IMPROVING ENGLISH MACRO SKILLS THROUGH
LITERARY WORKS
Dr. Sukardi Weda, S.S., M.Hum., M.Pd., M.Si.
Lecturer at English Language and Literature Department
Abstract
English as a foreign language (EFL) in
1. Introduction
English as a foreign language (EFL) in
Unfortunately, English proficiency of senior secondary school graduates was very low (Bellen in Weda, 2008). A survey conducted towards English learning in senior secondary schools in eight provinces in Indonesia found that from 4.000 samples, there were only 4,5% of them succeeded to achieve curriculum target, and 95,5% were unsuccessful (Huda in Weda, 2008). Then, Baraja in Husain (2003) says that the English language teaching in secondary schools is not successful. Nur in Weda (2008) states that the result of the teaching of English in
In relation to the above thematical issues, English teachers, researchers, and educational practitioners have designed and proposed a wide variety of methods in teaching English in the classroom setting. One of methods which can improve learners’ English proficiency is literature. Dicker (1989) argues that one of the newest trends in teaching English as a foreign language is the literature-based syllabus design.
2. Language and Literature
Language and literature are illustrated as two sides of coin which are intertwined each other. Language is a medium of literature, and literature is an aesthetic exploration of language. Language and literature are two interrelated entities. Without language, literature loses its communicative medium, and without literature, language loses its aesthetic exploration (Fajar, 2008). Dicker (1989) says that people are beginning to seriously consider the role of literature in language teaching and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the role of language in literature teaching. Literature has a definite place in any university-level language-major program (Brooks, 1989). Literature can also be used to teach any area of language study (Dicker, 1989).
In literature, there are many varieties of literary genres which can contribute to improve students’ English language skills. Those literary genres are: poetry, prose, and drama. These literary texts as verbal artifacts can be utilized as authentic materials in the classroom setting. This is because, literature as an integral part of communicative language programmes not only to minimize the shock of such sudden and demanding exposure to primary texts, but also to exploit the enormously high potential of literature for educational enrichment (Gilroy-Scott, 1983: 1).
Poetry as one of literary genres not only entertains students and teachers, but also important to toil students’ involvement in the classroom setting. Prose with its varieties (roman, novel, novelette, short story, and short-short story) also offers a variety of activities in teaching – learning process in English as a second language (L2) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in non native English countries. Another genre of literary works which possible to be employed in the classroom is drama. The teacher as manager in the classroom can design good atmosphere of the language teaching-learning process through drama performance.
Through poetry, prose, and drama, a number of classroom activities which combine the use of these three literary genres and material development by the students to show how student involvement can be maximized by engaging them in a variety of meaningful classroom activities.
3. Material Development through Literary Works
Here are seven classroom activities using a wide variety of literary genres. The procedure is the teacher goes through the language tasks with students using the lyrics of the poems. The teacher also asks the students to write short (short-short) story, drama script, and drama performance.
Poem reading. This activity aims to improve students’ ability to comprehend the literal meaning of the poem(s), and analyze the figurative languages in the poem(s). Poem reading may be more suitable for intermediate to advanced students or to English Language and Literature students, and can be done in groups. The poems are prepared by the teacher, and the students should respond to the poems and therefore write the analysis of poem reading which includes the message, imagery, and figurative meaning in the white board. Teacher then asks other groups (students) to give comment.
Example:
Daisy is my horse’s name.
She’s small for a horse and piebald
like those the Indians ride bareback in the movies.
We’ll set out overland, she and I,
for the great
a wild land of lakes and forests to wander in.
Come blizzard in the high meadows,
I’ll get off and lead he,
our heads low in the driving snow, looking for shelter,
a windbreak of pines or maybe a learning rock.
And as Daisy dozes steamily overhead,
I’ll sleep, rolled up in a blanket at her feet
until a velvet mouth wakes me
to a big brown horsey eye
and a clear morning in the snowfields.
By Edward Field in Robert Anderson (1989: 298)
Responding to the Poem
Identifying details
i) Describe Daisy’s appearance
ii) Where does the speaker hope to travel with Daisy? What does he imagine this new landscape will be like?
iii) List the things the speaker imagines he and Daisy will do to cope with heavy snows.
iv) There are three images in the last stanza of the poem. Identify the two images that refer to the horse. Which sense does each one appeal to?
Poem dictation. In this activity, the teacher reads poem(s), and the students should concentrate to listen to the poem(s). This activity is aimed at improving students’ listening ability. The procedure of this activity is the students are first handed out the lyrics with the words missing. They are asked to go through the lyrics and try to guess the words in the blanks. The teacher then explains difficult words and lets students read the poem lyrics. This is followed by questions to check the students’ overall comprehension of the poems’ message, imagery, and figurative language. The students can listen to the poem three times: the first time purely listening and trying to work out what missing words are; the second time filling in the gaps; and the third time checking to confirm whether the answers are correct or not.
Split poem. This activity provides an opportunity for the students to nurture their comprehension ability by approaching s poem in an interesting and challenging way. In this activity, the teacher first identifies several poems which are suitable for this exercise. This is indeed a matching exercise in which teachers divide each sentence of the poems into two parts. The teacher then jumles the order of the list containing the second half of the sentences. Students are required to restore the poems to their original forms. Before doing this exercise, the teacher may go through the difficult vocabulary with the students first.
