it is well known in the country and all along South America by its Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Universidad de Cordoba offers more than 500 places in its twenty six different undergraduate
programs every semester. Among the best known undergraduate programs in this university we find:
Veterinary medicine, Agronomic engineering, Industrial Engineering, Nursing, and the
Teaching programs better known as Licenciatura Programs. The English Language Teaching program is one of the undergraduate programs offered at this university, this program opened in 1998 with the mission of training ELT professionals who supplied the need for English teachers in the town, the department and the region. Since then, the program has already graduated 454 licenciados or English teachers. Currently, there are 510 students enrolled in the ELT program at Universidad de Cordoba; their ages are between 16 and 26 years old. Most of these students come from Monteria as well as from nearby towns.
Following the Common European Framework (CFE) levels of language
competence, most of them get into the program in the A1 level and scaffold throughout their training years to the C1 level.
Besides acquiring language competence, the students are also
trained in the teaching of English as a foreign language indirectly through apprenticeship of observation in the EFL classes and directly in the pedagogy classes. This program has wide social impact and acceptance, which is shown in the amount of graduates who are currently working in the ELT field; according to the data provided for accreditation processes of the program, 90% of the graduates are currently working in public and private schools and ELT institutions in the region.
2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Any research project must stem from a previously existing body of theoretical research in the field and this research project is no exception. Thus, several theories, concepts, ideas, and state-of-the-art on the field of literature in the EFL class have been helpful in the development of its basis. Concepts such as reading, literature, literary texts, literary competence, and the review of other important researches will be part of the following review of the theoretical framework.
2.1 Literature This is the main concept dealt with through this project, thus, it becomes essential to define the concept of literature that will be used in this research
Pickett (in Brumfit & Carter, 1984) explains that the term literature has changed through time; in the eighteenth century it signified a personal intellectual quality, thus it was possible to ascribe literature as a quality to a person if knowledge and taste of literature were owned. In the nineteenth century, it accredited a communal sense since the term was used to mean a body of books possessed by a nation; later, it came to confer the canonical status on the body of books owned by a nation, focus was on what they believed to be the literary essence intrinsic to those books. In the twentieth century, the concept of literature changed and it did not refer anymore to a corpus of books but to “the underlying substance detectable of those books, detectable in each of them”. (Brumfit & Carter ed. 1984:278) Critics considered that literature was a special and autonomous form of discourse. However, scholars like Fowler (1996) consider that this proposition erects an obstacle in the way of properly understanding literature as language. Thus, for some linguists, literature was considered as simply another linguistic manifestation. For instance, Widdowson claimed that “the study of literature is fundamentally a study of language in operation.” (O´Sullivan, ed. 1991:1) However, this concept evolved. According to Fowler literature is not just language, “literature is a creative use of language.” (1996:23) Therefore, not only the great literary works are literature, on the contrary, “literary creativity is seen in the production of discourse that seems to be “new” in a special sense” (Fowler, 1996:23) and texts that provide this sense can be catalogued as literature. MacCabe (in Hines, 2009) considers another characteristic of literature; he suggests that through the use of descriptive language, “literature is intellectually stimulating because a book allows a reader to imagine worlds they are not familiar with.” Then, it is necessary for the reader to create their vision of what the writer is saying, “The reader becomes a performer or an actor in a communicative event.” Or as Barthes would put it “in the text, only the reader speaks” (Fowler ed. 1996:237) Italo Calvino also holds this same view: he considers that “it is up to the reader to see to it that literature exerts its critical force, and that this can occur independently of the author’s intentions”. (Gonçalves ed. 2010:5) In the same way, reception theory gives the reader a major place in the process of meaning creation and interpretation of a literary text. Hans Robert Jauss was one of the first contributors to reception theory: he considered that
literature and art only obtain a history that has the character of a process when the succession of works is mediated not only through the producing subject but also through the consuming subject—through the interaction of author and public. (Kinoshita ed. 2004:2)
In the same line of thought, Iser states that “the convergence of text and reader brings the literary work into existence, and this convergence can never be precisely pinpointed.” (Kinoshita ed. 2004:3)
Certainly the reader plays a substantial role in the reading of a literary work; this concept which was first expressed by the scholars who contributed to Reception Theory is also shared by other scholars in the ELT field. For instance, Fowler also considers that the reader´s role in producing extra meaning in literature is almost as important as the writer´s since the text aims at “communicative interaction between its producer and its consumers, within relevant social and institutional contexts.” (1996:15) Widdowson also states that the readers´ performance while reading literature is essential. The process for taking information out of conventional discourse can not be followed when reading literature since readers should “…employ interpretative procedures in a way which isn´t required of you in the normal reading process.” (Brumfit & Carter ed. 1984:14) 2.2 The literary text. Since we have maintained that literature can be understood as a creative use of language which is one of the main characteristics that makes a text literary, it may be appropriate to describe and/or explain the basic features of a literary text: A literary text is authentic text, real language in context, to which we can respond directly. It offers a context in which exploration and discussion of content leads on naturally to examination of language. (Brumfit & Carter, 1984:15) According to Fowler the literary text just like other kinds of texts also reflects and is influenced by the history and culture of the context. He explains that “a literary text, like any other text, is primarily the realization of a mode of discourse or a number of modes of discourse.” (1996:233) and he further explains that “nothing is possible without the preexisting discourses: and they are rooted in social, economic, political and ideological conditions which go far beyond the consciousness and control of the writing subject, `the author´”. (1996:233)
Fowler gives literary texts a lot of importance within society when he considers that “the literary texts do speak: they participate in society´s communicative practices, and are an important means of influencing world-view and social structure.” (1996:131) In some way Littlewood (1976) had also seen this characteristic of literary texts. He had previously considered that literary texts have a different relationship to external reality. They, too, depend upon it for their raw material and for their interpretability, but after selecting some elements from it, aim to combine these elements into a new portion of reality which exists only within the text. (Brumfit & Carter ed. 1984:14)
Another characteristic of literary texts is that they “tend to be ambiguous and polysemantic” (Hanauer, 2001:395) This statement means that there is no one single and only right meaning of a literary text; on the contrary, literary texts are open to the construction of different meanings that the reader can give to them; however, this meaning depends on the perception of the world and experience of the reader. As Hanauer would state, “one of the main reasons for using a literary text to teach cultural understanding is that it can be understood in a variety of ways.” (2001:395) Fowler also adds that “Literary works are said to be free of any context, or alternatively, to `create their own contexts´”. (1996:111) This is a very special characteristic of literary texts as it differentiates them from other forms of discourse. This characteristic also accounts for the critical weight that literary texts possess. Through the defamiliarization technique that literary texts use, they can juxtapose different voices and ideologies within one text, as Bakhtin said they assume a dialogic structure; thus, they force readers to be critical in order to identify the concepts and ideas expressed on them. As it was mentioned above, defamilarization is a special technique of literary texts. The concept of defamiliarization comes from Formalism, from the Russian word ostraneniye which meant to estrange. Viktor Shklovsly considered that one of the aims of defamiliarization in art was “to make objects `unfamiliar,´ to make forms difficult, to increase the difficulty and length of perception” (Fowler ed. 1996:56) More recently, Fowler explained that one of the aims of defamiliarization is to “disturb relationships between signs and meanings” (1996:60) in order to reveal and transform ordinary items; Fowler considers that there are many linguistic techniques such as under lexicalization, metaphor, clashes of style, parody, breaking of syntactic rules, use of an unusual vocabulary, and invention of new words used to achieve this aim.
The dialogic structure of literary texts is another characteristic that also deserves a more detailed explanation. The dialogic principle was first introduced by Mikhail Bakhtin; he used this principle to analyze language, literature and society; he considered that “Life by its very nature is dialogic. To live means to participate in dialogue: to ask questions, to heed, to respond, to agree, and so forth.” (Rule ed. 2006:83). He also applied this concept to literature; he considered that literary texts pursued communication as well as ordinary life through the use of dialogue. Furthermore, Fowler explains that dialogic structures can be explored in two senses; the ordinary
sense which can be expressed in the dialogue between characters; and the extended sense by which literary texts interact implicitly; this means that there is communication between the author, the reader, the narrator and even his characters. As we have seen, the literary text can be considered to be a creative use of language, as well as the product of earlier forms of discourse and of the socio-cultural background. Furthermore, it has characteristics by which it assumes an added value that can not be provided by other forms of discourse: it enrolls readers in the activity of being creative, critical and open to other different visions of the world. Consequently, the reader must fulfill a critical role in order to construct the meanings of the text. This process will require some specific competence that we will deal with in the next section. 2.3 Literary competence Following Fowler “adequate reading calls on much more knowledge than simply knowledge of the structures of the language.” (1996:236) He explains that it is impossible to read a literary text relying only on the syntactic, phonologic, semantic, and lexical knowledge we have: “it is obvious that this is an unnatural and impossible task” (1996:236) thus, readers need to have appropriate cultural and literary knowledge to understand it. In the case of bilingual or second language readers, knowledge of more than one language must help speakers to be aware of ideational restrictions imposed by their native linguistic competence and open their perception to understand the meaning of the literary text. Taking into account that “no matter how natural in appearance, language always invites the reader to construct a version of reality”, (Fowler, 1996:246) students need to rely not only on their linguistic competence, but need also to use their experience and knowledge of the world and their communicative competence to fulfill this task.
