In recent years, the teaching of English Literature in Malaysia has always been the focal point of the Ministry of Education (MOE) to establish a fundamental aspiration towards creating a fun as well as a strong substratum in language for learners. Literature can be defined as resourceful fiction works of language which may not be precisely true (Eagleton, 2006). Incorporation of Literature in English as a basic component rather than a stand-alone subject evolved queries amongst educators.
This study aims to scrutinize issue pertaining the current Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) curriculum initiated in year 2011. The school-based assessment generally refers to evaluation piloted on lower-primary students. It also refers to a continuous assessment on an everyday basis. Each competency within the KSSR syllabi is diagrammed to a corresponding “Band Descriptor” which functions as guide for the teacher (Evans, 2012). Our concern is to view the inclusion of Literature in English and the effectiveness of literary texts from the teachers’ perception. As KSSR was just implemented three years back for lower primary, research and findings relevant to it is limited. However, numerous feedbacks, opinions, standpoints and justifications have been made concerning KSSR implementation.
According to MELTA, the role of literature in the Malaysian English Language classroom lies within the teachers. It is apparently a great task for the teachers to outlook literature beyond a component or literally assessment based. Many Malaysian English teachers are lacking in their self-confidence and not working out to paradigm language arts as an opportunity for ingenious expressions. The emphasis on the importance of learning literature as a constant p...
... middle of paper ...
...ential. For instance, teaching of short stories, the Curriculum Development Centre highlights that school teachers should first read the literary texts thoroughly with the students while directing the plot, character and moral of the story (Cheng, 2007). Moreover, teachers must prepare enrichment worksheets, strategize activities that are diverse and fun for students thus forming an enjoyable and conducive learning atmosphere.
In addition, comprehensive activities done should match students’ interest and learning styles. Exploiting various resources to embed in literature lesson is well highlighted for teachers in this article. Using authentic material will boost students’ motivation and interest to concentrate on the lesson. Authentic materials will help students relate themselves with real life as well. Besides, incorporating multimedia (ICT) in classroom such as
English has always provided an influential and sanctuous undertone within my literate life, assuming a variety of forms that stem from beyond the requirements of academia. Countless time has been blissfully occupied writing and experimenting with my own pieces of work, from short novels to poetry and dramatic texts, and countless time has been happily spent immersing myself in eclectic pieces from the broad spectrum of literature.
Eagleton, Terry. "Literature and the Rise of English" Literature in the Modern World. Dennis Walder, ed. Oxford University Press, N.Y., 1990. 21-27.
The EMC Masterpiece Series. (2005). Literature and the language arts: Understanding literature (2nd ed.). St. Paul, MN: EMC: Paradigm Publishing.
In “Why Literature Matters” the author, Dana Gioia, argues that literature is very important in today’s society. He talks about the decline of reading over the years and the effects it has on different companies and communities. Gioia uses many persuasive techniques, such as evidence, jingoism, and diction, to try and persuade the reader that literature is important.
The Language of Literature. Applebee N, Arthur. Et. Al. Evanston, Il 60204, 2006.
Throughout this course, I have discovered that literature is more than just words being brought together by an author to form an emotionally charged story. Literature provides an engaging outlet into an imaginary realm to its audience. As the reader is captivated by the story, poem or play, a, emotional connection is established.
Language is the foundation of all communication, tone, appeal, and rhetoric devices are the building materials used to build upon it. The marvelous structures built with said materials are often referred to as literature and consumed as media, but they are much more than that. These astonishing and breathtaking structures built from these quintessential building blocks are a medium for change, and have been since the dawn of humanity. Just as literature is composed of tone appeal and rhetorical devices, and these in turn stem from the author, occasion, purpose, audience and subject.
In preparation for the Advanced Placement Literature and Composition exam, high school students must read many kinds of literature during the year-long course to familiarize themselves with different time periods, movements, philosophies, and genres. Advanced Placement students must learn to think critically, and be ready to find, analyze, and express literary connections through written analysis. The biggest challenge of teaching and learning Advanced Placement English is the difficulty covering the entire scope of literature in two semesters. Twentieth century literature often gets neglected. The pace of the curriculum can also limit the creativity of lesson planning and evaluation. Many teachers rely heavily on lecture, discussion, and a traditional analysis paper.
Reading stories with children introduces them to the complex nature of language and helps them in acquiring important language skills. However, the type of books read to children contributes to the depth of their learning. Picture books are not only books with pictures but also a world on its own. When you start to read a book you find interesting, the time flies and you seems to be in a different world. If I as a teacher can help and support my pupils to love books, my mission will be
Meyer, Michael, ed. Thinking and Writing About Literature. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001.
Literature is a key component when speaking of literacy. Teachers need to provide students with endless amounts of practice experiences in reading to build their fluency rate. This should be done with different genres of texts and different levels. Reading a wide variety of literature help children develop rich vocabularies.
Skiba, L., ed. Literature and the Language Arts: The American Tradition. St.Paul: EMC/Paradigm Publishing, 2005.
... for teachers to choose materials that will hook students and motivate them to engage in their own learning. Teachers should provide multiple learning opportunities in which stu¬dents can experience success and can begin to build confidence in their ability to read, write, and think at higher level. By connecting strategies for learning, such as searching, compre¬hending, interpreting, composing, and teaching content knowledge, students are given the opportunity to succeed in their education. These elements include: fundamental skills such as phonemic awareness, phonemic decoding, and other word analysis skills that support word reading accuracy; text reading fluency; strategies for building vocabulary; strategies for understanding and using the specific textual features that distinguish different genres; and self-regulated use of reading comprehension strategies.
Literature is a very powerful tool that is used to make a huge impact on society or in someone’s perspective. Literature comes in different forms and each literature form fits in a certain category or role to help understand the true meaning of it. From playwrights to short stories, each one has moral lesson, a message or a reflection of the author. I have witnessed the power of literature several times. Literature has moved teens to better being; it has motivated unfortunate people to fame, used as an educational process of teaching and most of all, entertainment. Back in the day, plays were on of the most famous forms of entertainment. Without television and radio present, plays served as a substitute to entertain certain groups of people like the royal family or just for the whole public. This was one way of making money by the actors and the authors that wrote the play. Also present during those times were the poem recitals. This is similar to a play but fewer people are present in the stage or sometimes solo performance. Today, Literature is still being used as a form of entertainment and educational intentions. Hollywood made a lot of money by revising the great masterpieces of famous authors such as “Rome and Juliet” by William Shakespeare. Also, they made movies out of hundreds of literary works for educational purposes and better understanding of the literature piece. Each form of literature has its own style. The style determines how it influences the audience to absorb the true meaning and moral of the story or poem. William Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin were truly persuasive while Washington Irving and Edgar Allan Poe mixed mystery and adventure to their works. The style touches the readers which really makes a good relationship from the reader to the author’s literary masterpieces.
Literature can be entertaining, funny, beautiful and tragic. It takes us beyond our limited experience of Live to show us the lives of the other people at other times. We are intellectually and emotionally stirred by studying Literature.