"Reading is like an infectious disease - it is caught, not taught" (Christine Nuttall)
But teachers can create the virus and make it grow. (Thaler)
Literature has recently become a vital part in foreign language classrooms. The reading process is not only a receptive and rational one, but becomes productive, imaginative and emotional. Due to this potential, it is an incentive for communication between students, offering authentic communication activities, in which students are invited to exchange their reactions and views. Depending on its themes, literature may give an insight into other cultures on a more personal level, as it mediates between human experiences in the target culture and, in reaction to it, the reader’s own.
But how do we teach literature? And which genres are useful in the language classroom? Which kind of texts should we choose as teachers and according to which criteria?
This course will provide you with examples of teaching poetry, drama and narrative texts and hopefully give you insights in motivating ways of teaching literature. A moodle course will be available.
Students who would like to participate in this class are required to read a novel which will be announced at the beginning of the course. |