Therein, literary competence should be understood as a part of communicative competence which allows us to identify the literariness of texts as well as the competence which allows us to decode and respond appropriately to other kinds of discourse. Literary competence is by no means a superior knowledge; the kind of competence we develop depends on our experience and education which is by no mean the same for everyone. Thus, it is not possible to talk about a single or universal literary competence since the experience and education obtained varies among individuals. Furthermore, the characteristics of society in a specific era as well as the differences among groups of people in a specific historical moment also influence the response to particular texts in a certain lapse of time or in a specific social group. It can be said that literary competence is also relative to the cultural and social circumstances of each community. Brumfit & Carter consider that literary competence is acquired when “we have achieved defined capacities of judgment.” (1984:16) However, literary competence should not be reduced just to a matter of “taste” but to the development of the reader´s sensitivity upon the texts. Since literary competence as well as communicative competence is obtained within the educational system, it becomes highly relevant to foster experience that accounts for the development of literary competence. For instance, Fowler considers that: the use of seminar groups encourage sharing of experience; they are a classroom model of the intersubjective principle of social knowledge through which students can pool and compare the range of discourses of their collective experience, and discuss their significance. (1996:251)
However, there are some educational practices which inhibit the relevant experience. Lecture and tutorial teaching formats are some of those, as lectures may encourage passivity in the students and authoritarianism in the lecturer; tutorials promote indulgence and subjectivism when they are the sole medium for the student. I would like to end this section with Fowler´s statement: The language studied in the literature classroom should not be restricted to the “literary”; but the language of “literary” texts taught in the context of non-literary modes of discourse will feel more accessible, more like a natural part of one´s communicative competence. (1996:252)
In the same way in the communication class, where students are developing their communicative competence, there should exist a balance between the non literary and literary
texts in order to widen the students’ communicative competence and help them develop their literary competence. 2. 4. Why literature? As it was previously said, literature has proved to be a beneficial tool in the language class. It is then necessary to mention the kind of benefits that using literature can bring in our language classrooms. One of the main benefits that the use of literature can bring is the development of students´ language competence, according to Brumfit & Carter this is possible since First a literary text is authentic text, real language in context, to which we can respond directly… Literary texts provide examples of language resources being used to the full, and the reader is placed in an active interactional role in working with and making sense of this language…It is a basis for students to work out why they like reading what they read, and for extending their language into more abstract domains associated with increasingly advanced language competence. (1984:15)
Following Brumfit & Carter another reason to include literature within the language syllabus is that it enables us to understand the foreign culture. They stated that “literature is one major aspect of culture, and many people wish to study it in its own right. In addition it is more cheaply and easily accessible than many other cultural phenomena and maybe easier to comprehend than other more locally-based art forms.” (1984:25) Furthermore, Long expressed another advantage of integrating literature to the language classroom since “it creates a feeling for language or responses to text´s in both written and spoken discourse”. (1996:42) Long considers that literary texts provide natural and varied opportunities for students to respond creatively, overcoming thus the restrictive elements of language teaching. Lazar (1994) also expressed that one of the advantages of using literary texts in the classroom was that they performed the powerful function of raising moral and ethical concerns that could later be related to discussions on struggling for a better society. More recently, Bredella, Carlisle, Benton & Fox, have studied the students response to the literary texts, and there seems to be agreement on the fact that while students respond aesthetically and individually to the text, they can improve their language skills as they would
need to write or speak to express their responses and also read or listen to get to know about their classmates responses to the texts read.
2.5 Approaches to the use of Literature in the EFL classroom. It has already been mentioned that there are several reasons for the inclusion of literary texts within the language class. Savvidou (2004) considers that it is a powerful pedagogic tool in the learner´s linguistic development. However, there is still the question of how to approach literature in the language class. Through the last years, different approaches to the integration of literature have arisen; the following is a brief recount of the most influencing approaches in the teaching of literature.
2.5.1 The language model The students´ linguistic development is the main aim in the language model. (Carter and Long, 1991) Students are exposed to different language variations through literary texts and obtain knowledge from the different features of the target language. However, literature also contains colloquial and agrammatical uses of language which might be counterproductive to expose the students to if they have not internalized the grammatical forms. Zafeiriadou points at another negative characteristic of this model: “The readers' responses to the literary texts are totally neglected and the approach may result instead in mechanistic and demotivating teaching practices spoiling any pleasure that the reading of good literature can give” (2001:4) Through this model students may find no meaning in the use of literature as they do not have the chance to experience it as such. 2.5.2 The cultural model In this model the literary texts are used as a source of cultural knowledge; through it students are able to understand “explore and interpret the social, political, literary and historical context of a specific text.” (Savvidou, 2004:3) However, the excessive use of lectures, by which “students accumulate descriptions of critical schools and literary movements, biographical facts about authors and various synopses provided by the teacher” (Zaferiadou, 2001:4), has been a point of discussion due to the fact that this is a very teacher-centered
practice which does not allow for students work on language neither on their response to the literary texts. 2.5.3 The personal growth model. The third approach outlined by Carter and Long (1991) mixes features of the language and cultural model. This model encourages students to interact with the literary texts; it aims to the development of language competence and literary competence of the students as well as the development of the learners´ feeling and sensitivity towards the literary texts. Unlike the cultural model, this model changes the teachers´ role and makes emphasis on the learner as the centre of the reading process who can interact critically with the text. 2.5.4 The integrated approach. According to Savvidou “the integrated model is a linguistic approach which utilises some of the strategies used in stylistic analysis, which explores texts, literary and non-literary, from the perspective of style and its relationship to content and form.”(2004:5) The integrated approach (Duff and Maley, 1999) uses literary texts as they are a tool to sensitize readers to the reading process, provide different linguistic types and discourses, and provide enjoyment from reading through the readers´ responses to the text. 2.5.5 The reader´s response approach (RRA). By the end of the eighties, Short & Candlin stated: “….if literature is worth teaching qua literature, then it seems axiomatic that it is the response to literature itself which is important.” (Brumfit & Carter ed. 1984:91) As well as Short & Candlin, Long also claims that the readers´ response to the literary text is a very important part of teaching literature. He considered “….the teaching of literature is an arid business unless there is a response, and even negative responses can create an interesting classroom situation.” (1986:42) In this approach, the readers´ response to the literary texts takes a major role and it is through this response that literary texts become meaningful sources in the EFL class. According to Benton & Fox (1985) four main elements are part of the readers´ response to literature: Anticipating/retrospecting refers to guesses about what is going to happen next, what events lead to the current situation, and how the book is going to end; picturing refers to images that come
into the mind's eye, such as a character's face or a scene described in the book; interacting refers to opinions on a character's personality and actions, or feelings about events and situations, while evaluating refers to comments on the skill of the writer the characters feelings and personalities, the skills of the writer, the situations or plot.” (Carlisle ed. 2000:13-14)
In the RRA, students should create aesthetic responses from the text as they express their own ideas, opinions and feelings freely. This is a practice that differs widely from traditional views; literature was then a source to create efferent responses and students just took information out from the text. Different kind of activities such as question-discussions, journal writing, brainstorming, and guided fantasy (Hwang & Embi, 2007) are used to elicit the readers´ responses.
2.6 Research Background In Colombia, there is little research done about the use of literature in the EFL class. Despite this fact, we consider that the research projects which have been done in the last decade provide meaningful insights into the use of literature in the EFL class at schools and universities in the Colombian context; for this reason, it is important to mention them in this theoretical framework which is aimed to provide a review of the state-of-the-art. In her project, Teaching English through Stories: A Meaningful and Fun Way for Children to Learn the Language, Porras (2010) experiences the use of literature- short storiesin primary school classes. Through this action research project in which Porras and eight student- teachers from Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia mixed the use of story telling and games, it was found that Stories were an ideal tool to utilize in learning the language as they were the central axes of the whole process. Stories made the children’s learning the foreign language more interesting, amusing and memorable. Students have an amazing ability to absorb language when activities are familiar and enjoyable to them. Hence, teaching foreign language using stories as a basis creates a learning environment that is both familiar and fun.(Porras, 2010:12) This interesting research has shed some light on the creative use of literature in the EFL class even at primary levels. It is a thought-provoking experience which encourages English teachers to rethink about the goals, strategies, and the kind of content that needs to be brought into the EFL class.
Just like Porras gives literature a major place in the EFL class of primary students, López (2007) also brings the literature component into the High-School EFL classroom with her project Literature circles: a door to students’ life experiences in the classroom. In this project, literature is used as a tool for meaning creation in the class; 10th and 11th grade students respond in an aesthetic way to the literary texts read in their EFL class in a public school in Colombia. Although the students’ responses were produced in their mother tongue, this was a very significant experience for the learners as they were able to interact with literary texts in the target language, as well as reflecting on values, their reality and their lives´ experiences. Furthermore, this close encounter with literature through literary circles was a tool to “foster reading in a more meaningful way” (López, 2007:260) and to broaden students perceptions of life, culture and language.
The project Inquiry Process through Literature in the EFL Classroom: A Broad Path to Work on Critical Thinking is another relevant project related to this research which needs to be mentioned in this summary as it focuses on the development of students critical thinking. This project was done by Garzón (2006) at Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, in this project she provides considerations about the inclusion of literary texts as a facilitative tool to develop critical thinking skills. Through the use of literary texts and inquiry process in a foreign language classroom she could witness the student’s improvement on their development of critical thinking skills. Another important research that deals with the development of students´ cognitive processes is the project Developing Cognitive Processes in Teenagers through the Reading of Short Stories by Norato & Cañón (2006). This project was done with 6th graders at a public school in Colombia. Through the use of reading skills and Bloom´s taxonomy and cognitive domain, the researchers could help students to respond to higher thinking level activities and also to improve some cognitive processes such as comparing, synthesizing, comprehending, analyzing and noticing. Furthermore, through the use of short stories, which were chosen by the learners, the students were able to enjoy and participate actively in the reading activities. This experience had a big impact in the community; first, in the students who were able to improve their language command; second, in the students´ homes as parents became more committed with their children´s learning; and third, in the whole school since “administrators were always
open to help (us) with materials and other resources. Our colleagues showed a great interest in the project implementation in all the grades for next year.” (Norato & Cañón, 2006:12). Undoubtedly, Norato & Cañón´s research is an innovating project which paves the way for English teachers to continue using literature in the English class and help students to develop higher order thinking skills which are necessary in the construction of a better education in Colombian´s schools. There is certainly very little research done in the use of literature in the EFL class in Colombia as it can be seen in this section of the theoretical framework. However, around the world the use of literature in the EFL classroom is a theme that has been more widely investigated. A review of the most significant researches done about the use of literature in other countries will follow below. Motivating and Justifiable: Teaching Western Literature to EFL Students at a University of Science and Technology. This project, carried out at National Chin-Yi University of Technology in China, demonstrated that the use of literature in the EFL class can be a motivating source for EFL students. In this research, Shao Wen Su (2010) integrated different approaches to the use of literature such as the language-based approach, literature-based approach, and the cultural model to create an appealing class where students not only obtained knowledge of western literature but also acquired other benefits such as aesthetic appreciation for literary texts, improvement of their language competence, and knowledge of the target culture. As well as Shao Wen Su, Premawardhena (2007) uses literary works to overcome students´ lack of appreciation for literature in her project Integrating Literature into Foreign Language Teaching: a Sri Lankan Perspective. In this project she also aims to “train the students to develop critical and analytical skills, ability to work independently and present their own arguments with supportive evidence from texts.” (Premawardhena, 2007:95). Furthermore, the reading of literary works is also used as a tool to improve the students´ language competence. Even though this study was done with students in the German study program at a Sri Lankan University, it also provides a path to follow in the inclusion of literature in FL classes as it emphasizes on the use of didactics in literature and the use of audio- visual media by which the students are able to familiarize with other interpretations of the text. It also avoids the use of traditional approaches to literature such as translation of every word and discourse
analysis in order to promote students critical thinking skills and authentic responses to the literary text.
