IndexTeaching Literature in the ClassroomHow should we teach literature?Micro-TeachingPre-ReadingWhile ReadingPost-ReadingAssignments for Higher Level ClassesAnalysisConclusionWorks CitedTeaching Literature in the Classroom While Reading second language acquisition, there are many internal and external factors that influence language learners. Among these, there are two that play a fundamental role in second language acquisition: input and interaction. Before you start speaking and writing in a foreign language, your brain needs to be exposed to the right amount of correct sentences in that language. Teaching literature in the classroom is a way to give the right amount of input. As a student teacher, I should properly learn how to provide meaningful and useful literature lessons to my future students. It's not easy because there are different conditions to apply, but if I want to be a good teacher I have to learn them by heart and I also have to learn from my failures. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay How should we teach literature? When teaching literature, we should not forget the three phases of a reading task: pre-reading, during-reading and post-reading tasks. Pre-reading is very important to set a context, activate students' background knowledge, interest them in the topic and make it relevant to them. Reading-while-reading activities are used in the classroom to get students to look for the essence or specific information and carefully examine the text. This takes up the most time of the three. Last but not least, post-reading activities are related to the text, but can facilitate imagination and allow students to do something related to the main topic of the lesson. A post-reading activity closes the lesson and gives it a framework. “A philosophy of language teaching that incorporates examples of texts of any kind that demonstrate how language works within and beyond the rules will expose students to the representational possibilities of all language.” (Brumfit and Carter, 20) According to Brumfit and Carter, practical criticism has two presuppositions. The first is that a literary text is made of language, so the emphasis is on expressions and linguistic patterns. Secondly, it is also worth analyzing the effect of the text on the mind and emotions. (Brumfit and Carter, 2-3) Michael N. Long stated that reading skills do not develop students' relationship with text because teachers focus on accuracy rather than fluency and there is no methodology for using literature in the teaching of foreign languages. The reason is very simple: students do not have the energy to respond to the literary work because they are busy understanding the text. Instead of these, literature teaching should encourage responses to the currently discussed text. Student responses can refer to a first-hand and a second-hand response. In a second language lesson, the practice of recounting the teacher's interpretation (which is the second-hand response) was common, but students should not be asked to formulate or repeat the criticism (which is the questioning of a form literary in detail by a professional) rather than expressing one's response to the text. In those years the teaching of literature was about structures and formulas rather than understanding, furthermore the separation between literature and linguistic studies reduced the efficiency of language teaching, the language classrooms are rather linguistic and theliterature is not used. I would like to highlight a few words about the usual texts used in class: they are practical, there is no information gap, they are not interesting or motivating and there is definitely no aesthetic reason behind them. There is no response from the student, it is rather an imitation of patterns. The good news is that we can master a foreign language by copying the method used in our native language: getting as much linguistic input as possible. This means that we should teach literature as a way to provide students with native input that is not directed and structured for language learning. Even though the input may come from reference texts, it makes no difference if we use the representational language of literary works and insert some elements of understanding and interpretation into our classroom. This way we encourage student responses. The more input we get, the more likely we are to speak another language more quickly, confidently, effectively, and accurately. When I designed my lesson plan, I intended to keep these points in mind and create a unified, fun lesson for the second foreign language students in my class. Micro-teaching For my micro-teaching, I would like to use a short story because its reading is more convenient and I can save some time. After a quick search, I chose a chapter from House at the Pooh Corner by AA Milne. Why is this a good text choice? It is still popular nowadays and is a good motivation to learn a new language. The cause is simple: it can give students confidence because they already know it. Furthermore, the teacher can choose from a wide range of topics, for example friendship or adventures. The texts use an easily understandable language, therefore usable at all levels. There are many adventurous and interesting episodes that help identify different topics. This chosen chapter is about Tigger's arrival and how he can find his place in the forest. The chapter is not that difficult to understand; so, I chose this one in particular. I have designed my lesson plan to suit 10-12 year old students at A2-B1 level. As a topic of the lesson I try to set the theme so that it is useful for the discussion of the text itself. The objectives of the lesson are to familiarize with a literary text, develop speaking, listening and reading skills, increase critical thinking and have students practice some grammatical structures with which they are already familiar. Pre-reading As the first step of my lesson I give the students the text to read in advance at home. Then they must also create a reader's diary because it helps the progression of class work. I begin my speech with questions that serve to introduce the topic: which animals do you like best? How do you feel about a bear? What do you think when you hear the word "tiger"? What would you do if you found a tiger in your garden? etc. After this contextualized introduction I ask if anyone can recognize the image on the PPT (it's an image of the Hundred Acre Wood). Then I ask if they have any basic knowledge about this place and its inhabitants. While reading In the while reading section I distribute the text and a handout. First, students must reread the chapter. Then the next task is to analyze the text based on the questions in the handout. These questions cover characters, setting, and theme. In the first section I ask low-order questions because they create engagement with the text (When did Tigger arrive? Was Pooh happy to see him? How do you know? Where did Tigger sleep? What was Tigger doing when Pooh woke up? What did he do? gave Pooh to Tigger for breakfast?). After that the next task isa couple's work. In this assignment, students must imagine Pooh and Christopher Robin conversing and creating a dialogue about Tigger's