Literature can be taught to many people from different kinds of background; whether race, gender, education background or age. However, the types of literature can be different according to the types of targeted group. Toddlers or young learners will be able to learn simple literature like Winnie The Pooh, or other stories that teacher might recommended; which in this case I recommended Walt Disney's stories (for example, Peter Pan). When they grow up into teenagers; which is another word for high school students or young adults; they will be able to learn something that have new and wide vocabularies such as Harry Potter series, Chronicles of Narnia series or something classic like The Secret Garden and The Great Gatsby.
As a student teacher myself, I have done my teaching practice during my study in UPSI. During the teaching practice, I have been teaching two form 2 classes and two form 4 classes. Some of the literary works I have taught are In The Midst of Hardship (by Latiff Mohidin), He Had Such Quiet Eyes (by Bibsy Soenharjo), One is One and All Alone (by Nicholas Fisk) and QWERTYUIOP (by Vivien Alcock). Since it was my first time in teaching literature, I referred to many revision books and teacher guide books in teaching literature for secondary school.
One of the strategies that I have found and regularly used for my classes was previewing the plot of the short stories or novels or drama before they read the story. I used the five stages plots, which are; exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Before I teach the literature to them in class, I have done my homework about it and divided the story in five sections to slowly guide them through the story. On the first day of teaching the literary work, I introduced the first chapter or the exposition part of the story. I also told them that during the exposition stage, the author usually introduces the characters in the story. Apart from introducing the exposition part itself, I also have done some activities with them based on the literary works themselves.
I have found several strategies that teachers can use in teaching literature in Beach, Appleman, Hynds and Wilhelm (2006). Before the teacher starts the lesson, she/he can conduct vocabulary exercise based on the vocabulary items found in the story. This is to enable the students to read the story on their own with less interruption on the flow and understanding the story. Some students can understand the unfamiliar words using contextual clues but what about the lower level of English proficiency? Most of them still need the dictionary to understand the words in the story. Thus, teachers can apply this strategy following the preview of the plot of the story, so that the students will understand and follow the flow of the story little by little (or bit by bit?).
As a student teacher myself, I have done my teaching practice during my study in UPSI. During the teaching practice, I have been teaching two form 2 classes and two form 4 classes. Some of the literary works I have taught are In The Midst of Hardship (by Latiff Mohidin), He Had Such Quiet Eyes (by Bibsy Soenharjo), One is One and All Alone (by Nicholas Fisk) and QWERTYUIOP (by Vivien Alcock). Since it was my first time in teaching literature, I referred to many revision books and teacher guide books in teaching literature for secondary school.
One of the strategies that I have found and regularly used for my classes was previewing the plot of the short stories or novels or drama before they read the story. I used the five stages plots, which are; exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Before I teach the literature to them in class, I have done my homework about it and divided the story in five sections to slowly guide them through the story. On the first day of teaching the literary work, I introduced the first chapter or the exposition part of the story. I also told them that during the exposition stage, the author usually introduces the characters in the story. Apart from introducing the exposition part itself, I also have done some activities with them based on the literary works themselves.
I have found several strategies that teachers can use in teaching literature in Beach, Appleman, Hynds and Wilhelm (2006). Before the teacher starts the lesson, she/he can conduct vocabulary exercise based on the vocabulary items found in the story. This is to enable the students to read the story on their own with less interruption on the flow and understanding the story. Some students can understand the unfamiliar words using contextual clues but what about the lower level of English proficiency? Most of them still need the dictionary to understand the words in the story. Thus, teachers can apply this strategy following the preview of the plot of the story, so that the students will understand and follow the flow of the story little by little (or bit by bit?).
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