Literature means analysis.
Nowadays learning English is very fashionable and trendy. However, do we reflect on the way we carry out the teaching of specific topics within the teaching of this foreign language? For example, the way we deal with historical events through English literature has not been taken into account as it should be in order to promote not only long term learning but also a thoughtful attitude in students. I remember that as a student I spent a lot of time searching for information on history that I never really used it. As the years wore on and I kept on studying historical events, I began to ask myself, "Am I really learning?" I never felt I was learning that bunch of information, and after a week or two I just forgot it. Now I finally realized that teaching historical events through literature is an extremely helpful tool for the EFL classroom; due to the fact that it comes to make a change in the current way of EFL teaching practice and also because there are concrete ways to introduce this topic in the EFL classroom.
This essay will describe what I have seen and lived during the years spent on the educational system; in relation to the foreign language teaching. It will also propose some effective ways of introducing historical events to students and finally, I will come up with a conclusion based on all the elements highlighted.
Turning now to the in progress way of teaching English as a foreign language and including the way it deals with the introduction of history issues that are very relevant for our society. It is important to have a clear idea of how English classes are developed in our current reality. From my own experience as an English teacher trainee in different schools I have come to comprehend and be a witness of the present techniques to teach English as a foreign language. Teaching English as an international language has a clear purpose; the well-known “English opens doors” program deals with enabling students to be more in touch with the world in terms of job opportunities. That is why in schools English is taught in a way that students become only passive receptors of messages. Receptive skills are often the main focus of the class; listening and reading are put first over the productive skills such as speaking and writing. In that sense, important historical event are often left aside or covered in a meaningless way.
Now let’s move on to the applicability in the classroom. Reading poems as “September 1, 1939” by W.H Auden; has made me realize that literature can express a lot about a particular historical event such as World War II and what people felt towards that situation. Reading that poem allows the reader to be taken into the scenario in which it was written and inspired.
I think that when we talk about small children, illustrations play an important role. Illustrations are beautiful and easy to follow by little children and they represent a relevant visual aid that can be exploited afterwards. It is crucial to bear in mind that children have no interest in dates, names, treaties and so ever. They are more interesting in knowing more about characters, personalities and places. Moreover, biographies can be a wonderful instrument into history, because if children care about a particular history character then they want to know about wars, treaties, dates, kings and queens, and so on. Once a student has an interest in a famous person, then the child will want to know what was going on in the time in which that person lived. Therefore, we can take advantage of that interest and give students more information about the context.
On the other hand, if we face an almost or an already high school class we could bring more complex text to be openly discuss in the class. If I were to choose a text I would choose “The Waste Land” by T.S Eliot. I deeply believe this poem is a very empowering work since it represents to me a way of expressing a point of view towards such an important topic as government and the effect of it on society. Besides when reading it, it is possible to feel the intention of the author and, in a way it is possible to interact with the writer because of the reactions that make in the readers. Additionally, the text is timeless to me because, even though it was written long time ago it can be definitely applicable to current events and situations. Besides this poems portrays the situation that people lived after the war, people were facing a feeling of emptiness. All the important decisions were not made by themselves but by others. Additionally, there were no means for them to make a change into the style of life and society they faced. Furthermore, the structure of the poem has some metaphors, references, and allusions so in that way students will be learning about history and at the same time about literature and poem’s structure.
In short, using literature to teach history in EFL classes is a highly recommendable instrument since by doing so we can raise students’ awareness on the importance of historical events and in addition make history more meaningful and appealing for them. A sign of the positive effects of this proposal is that the interest among educators in using literature to teach history has risen. What is more, we as teachers need to be the enough smart to make the most of the use of literature inside our classrooms. Following that same line of thought, applying, discussing and going through those works in which a community defines itself through its history, culture, tastes and realities. We might include works mainly as artistic ones as well as music, movies, poems, pictures and anything that can provoke any feeling, sensation and reaction on our students.
Links
• http://articles.famouswhy.com/why_is_literature_important_in_our_lives_/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waste_Land
• http://www.artic.edu/webspaces/510iftheshoefits/ljunkin.pdf
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