New Approaches to Literature for Language Learning

224 Pages·2019·5.435 MB·

by  Jeneen Naji, Ganakumaran Subramaniam, Goodith White

NEW APPROACHES
TO LITERATURE
FOR LANGUAGE
LEARNING
JENEEN NAJI
GANAKUMARAN SUBRAMANIAM
GOODITH WHITE
New Approaches to Literature
for Language Learning
“This book argues compellingly and persuasively for the role of literature in
language learning instruction. It is distinguished by an impressive command
and openness to different approaches, and usefully demonstrates for teachers
and instructors how to explore and apply new communities of practice. The
authors move insightfully beyond traditional literary forms and genres to a
highly illuminating discussion of the opportunities presented by digital and
electronic literature and new multimodal literary forms, exploring their impli-
cations for conventional understandings of literacy and language.”
—Professor Margaret Kelleher, Professor and Chair of Anglo-Irish
Literature and Drama, University College Dublin, Ireland
Jeneen Naji · Ganakumaran Subramaniam ·
Goodith White
New Approaches
to Literature
for Language
Learning
Jeneen Naji Ganakumaran Subramaniam
Department of Media Studies School of Education
National University of Ireland, Maynooth University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
Goodith White
School of Education
University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
ISBN 978-3-030-15255-0 ISBN 978-3-030-15256-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15256-7
Library of Congress Control Number: 2019934457
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Contents
1 Why Is Literature Important for Language Learning? 1
2 Literature and Language Learning 25
3 Ways into Literature 51
4 Literature and Culture 81
5 Literature and Technology 99
6 Literature and Reading Communities 129
7 Literature and Multimodality 149
8 New Literatures in New Englishes 171
9 Literature and Personal Growth: A Look to the Future 193
Index 221
v
List of Figures
Fig. 5.1 Screenshot of James Joyce—The Dead—Geraldine Meaney 101
Fig. 5.2 Screenshot of He Liked Thick Word Soup—Ariel Malka 102
Fig. 5.3 Screenshot of Fitting the Pattern—Christine Wilks 103
Fig. 5.4 Screenshot of Redshift and Portalmetal—Micha Cárdenas 105
Fig. 5.5 Screenshot of Cat Petting Simulator 2014—neongrey 109
Fig. 5.6 Screenshot of Ever Jane—3 Turn Productions 111
Fig. 5.7 Screenshot of This Is not a Poem—Alan Bigelow 115
Fig. 5.8 Image of The World Was White—Jason Edward Lewis 116
Fig. 5.9 S creenshot of Abra: A Living Text—Amaranth Borsuk,
Kate Durbin, and Ian Hatcher 117
Fig. 5.10 Image of The Rubayaat—Jeneen Naji 120
Fig. 5.11 I mages of Between Page and Screen—Amaranth Borsuk
and Brad Bouse 121
Fig. 7.1 S creenshot of a page from Pride of Baghdad—Brian
K. Vaughan and Nikko Henrichon (https://www.
amazon.co.uk/Pride-Baghdad-Vertigo-Brian-Vaughan/
dp/1401203159) 153
vii
1
Why Is Literature Important
for Language Learning?
In this chapter we:
• Discuss some of the reasons for using literature in language learning
• Broaden the definition of literature to include digital literature and
other multimodal texts
• Consider students’ and teachers’ views on the value of literature in
language learning.
It may seem strange to be writing a book about using literature for lan-
guage learning at this point in time, when it seems to have widely fallen
out of favour. But we, the authors of this book, have always believed
in the power and uniqueness of literature for achieving particular ben-
efits in learning languages. We also believe that the time is ripe for a
re-evaluation and resurgence in the use of literature in this learning con-
text. In this first chapter, we hope to convince you of our case. We dis-
cuss some of the reasons which excite and motivate us to use literature in
our language teaching. We mention some familiar reasons—but we also
argue that there are some emerging ones which, in our opinion, make
literature very relevant for language learners in the twenty first century.
© The Author(s) 2019 1
J. Naji et al., New Approaches to Literature for Language Learning,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15256-7_1
2 J. Naji et al.
We hope that this book will encourage our fellow teachers to try out or
return to using literature in the language classroom.
What are the emerging, new reasons? We think they include the
following:
• Literature provides opportunities to develop multiple literacies. The focus
of literacy over the last few decades has shifted away from writing or
reading print texts and towards creating and consuming texts which
are much more fluid and unstable. They may be digital and multi-
modal; becoming literate now involves the ability to produce and
interpret texts which combine words with oral, visual, and spatial
ways of conveying meaning (Dudeney et al. 2013). We’d argue that
literary studies have long involved interaction with multimodal texts,
such as films, plays, and performance poetry. Because our focus in
this book is on ‘literary studies’ rather than a narrow concentration
on ‘literature’ in the traditional sense of a print-based ‘canon’, we’d
maintain that literary studies can cover any texts that contain literary
forms, features, and purposes. The recent award of the Nobel Prize
for literature to a songwriter, Bob Dylan, demonstrates how current
definitions of literature transcend traditional notions. This means
that multimodal texts, such as songs, films, and plays can be consid-
ered literary and studied from a literary perspective, as well as literary
forms such as digital poetry and fan fiction which are ‘born digital’.
