1 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
2 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
Module 3: Approaches and Models of Teaching Literature
INTRODUCTION
Literature plays a vital role in education. It gives a clearer view of the different facets of life while it
develops the ability of the learner to understand the real world while enhancing English language proficiency
through literature. One of the purposes of the literature component in English is to enhance students’
language proficiency and integrate moral values while learning the English language. Teaching literature
helps the students improve their critical thinking skills by reading and responding to the text, being exposed
to different types of writing, and getting moral lessons from literary pieces.
This module introduces the approaches and models of teaching literature that will help you determine
your teaching strategies using these approaches and models of teaching literature. This module also
includes several strategies in teaching literature in the 21st century for which may help you in developing a
learning plan.
This module is divided into two lessons namely:
1. Approaches and Models of Teaching Literature
2. Strategies in Teaching Literature in the 21st Century
MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES
In this module, you should be able to:
1. explain each of the approaches and methods of teaching literature;
2. recognize important concepts in teaching literature in English; and
3. develop a strategy in teaching that is in accord with a particular approach and model in teaching
literature.
LESSON 1: Approaches and Models of Teaching Literature
SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOME
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
1. annotate the video presentation about teaching literature;
2. share insights comprehensively about the teaching approaches;
3. design an activity based on the approaches mentioned; and
4. create a graphic organizer to compile appropriate methods and approaches to teaching literature.
3 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
PRE-ASSESSMENT
Instruction: Identify the concepts in each item. Write your answer on the space before the number.
1. It stresses the role of literature in condensing values, ideas and wisdom that have accumulated within
a culture over historical periods. Students need to understand and search for political, literary, social
and historical context from the learned text.
2. It is teacher-centred and demands a lot of teacher’s input in giving students various contents of
literary text like on historical, political, cultural and social background.
3. It integrates language and literature as a source to improve student’s language proficiency while
learning the language.
4. It is primarily paraphrasing and rewording the text to simpler language or use other languages to
translate it.
5. It implies literary critics and linguistic analysis. It is for students to appreciate and understand in a
deeper manner of the literary text.
6. It is student-centered and activity-based for productive use of language. It improves students’
language proficiency, and incorporates literature and language skills among the students.
7. It promotes students to associate the subject matters of the reading texts with personal life
experiences.
8. Learners seek moral values from a particular literary text while reading it. It helps students to be
aware of values of moral and philosophical and identify them that lies in their reading.
9. It points out that literature is a source of facts or information to be put across to students by the
teacher.
10. It points out that knowledge of literature is delivered as a source of information to students
LESSON MAP
4 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
The lesson map shows the approaches to teaching literature and the models as their category.
CORE CONTENTS
ENGAGE: Recognizing Concepts in Teaching Literature
Activity 1: Annotating the video presentation
Instruction: Visit and watch the videos below and make an explanatory notes on what you have just learned
from the videos.
Teaching and Assessment of Literature Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=QhIPl3IxtgM&ab_channel=SheenaMaeDesacula
Teaching and Assessment of Literature Part 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EClyJNZr9So&ab_channel=SheenaMaeDesacula
_____________________
EXPLORE: Delving into Concepts
Activity 2: Reading activity
5 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
Instruction: Read the concepts carefully.
Importance Literature in Education
For the majority of people around the world, our first serious encounter with literature comes from school.
Reading and writing has been drilled in all of us from an early age and this is set in motion with the start of
examinations.
Being able to empathise with a group of characters written on a page is categorical and from a student’s
perspective a necessary skill. Additionally, the ability to sense themes and messages opens us up to
another way of thinking. Literature becomes a vessel. The 130 million books which have been published
around the world are guides for the reader and generate a bridge for them to learn something new. This is
why it brought us to learn the approaches and models of teaching literature.
Here are the following approaches and models of teaching literature:
Approaches and Models of Teaching Literature
As mentioned above (lesson map), cultural model is related to Information-based approach (Thunnithet,
2011). Language model is related to paraphrastic and stylistic approach (Thunnithet, 2011), and language-
based approach (Rashid, Vethamani & Rahman, 2010). Personal-growth model is related to personal-
response approach (Rashid, Vethamani & Rahman, 2010), and moral philosophical approach (Hwang &
Embi, 2007). Teachers’ application or employments of literature teaching approach will enhance students’
understanding (Rashid, Vethamani & Rahman, 2010).
Cultural Model
Cultural model is related to information-based approach (Thunnithet, 2011). Literature is a source of facts or
information to be put across to students by the teacher (Hwang & Embi, 2007). It stresses the role of
literature in condensing values, ideas and wisdom that have accumulated within a culture over historical
periods (Aydin, 2013).Students need to understand and search for political, literary, social and historical
context from the learned text. It assists students to understand and appreciate the different cultures and
ideologies of thoughts and feelings which are beyond their time and space. It is a traditional approach,
teacher-centred, and delivers information and facts to students (Rashid, Vethamani& Rahman, 2010).
Information-based approach
Information-based approach gives knowledge and information to students (Thunnithet, 2011). It is teacher-
centred and demands a lot of teacher’s input in giving students various contents of literary text like on
historical, political, cultural and social background. Knowledge of literature is delivered as a source of
information to students (Rashid, Vethamani, & Rahman, 2010). It includes reading from the criticism or
notes, explanations and lectures given by teacher for examinations sake (Hwang & Embi, 2007).
Language Model
Language Model comprises paraphrastic approach, stylistic approach and language-based approach. It
integrates language and literature as a source to improve student’s language proficiency while learning the
6 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
language (Hwang & Embi, 2007). It uses literature in teaching different functions of language like grammar,
vocabulary, and language structures from the literary texts to students (Aydin, 2013). It helps to attain
literature aesthetic aspect solely via expression and communication quality of literature (Khatib, Rezaei &
Derakhshan, 2011).