arrival. It is a useful task because students not only construct a dialogue, but can distinguish between literary and non-literary text. The next section is a group discussion. Students should discuss the following question in groups: What would you do if someone knocked on your door in the middle of the night? In this type of task, students can express their opinion on the text and also practice oral production. To also develop listening skills. I show a video (with subtitles) on the same excerpt and compare it with the text itself. Post-reading At the end of my lesson, I give them a homework assignment, in which they have to choose a character from the text and present their choice as a new friend. The purpose of this assignment would be to increase students' creativity and also develop writing skills. Assignment for higher level classes For older and/or higher level students I would add a special assignment to make the work more challenging. This would be the Christopher Robin movie, whose story is based on the life of Christopher as an adult. As a first step, students should watch the film at home. Then in class they have to compare extracts from the book with the film. The main points could be the following questions: Why do you think both the book and the cartoon became so popular? Did you read or watch it as a child? What emotions can you connect to the story? What are the similarities and differences between the text and the film? What is the main theme of the film? The focus of this upper level class would be on the importance of childhood and its notable importance in adulthood. Analysis Winnie the Pooh is a very obvious and simple fairy tale: in the evening an adult tells a story to a child of about five years old. At this age, the child likes stories about himself and his immediate environment. That's why the writer chooses the little boy as the fairy tale hero. Although the episodes focus on Pooh, the reader feels that the characters express the imagination and emotions of Christopher Robin. The nature of the frame is that sometimes the narrator and the little boy talk to each other, evaluate the moving events and give a reason for the next story. Each chapter is a short story and connected to each other only by characters and places. In each of the episodes, different situations from childhood appear. There are some based on real events and there are also others imagined by the child. Real situation, for example stumbling, miscarriage, searching for something, hospitality and donation. Planned situation, for example, the flight of the hot air balloon, the capture of the elephant and the flooding of our heroes. Each chapter is structured as follows: exposition, conflict, rising action, climax and resolution. This is the oldest and most common fairy tale structure. Christopher Robin and his friends do not live in an abstract, timeless world. The location is indirectly revealed in several episodes: the daily life of the 1920s. We can also conclude that Christopher Robin does not have a brother, and Pooh is the one who plays this role in his life. Christopher also has some parental responsibility and takes care of his animals, so he actually accepts the imitative role-playing that characterizes his age and approves of his parent-child relationship. The story shows the boy's mentality and self-esteem: the conflicts and difficult situations of the fairy tale can only be resolved by Christopher. In the eyes of stuffed animals, the human child is the oracle: they expect wise advice, guidance, help, praise, everything the child would expect from an adult. One of a child's greatest wishesof five years is to feel safe. This desire is at the center of almost every scene. In life, in most cases, adults are the givers of security, so children turn to the strongest and most intelligent adults; for animals, Christopher embodies this role. All the characters – except Christopher – are stuffed animals but think, talk and behave like four-year-olds. The character who gives the story its title is Pooh. He is the most well presented character and is involved in every adventure. He is a gentle and adorable creature thanks to his personality: originally a teddy bear who behaves like a human child. He and his friends often think he's a little stupid, but sometimes he has a clever idea that can solve the problem. He is also a talented poet, and readers can find his poems in the episodes that make them more colorful. All characters are different people, so they all have different motivations, tasks and life problems. However, if they find themselves in a difficult situation or when they are in difficulty, they need each other's help and of course they can rely on each other too. Of all the animal characters, only Kanga is the one who possesses adult human qualities. She embodies maternal love and care in work. He is smarter and funnier than the rest of the characters. His son is the center of his attention. Christopher Robin is the character between the stuffed animals and the adult narrator and connects the world of the Hundred Acre Wood with the real world. He has a relationship only with the narrator. When dealing with the animals' clumsiness and flaws, the narrator interacts with Christopher Robin, realizing what is wrong and what is the right decision. The episodes therefore have educational intentions, but are not explicit. In Christopher Robin's behavior we can observe the stage of development of the infantile personality in which his logical thinking began to appear. The episodes provide and show the progress, how the child can learn the mechanism of thinking. Winnie the Pooh is a great literary experience for adults and children. As adults we can discover different values ​​in work with our "adult" thinking, thanks to the experience we have gained over the years. While the child unconsciously seeks and finds himself by reading and listening to the work. Adults consciously seek the human equivalent of animal figure characters. They also involuntarily identify with a character and find the character's personality suitable for their friends and acquaintances. What's great about this children's book is that the acknowledged flaws make you smile. Because “nonsense” is so good that their negative effects almost completely disappear. Winnie the Pooh brings the message that we must accept each other without prejudice and that the secret of coexistence is tolerance. We can point out human flaws in a constructive way, and if all this is accompanied by love and kindness, we can improve them without hurting each other. In books and even cartoons there are no aggressive manifestations, this may be why they are so popular nowadays. The story features the friendliest company ever. Even adults and children find their madness and their mentality. Winnie the Pooh is wholeheartedly recommended for all children and adults. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conclusion All in all, I still have to learn a lot about teaching, how to construct a lesson, how to make meaningful and interesting tasks, how to make tasks that are at the right level for students and I shouldn't forget that time management is also a crucial point during the, 1986, 42-58.