Unit 2

APPROACHES AND STRATEGIES IN DEVELOPING LITERACY

THROUGH LITERATURE

Teaching literature develops in learner the ability to read and understand, appreciate cultural
differences, and appreciate literary texts. Learning outcomes of literature teaching are the expected
skills, experience, attitudes or language that students need to gain, (Mustakim, Mustapha, Lebar,
2014). Developing reading and text comprehension skills through literature serves learners many
benefits. Literature is an avenue for them to engage in vicarious experiences other learners have
undergone. In the process, they develop awareness and appreciation of others’ culture, empathy to
other’s feelings and emotions, hone their reasoning and critical thinking skills, and many others.
Achieving these skills among learners is dependent on how the language teacher plans the lessons
using a particular approach or method suited to children. In addition, the success of making learners
appreciate the literary piece is also dependent on how reading activities are structured, as well as the
types of questions asked during the discussion. Thus, language teachers need to design the literature
lesson and its integration to other language skills very well to achieve its intentions, (Bulusan et al.,
2019)

Unit Objectives:

In this Unit, you are expected to:

 Explain appropriate approaches in teaching literature in the elementary grades;

 Adopt the approaches in teaching literary selections to elementary grade learners;
 Design activities and tasks associated with the approaches of teaching literature suited to
characteristics of elementary grade learners.

Lesson 3 Approaches in Teaching Children’s Literature

Learning Competencies:
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
 differentiate the three approaches for teaching literature,
 develop understanding and appreciation of the approaches, and
 design activities contextualized to a particular approach.

"Approach," according to Anthony (1963), is "a set of assumptions dealing with the nature
of language, learning, and teaching." Brown (2001) defines approach as "theoretically well-informed
positions and beliefs about the nature of language, the nature of language learning and the
applicability of both to pedagogical settings." Moody (1983), cited by Hwang & Embi (2007),
explains that the importance of an approach is to "provide a framework, or sequence of operations
to be used when we come to actualities." If literature is to be taught in line with its aims, there is a
need to focus on the approaches employed by teachers that will suit the needs of the learners and
make the learning of great value and interest. This lesson will focus on the approaches employed and
challenges encountered in the teaching of literature toward successfully accomplishing its objectives
and not a mere futile exercise.

Activity 1. Recall how you were taught literature in your English classes in the elementary grades.
Try to provide the following information or details as suggested in the matrix below:

Types of Instructional Aids Post-Reading Types of

Literary Questions to Facilitate Activities Assessment
Type Asked Understanding Tools Used
Song

Story

Poem

Activity 2. From your experiences, what three strategies you mentioned above you would use in
teaching literature among your learners when given the chance to teach in the elementary grades.
Justify your choice.

Strategies to Use Justification (Why would you use it)

 Read the material below and understand what is trying to tell you about the approaches
on how to teaching literature in the elementary grades.

Approaches in Teaching Literature

At any grade level, there are approaches to teach literature: language-based, reader-response,
and information-based, as adapted from Carter (1992). Each of the approaches has unique
characteristics.

Language-Based Approach (LBA). In the language model, the main focus is on

language as the literary medium. It means that when the teacher uses the approach, she seeks a
closer integration between language and literature.

On this regard, Lazar (1993) stated that a Language-Based Approach (LBA) to use
literature would include techniques and procedures, which are concerned mainly with the study
of the literary text itself. Thus, learners are equipped with the tools they need to interpret a text
and to be able to make competent critical judgments of it. The advantages of using literary text
for language activities are that they offer a wide range of styles and registers, they are open to
multiple interpretations and hence provide excellent opportunities for classroom discussion and
they focus on genuinely interesting and motivating topics to explore in the classroom (Duff and
Maley, 1990).