Hwang & Embi (2007) did an interesting study in Malaysia in which they analyzed the approaches employed by teachers while using literature in the secondary school EFL class. It was found that teacher-centred approaches were widely used in the local context in which “the activities witnessed throughout the eight classroom observations were of a passive mode which involved abundant listening, individual exercises and following the dictation of the teacher and copying the right answers.” (Hwang & Embi, 2007:19) It seemed that the use of this teachercentred approaches and activities led to a poor students´ performance in the L2. Hwang & Embi found that the main factors influencing the approach choice were “the exam oriented culture in the Malaysian school setting, students' language proficiency, selection of literary texts, large group classes, attitudes of students and the training received by teachers.” (2007:19)
López-Robertson (2003) with her project Crossing Consciousness: A literature discussion exploring friends from the other side also experiences the use of literature in the ESL classroom of a bilingual school in Tucson, Arizona. Through the analysis of the book Friends from the other side, Mexican and Latin students living in the United States discuss in small groups different aspects of this book. Through these discussions, students are encouraged to “think critically and share the opinions they are forming about the books they read.” (LópezRobertson, 2003:58) This is undoubtedly a meaningful activity for first and second graders as they are able to develop cognitive processes such as questioning and interpreting as well as relying on their lives experiences to create meaning from the book. Finally, there is another research which has deeply influenced this research project since it aims at creating readers´ individual response to literary texts through the use of reading logs. In his project Reading logs: an application of reader response theory in ELT, Carlisle (2000) brings into the EFL class of Taiwanese ELT undergraduate students two novels which students are to reflect on in their reading logs. At the end of the course, students obtained several benefits from this practice, benefits as significant as improving their reading and writing skills, getting clearer understanding from the book, and appreciating literary works critically. The value of Carlisle´s research lays on the fact that it has been one of the first projects in which
reading logs were used successfully in L2 teaching, paving the way for further research on readers´ response theory in EFL learning.
3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES 3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS We have been concerned about the lack of use of literary texts in the language class, especially in the Communication class, at the ELT program at Universidad de Córdoba for several years, first during our training years and later during our time as teachers of this program. Being aware of the benefits that the use of literature has proved to have in other EFL and ESL language classes in local and international contexts and the lack of reading habits in our immediate contexts, two main questions arouse in our minds: •
How could students who are not acquainted with authentic literary works start to appreciate literature?
•
What kind of benefits can the use of literature bring into the EFL class of students who have not experienced the reading of authentic literary works?
3.2 GENERAL OBJECTIVES As it was already said, this project stems from the need to include literary texts in the language class at the ELT program at Universidad de Córdoba. Thus, its main aim is to promote students´ language development and to foster students´ appreciation for literature through the use of literary texts in the language class.
3.3 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES In order to achieve the general objectives of this project, some specific objectives have been conceived, among these objectives we find: •
To elicit students aesthetic responses from the literary texts read.
•
To engage students in activities which motivate them to read in the Communication VII class.
•
To design activities that foster the improvement of language skills.
•
To analyze the effects of using authentic literary texts in the communication class.
4. METHODOLOGY 4.1 Population The students who participated in this research project are undergraduate students from the ELT program at Universidad de Córdoba. During the time of the study, March to June 2010, the students were enrolled in the Communication VII class as well as in other courses of the seventh semester such as Reading Strategies, American Literature, Applied Linguistics, Classroom Management, among others. Furthermore, these students were doing their preservice teaching practice in different primary schools in town. The students ages are between 21 and 24 years old; most of them come from Monteria, however around 30% of the students come from other towns; some of them stay at boarding houses in Monteria while others travel everyday to their hometowns. The students in this class are supposed to be in the B2 level of competence according to the CEF and during the seventh and the eighth semester they should reach the C1 level. The students in this class self evaluated themselves in the first day of class, and the majority of students considered that the speaking skill was the one they had developed the most, and their main weaknesses were listening and writing. The students also expressed a great interest in learning vocabulary related to the slang and informal expressions of the English language. After doing the background questionnaire, it was found that students are not avid readers in the mother nor the foreign language and they seem reluctant to literary texts as they consider them hard to understand and with difficult vocabulary level. 4.2 Research Paradigm According to Seliger and Shohamy (1989), qualitative methods are said to have developed from anthropology and sociology, and the methods used in these disciplines to study human behavior. The main aim of qualitative research is to discover phenomena and to understand those phenomena from the perspective of participants in the activity. Some features of Qualitative Research according to Bogdan and Biklen (1982); Lincoln and Guba (1985); Patton (1990); Eisner (1991) in Hoepfl (1997) are: 1. Qualitative research uses the natural setting as the source of data. The researcher attempts to observe, describe and interpret settings as they are, maintaining what Patton calls an "empathic neutrality" (1990, p. 55).
2. The researcher acts as the "human instrument" of data collection. 3. Qualitative researchers predominantly use inductive data analysis. 4. Qualitative research reports are descriptive, incorporating expressive language and the "presence of voice in the text" (Eisner, 1991, p. 36). 5. Qualitative research has an interpretive character, aimed at discovering the meaning events have for the individuals who experience them, and the interpretations of those meanings by the researcher. 6. Qualitative researchers pay attention to the idiosyncratic as well as the pervasive, seeking the uniqueness of each case. 7. Qualitative research has an emergent (as opposed to predetermined) design, and researchers focus on this emerging process as well as the outcomes or product of the research. 8. Qualitative research is judged using special criteria for trustworthiness (p.1)
4.2.1 Action Research Action research is usually related with teachers’ development as it intends to inform teachers about their classroom practices and change them in the future. Action research focuses on questions or problems that teachers find in their school contexts and it is carried within their school settings. In this sense, Wallace considers it as “problem – focused in its approach” (1997:15) Through action research teachers have the opportunity to improve the classroom conditions of their contexts, and reflect and analyze their teaching. It seems, thus, that one way to foster and improve the use of literary texts in the communication class is through action research. Additionally, action research follows an exploratory approach that can help to recount the students’ response to the use of literary texts in the classroom. 4.3 Research Instruments Different data collection instruments were used in this research in order to collect the necessary information regarding the students’ performance in the different activities as well as the impact of these activities on the students’ perception of reading and literary texts. The instruments used in this research are qualitative research instruments such as observations, questionnaire, interviews, and the students’ artifacts. A brief explanation of each instrument will follow below.
4.3.1 Observations Observations have always been a main tool of data collection in qualitative research; they are mainly used to examine phenomena while going on. Observations are an advantageous data collecting tool as they allow researchers to study a phenomenon closely in the natural contexts. They can also be open or structured; participant or non- participant ; intrusive or non-intrusive. In this case, the observations carried were participant observations as they were done by the teacher of the class; there were intrusive and non-intrusive observations as some of them were recorded with a video camera and some other were carried through note-taking; observations were also open as the specific aspects from students´ attitudes and behavior observed in class could not be determined in advanced.
4.3.2 Questionnaires Questionnaires are printed forms for data collection. These are time and cost saving data collection techniques; they also assure the collection of information of a sensitive nature as the subjects can fill them out anonymously. Questionnaires are used to collect information from the subject regarding attitudes, self-concepts, and motivation. (Seliger & Shohamy, 1989) The questionnaires used in this research project are mainly unstructured questionnaires since it is important that students describe openly their opinions, attitudes and experiences regarding the texts read. 4.3.3 Interviews Through interviews we obtain information by speaking to the subjects; interviews can be open, semi –open or structured. The interviews used in this research are semi- open as some of the questions have been planned; however, there are questions that can arise from the flow of the interview. 4.3.4 Students Artifacts Another important data collection tool in this research project is the students’ artifacts. They refer to the written work done by the students such as essays, reading logs, and any piece of writing in which they are supposed to share their understanding of the texts as well as the response generated towards them.
4.4 Process description During this action research, 17 students attending the class Communication VII in the English Language Teaching Program at Universidad de Córdoba in Colombia were assigned to do extensive reading on literary works. It needs to be said that the integrated approach and the RRA to literature were followed; through these approaches students would be able to focus on language from the texts and also to respond to them by sharing their opinions and thoughts on the meanings of the text. The project was done during the first academic semester of 2010, specifically between March and June. It was decided to start on March since the first weeks of class were used to apply diagnostic tests to the students in order to know their language level and their weaknesses. The students in the Communication class were assigned four different literary works during the semester. The first literary work was chosen by the teacher taking into account the main needs that the students expressed they had on their first day of class. The second one was chosen by the students from three different suggestions given by the teacher based on students’ interests. The third and fourth literary texts were a personal choice; from a suggested data base list, the students chose the literary work that suited their likes, needs, and genre preferences. After having assigned the literary texts to the students, they were given a considerable amount of time to do extensive reading of these texts at home. Through direct observation, interviews, and questionnaires we were able to collect information regarding the students’ response to the use of this kind of texts and their attitudes during these class activities. In order to integrate literature into the communication class, a series of activities were designed within the focus of two main aspects: language development and reading response. Language development is related to the different activities or tasks that aimed to enhance the improvement of the students´ language skills such as speaking, reading, writing and listening during the integration of literary texts. It is important to make the students feel that the use of literature does provide benefits for their language development. For instance, Bamford & Day have expressed that “extensive reading can contribute to oral fluency by providing the ingredients for conversations, discussions, dramas, roleplays” (2004:91) Through the oral activities just mentioned, listening can also be developed; for instance, Dal Joong expressed “…half of communication is listening. Without listening comprehension speaking can not stand alone.” (1998:1) Reading literary texts can also help to the students’ enhancement and expansion of their vocabulary as “reading is an important source of incidental vocabulary
learning” (Bamford & Day, 2004:183). Finally reading is a source for developing writing as students can be incited to write their thoughts about the literary texts and also to write creatively as Bamford & Day suggest. In the reading response dimension of this project, the students would be motivated to experience literature and explore the worlds that emerge from reading it. According to Aly: It (RRA) views the reading process as a transaction between the reader and the text in which the reader, with his past experiences, beliefs, expectations and assumptions, interacts with the perspectives in the text, and meaning is determined as the result of this transaction” (1994: 290)
What is important in this focus of the reading process is that students enjoy reading and feel it as an experience from which many thoughts and feelings can arise. It is necessary to say that these two focuses on the reading process were integrated through the activities the students did before, while, and after reading. There was no especial emphasis on either one or the other focus but on both. Below follows a description of how each literary text was used in the communication class.
