Teaching English

8. Literature matters

Nancy Grimm – Michael Meyer – Laurenz Volkmann

 1. Functions of literature
1.1 Personal interest
0. Table of contents 1.2 Institutional interest
2. Approaches to teaching literature
2.1 Analytical approaches: nothing but the text
2.2 Making sense: subjective response and dialog
2.3 Context and culture as conditions of meaning
2.4 ‘Doing’ literature: task-based and creative
work
3. Literature for all levels
4. Recommended reading
5. Acknowledgments

Chapter 8: Literature matters 2

 Discuss your interest
in reading:

Which was your favorite book

of fiction and most rewarding
reading (or listening)
experience as a child and as
an adolescent?
What is your favorite text in
English now?
Why do you read literature,
why not? Consider the images
or draw a cartoon on dealing
with literature at school.

Chapter 8: Literature matters 3

 1.1 Personal interest

Educational /
food for
thought
Entertaining /
food for the
soul
Literature

1. Functions of literature 4
 Comedy
1.1 Personal interest Adventure

Crime
fiction

Gender: which topics and

genres do boys or girls prefer? Fantasy

Comics
Which would you select for
teaching literature in a mixed Science
class? fiction

Human
Lyrics interest

1. Functions of literature 5
 1.2 Institutional interest – the CEF

“major contribution to the

European cultural
heritage” Cultivation?
Bildung?

CEF/KMK do not specify

may develop “students’ how these contribute transports sociocultural
aesthetic appreciation of
Reading
to the multiple educational values, beliefs, and
literature” purposes for…
of literature, let attitudes
alone the pleasure
of reading

serves “educational
purposes – intellectual,
moral and emotional,
linguistic and cultural”
Council of Europe 2001: 56, 144
1. Functions of literature 6
 1.2 Institutional interest – dimensions of literary
competence
Cognitive understanding & co-creation of meaning: forming mental model, filling gaps, forming hypotheses

Linguistic-discursive competence: in reading, follow-up communication, and negotiation of meaning

Motivation & orientation: getting involved in a text, finding pleasure in reading, recognizing relevance of literature

Subjective response and participation in interpersonal and intercultural perspectives

Reflection on and critical judgment of moral values and actions

Cognitive-aesthetic understanding and evaluation

Creative production through (re-)writing literary texts (narrative, performative, and poetic competence)

1. Functions of literature
2. Approaches to teaching literature – literature as communication

cf. Meyer 2011: 26, 68, 115

2. Approaches to teaching literature
 2.1 Analytical
approaches: nothing
but the text
Literary work
Intrinsic analytical approach Close readings
(e.g., New Criticism) Typical task
 timeless artefact
 to appreciate
complex artistic  ‘Identify the
form as a perfect rhyme scheme
mold of the and the rhetorical
content features of the
poem.’

2. Approaches to teaching literature 9

Discuss which competences the teacher-centered and analytical
approach promotes.

2. Approaches to teaching literature 10

 2.1 Analytical
approaches: nothing Analytic skills
but the text
Insight
Discussing the method language &
art Context

Subjective
reader
response Author

2. Approaches to teaching literature 11

 2.1 Analytical
approaches: authorial Intentional
communication fallacy

Expression
Discussing the question: of personal Imaginative
“What did the author want to experience transformation
tell us?” of experience

Intertextuality
& ‘The message’
sociocultural vs. personal
conventions interpretation

2. Approaches to teaching literature 12

 2.2 Making sense:
subjective response
and dialog efferent
reading

Reader response and

cognitive approaches
aesthetic
reading

dynamic
interaction

2. Approaches to teaching literature 13

 2.2 Making sense: sociocultural schemata of text stimulate
subjective response reader’s associations & ideas

and dialog reader infuses text with

subjective mental images &
interpretations
Dynamic interaction between
reader and text
sharing & coordinating perspectives

Minds are like parachutes.

They only function when they
are open.
– Sir Dewar (attributed)
recognition or critical resistance

2. Approaches to teaching literature 14

 2.2 Making sense: subjective response and dialog

» involved participant
» detached spectator
» literary critic
Readers’
roles and
teaching » subjective response (e.g., reading logs)
» open dialog, negotiating meanings
» aesthetic appreciation and criticism

2. Approaches to teaching literature 15

Discuss which competences approaches to individual reading processes
promote and which they neglect.