This approach uses literary text for the specific drills design to build the languages skills
rather than focusing on the literary skills. The usage of Language Based Approach in classroom,
focuses on the learner mainly on their reading processes and how they created language
awareness among themselves. Furthermore, learners’ process of reading the text and of creating
their own meanings was given prominence. Through this method, the learners ae expected to
have more sensitive understanding and appreciation towards literary text. There are two main
objectives from the usage of this approach: firstly, students are expected to be able to make
meaningful interpretations of the text itself and also to expand students’ knowledge and
awareness towards the language (http://1kitaliterature.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_22.html)

This approach facilitates learners’ responses and experience with literature, through a
variety of activities such as reading aloud, rewriting, matching, jigsaw reading, gap-filling (cloze
procedures), brainstorming, summarizing, role paying, debate and discussion, etc. which
enhance collaboration, independence, interaction, peer teaching, and motivation (Carter &
Long, 1992; Carter & McRae, 1999). Other strategies in this approach include the following:
  Asking learners to do silent reading gives them the opportunity to recall their previous
knowledge and understanding about the reading selection.
 Learners reading aloud the selection lessens the possibilities of mispronunciation and
other learners get to know how to pronounce certain words correctly.
 Asking volunteers to read in a correct manner in front of the class is to identify the
hidden skills of the learners.
 Reading the questions instead of writing it on a board is to train the learners to listen
attentively to an instructions and how to put their fully attention on others.
 Asking learners to make the storyline is to ensure they understood the selection
thoroughly and are able to create their own ideas based on the selection read.
 Through choral speaking, learners could figure out their hidden potential skills and make
learning process more fun and interesting.

Reader-Response Approach (RRA). The RRA focuses on the reader’s response to

the texts. In this approach, the teacher is looking for a transactional relationship between the
reader’s personal experiences, opinions and feelings on the one hand and the text, on the other.
In this circumstance, reading is seen as a dialog with the text and, through it, with the ‘other’ or
with oneself.

Plural interpretations are encouraged and the text can be approached from a variety of
perspectives. It provides for a learner-centered and process-oriented classroom. The purposes
of literary education are similar, although a certain stress on language learning is to be expected.
Literature is considered as an authentic medium for introducing students to the specific
language and culture. The potential of literary reading across the languages is to compare
traditions and gain insights into various cultural forms and developments.

Some strategies teachers use to elicit response from the learners of the literary selection
they reads include the following:

 Asking learners their idea as to the kind of story to be read by basing it only on the
title of the story;
 Asking them what they felt as they were reading the selection;
 Relating the characters, setting, and events to their own experiences;
 Identifying the similarities and differences between the events in the selection read
and their own experiences;
 Determining understanding of setting, character, metaphor, and theme by writing
responses based on each literary element;
 Asking learners their favorite scene of the story, favorite quotation, and most like
character of the story;
 Asking learners additional scenes of the story or a different ending to a story.

Information-Based Approach (IBA). The IBA is focused on information of the

texts. This is a way of teaching knowledge about literature whereby literature is seen to offer a
 source of information to students. Reading is prominent, but its development is seen in close
connection with other communicative skills such as: writing, speaking and listening, or
appropriate use of language.

The teacher plays important role in this approach. The approach provides teacher-
centered classroom activities. This implies a greater responsibility for the teacher who has to
make dialogue possible, imagining active stimulating contexts of reading and reflecting upon
texts.
Moreover, the teacher is called upon to perform several functions in context of language
learning. Harmer (2007) categorized the roles of teacher as follows;
1) controller. As controller, teacher is in charge of the class and of the activity taking place.
The teacher should make decisions on the materials to be used, as well as the activities and
games which will best accord with the learners' needs and abilities.
2) prompter, in order to become a successful communicator and model for learners, the
teacher should promote a wide range of behaviors and psychological and social relationships
such as solidarity and politeness. The teacher is a live model, a real human being to whom they
can more easily relate.
3) participant, there are times when the teacher might want to join in an activity not (only)
as a teacher.
4) resource, the onus is on her to provide the learners with the necessary input in order to
foster understanding of the relation between language and communication. and;
5) tutor, when students are working on longer projects, such as process writing, the
teacher can work with individuals or small groups, pointing them in directions they have not yet
thought of taking. In such situations, the teacher acts as tutor who has a more intimate
relationship than that of controller or organizer.