4.5. Data management The data was obtained through the different data collection instruments already mentioned. In order to analyze the data obtained, triangulation was followed. Triangulation is a process which allows the researcher to understand human behavior from different points of view. In this research, Methodological Triangulation was the main process used to analyze the data obtained; through the different data collection instruments used in this research it was possible to understand students attitudes, behaviors, and performance regarding the use of literary texts from the perspective of the students and the teacher participating in this action research.
5. RESULTS 5.1 Collected data The data were collected during the classes in which the literary texts and activities that stem out of them were used. The first tool used in this research was the Background Information Questionnaire; through this questionnaire it was possible to obtain information regarding students’ beliefs and
attitude towards reading and literary texts. After applying this first questionnaire it was found that more than half of the class spent less than 5 hours reading during the week, which was a very small amount of time, and most of the students usually read magazines, newspapers and academic books. A very few students mentioned literary texts in their answers. It was also found that most of the students are aware of the need for reading since it is necessary to get information and to improve their reading skill. Reading in their mother tongue was preferred to reading in L2 since they found it easy and very necessary to be informed. Most of the students did not mention any book they liked while some of them mentioned Gabriel Garcia Marquez´ novels as the best books they had ever read. Most of the students are aware of the fact that reading is a useful and beneficial activity for them. Background information
Number Comments
questionnaire
of answers
How much time do you think you spend reading in an average week? 1-5 hours 12 5-10 hours 4 More than 10 hours 1 What kind of things do you usually read? Magazines and newspapers 10 Novels 2 Academic books 5
“When I have homework to research, I have to read these kind of books”
You read them because … You like it. You have to. You need to.
8 5 4
Do you enjoy reading in Spanish? Yes . Why? It is easy. It is necessary it is useful. No. Why? It is boring. Does not like it.
10 4 4 2 7 4 3
“We need to read to be informed about what happens around the world.”
Do you enjoy reading in English? Yes. Why? It is easy. It is interesting. No. Why? Very difficult. It is boring. What is the most interesting book you have read? Cronica de una Muerte Anunciada Quien se ha comido mi queso. 12 Cuentos Peregrinos. Did not answer. Do you think reading in English helps your reading ability?
7 4 3 10 3 7
Yes. How?
14
No. Why?
3
2 1 1 13
“It´s a tool to learn new words”, “we practice reading comprehension” “It stresses me”
Below, there is a detailed description of the process followed with each literary text and the data collected through the observations and the other research instruments. First reading: “Death of a salesman” By Arthur Miller March 4th – April 7th.
The first literary work assigned was the play Death of a salesman. This play was divided into three acts; students were assigned to read at home each act of the play in a period of time of about three days. It took us three weeks to read the whole play, discuss, and carry the activities designed from this literary text in the classroom. The first assignment was to look up information about Arthur Miller. In the following class, students shared information about Arthur Miller with their classmates. After they shared the information, they were asked to get in small groups to do a True/False game about Arthur Miller. Each group was given several paper straps with information about Arthur Miller, these paper straps contained information which could be true or false; it was each group’s duty to choose only the true sentences and paste them in a white sheet of paper in the correct order.
First observation: True/False game (group activity) March 5th Objective: To introduce students with information about the author.
Students
used
English
while
Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
time
X
the
Main comments
Some members of each group spoke in L1 while the teacher was not close.
working in groups. Group
members
X
Mainly
participated actively
the
students
who
had
searched for the information.
in the activity. Students
showed
empathy
while
X
Some
students
did
not
work
cooperatively within the group.
working in groups. Students
seemed
interested
in
X
Most of the students who had
the
researched were interested.
activity. Students chose and organized
X
the
One group had mistakes in the way they organized the information.
information properly.
As it can be seen in the observation table shown above, students used English very often, especially when they were talking to the whole class and teacher; however, they approached close partners in Spanish. While doing the group activity, some students did not present ideas to the group; the students who were participating actively in each group had brought information about the author and seemed to know about it. Some of the students who did not have information about the author assumed a passive role in their groups while doing the activity, while the rest of their partners showed interest and were motivated to complete the activity. Finally, three of the four groups presented their author information sheets properly organized and with the right information.
After doing this pre- reading activity, students were engaged in another one. In this activity, students would share their thoughts, predictions, and images that came to their minds after reading the title of the play. Afterwards, students were assigned to read the first act during the weekend and to be ready to discuss it on Monday, March 8th. While students read the play, they were supposed to underline unknown words and expressions and also to write down a short paragraph of what they thought would happen in the next act.
Second observation: Discussion and retelling of the story March 8th Objective: To give students the opportunity to know to what extent they remember the sequence and parts of the story. Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students
used
English
while
X
Students used L1 for words they did not know how to say in L2.
retelling the story Students followed the
X
Students seemed to have misunderstood
sequence of the story
instructions, some said ideas about the
and
story and did not follow sequence of
retold
the
correspondent part. Students participate
did
not
in
the
events. X
Students admitted not reading and preferred to pass on.
retelling activity due to lack of knowledge of the story. Students paid close attention
to
X
their
the first act.
classmates recounts. Students
did
not
follow the sequence of the story while
Some students looked at their copies of
X
retelling. Students engaged in X
Students were quiet during discussion.
discussion willingly and openly. Students had to be
X
asked to engage in the discussion.
After reading the first act of the play, students came to class as it had been planned and retold the play following a chain sequence; this activity was not very successful since many students did not take turns properly, some of them did not participate in the activity as they had not read the text, and other students did not follow the right sequence of the story. Afterwards, students engaged in more open discussion in which they could express in English their thoughts and opinions about the story, the theme, the characters, and their situations. The open discussion was beneficial for several students who had stopped reading because they had found the text difficult to understand due to vocabulary and because of the dialogue format. This day, students were assigned to read the second chapter of the story; they were given from Monday 8th to Friday 12th to finish the second act. During the week students had a session in which they could ask questions regarding the story and the vocabulary so that they could solve doubts and have a better understanding of the text. Vocabulary guessing games were played in order to help students learn the new vocabulary found in the play. Most of the students seemed to enjoy the vocabulary games during the class. They asked questions about some parts of the first act, especially Willy´s daydreams, and also vocabulary concerning idioms and slang which were difficult to find in dictionaries. Most of the students showed a high level of motivation and interest during this activity, they took notes and volunteered to solve examples. At the end of the class, students provided their own examples with some of the words studied in the class and also commented on some classmates who misused some of the new words.
Third observation: Solving doubts and vocabulary session. March 11th Objective: To help students clear ideas about the text and cope with the vocabulary.
Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students used English
X
while working in the activities. Students
shared
their
doubts
freely
and
X
willingly
had
many
questions
regarding
vocabulary,
especially
idioms and slang.
Students engaged in the
X
vocabulary activities.
understanding
of
Students looked up for words and also guessed the meaning
Students showed better
X
the
Students inferred meaning of the words in the activity and gave new
vocabulary. Students
Students
examples. showed
a
positive attitude while
X
Students looked up words, took notes, and participated in the activity.
working in the class. On Friday the 12th, students discussed the second act of the story. They were more open in this activity and expressed their ideas about the story clearly. After the discussion, students were asked to get in groups and they were given specific pages from the story and were asked to make questions from those parts of the story. They did a short game in which groups posed their questions to the other groups; each group was supposed to answer correctly in order to collect points. Most of the groups created questions which were very literal, while a very few students made questions in which they had to infer the answer, these questions posed a level of difficulty for the students. Some other groups also failed to make the questions since they were hard to understand and answer. Students were very motivated in this activity, they showed knowledge about the acts read from the play as they answered most of the questions asked by their partners.
Fourth observation: Discussion and predictions about the play. March 12th
Objective: To check students understanding of the play while they express their thoughts, opinions and predictions about it. Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students used English
X
while working in the
Students
used
L1
to
approach
classmates while working in groups.
activities. Students
expressed
X
Many students preferred to be asked
their opinions freely
directly.
and willingly Students were reluctant X
Just two students did not participate in
to participate in the
the discussion.
discussion. Students
asked
X
questions properly Students
answered
which were not understood. X
questions willingly Students answers were correct
Very few students made questions
Students raised hands and tried to answer the questions to get the points.
X
Only some of the inference questions were difficult to answer.
After this activity, students were assigned to read the last act from the play. Students made predictions about how the end would be in class. Some students were very realistic while others were not, for instance some of them expressed that at the end everything would change for the Loman Family and they would become rich and solve their debts. Finally, students were given the weekend to read the third act, from March 12th to March 15th. On March 15th they discussed the story in small groups and each group presented their opinions about it. After that, they got in groups and chose the scenes they liked the best from the play, they planned their performances since they could adapt the scripts and the vocabulary used. Most of the students seemed at ease in their groups and used English to talk about their ideas on the performance.
Fifth observation: Small group discussion and planning performance of scenes from the play. March 15th Objective: To arise students creativity as they plan to perform some scenes. Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students used English
X
Some
while discussing about the
play
in
students
approached
group
mates in L1.
their
groups. Students
expressed
X
their opinions freely
Students
seemed
comfortable
and
shared ideas without being asked to.
and willingly in their groups. Students
chose
planned
and their
performances creatively
X
One of the four groups was quiet and the group members were not planning their performances.
and
cooperatively. On March 17th, they performed their scenes in front of their classmates. All the four groups presented their scenes in front of the class, however, two of the groups presented their scenes reading the dialogues as they were in the play; they did not add either changes to the dialogues or any kind of details such as costumes or furniture to their performance. The other two groups presented their scenes very creatively with setting and costume arrangements, the group members spoke clearly and confidently. After the groups presentations, students were able to identify which scene from the play their classmates had adapted.
Sixth observation: Group´s performance of scenes from the play. March 17th Objective: To encourage students’ creativity and oral production.
Ne
Somet
Very
All
ver
imes
often
the
Main comments
time Students used English
X
while performing. Students tone of voice
X
Some students were nervous and
and pronunciation were
were very quiet.
appropriate. Students paid attention to
their
X
Students
classmates
were
able
to
answer
questions asked by the teacher about
performance.
the performances.
