Approaches to Reading and Literary Texts in Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Then and Now

Table of contents

Introduction 3

1. The concepts of literacy, reading comprehension and literary competence. 4

1.1. The importance of literacy, reading comprehension and literary competence. 4 1.2. The importance of literacy, reading comprehension, literary competence and literature in teaching English as a foreign language. 6

2. Past approaches until the second half of the 20th century. 7

2.1. Analysis of the past methods with reading and literature in view. 8 2.2. The shift in the attitude towards reading and literary texts in teaching English as a foreign language. 11

3. Modern approaches – introduction to Communicative Language Teaching. 12

3.1. CLT analysis in the context of reading, literary texts and literature. 13 3.2. Using literature in modern English language teaching. 14

Conclusion 17

References 18

Anti-plagiarism statement 20

Introduction

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers." Charles W. Eliot

The idea behind this diploma paper is to analyse the issue of reading and literary texts in teaching English as a foreign language throughout the ages until recent times. What is more, the purpose of this paper is to answer the question if methods and techniques applied by teachers of English included reading and literary texts in the language learning process and whether they have been successful or not. Furthermore, an attempt will be made to state the reasons behind a significant change in the approach towards the use of reading and literary texts in particular, in teaching English as a foreign language. The ultimate goal, however, is to prove that it is crucial to use reading and literary texts in an English language classroom. The first chapter is devoted to clarifying the

References: Biddle, R. (2010). Best of dropout nation: why reading matters-the boys can’t read, http://dropoutnation.net/category/the-reading-crisis/, (2011, May 10). Brumfit, C. J., & Carter, R. A. (1996). Literature and language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. CAFAmerica Issue Brief, Global Literacy. http://www.cafamerica.org/dnn/Portals/0/Issue%20Briefs/CAF_globalLiteracy_r2.pdf, (2011, April 27). Collie, J. , & Slater, S. (1991). A resource book of ideas and activities. In M Dakowska, M. (2005). Teaching English as a foreign language – a guide for professionals. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. Duff, A., & Maley, A. (1991) . Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Erler, L. & Finkbeiner, C. (2007). A review of reading strategies: focus on the impact of first language. In A. D. Cohen & E. Macaro (Eds.) Language learner strategies: thirty years of research and practice (pp. 188-206). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Greenwood, C. (1996). Class Readers. In A. Maley (Ed.) Resource books for teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Heath, S. B., (1992). Literacy skills or literate skills? Considerations for ESL/EFL learners. In D. Nunan (Ed.) Collaborative language learning and teaching (pp. 40-55). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Howatt, A. P. R. (1994). A history of English language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Maley, A., & Duff, A. (1982). Drama techniques in language learning – a resource book of communication activities for language teachers Maley, A., & Moulding, S. (1992). Poem into poem – reading and writing poems with students of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Martin, A. & Hill, R. (1995). Modern plays: introductions to modern English literature for students of English. English Language Teaching, Prentice Hall. OECD (2010), PISA 2009 Results: Executive Summary, http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/34/60/46619703.pdf, (2011, April 20) Partnership for Reading, (2005), http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Reading_comprehension, (2011, April 20) Richards, J. C. & Rodgers, T. S. (2002). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sollars, V. (2002). Issues in multi-literacy. European Centre for Modern Languages, Council of Europe Publishing. Spiro, J. (2004). Creative poetry writing. In A. Maley (Ed.), Resource books for teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stern, H. H. (2001). Fundamental concepts of language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.