2. Approaches to teaching literature 16

 2.3 Context and
culture as conditions
literature as imitation of reality
of meaning

Mimesis: the strange mirror no objective representation

or a ‘neutral mirror’ of reality

reflection of & on culture

2. Approaches to teaching literature 17

 2.3 Context and
culture as conditions individuals

of meaning
discourse generations

Language use on display

Characteristics
& differences race,
genres of… class,
gender

regions & historical

nations periods

2. Approaches to teaching literature 18

2.3 Context and culture as conditions of meaning – the ‘third space’

‘Them’
Hybrid ‘third space’
‘Us’  a contact zone; e.g.,
between the German
context and the cultures
experienced through
American, British, and
postcolonial or New
English literature

cf. Kramsch 1998, Matos 2012: 9-20

2. Approaches to teaching literature 19
 2.3 Context and
culture as conditions
of meaning
Dominant ideologies 
critical literacy approach
2. Approaches to teaching literature
language is socio-culturally situated
no neutral use of language in a society
marked by inequality of the
distribution of wealth and power
suppressive ideology = “a falsifying
collectively held system of ideas and
beliefs that interpret the world […] in maintaining /
the interests of those who are in power, legitimizing the status
covers up contradictions and conflicts in quo
society”
Meyer 2011: 181-82
resistant reader needs to reflect on implicit
preconceptions and functions of language use
20
 2.3 Context and
culture as conditions less concerned about ideology

of meaning
texts are cultural: texts have ‘real’
conditions and effects

Culture as text 
postmodern perspectives
culture is textual: in the sense of being
culturally significant and readable

Example: violent responses to the

cartoons of Charlie Hebdo in 2015

2. Approaches to teaching literature 21

 2.3 Context and individual = an intersection of discourses + an
actant who constructs meaning in new texts
culture as conditions by selecting and combining discourses

of meaning orientation, selection, and

(re)construction of meaning

intertextual nodes around

Intertextuality / intermediality representative ‘texts’
core symbols  negotiating
the values and functions of
myths

students explore the circulation and interplay of

meanings and create new webs of significance in
dialog with the texts and each other

Hallet 2002: 60-61, 46-48, 64-65, 39-45, 69-72

2. Approaches to teaching literature 22
 2.3 Context and culture
as conditions of meaning
– dynamic model of
reading

Reading as experience and

interactive information
processing in combination
with the social negotiation of
meaning in an institutional
framework

cf. Meyer 2012, adapted from Reichl 2009: 214

2. Approaches to teaching literature 23
 2.4 ‘Doing’ literature: task based and creative work – reading phases

(1) feel like reading

(2) get into the text

(3) live through the text

(4) realize some preliminary
meaning

(5) reviewing experience &

preliminary grasps
(6) modifying and expanding
understanding

cf. Delanoy 2007: 115-18, Hesse 2009: 89, Nünning & Surkamp 2006: 71-80, Thaler 2008: 51-52
2. Approaches to teaching literature 24
 2.4 ‘Doing’ literature:  Creative activities
Task-based and  motivate learners to work on palpable
products
creative work
 encourage aesthetic transformation of
subjective responses
The post-reading phase

creative response to Woolf’s short story “The New Dress” by Miriam Aufermann
2. Approaches to teaching literature 25
 2.4 ‘Doing’ literature – functions of learner texts

Motivation through identification, individual expression, and autonomy

Recognition of others’ perspectives, supporting empathy and tolerance

Meaningful communication addressed to peers (and the teacher)

Challenging but playful experiment with language and culture

Object of mutual reflection and trigger of linguistic and cultural awareness

Holistic learning that combines affect, cognitive insight, and imagination

Opportunity to give feedback; for appreciation, assessment, and evaluation

2. Approaches to teaching literature

 Approaches to teaching literature – finding the right balance

2. Approaches to teaching literature 27

 3. Literature for all levels – criteria of selection

 Texts should….