Students
showed
understanding
of
the
scenes and were able to relate them
performed
by
to the parts of the play they were
scenes
X
Some students commented on the
their classmates.
taken from.
Students recreated the
X
Two of the four groups adapted their
scenes creatively.
dialogues,
used
costumes,
and
designed the setting for their scenes.
The last activity assigned to the students from the play was the writing of an essay in which they would choose and answer one of three questions about the play. The questions were: Which characters were symbols of conformity in the play? What does Ben symbolize to Willy? What do you think success is according to the author? Students were given a week to write their essays. On Wednesday, March 24th, students handed in their essays and a discussion was held about the three questions; students were asked to share their ideas and thoughts about the question they had decided to answer with the rest of the class. Not many students participated in this activity.
Seventh observation: Discussion about essay questions. March 24th Objective: To support points of view orally. Nev
Somet
Very
All
Main comments
er
imes
often
the time
Students used English
X
Some students used words in Spanish
during the discussion
to express their thoughts completely.
Students
participated
actively
in
X
Not many students volunteered to
the
participate.
discussion. Students paid attention to
their
X
Students
classmates
agreement
and
disagreement on their classmates
comments.
answers.
Students answers were supported
showed
on
understanding
X
Many of the answers given were supported
their of
the
on
students
personal
perceptions of family relationships
story.
and work.
Students
debated
X
Some of the answers given were
classmates’ answers.
polemic and caused debate in the classroom.
After the discussion students were given their classmates´ assignments to comment and check. The revised essays were given back to their authors the next day for students to do their corrections and submit them on Friday, March 26th.
First written assignment: Essay on “Death of a Salesman” Students who answered the essay questions.
9
Good organization Support from the play. Clear ideas.
Students who failed to answer the essay questions.
8
Plagiarism Misunderstanding of author´s ideas. Lack of organization. Unclear ideas
After the submission of the assignments, the essays were checked by the teacher and feedback was given to the students on April 5th. While checking the essays, it was found that more than half of the students had successfully done the assignment; they had chosen one of the questions and developed its answer in their essays with clear support and evidence from the play. However, several students had decided to cut and paste parts of articles and reviews about the play from websites; they also showed mistaken ideas from the play such as Willy Loman being a hero and role model. These students´ essays lacked support and did not have clear ideas to support their answer to the question they had chosen; all the students who failed the first assignment were also given the chance to write and correct their essays. Correction first written assignment: Essay on “Death of a Salesman” Students who answered the
14
Good organization
essay questions. Support from the play. Clear ideas. Students who failed to answer
3
Plagiarism
the essay questions. Unclear ideas.
After feedback was given, the students improved their essays and submitted them once again for final grading on April 7th. While checking the corrected essays, it was found most of the students who had failed to answer the essay questions improved their essays; they stated their own ideas about the answers and supported them with examples from the play; however, some of these students tried to improve their assignments but lifted complete paragraphs from internet sources and lacked clear ideas. These students were failed on this assignment as plagiarism is a forbidden practice in this university.
On this day students were also asked to complete the questionnaire to evaluate the literary text read. After tabulating the information the students provided in the questionnaires, it was found that most of the students did not find the play interesting and were not comfortable reading it since it was too long and the vocabulary was difficult to understand. Nonetheless, some student manifested to have learned some new vocabulary, especially idioms, and also to
have learned insights about society and the family. It was decided to let students choose the next story and also to provide different options of genre, theme, and length for them to choose.
Questionnaire on “Death of a salesman” 1. Rate from 1 – 5 the content of the Frequ story and state your reasons. ency 1 6
Comments
2
2
Very difficult, boring.
3
6
4
2
Interesting situations from society but too long. Very realistic with moral themes, but too much vocabulary.
5
0
Not interesting
How long did it take you to read the story? How did you feel while reading? 4 days
3
1 week
1
The story was not very interesting.
2 weeks
4
Problems with vocabulary
3 weeks
6
Problems with vocabulary understanding the story.
Did not answer.
3
and
Do you remember any words you learned from the story? None
2
1-3
5
4-7
6
8 - 12
4
Mention the aspects you liked the most from the story. Informal vocabulary and expressions
5
“The idioms were very useful.”
The family issues
3
“I liked the problems the family had, they are problems everyone can have.”
Characters lives and situations
3
None
6
Mention the aspects you liked the least from the story. Length
4
“It was an eternal conversation”
style
3
“Too much drama.”
Did not answer.
10
Which insights did you gain from this book? Materialism in society 3
“People can´t be happy just with money.”
Family problems
2
“Real situations about the families”.
Achieving aims
3
“You have to struggle to get what you want”
none
5
Did not answer.
4
Second reading: the Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe April 12th – April 26th As it was said above in the process description, students were able to choose this story on their own. On April 12th, they were presented three different titles and reviews of different literary texts: The Black Cat, The Little Prince, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. They used the knowledge from the reviews to decide for the texts they thought were more interesting, then the students voted secretly so that they would not influence their classmates’ choices. The story which got most of the votes (13 votes) was the Black Cat. Since this was a short story, it was assigned to be read between April 13th and April 19th. Before students started reading the story they searched for information about Edgar Allan Poe; on April 13th, students played the game “Tell me about E.A.Poe”. They got in small groups and created questions about the author based on the information they had previously found. Each group took turns to ask their questions while one participant from the other groups was able to answer the question asked. If they got the correct answer they would get points, if not a participant from another group was given the chance to answer. Students were very eager to participate in this activity.
Eighth observation: Group work: sharing information and creating questions about E.A.P. April 13th Objective: To foster group work and students ability to question. Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students
used
English
X
while sharing information and
creating
the
questions. Students respected other
X
groups turns. Students were motivated to
participate
in
X
the
Students were eager to ask and answer the questions, several groups wanted to
activity.
answer at the same time.
Students
easily
X
In some cases the questions had to be
understood and answered
repeated for students to understand
the questions asked by the
them.
other groups. Students’
attitude
was
X
A student got angry because he wanted
appropriate while playing
to answer a question without respecting
the game.
other groups turn and started arguing with a classmate.
Students were assigned to read the story and choose the character they liked the best; they should underline the adjectives used by the author to describe their favorite character in a short paragraph. On April 19th, students were asked to comment on the story read; however, a few students were able to do it since many of the students were reluctant to participate because they admitted not having read the story during the weekend.
Ninth observation: First discussion about “The Black Cat”
April 19th Objective: To observe students sharing opinions about the story Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students used English
X
while expressing their opinions. Students
shared their
thoughts
and
ideas
ideas
were
X
Only five students volunteered to talk about the story.
willingly. Students
X
The
students
who
volunteered
clear and related to the
showed understanding of the story,
story.
the rest of the class seemed puzzled and confused.
Students
showed
understanding
of
X
The five students who participated in
the
the discussion.
story Students evaluated the
X
.
story
These students expressed how much they liked the story.
Students were encouraged to read and choose their favorite character to continue the discussion on Wednesday, April 21st. This day more students participated and talked about their favorite characters, they were encouraged to use the vocabulary they remembered the author had used to describe them
Tenth observation: Second discussion and favorite characters April 21st Objective: To give students the chance to share opinions about the story and use new vocabulary from the story. Ne
Some
Very
All the Main comments
ver
times
often
time
Students used English
X
while expressing their
English has become the language of the class.
opinions. Students
shared their
thoughts
and
X
More students participated this time.
ideas
willingly. Students´ ideas were
X
All the students expressed their
clear and related to the
personal ideas about the story and
story.
were easily understood.
Students
showed
X
understanding of the story Students talked about their
X
.
favorite
characters
and
Some students admitted not doing this while reading activity.
used
new vocabulary from the story.
. They also handed in their favorite character paragraphs, which were checked by the teacher. Fifty nice per cent of the students presented paragraphs about their favorite characters which met the requirements for a successful paragraph such as using new adjectives found in the story, describing the characters, making comments about the characters personalities, and keeping organization and coherence within the paragraph. Forty one per cent of the students´ paragraphs did not meet the paragraph requirements: they used basic adjectives, their descriptions were just about the characters appearance, and they did not make any comments regarding why or what they liked about their characters.
Second written assignment: Paragraph about their favorite Character. Students
who
wrote
paragraph successfully.
the
10
Appropriate character description. Right use of adjectives. Responses: Comparisons, questions, reflections
about the character. Paragraph organization Students who failed to write
7
Common description without new vocabulary.
the paragraph. Lack of responses. Used the same description given by the author. Lack of organization
Later, students organized themselves in small groups and they were given a set of events from the story which they were supposed to organize in the right order. Students were interested in the activity and were creative at organizing the events from the story. (see appendix D )
After
this
activity,
students
were
assigned
to
go
to
the
website
http://knowingpoe.thinkport.org/writer/picturethis.asp and choose the pictures that they related the most with each event of the story. Students printed the pictures they had chosen, and brought them to class the next day; each student showed their pictures to the rest of the class and explained how the picture was related to the story. Students showed confidence and gave good arguments to support their choices. Based on the new sequence of pictures, they were asked to create a new story. They started writing their stories in class, they were concentrated only on writing but time was not enough and they finished them at home.
Eleventh observation: Talking about their pictures and writing their own stories. April 22nd Objective: To promote oral discussion and creative writing. Ne
Some Very
All
ver
times
the
often
Main comments
time Students used English
X
Students used English to share and
while
talking
about
comment on pictures chosen.
their pictures Students explained and
X
Each
student
provided
personal
supported their picture
reasons for the choices made such as
choices.
feelings, picturing and assumptions made while reading.
Students listened and
X
commented on their classmates pictures. Students evaluated the
X
activity positively.
Two students expressed that this kind of activities were expensive for them.
Students engaged and
.X
Students started writing their stories
focused in writing their
and did not stop until it was time to go
new story.
home.
Students finished their X new stories.
Students brought their stories the next day. Some students were able to share their stories with their classmates, students seemed amused while listening to their classmates stories and gave them positive feedback. Since not all the students were able to share their stories, they were asked to post them on the class’ blog, www.comviicreativewriting.blogspot.com, and comment on them. Each student was assigned a date to post his/her story on the blog so that students could read it and comment on them. (See appendix G)
Twelfth observation: Sharing their stories in class April 23rd Objective: To share their own stories and evaluate their classmates´ Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the time
Students used English to talk about their stories
X
Main comments
Students stories
read their with
X
proper
intonation
Some students were shy and nervous while telling their stories.
and
pronunciation Students
listened and
commented
on
X
their
their classmates´ stories and the black
classmates stories
cat story.