IBA activities are teacher-centered, to include lectures, explanation, reading of notes and
criticism provided in workbooks or by the teacher. Specific teacher behavior or activities in this
approach include the following:

 Eliciting information from learners about the text

 Explaining the content of the text/story to the class.
 Asking questions to check learners’ knowledge based on what they have read.
 Providing learners with background information.
 Translating the selection to their mother tongue
 Using pictures and body gestures to help learners comprehend is explained
 Explaining figurative and ambiguous language in simple words.
 Teaching a story in a paraphrased version.

Paraphrastic approach (PR). It deals with the surface meaning of the text. Teachers
whose using this approach may paraphrase or re-word the story in a simpler language or even
translating it into other languages. Rosli (1995) says that this approach is suitable for beginners of
the target language as it acts as a stepping stone in formulating original assumptions of the author's
work.

This PR approach can be employed in assisting learners with a better understanding of the
text. Activities for this approach could include teacher retelling the story or a poem using simpler
language, using translation using other mother tongues and reading paraphrased versions or notes
provided in the workbook or by the teacher.

Some classroom tasks asked of learning in this approach to teach literature are the following:

 Retelling the text to students to help them understand

 Using simple terms to explain what the story is about to learners
 Discussing what the author says in the text
 Getting learners to tell the storyline of the text
 Translating the text using first language (L1)
 Reading paraphrased notes in the workbook/handouts

Moral-philosophical approach (MPA). As one of the roles of literature is to inculcate

moral values through the teaching of morality, the focus of this approach is to search for moral
values while reading a particular literary text. Learners' awareness of values is seen and this approach
assists students to understand themes in future readings. Thus, learners would be able to reflect what
they have learnt based on their readings of a particular literary text. According to Rosli (1995), this
approach proclaims the worthiness of moral and philosophical considerations behind one's reading.
Activities for this approach could be the incorporation of moral values at the end of the literature
lesson, reflective sessions, getting students to search for values whilst reading (Wang, 2003) and
eliciting students' evaluation on what they should do or not do based on their readings (Parwathy et
al., 2004).

Using this approach, the teacher carries out the following activities:

 Incorporating moral values in lessons

 Asking learners the values they learn from the text
 Getting learners to search moral values from a text
 Raising learners ' awareness of values derived from the text
 Engaging learners in reflective sessions
 Solving moral dilemmas
 Telling moral values to learners
 Conducing self-evaluation activities

Stylistics approach (STA). This approach guides learners towards a closer understanding
and appreciation of the literary text itself using the combination of linguistic analysis and literary
critics (Lazar, 1993). It means learners are taught to see how linguistic forms in a literary text
function in conveying messages to the reader. Lazar (1993) claims there are two objectives of this
approach: firstly, it enables students to make meaningful interpretations of the text. This objective
allows students to look beyond the surface meaning of the text; and secondly, it helps to expand
students' knowledge and awareness of the language. Lazar (1993) suggests activities such as getting
students to scrutinize a literary text by marking certain linguistic features, getting students to look at
the language features, extracting possible clues which contribute to the meaning and interpretation
of the text (Carter, 1996).

Sample activities undertaken in class as required by this approach are the following:

 Getting learners to mark any linguistic features from the text that are significant to their
reading
 Guiding learners to interpret a text by looking at the language used by the author
 Encourage learners to discuss beyond the surface meaning of the text
 Identify linguistics features (e.g. vocabulary, tenses) in a text
 Discussing different meanings of a text
 Extracting examples from a text that describe a setting
 Identifying adjectives that describe the setting, character

In the teaching of literature to children, the language teacher may use two or more
approaches in teaching a literary piece. Such practice enriches the presentation of the literary piece
and the discussion. Most of all, varied language skills are developed.