We shouldn’t  be manageable (length, difficulty of

teach great vocabulary, topic, structure, etc.)
books; we
should teach a  be interesting and engaging
love of reading.  be comparable to learners’ lives and cultures
– B.F. Skinner
 offer insights into other cultures
 motivate active and creative work

3. Literature for all levels 28

 3. Literature for all levels – early language learning principles (recap)

Creative
Moti-
Inter-
vation
language
Metalin-
Compre- Positive Accurate
guistic
hensible atmos- pronun-
know-
input pheres ciation
ledge

Principles Principles
Address- Authentic
Tolerating
ing prior speech
Rich input structural
know- produc-
errors
ledge Qualifying tion Alterna-
L2
ting
communi-
cation only procee-
if necessary dings

3. Literature for all levels 29

  Pleasure in rhythm, rhyming, harmony,
3. Literature for all nonsense, stories, physical activity and
levels singing (Total Physical Response)

 playful repetition & performance

Beginners
 vivid story-telling with the help of Big Books
 holistic response
 lexical, narrative, and visual understanding
 describing and talking about pictures and
stories, re-enacting scenes

3. Literature for all levels 30

Search for ‘classical’ fairy tales in English and discuss which of
these would be of particular interest to beginners.

3. Literature for all levels 31

 3. Literature for all levels – transition (recap)

3. Literature for all levels 32

  Example: raising awareness of face-to-
3. Literature for all face interaction in real life and
levels narrative communication in comics
 “A Relationship in Eight Pages” (Hoover
2007)
Intermediate learners  Pre-reading: What’s in a title and in a picture on
the cover page?
 Reading/viewing: Spell out what the characters
feel and think in addition to what they say.
 Post-reading: Compare the interplay of body
language and verbal communication to real life
interaction. Discuss intercultural similarities and
differences. Re-create the ending.

3. Literature for all levels 33

  “[G]reening of the EFL classroom”
3. Literature for all (Volkmann 2012: 397)
levels  an open discussion of culture and nature
 raising ecological awareness in a more
directive way to change the learners’
Upper-intermediate learners attitude and practical behavior
 Pressing questions:
 Who can claim to have ‘the truth’ about nature?
 Who controls which discourses about nature and
the environment (politics, multinational
corporations, science, the media)?
 How could ecological insight translate into social
and political action?
cf. Hollm & Uebel 2006: 182-83

http://www.goinggreen2014.org
3. Literature for all levels 34
Search the Internet for prizes for young adult literature, and discuss
which of the award-winning texts from last or this year would be suited
for intermediate learners (major booksellers offer the first few pages
online as a preview).

3. Literature for all levels 35

  Advanced learners should be able to
3. Literature for all cope with – and enjoy – literature from
levels young adult fiction to selected classics
 Slumdog Millionaire (2006)
 media literacy
Advanced learners
 inter-, trans-, and intracultural similarities and
differences
 critical reflection on values and actions
 modern adaptions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet
(manga or movie) in comparison to
selected scenes from the original

3. Literature for all levels 36

 3. Literature for all levels

Advanced:
increase ICC and
all dimensions
Intermediate: of literary
expand ICC, competence
cognitive
understanding,
Beginners: discursive skills,
pleasure, aesthetic
enjoying reading appreciation,
creative potential

3. Literature for all levels 37

Inform yourself about mandatory texts in the curriculum of your state,
and compare these to the literary texts which you have read so far and
find suitable for use in the EFL classroom. Check which of your favorite
movies are book adaptions and discuss which of these would be
attractive to students. What would be your teaching goals and preferred
activities with the texts and movies of your choice?

3. Literature for all levels 38

 Recommended reading

Delanoy, Werner; Maria Eisenmann & Frauke Matz, eds. (2015). Learning
with Literature in the EFL Classroom. Frankfurt a. M. et al.: Lang.
Hallet, Wolfgang & Ansgar Nünning, eds. (2007). Neue Ansätze und Konzepte
der Literatur- und Kulturdidaktik. Trier: WVT.
Nünning, Ansgar & Carola Surkamp (2006). Englische Literatur unterrichten:
Grundlagen und Methoden. Seelze-Velber: Klett/Kallmeyer.
Surkamp, Carola & Ansgar Nünning (2009). Englische Literatur unterrichten:
Unterrichtsmodelle und Materialien. Seelze-Velber: Klett/Kallmeyer.
Thaler, Engelbert (2008). Teaching English Literature. Paderborn et al.:
Schöningh.