Students attitude while listening
to
Students make comparisons between
X
their
Students gave compliments to their classmates
classmates was positive.
and
also
highlighted
mistakes positively.
On April 26th students were asked to complete the questionnaire and evaluate Edgar Allan Poe´s story “The Black Cat”. From this questionnaire, it could be said that most of the students were very comfortable and interested while reading this story; just a few students struggled with the vocabulary. Most of the students’ attitude towards reading changed after reading this story, as it can be seen in the comments expressed by the students in the sixth question.
Questionnaire after reading the story “The Black Cat” 1. Rate from 1 – 5 the content of the story and state your reasons. 1 2 3 4
COMMENTS: 0 0 2 A little confusing. 10 Very interesting!
5
5
2. How long did it take you to read the story? How did you feel while reading? 30 minutes - 1 hour 4 2 hours – 5 hours 1 day 2 days or more.
6 4 3
misterious, excellent plot, I liked the style, very creative.
“The plot was so interestng that couldn´t stop reading.” Had to stop to look up some words Problems with vocabulary Problems with vocabualry and understanding the story.
3. Do you remember any words you learned from the story? None 1-3 4-6 7-9 4. Mention the aspects you liked the most from the story. Vocabulary
4 3 8 2
4
Author´s style
4
Plot The end
8 1
“The vocabulary was not so difficult”, “Learning lots of new words was good” “The author wrote the story in a very creative way” “The style of the story was different” “The development of the story was fantastic” “The best was how the man was caught by the police”
None 0 5. Mention the aspects you liked the least from the story. Cruelty of the story 11 “The cat had to suffer a lot”, “the main character actions were too cruel” none 6 “I liked everything” 6. How do you feel about reading after having read this story? Interested in reading new stories. 7 “It is great. Now I know there are interesting books.” “I felt as if I found another option to get fun or pass time” More secure while reading. 3 “I felt with more knowledge about literature and vocabulary” Concerned about improving reading. 3 “I need to improve my reading” No answer 4 7. Which insights did you gain from this book? Culture 1 Love for animals 5 “We need to learn how to love animals.” Awareness on Addictions 2 “Alcohol can ruin your life” Human traits and feelings 4 “Humans can be very cynical.” “Mistakes can come out of pride.” Did not answer. 4
Third reading: The Devil in the Belfry (1839) and The Masque of the Red Death (1842) by Edgar Allan Poe, The Storm (1898) by Kate Chopin, The Greatest Man in the World (1935) by James Thurber, The Girls in Their Summer Dresses (1939) by Irwin Shaw, A Conversation with My Father (1972) by Grace Paley. May 3rd – May 14th
For their third reading experience during this class, students were asked to choose a reading partner. Each couple was asked to choose a short story to be read with his/ her reading partner. Students were suggested to choose a story from the books available in the class “Literature: the human experience” and “Edgar Allan Poe, Complete tales and poems”. Students were also asked to keep a reading log while they read the story chosen. On May 3rd, students were given explanations and examples on how to keep a reading log and emphasis was made on writing about their own ideas and thoughts while they read and not on retelling the story. After students chose their reading partners and their stories, they had to predict what their story was going to be about. Students were able to write or draw their predictions from their stories´ titles and then in a circle activity they shared their predictions with the rest of the class.
Thirteenth observation: Reading logs and predictions. May 3rd Objective: To explain the use of reading logs and check students predictions. Ne
Som
Very
All
ver
etim
often
the
es
time
Students expressed doubts and
questions
Main comments
X
about
All the students expressed they had never kept a reading log and did not
keeping a reading log
know how to do it.
Students understood the
X
Students provided examples based on
examples about reading
the previous story read after the
logs
teacher´s examples were explained.
Students
shared
X
There was not enough time for all the
predictions using English
students to tell their predictions.
and new vocabulary. Students creatively
worked on
X
Students
their
commented
and
showed
surprise while listening to classmates
predictions. Students
laughed
predictions. listened
and on
X
Students were attentive during the predictions.
classmates´ predictions.
Learners were given an entire week to read their stories from May 4th to May 10th. On May 10th, students were asked to hand in their reading logs; the teacher checked and commented on students reading logs. During the revision of the reading logs, the students responses were counted and classified according to the different Readers response factors mentioned by Benton and Fox (In Carlisle, 2000); it was found that the most common factor in the students’ response was interacting followed by picturing and questioning. Despite making emphasis on not retelling the story, a very few students made recounts of the story read in their reading logs.
Factors of students’ response in the reading logs (The Masque of the Red Death, The Devil in the Belfry, The Storm, The Girls in Their Summer Dresses, A Conversation with My Father)
Students´ responses Anticipating Retrospecting Evaluating Picturing Interacting Questioning Relating To Experience No Response Retelling
Frequency 20 11 18 39 60 32 19 2 6
On May 12, each reading couple was asked to do an oral report or interview about the stories they had read. During the interviews the students spoke in English, they gave an outline of the story and expressed their personal opinions about the story. Some of the students were quiet during the interview as just one of the partners talked about the story read. There were some mismatches between some aspects mentioned by the students in their reading logs and in
their oral reports, they were asked about it and expressed to have reread the story after handing out the reading logs and to have changed some opinions about it.
Reading couples interviews May 12th Objective: To know about students experience and ideas from the texts read. Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students used English to
X
express their ideas.
Some students used L1 while they stopped to ask partners how to say their ideas .
Students expressed their
X
Most of the couples shared their
idea about the story
knowledge about the story and were
clearly and confidently.
confident about it.
Students
showed
X
Two students expressed not to have
confusion about the text
understood the story.
read. Students were eager to
X
Some of the couples seemed not to
express their ideas on
have read cooperatively, only one of
the story read.
the partners made comments.
Students’ ideas matched
X
St´s declared to have re-read the
the ideas expressed on
story and understood better some of
their reading logs.
the ideas.
In this class, students were requested to write an opinion essay about the story they had read. While the reading couples were giving their oral report, the rest of the class was writing their essays. Students could comment, edit, and ask for suggestions to their reading partners. On May 13th students handed in the essays they started to write during the previous class and which were finished at home. Seventy per cent of the students wrote organized and coherent essays in which they expressed and supported their opinions about the stories clearly. However, thirty per cent of the students took advantage of the fact they could finish their essays
at home to plagiarize essays about their stories from the internet. Some of these students also retold the story and included unclear ideas which did not represent clearly what their opinion about the story was.
Fourth written assignment: Opinion essay about the story read. Students who wrote the essay successfully.
12
Clear thoughts and ideas. Responses: Comparisons, questions, reflections. Paragraph organization
Students who failed to write the essay.
5
Unclear ideas. Plagiarism Lack of responses Retelling the story. Lack of organization
After submitting their assignments, students were asked to organize themselves into three main groups; in these groups there were students who had read the different short stories; they shared their stories and commented about them. After they told their stories, each student was given a set of words from the stories they had read, they were assigned to write a new short story from those words and submit them the following day.
Creative writing: Mini short story
Students who achieved the aim
16
Theme creativity. Correct use of words given and word choice. Creative Plot. Organization and clear ideas.
Students who failed to achieve the aim
1
Common theme or plot. Incorrect use of the given words. Confusing details Lack of organization
On, May 14th students presented their stories for revision; almost all the stories were well organized, the plot was clear and very creative, had good use of language and of the words assigned. It seemed that students had written their stories enthusiastically and put their best effort on it. This same day, students filled in a Quick Book Report form in which they evaluated the story read and expressed thoughts and ideas about it. Most of the students expressed to be happy with the choice made and to have enjoyed the reading of the story. 52% of the students also mentioned to have learned new vocabulary while reading the story.
Quick Book Report May 14th Objective: To evaluate the stories read. Comments Summarize the book in 2 or 3 sentences. Clear and brief summary.
6
Expressed outline of the story in two or three sentences.
Long and detailed summary.
8
The outline of the story was very detailed, between 5 and 10 sentences.
Unclear and confusing summary.
3
Too many specific details.
Why did you choose it? Title
10
Author
7
Were you content with your story choice? Yes
15
“Better than I expected!” (About the Masque of the Read Death) “It totally fitted my likes” (About “the Girls in their Summer Dresses”)
No
2
“I would have liked to choose a book with more action.” (About the Storm)
What comments do you have about
the story Positive comments
17
“Great just because it made me explore a world I had no knowledge about” (About the Masque of the Red Death)
Negative comments
0
Any new vocabulary? Between 3 and 6 words.
6
More than 6 words
4
Did not answer
7
Fourth Reading: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1820) by Washington Irving, The Duc De L´Omelette (1832) and The Masque of the Red Death (1842) by Edgar Allan Poe, A Conversation with My Father (1972) by Grace Paley. May 24th – June
The fourth literary text was chosen by the students; they made four groups made up of four people each; each group decided to choose a story to read. Some students chose stories recommended by their classmates as it was the case of the groups which chose “The Masque of the Red Death” and “A Conversation with My Father”. The other two groups chose their story from the internet and books available. After students chose their short stories, they were given a week, from May 24th to May 31st , to read them and keep their reading logs. However, they were asked to look up for information about the story and their authors which they had to share with their group partners on May 24th. On May 31st, after students had read their stories they discussed them with their groups and shared their responses from their reading logs. Then, they asked questions and doubts about the stories. During these discussions the teacher went around the groups observing them; they were very active while they commented on their classmates responses. In some groups there was debate between students with different ideas, this was an enriching part of the discussion as they gave arguments to support their ideas and maintained a tolerant attitude.
Fourteenth observation: Group discussion May 31st Objective: To express ideas and personal responses about the stories read. Ne
Some
Very
All
ver
times
often
the
Main comments
time Students used English in
X
group discussion.
During the discussion only English was spoken.
Students were respectful
Some had different ideas about
X
towards
specific parts of the story, for
classmates’ comments on
example: Laura and Eylin discussed
the story.
whether the Duc had really died or
and
tolerant
the story was just a dream. Dugleys and David had different opinions about Ichabod; in her opinion, he was “materialistic” while David said that he was naïve and a “total gentleman”.
Students
listened
attentively
to
X
Most
their
of
the
students
made
comparisons and contrasts between
classmates
classmates comments and their own reading experiences, and answered classmates´ questions.