Paraphrastic Approach
Paraphrastic approach is primarily paraphrasing and rewording the text to simpler language or use other
languages to translate it. Teachers use simple words or less complex sentence structure to make the
original text easy to understand (Divsar, 2014).It is teacher-centred and does not contribute much
interesting activities towards students (Hwang & Embi, 2007).
Stylistic Approach
Stylistic approach implies literary critics and linguistic analysis. It is for students to appreciate and
understand in a deeper manner of the literary text. It helps students to interpret the text meaningfully and
develops language awareness and knowledge (Thunnithet, 2011). It analyzes the language prior to the
elements of literary text (Aydin, 2013).
Language-Based Approach
Language-based approach helps students pay attention to the way the language is used when studying
literature. It is student-centred and activity-based for productive use of language. It improves students’
language proficiency, and incorporates literature and language skills among the students (Dhillon & Mogan,
2014). It engages students more on experiences and responses (Aydin, 2013). Role play, cloze, poetry
recital, discussions, forum and debate, dramatic activities, making prediction, brainstorming, rewriting
stories ending and summarizing are practised in this approach (Divsar, 2014).
Personal Growth Model
Personal growth model comprises personal-response approach and moral philosophical approach. It
enables students to develop their language, character and emotions by connecting and responding the
issues and themes to their lives (Hwang & Embi, 2007). It encourages students to love and enjoy reading
literature for personal development as well as to relate their relationships to the environment (Aydin, 2013).
Personal-Response Approach
Personal-response approach encourages students to make sense of their experiences and personal lives
with text themes. It also promotes students to associate the subject matters of the reading texts with
personal life experiences (Rashid, Vethamani & Rahman, 2010). It engages individual in literary text
reading as personal fulfilment and pleasure can be met while developing the language and literary
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competency (Divsar, 2014). Brainstorming, small group discussions, journal writing, interpreting opinions,
and generating views from a text are practised in this approach (Hwang & Embi, 2007).
Moral-Philosophical Approach
Learners seek moral values from a particular literary text while reading it. It helps students to be aware of
values of moral and philosophical and identify them that lies in their reading (Rashid, Vethamani &
Rahman, 2010). Students need to go beyond the text for moral and philosophical inference (Divsar, 2014).
With this approach, teachers are able to direct students to achieve self-realization as well as self-
understanding while interpreting literary works (Lim & Omar, 2007).
EXPLAIN: Sharing Insights
Activity 3: Oral recitation (Synchronous class)
Instruction: Answer the questions below.
1. After you have learned about the approaches and models of teaching, what do you think can it
contribute to you as an aspiring English teacher?
2. What is the sole purpose of teaching literature to the students?
3. Do you these approaches and models of teaching literature help you determine your teaching
strategy? Why or why not?
EXTEND: Designing an Activity
Activity 4: Teaching in Practice!
Instruction: Design an activity that uses one of the approaches to teaching literature.
Here is how it should look like:
Approach used: Language-Based
(short description)
Model: The Language Model
(short description)
Activity: Poetry Recital
Instruction: Form a group (5-7 members) and recite the
poem from memory in front of the class. Select a poem
from a published poet that contains at least 14 lines,
memorize it and prepare to recite it in the class on
_______.
Rubric for grading: (You may create your own rubric or
you may insert a rubric that can be found from a reliable
source in the internet.)
EVALUATE: Creating a Graphic Organizer
8 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
Activity 5: Graphic Organizer
Instruction: Create a Graphic Organizer to compile appropriate methods and approaches to teach
literature.
TOPIC SUMMARY
In this lesson, you have learned that …
There are six approaches to teaching literature: information-based, paraphrastic, stylistic,
language-based, moral-philosophical, and personal-response.
There are three major categories in which these approaches belong: cultural, language,
and personal growth.
By knowing the importance of literature in education, it will help the teachers to design
appropriate activities for their diverse learners.
POST-ASSESSMENT
Instruction: True or False. Read each item carefully and encircle the letter of your answer.
1. Personal Growth Model aims to develop the student’s language ability by reading different
literary pieces. Therefore, it comprises of one approach only.
a. True b. False
2. Moral-Philosophical approach enables the students to learn moral values from a particular
literary text.
a. True b. False
3. Language-Based approach is primarily concerned with the language proficiency of the
learners.
a. True b. False
4. Literary analysis using a particular literary approach can be an example of an activity for
structural approach.
a. True b. False
5. Paraphrastric approach is just merely paraphrasing sentences or paragraphs.
9 Module 3 | Approaches to Teaching Literature
a. True b. False
6. Information-based approach is a student-centered approach as they are the ones who give
the inputs.
a. True b. False
7. Language model points out that literature can be a tool to improve the language skills of the
learner.
a. True b. False
8. Monologue as an activity can be a good example for Language-based approach.
a. True b. False
9. Personal-response approach is about relating the meaning of literary text to real life
scenarios.
a. True b. False
10. Personal-growth stresses the role of literature in condensing values, ideas and wisdom that have
accumulated within a culture over historical periods.
a. True b. False
REFERENCES
International Journal of Language Education and Applied Linguistics (IJLEAL) (2016). Approaches to
Teaching Literature. Retrieved at http://ijleal.ump.edu.my/ Retrieved 15, November 2021.
Sophie Austin (2021) The Importance of Literature in Education. Retrieved at
https://www.findcourses.co.uk/inspiration/hobby-fun-leisure-articles/the-importance-of-literature-in-
modern-society-17411. Retrieved 25, November 2021.