Check how well you understood the lesson. Perform the following tasks.
Activity 1.
Using the graphic organizer below, give the distinct features of three approaches of teaching
literature.
Approach 1

Approacvh 2

Approach 3

• Feature 1 • Feature 1 • Feature 1

• Feature 2 • Feature 2 • Feature 2
• Etc. • Etc. • Etc.
Activity 2. In your understanding of the approaches to teaching children’s literature, which of them
are applicable to lower grades (Grades 1 – 1) and Upper Grades (to Grades 4 – 6). Justify your
answer
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To better understand and apply what you learned, perform the following tasks:
Activity 1. From your answers to the Activity 1 (Recalling Experiences) and Deepening Activity in
Lessons 1, identify five activities that you mentioned. Then, determine the approach that activity is
classified and tell whether you like it or not.

Reading Instruction Whether Liked or

Reading Activity Approach Not Liked
Activity 2. Combining all the approaches in teaching children’s literature, what five activities or
tasks would dominate every literary lesson (either story, poem, song, folk tale, etc). Explain why and
how you would execute each in the reading class.
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It’s judgment time! Exert your best effort to perform the following activities to prove that
you have learned much from this lesson. Good luck!

Directions: Read each statement below and determine the closest approach involved as described.
Write the letter of your choice on the space provided.

a. LBA b. RRA c. IBA d. PRA e. MPA f. STA

_____ 1. Elicits learners’ opinion on the correctness of the character’s actions

______2. Asks learners the meaning of the word through the actions demonstrated
by the teacher.
______3. Asks learners to summarize the story using the story frame
______4. Provides learners the background of the author to situate the story
______5. Asks learners to act out the scene of the story like most
______6. Guides learners to recall past experiences similar to the story.
______7. Demonstrates to the learners through actions the actuation of the
character.
______8. Tells learners to draw the event in the story that highlights the story.
______9. Requires learners to explain the figure of speech used by the author
_____10. Conducts choral reading of the story before discussing

You are done, good learner! Your investment into the lesson seems gaining momentum.
Using the Exit Ticket, write your reflection and the learning you derived from this lesson:

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I think there is still a

need to learn more
I am certain that I about . . . . I could apply what I
learned about…. learned by….
References

Anthony, E. M. (1963). Approach, method, technique. ELT Journal 17 (2): 63 – 67.

Brown, H. D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy.

New-York: Longman.

Bulusan, F., Raquepo, M. R., & Hamada, I. (2019). Teaching literacy in the elementary grades
through literature. Quenzon City: Rex Book Publishing.

Carter, R. (1997). Investigating English Discourse. London: Routledge.

Carter, R. & Long, M. N. (1991). Teaching literature. Harlow: Longman.

Carter, R., & McRae, J. (1999). Language literature & the learner: Create classroom
practice. New York: Pearson Education Inc.

Duff, A. & Maley, A. (1990). Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Harmer, J. (2007). The practice of English language teaching. Malaysia: Pearson

`Education Limited.

Hwang, D and Embi, A. (2007). Approaches employed by secondary school teachers to teaching the
literature component in English. Jurnal Pendidik dan Pendidikan, 22, 1-21, [Online]
Available:myais.fsktm.um.edu.my/.../Approaches_Employed_By_Secondary_School_Teach
ers_To_Teachng_The_Literature Component_In_English.pdf (Feb 5, 2010).

Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

Moody, H.L.B. (1983). Approaches to the study of literature: A practitioner's view. In Brumfit, C. J.
(ed.). Teaching literature overseas: Language-based approaches. ELT Documents, 115, 17–
36. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Rosli Talif. (1995). Teaching literature in ESL the Malaysian context. Kuala Lumpur: Penerbit
Universiti Pertanian Malaysia.