Students actively
participated in
the
X
group
member had the chance to speak
discussion. Students’ positive.
Since groups were small each
and participate actively. attitude
was
X
Students showed interest on the activity.
This day students also handed in their Reading logs. This time the factors that were more used by the students within their responses were interacting, picturing, and evaluating. It was also noticed that students´ reading logs were longer than the first ones,
none of the students handed in reading logs without any kind of responses, and some of them retold some parts of the stories as supporting their very own ideas and responses.
Factors of students’ response in the second reading logs (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Duc De L´Omelette, The Masque of the Red Death, A Conversation with My Father.)
Students´ responses
Frequency
Anticipating
12
Retrospecting
14
Evaluating
32
Picturing
38
Interacting
72
Questioning
19
Relating to experience
10
No response
0
Retelling
4
Students were asked to write a review about the story; in previous classes they had been given explanations on how to write a review and they had already written a movie review about a movie seen in class. At it can be seen in the table below, 82% of the students succeeded in writing their story reviews, most of these reviews were well organized and presented clear and creative ideas which showed their own responses towards the story. 18% of the students failed at writing their reviews, some of them misunderstood the assignment and made a summary while other lacked support of their own ideas because they decided to copy reviews from the internet instead of writing their own.
Fifth written assignment: Writing a book review.
Students who wrote the review
14
Creativity
successfully. Good and clear supporting ideas Responses:
Evaluation,
comparisons. Organization Students who failed to write the
Retelling the story for too long.
3
review. Lack of support..
Lack of organization Plagiarism
Then, students presented individual oral reports about the stories they had read. Each student was given between 8 and 15 minutes to talk in English about the stories, although a few students used Spanish occasionally to organize their discourse. Most of the students seemed confident while doing their reports; it was evident that they had read the story more than once and had a good understanding of it; probably, some of them cleared their doubts in the groups’ discussions. This time, students expressed evaluative comments about the authors and the stories; they made comparisons between the different stories read and the different author styles. Several students expressed different opinions which were not recorded in their reading logs; they said it was because there were some aspects of the story that they were not aware of before rereading. Overall most of the students did well on this activity and showed their knowledge of the stories with fluent and proper use of the L2.
Individual Oral Reports. June 2nd – June 3rd Objective: To foster oral fluency as students comment and express personal thoughts about the story read. Nev
Some
Very
All
Main comments
er
times
often
the time
Students used English to
X
express their ideas. Students expressed their
X
idea about the story clearly and confidently. Students
answered
X
Students
gave
correct
answers
questions correctly.
supported on facts from the stories.
Students
Some students expressed to have
showed X
confusion about the text
been confused but to have solved
read.
their doubts in the group discussion and while re reading and writing their reviews.
Students evaluated the
X
stories
Students expressed their personal opinions about the author´s style, the plot and theme of the story .
Students’ ideas matched
X
Many students expressed ideas which
the ideas expressed on
were not in their reading logs as
their reading logs.
result of further reading and group discussion.
On June 4th, students evaluated the stories through a questionnaire. In the questionnaire students rated the story, most of the rates were between 4 and 5, students expressed to have found their stories very interesting and to have enjoyed the reading experience as well as specifying which aspects of the story they liked the most, among these factors were: the author´ style, the theme and characters. Another aspect mentioned in the questionnaire was the insights gained by the students through the stories; the main insights mentioned were related with the target language culture, vocabulary, creativeness, and humans actions and feelings. The students’ attitude towards reading was also questioned in this survey; most of the students´ answers to this question were positive, they answered to be interested and happy about reading.
Evaluation questionnaire: Fourth story (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Duc De Lómelette, The Masque of the Red Death, A Conversation with My Father)
1. Rate from 1 – 5 the content of the story and state your reasons. 1 2 3 4 5 2. How long did it take you to read the story? How did you feel while reading? 1 – 4 hours 1 day 2 days or more. 3. Do you remember any words you learned from the story? None 1-3 4-6 7-9 4. Mention the aspects you liked the most from the story. Vocabulary level.
COMMENTS: 0 0 3 9
A little confusing. (about The Duc De Lómelette) Very interesting!
5
Superb!
11 4 2
Interested, thrilled, surprised. OK, interested, curious. Confused, bored,
3 9 3 2
5
Author´s style 4 Topic or theme. 6 Characters. 2 5. Mention the aspects you liked the least from the story. Words in another language 3 The end. Did not answer 6. How do you feel about reading after having read this story? Inetrested in reading new stories. Satisfied about the choice made
6 4
With more knowledge. No answer
4 3
The vocabualary was simple conversation with my father)
(
about
A
The sentences in french made me confused and tired (about The Duc De Lómelette)
6 8
“I am happy I chose this story, I learned many things”
7. Which insights did you gain from this book? Culture 5 Vocabulary 4 How to be creative 2 Human actions and feelings 5 Did not answer. 1
5.2 Results analysis In order to analyze the results obtained, the methodological triangulation process was followed. Methodological triangulation uses different methods to study the problem of the research. Thus, the data obtained through the different data collection methods in this research were compared and analyzed. After doing this process, the following categories were found: Improving Attitude towards reading and literary texts, Responding to literature, and Better language users. 5.2.1 Improving attitude towards reading and literary texts. It can be said that at the beginning of the semester, the attitude students had towards reading and literary texts was not positive. This is evidenced in the background questionnaires they filled, in which they expressed to read very little weekly – between 1 and 5 hours- , to read informative and academic texts rather than literary texts, and to consider reading as necessary but boring and difficult in both the L1 and L2. The students’ attitude did not seem to change during the first reading. As it can be demonstrated in the observation charts shown above, during the discussions most of the students were quiet and seemed uncomfortable; they also showed insecurity in the discussions which showed they had not read the story probably due to not being used to reading in either the L1 or L2 or due to language difficulties as they expressed they had had with the vocabulary. From the answers given in the first questionnaire, it seems that most of the students’ attitude did not suffer any changes. They manifested to have found the story uninteresting and most of the students did not mention any favorite aspect from it. However, at the end of the second reading the students’ attitude towards reading and literary texts was very different. After all the students engaged in the reading of the story, they
came renewed to the class; they participated actively and were enthusiastic about the activities they had to do in class and at home, these facts are evidenced in the ninth, tenth and eleventh observations. In the questionnaires they also expressed to have been very interested, and to have experienced “something unique”. They also showed appreciation for the literary text read as they chose high ratings to evaluate the story and gave very positive comments about it; the lowest rate given to the story was 3 and only 11,7 % of the students chose it while the rest of the students provided value judgments for the story represented in the highest rates 4 and 5. Students also mentioned aspects they had liked from the story, which was very different in the first questionnaire in which most of them expressed to have not liked any aspect from it. Thus, it can be said that through this story students were able to experience reading and literary texts pleasantly; it was a big impact for them to experience a story which was short, easy and interesting to read. During the third and fourth readings, the students’ attitude towards reading and literary texts seemed to have improved. For instance during the thirteenth and fourteenth observations, they showed active and eager attitudes about expressing their predictions and discussing in groups their opinions about the stories. In the same way, students wrote in their quick book reports positive comments which also expressed how much they had liked and enjoyed the reading as well as the choice they had made. In the questionnaire about the fourth story students also provided data which shows a better reading attitude , for instance, 82% of the students gave high rates to the story, between 4 and 5, and they also expressed to have felt positive feelings such as interest and surprise while reading.
Furthermore students also expressed to
have felt interested while reading, satisfied, and with more knowledge. It can be said that the students´ attitude improved since they valued the fact that they had gained knowledge from the stories read in terms of vocabulary and insights; they also said to feel curious towards reading new literary texts, especially, short stories. Another aspect that shows the improvement of students’ attitude towards reading and literary texts is the analysis done of the students’ artifacts: reading logs and writing assignments. All the students handed in their reading logs and written assignments responsibly and neatly as it can be evidenced in the pictures shown. They also seemed to have worked and put their best efforts on doing their written assignments such as short stories and reviews since only very few students did not meet the aims of these activities. .
5.2.2 Responding to literature. Following Hwang & Embi (2007) different kind of activities such as questiondiscussions, journal writing, brainstorming, and guided fantasy are used to elicit the readers´ responses. During this action research, students had the opportunity to engage in different activities through which it was intended to arouse students’ responses from literary texts. During the first discussions, students started giving responses to the texts by means of expressing their opinions as it was shown in the fourth and fifth observation in which the students made predictions about the play and also planned on performing some scenes from it. As the process of reading went on, students became more eager to share their responses to the texts read; observations eleventh, thirteenth and fourteenth provide evidence on this fact. For instance, during the eleventh observation students responded to the texts by choosing pictures that they connected to specific parts of the story and by giving explanations of their choices in class; they were able to support their answers based on feelings and assumptions they had felt and made while reading. In the thirteenth observations, students’ responses were shown as they relied on their reading of the black cat to give examples of responses they could write on their reading logs. Moreover, they also talked about the predictions they had made based on the titles of the stories they had chosen to read; the great amount of creativity that students included in their predictions made of this exercise a beautiful experience to get to know a little bit about the students minds. In the last group discussion the students participated actively, they were able to intervene more frequently within their groups as there were few students in each group. During this activity, students were able to express their opinions about different aspects of each story, for instance, they discussed about the characters, the plot, the authors´ ideas. While they expressed their opinions they related the readings to their experiences and made comparisons The couples’ interviews as well as the individual oral reports were activities in which students were also given the chance to share their responses. During these activities most of the students not only commented on the story development, but also expressed how the reading experience had been and what their opinions were about the story itself and specific parts of the story that had called their attention; while doing so students made comparisons and interacted with the story as they questioned and evaluated characters actions and the authors ideas. Not only did the students share their responses orally, but also in the written form through their reading logs and writing assignments, they were able to produce deeper responses
to the texts through their written texts. For instance, in their reading logs the students interacted, questioned, anticipated, pictured, and evaluated the stories read. (See annex for samples of students’ responses) In the same way, their written assignments contained responses such as comparisons, questions, and reflections as it is observed in the second written assignment in which they wrote a paragraph about their favorite characters. In the second essay students were also able to include responses about the story read in form of comparisons, questions, and reflections that supported their opinions towards it. In the fourth written assignment students were asked to write a review of the story read: in this assignment most of their responses were expressed as evaluative comments they made about the story, its plot, theme, and characters. Finally, in all the questionnaires and quick book reports given the students also responded to the stories; they commented on the facts they had liked the most and least from the story and most of them explained why. Students also mentioned the insights they thought had gained from each story, which shows students read between and beyond the lines as they reflected about the stories messages.
