Literature-Based ESL for Secondary School Students

The focus of instruction is on meaning rather than form and there is sufficient opportunity to engage in meaningful use of language in a relatively anxiety-free environment. The MELS program agrees with this statement. To learn, students should be in an anxiety-free environment. Then, the students feel more comfortable to talk and exchange. They also feel more open to learn new element of the language. However, they learn in a meaningful context and the form that they have to learn should be included in the context.

The authors also add that in a literature-based classroom, activities center around the authentic texts that students read. Again, as the MELS program suggests, if the task is meaningful, it should be in authentic text. Students should learn in a real-life context.

In addition, narrow reading helps students develop familiarity with a particular literacy style or format and allows them to concentrate on the meaning of the text. In fact, with practice everyday tasks become easier. The same phenomenon happens here: the more practice the student has with a particular type of book or author, the more the learner will understand and pay less attention to the format. Then, he/she would concentrate more on the meaning. Finally, when literature is read aloud students can experience the color and flow of oral language. Imagination is a powerful creator of images. When the literature is read aloud, the students grasp the meaning as well as learning the pronunciation. They just focus on meaning. Consequently, they can imagine the situation and internalize the meaning more easily.

STRATEGY: Make connections with other texts or concept or events. Do you see similarities between this text and other texts (concepts, events)? Does it bring mind other related issues. (I used few passages from the text with this strategy)

I agree that literature-based instruction is beneficial for the students. Indeed, they feel more comfortable coming to class because they know that they will read or hear a story. Part of their time in class allows them to listen or read authentic-texts that interest them in a stress-free environment. In addition, it makes them explore many themes and enlarge their own culture. Content of the syllabus should always be meaningful of the students in order to motivate them to learn and get their interest. As future teacher, we need to pay particular attention to what we would include. The book that we choose should be appropriate for the level or the students and should be meaningful for them. We also need to try to choose materials that are interdisciplinary in order to enlarge our students knowledge of the world.

STRATEGY: Make connections with your own experience. What does the reading make you think of? Does it remind you anything or anyone?