Teaching language through literature

 

Thanking Activity:

Teaching language through literature.

           Introduction: 

      

Literature lessons can lead to public displays of student output through posters of student creations e.g. poems, stories or through performances of plays. So for a variety of linguistic, cultural and personal growth reasons, literary texts can be more motivating than the referential ones often used in classrooms.

        What sort of activities or tasks can be designed to teach language using a novel' or' 'short story.

  You get more time to focus on individual words. When a text is short, you can devote more time to learning how every single word is used and what importance it has in the piece.

You can read a whole story in one sitting. Attention spans are very important for learning, and the ability to finish a story gives you more time to digest it. Short stories are designed to give you maximum information with minimal effort.

It is best for consistency. It is far easier to read one story every day than trying to read a big novel that never seems to end.

You can share them easily in a group. Since short stories can be read in a single setting, they are ideal for book clubs and learning circles. Most of the time these groups do not work because members have no time to read. Short stories are the perfect solution.

You can focus more on ideas and concepts. Language is less about words and more about the meaning behind them. If you spend all your time learning vocabulary and grammar, you will never be able to fluently speak a language because you will have little to talk about. These short stories give you the opportunity to understand big ideas in context.

In task-based teaching the focus is not on grammar you have already introduced your students to necessary constructions earlier in the chapter or unit, as well as to the vocabulary they will need to complete the task but rather on helping students develop linguistic strategies for completing the assigned tasks within the constraints of what they know of the target language. Because the emphasis is on spontaneous, creative language use, whether spoken or written, rather than on absolute accuracy, assessment is based on task outcome.

                 Introduction

In task-based teaching, the center of the learning process moves to the students themselves and allows them to come to the realization that language is a tool to tackle and (re)solve real-world problems.

The process of task-based learning itself teaches important skills. Students learn how to ask questions, how to negotiate meaning and how to interact in and work within groups. Within this group work, they are able to observe different approaches to problem solving as well as to learn how others think and make decisions.

Before even stepping into the classroom and using a task-based activity, it is important to have a firm objective in mind: Why are you using this activity? What do you want your students to learn and accomplish through it? Is it designed so that they can meet those goals? If you can answer each of these questions logically or positively, then you are well on your way to success in the classroom!

What sort of activities or tasks can bed designed to teach language using a film or videos.

This stage starts with the instructor explaining to her students what will be expected in the task cycle and post-task review stages. In a lower-level class, it will likely include an introduction or review of key vocabulary or grammatical concepts the students will need to accomplish the assigned task.

Video materials nowadays are not only part of everyday life activities, but they are shown as an effective method in teaching English language as a foreign language for all learners both inside and outside classroom. Ever-changing technological advancements present new opportunities for instructors to incorporate online materials, videos into traditional classroom situations, allowing both learning and teaching to become more interesting and meaningful.

A great advantage of the video materials is that they provide original and authentic input as they are produced originally for native speakers such as films, different TV programs, songs,. Videos can be used in variety of instructional and teaching settings- in classroom, as a way of presenting content, initiating discussion, for providing illustration for a certain topic and content, self-study and evaluation situations.

When teachers bring video materials into their English classrooms, students can directly acquire a great amount of cultural background information and emotional attitudes about the learning materials. Therefore, they could employ their autonomy in language learning. While viewing the video materials, students can put themselves in the vivid atmosphere created by the video materials and understand the pragmatics of the language used by the characters.Compared with traditional English teaching, such courses truly put into practice the student-centered teaching strategies.

Video materials and films greatly contribute to understanding of another culture and mentality. Video materials show the students how people behave in the culture whose language they are learning by bringing into the classroom various communicative situations. Watching videos in class should not just be a passive activity.

 

This is very much in line with the PPP (presentation, practice, performance) approach to instructional design. In a higher-level class, where the grammar and vocabulary have already been introduced, the students might be asked to brainstorm as to what language and linguistic features they would expect to need in order to complete the task successfully.

This is where the students present their work in some fashion. They might report their findings to the class as a whole. They might perform a dialog or skit. They might share their written story or video or poster with their classmates.