5.2.3 Better language users During the integration of reading texts in the language class, students could benefit from language development. As the reading process developed during the class, students became more fluent and started to use English more frequently. For instance, during the first observations students approached classmates in L1 and only spoke English while being directly observed by the teacher; however, through the semester English became the language of the classroom and students started to speak in English all the time with more confidence as it is seen in the observation charts dated from April 21st to May 31st.
Students also showed
improvement in their speaking skill as they stopped using their L1 to complete their thoughts during the discussions and interviews; at the end of the semester only very few students continued using L1 as they were not able to express their ideas completely probably due to nervousness or shyness as they were in front of the teacher. As it is evidenced in the observations, during the discussions and group activities students were able to speak and listen, they expressed their ideas and showed understanding of
classmates´ ideas as they were commenting and discussing about them. For instance, in the thirteenth observation most of the students listened attentively and effectively to their classmates as they were able to engage in small discussions which flourished from their differences on opinions. Regarding the improvement of reading, students reading rate improved as it was seen in the second and third questionnaire in which most of the students manifested to have spent less than 5 hours reading the literary text. Students´ reading comprehension also seemed to have improved: at the end of the semester very few students expressed confusion about the literary texts. For instance, in the last questionnaire only 11, 7 % of the students commented to have felt confused while reading. Additionally, it was observed that students´ participation during the class discussions and interviews demonstrated how well they had comprehended the stories; for instance, in the reading couples interviews chart there is evidence that most of the couples were confident while telling their comments about it, answered correctly the questions asked by the teacher, and also expressed to have understood better some ideas after rereading. Finally, the writing skills of the students were highly improved; by keeping their writing portfolios they were able to keep track of their own writing process. Since feedback was given to them as they were given back their papers, they were able to correct their papers´ mistakes for final corrections which were also kept in their portfolios. It is observed in the written assignments charts that there was a gradual improvement on the students presentation of assignments; for instance in the first written assignment many students, 47%, showed insecurity about writing as they decided to plagiarize essays from the internet; however, this practice was reduced as students corrected their essays and gained confidence at writing. By the end of the semester, students were required to write an opinion essay about the third story read; this time 70% of the students presented essays which were organized, had clear ideas and also enough support on which they based their opinions. The last writing assignment was to write a book review, it was found this time that 82% of the students presented reviews which had a great deal of creativity plus clear and organized ideas. There were also simpler writing assignments in which students were supposed to write creatively and use vocabulary learned from the story; it was evidenced in the second and fourth writing assignment charts that most of the students wrote successfully their paragraphs and mini short stories as these were creative, organized, clear and included new vocabulary which had been used appropriately. Moreover, the improvement of the students´ writing skills can also be evidenced in the quality of their reading
logs; students ideas and thoughts were easily understood by the teacher while revising as they were organized and clear.
6. CONCLUSIONS This research project has been very enriching for us as we have grown as professionals from this rewarding experience that literature has brought into our language classrooms. One of the most interesting and beautiful characteristics of action research is the cyclical process it follows and which allows us to reconsider and learn from the wrong pedagogical decisions we might have made. During the first part of this project it was observed that there was a wrong pedagogical choice made by the teacher in the desire to provide great input to the students; however, they were not either culturally or linguistically ready for the literary text the teacher chose. The first conclusion drawn from this project is about the importance of knowing very well our students in order to start a reading project like this one, especially when the students are not very much acquainted with literary texts. Thus, while looking for students’ empowerment through reading, it is easy to find frustration and denial if the text chosen is not the appropriate. Thus, it is important to make the students feel part of the decisions of the class so that they can become more motivated towards the reading of literary texts and see reading also as a duty that has not been imposed but which they have chosen to do. Considering the fact that reading is an overlooked activity in the Colombian culture and the Caribbean region, fostering students´ appreciation towards reading and literary texts can be a challenge in the local schools in the department of Cordoba, however, it is a very real possibility. In this project, students were reluctant to doing the readings during the first experiences, but gradually their appreciation appeared as there was motivation and benefits stemming out of the reading activities. It was seen that most of the students went from total avoidance towards literature to an attraction and interest that arouse from their own reading experiences. This project also lays evidence on the fact that it is never late to foster and motivate reading in the classrooms. If it is well true that students grow up with beliefs and prejudices towards reading, it is also true that they can overcome them and start to appreciate and value literature as a source of knowledge and as a form of entertainment at any time as these students from the seventh semester of the ELT program at Universidad de Cordoba have done.
Regarding the benefits that the use of literature brings up, it can be concluded that literature is a path through which students are able to develop their language competence. It was observed that student had the opportunity to put into practice each one of their language skills and to improve them. Furthermore, the use of literary texts also provided opportunities for students to feel and open their minds to a world of creation and new meanings. The responses students provided in the discussions, reading logs, and writing activities showed that they are all provided with an incredible creative potential at which they were surprised. Thus, literature is a compelling force that can help students get the best out of their minds as many of them did while performing their scenes, creating their predictions and writing their own short stories. Finally, the use of authentic literary texts in the Communication VII class showed the possibility of creating a new reading culture inside our classrooms, a culture that has been needed in our country and region for years and an opportunity we cannot deny to our students. Thus, this project is also an invitation to the ELT and all the teachers at Universidad de Cordoba, the educational institutions and schools in the department of Cordoba to rethink the place of literature in their classrooms and start changing our students’ attitudes towards reading and literature so that they can have access to its benefits and we can all have a better country in the future.
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APPENDICES
Appendix A
BACKGROUND INFORMATION QUESTIONNAIRE OBJECTIVE: To gather information regarding students’ attitudes towards reading and literary texts.
How much do you think you spend reading in an average week? a) 1-5 hours b) 5-10 hours c) More than 10 hours
What kind of things do you usually read? a) Magazines and newspapers b) Novels, literary texts. c) Academic books
Do you enjoy reading? a) Yes b) No Why?____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________
What is the most interesting book you have read? _________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________
Do you think reading in English helps your reading ability? a) Yes.How? ___________________________________________________________ b) No.Why? ___________________________________________________________
APPENDIX B AFTER READIN QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Rate from 1 – 5 the content of the story and state your reasons. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 2. How long did it take you to read the story? How did you feel while reading? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 3. Do you remember any words you learned from the story? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 4. Mention the aspects you liked the most from the story. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 5. Mention the aspects you liked the least from the story. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 6. How do you feel about reading after having read this story? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ 7. Which insights did you gain from this book? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
APPENDIX C QUICK BOOK REPORT OBJECTIVE: To have the students evaluate the story read. Your name____________________ Date__________ Title Reading level Author Summarize the book in 2 or more sentences. (What is it about? What happens?) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________
Why did you choose it? ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________
Were you content with your story choice? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Comments, vocabulary? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________
(Adapted from Bamford & Day, 2004)
APPENDIX D SAMPLE OF STUDENT ARTIFACT: ORGANIZING THE STORY EVENTS
APPENDIX E SAMPLE OF STUDENT ARTIFACT: SHORT STORY
APPENDIX F SAMPLE OF STUDENT ARTIFACT: STUDENTS´PORTFOLIOS
APPENDIX G STUDENTS ARTIFACTS: SAMPLE OF STUDENTS´STORIES IN THE CLASS´ BLOG
jueves 29 de abril de 2010 nightmares of desperation by Amelia Nightmares of desperation Have you ever lived experiences that could torture your soul in a bitter way during your life? This is exactly what has happened to me and maybe could happen to you in a similar or different way. My name is nighmar, I’m a man who loved animals in a deeply way, when I was a child my first pet was a cat, one day I started to drink and in a short time I was swept away by alcohol and I become erratic. A night I was drunk, when I arrived to my house, I caressed the cat but as if it had not known me, the cat scratched me hardly, in that moment I did not know what happened to me, I was like a monster I was transformed into another creature, so I got a knife then a captured the cat and I injured one of its eyes, then I regret in a deeply way which had happened. Since that day I started to hallucinate, to be tortured for the desperation. I saw strange things and I felt the terror on my soul. I could see a cat hung on the tree as if it were telling me “do the same”. A day there was a house on fire, everybody saw it, but the terrible surprise for me was that in a wall there was a mark of a giant cat, my life was darker than before. I saw myself caressing the cat on my mind but I did not want to do so , therefore I immediately captured the cat and threw it away from my house because I could not live with this beast near me, however I felt the cats shadow following me everywhere I was, so I was like a prisoner of my bad behavior. I had not life, I had not a normal life I was in a deepest desperation because those dark things were in my mind injuring my soul, my peace day by day, and night by night, I tell you this because once I was asleep while dreaming that a terrible black cat like a demon entered in me and it changed my mood, in that moment I was not myself I left the house with an axe on my hand and I killed a woman that I found on the street, suddenly she appeared behind a wall, I could not wake up, I was sweating without stopping. While I was still dreaming I saw many people walking rapidly following me but they could not watch me, then appeared a strange hand with a stick as if it were a diabolic hand, made appear the woman that I had killed with a horrible black cat staring at me as if it wanted my soul. When I could wake up, I was astonished, I was mad; I did not know what to do, but I could realize that it was the most terrible nightmare I had had, so I understood in that moment that my life was a suffering that could not stop for permitting alcohol change
my life into a nightmare of desperation changing my love for cats into a phobia that probably could never disappear. Compartir Informar sobre mal uso Siguiente blog» Crear un blog Acceder
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Seguidores Archivo del blog ▼ 2010 (56) ► septiembre (5) ► agosto (20) ► mayo (6) ▼ abril (19) nightmares of desperation by Amelia Without title by Tania C The crazy family By Yeidis Barios The black cat by ARLEYDA JIMENEZ BASTIDAS THE BLACK CAT By Marisol Ayala Movie review by Luis Martinez Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind by Delia Tap... MOVIE REVIEW by Ina Martinez you have to see: eternal sunshine of the spotless ... Eternal sunshine by Tania Camargo Movie Review by Dairo Lopez CARLOS´ ADVENTURE CRITICS lost in an island... WITHOUT TITLE The lost Sailor “Lost because of a dream” COMVIICREATIVEWRITING: abril 2010 http://comviicreativewriting.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html 2 de 2 15/04/2010 04:22 p.m.