Chapter 8: Literature matters 39

 Acknowledgments
Council of Europe (2001). Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning,
Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Delanoy, Werner (2007). Literaturdidaktik als Zusammenspiel von Rezeptionsästhetik und Task-
Based Learning. In: Wolfgang Hallet & Ansgar Nünning, eds. Neue Ansätze und Konzepte der
Literatur- und Kulturdidaktik. Trier: WVT, 107 – 21.
Hallet, Wolfgang (2002). Fremdsprachenunterricht als Spiel der Texte und Kulturen: Intertextualität
als Paradigma einer kulturwissenschaftlichen Didaktik. Trier: WVT.
Hesse, Mechthild (2009). Teenage Fiction in the Active English Classroom. Stuttgart: Klett.
Hollm, Jan & Anke Uebel (2006). Utopias for our Time: Teaching Ecotopian and Ecodystopian
Writing. In: Sylvia Mayer & Graham Wilson, eds. Ecodidactic Perspectives on English Language,
Literatures and Cultures. Trier: WVT, 179-92.
Hoover, Jim (2007). A Relationship in Eight Pages. In: Ariel Schrag, ed. Stuck in the Middle: Seventeen
Comics from an Unpleasant Age. New York: Viking, 159-67.
Kramsch, Claire (1998). Language and Culture. Oxford et al.: Oxford University Press.

Chapter 8: Literature matters 40

 Acknowledgments
Matos, Ana Gonçalves (2012). Literary Texts and Intercultural Learning: Exploring New Directions.
Oxford et al.: Lang.
Meyer, Michael (2011). English and American Literatures. 4th ed. Tuebingen et al.: Francke.
Meyer, Michael (2012). Notes towards a Comprehensive Model of Reading. Unpublished.
Nünning, Ansgar & Carola Surkamp (2006). Englische Literatur unterrichten: Grundlagen und
Methoden. Seelze-Velber: Klett/Kallmeyer.
Reichl, Susanne (2009). Cognitive Principles, Critical Practice: Reading Literature at University.
Goettingen et al.: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
Thaler, Engelbert (2008). Teaching English Literature. Paderborn et al.: Schöningh.
Volkmann, Laurenz (2012). Ecodidactics als Antwort auf die planetare Bedrohung? Zum Einsatz von
ecopoetry im Englischunterricht. In: Julia Hammer; Maria Eisenmann & Rüdiger Ahrens, eds.
Anglophone Literaturdidaktik: Zukunftsperspektiven für den Englischunterricht. Heidelberg: Winter,
393-408.

Chapter 8: Literature matters 41

 Acknowledgments
The cartoons at the beginning of each ppt were designed by Frollein Motte, 2014. If not otherwise indicated, the
copyright of the figures lies with the authors. The complete titles of the sources can be found in the references to the
units unless given below. All of the websites were checked on 10 September 2014.
 Slide 4: https://pixabay.com/fr/photos/insects, http://www.bellasavvy.net/archives/17596,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter#/media/File:Harry_Potter_English_Australian_Series.jpg,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twilight_(novel_series)#/media/File:The_twilight_saga_hardback.jpg
 Slide 6: https://pixabay.com/en/bookends-books-shelf-men-pushing-155762
 Slide 13: Individual use of literature, designed by Frollein Motte, 2014
 Slides 15 & 28: https://pixabay.com/en/student-education-boy-school-41444, https://pixabay.com/en/girl-books-
school-reading-learning-160169
 Slide 17: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror#/media/File:Mirror.globe.arp.500pix.jpg
 Slide 21: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hebdo#/media/File:Je_suis_Charlie.svg
 Slide 22: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Liberty#/media/File:EdwardMoran-
UnveilingTheStatueofLiberty1886Large.jpg
 Slide 23: Dynamic model of reading, based on Reichl 2009: 214
 Slide 25: creative responses to Woolf’s short story “The New Dress” by Miriam Aufermann
 Slide 33: https://pixabay.com/en/man-woman-toilet-holding-hands-297369
 Slide 34: http://germany.usembassy.gov/going-green
 Slide 36: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Hamlet#/media/File:Gower_Memorial_04.JPG

Chapter 8: Literature matters 42