It’s also the case that there is a whole new world of digitally produced
literature and ways of consuming and producing it which language
learners could engage with. In addition to a focus on multimodal-
ity and digital production, literacy now also frequently involves the
ability to build on and critique the texts of others (these kinds of
texts are known as ‘remixes’ or ‘redesigns’). Literature has been associ-
ated with such ‘remixes’ centuries before the digital era. One literary
form has often been transposed into or served as the inspiration for
another, for example, ‘film of the book’ or rewrites of famous classics
in modern form, such as Jane Smiley’s ‘A Thousand Acres ’ (book based
on Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’) or ‘Ten Things I Hate About You ’ (film
based on Shakespeare’s ‘Taming of the Shrew’). The ultimate remix
so far may well be the film Pride and Prejudice and Zombies! Another
1 Why Is Literature Important for Language Learning? 3
important component of the ‘new literacies’ is the ability to interpret
the ways in which different social and cultural contexts influence
meaning (Kalantzis and Cope 2011). We’d contend that encounters
with literature written in different times, places, and perspectives are
likely to help learners to develop this skill.
• Learning the whole of the language. Contemporary linguists and lit-
erary theorists argue that so-called ‘literary language’ isn’t a separate
concept from ‘ordinary language’; the two kinds of language coex-
ist on a cline which depends on use, context, and interpretation.
Creative/literary language and other features of literary genres such as
narrative are found in many kinds of text, such as academic articles,
speeches, and advertisements. We’d claim that students need to be
able to understand and produce literary language and forms if they
are to function fully in a language.
• Thinking skills. We would argue that exposure to literature provides
excellent opportunities for language learners to develop skills particu-
larly needed in the twenty first century world of work, such as crea-
tivity, critical thinking, and collaboration.
We will expand on these points later in the chapter and in the book as a
whole.
The Benefits of Literature
Most societies tend to view literature as a ‘good thing’ even if, as we’ll dis-
cuss later, convincing scientific proof for some of its social benefits is hard
to come by. As we wrote this book, we came across numerous examples
of ways in which groups and individuals are using literature in the belief
that it will ameliorate medical and psychological problems, and enable
individuals to continue developing intellectually and emotionally. To give
just a few examples: The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project in the United States and
the United Kingdom finds that encouraging sufferers to compose poems
helps memory and general well-being. People using doctors’ surgeries in
the United Kingdom can pick up a leaflet called Poems in the Waiting
Room, which features poems designed to transport them away from
4 J. Naji et al.
their health worries and the coughs and sneezes of their fellow patients
for some precious moments. Saber Hosseini delivers a mobile library of
story books to children in remote villages in rural Afghanistan by bicycle
(http://observers.france24.com/en/20160414-bicycle-books-isolated-af-
ghan-children). He says ‘These kids live such stressful lives – they live in
a society that is full of death and violence…so we want to keep deliver-
ing a bit of joy and calm in their lives through books’. Young people in
war-torn Syria set up a secret library in a basement in Daraya, south of
Damascus. One of them wrote: ‘Working on this library really helped me
find a new purpose for my life. Before, I spent days feeling both bored
and terrified as I waited for air raids. Now, I advise library members who
come to check out books and we chat about what we have been reading’.
The library was later bombed, but the volunteers did not forget what a
sanctuary it had been for them (https://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/07/
middleeast/syria-undergound-library/index.html).
World leaders have also extolled the benefits of literature. In late
October 2015, President Obama was reported as saying that nov-
els taught him how to be a citizen, and ‘the most important stuff I’ve
learned I think I’ve learned from novels’. In an interview with the writer
Marilynne Robinson, he went on to say that reading novels ‘has to do
with empathy…with being comfortable with the notion that the world
is complicated and full of greys, but there’s still truth to be found, and
that you have to strive for that and work for that. And the notion that
it’s possible to connect with someone else even though they’re very dif-
ferent from you’. In the same week, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of
Canada and former teacher of literature, was quoted as saying ‘we need
poets to change the world’ (although he did not go into any details
about why that might be the case and how they might do it!).
What exactly is going on? Is this just an example of politicians leap-
ing onto some kind of zeitgeist bandwagon? Or do these projects and
comments signal a re-evaluation of the role of literature in personal and
public life, including education? And for the purposes of this book,
even if renewed arguments may be made for the relevance of litera-
ture to education in general, are these applicable to language learning?
We’ll argue that, although it never entirely went away, this may be one
of the times when literature is coming back into fashion in the field of