The teacher then gives the complete poem to the students, and they therefore correct the wrong answers. This activity also trains students not only guessing the suitable word but also giving chance to students to toil their writing skills. In this activity, wrong answers are not important, but improving students’ self-confidence to be not inhibited in expressing their ideas is very important.
Poem writing.
This activity attempts to stimulates students’ imagination. The title of the poem is free, and the students are also free to construct lyrics and baits of the poem.
Short story writing.
The teacher asks the students to write a dialogue, or a conversation, in which two imaginary characters discuss and resolve (end) a conflict. Therefore, the teacher explains to the students, that the characters in the dialogue engage in conflicts, that is conflict between a person (or animal) vs. another person (or animal), conflict between a person vs. a force of nature, conflict between a person vs. two or more persons, a group, or a whole society. The following procedures are quoted from Anderson, Robert, et al. (1989).
Procedures:
Prewriting
i) Bring to class two magazine or newspaper photographs (mounted on paper or cardboard) showing close-ups of two different people. Each student should then choose two photographs from the class’s “photograph pool.”
ii) Study your two photographs carefully. Try to interpret what the pictures “say”: What is each character like? What can you imagine their relationship would be? Are they friends, relatives, neighbors, enemies, blind dates?
iii) Identify a possible confict the two characters could have. For example, two friends might disagree about something one of them said, or two neighbors might argue about loud music.
iv) Once you have identified the source of the conflict, think of two possible outcomes or resolutions. (One should be a happy ending).
v) Gather your information together in a chart like the following:
| Who are my two characters? | |
| What is their relationship? | |
| What is the conflict about? | |
| What are two possible outcomes of the conflict? Outcome #1 | |
| Outcomes #2 | |
Writing
Now, write your conversation, or dialogue (tha actual words the characters say to each other) for one of the outcomes listed in your Prewriting chart. Include details that will tell your reader what your characters do and what they think and fell. To avoid using said repeatedly, use verbs like these:
laughed announced shouted
murmured goaned barked
answered asked mumbled
repeated muttered whispered
Here is one example of dialogue based on Outcome #2 in the sample Prewriting chart (Anderson, Robert, et al. 1989).
Jim stood in front of the desk, and gulped, “Excuse me, Mrs. Silo. C’n I talk to you for a minute?” Mrs. S. peered over her glasses and nodded, but did not smile (bad smile). “I’d like to talk to you about my grade this quarter,” Jim sounded nervous but he plowed on. “I really think I deserve more than a C. I turned in all my homework and didn’t do any worse than a B on my tests.”
Mrs. Silo frowned and reached for that old black grade book. “Well,” she said, “I don’t remember that you did that well. You sit in the back row and never answer in class, and I’ve had to tell you to be quiet a hundred times.”
Mrs. Silo exaggerates.
But Jim remembered that the day before she’d caught him tying Bradlye’s shoelaces to the desk ahead of him. His timing was all wrong. “Yeh, I know I could be better, but …,” Jim’s voice trailed off.
“At least you’re honest,” she grumbled. “Let’s see,” she muttered, her finger skimming the lines of X’s, O’s, numbers, and letters. Then she changed. A miracle! “You know, I think you might be right,” she said with amazement. She punched numbers quickly into her calculator. “Yes, you are right. I’m wrong. I’ll change the grade before I leave school today. But I still don’t like your conduct, James.” She couldn’t resist that.
“Thanks, Mrs. Silo,” Jim said, very humbly. He heaved a sigh of relief and bounded for the door. A C would’ve meant the end of soccer. Boy, was he lucky! Boy, was Mrs. Silo great. Boy, was he good at math.
Drama script writing & Drama performance
In drama script writing and drama performance, there are various language skills occurred among others are: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Firstly, the students are asked to write drama script. This activity can be conducted in pair or in group. Secondly, after completing the drama script, the students are therefore asked to perform the drama in the classroom setting. Finally, the drama scripts written by students are corrected by the teachers and returned to students in the next meeting.
4. Concluding Remarks
Through various literary genres (poem, prose, and drama) which are employed in a variety of activities in the classroom setting, such as: Poem reading, Poem reading, Split poem, Poem writing, Short story writing, Drama script writing, and Drama performance. the students’ English four macro skills which cover listening, speaking, reading, and writing can improve.
Therefore, the application of literary works in a wide variety of activities in English teaching and learning process in the classroom setting is highly recommended.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alim, Condro Nur. 2008. English Language Teaching through Literary Works. Jakarta: Fifth Conference on English Studies (Conest) 5, Pusat Kajian Bahasa dan Budaya Unika Atmajaya.
Anderson, Robert, et al. 1989. Elements of Literature. Austin: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
Brooks, Margaret E. 1989. Literature in the EFL Classroom. Forum Journal, April 1989.
Dicker, Craig. 1989. In this activity, the teacher reads poem(s), and the students should write down the poem(s).
Fajar, Yusri. 2008. Revitalisasi (Pilihan) Sastra di Tengah Pragmatisme Masyarakat. Denpasar, accessed on 24 December 2008.
Giroy-Scott, Neil. 1983. Teaching Literature Overseas: Language-Based Approaches. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Husain, Djamiah. 2003. Fostering Autonomous Learning Using Interdependent Approach Based on Students’ Learning Styles and Learning Strategies to Increase Their Vocabulary. Victoria: Victoria University Melbourne.
Mei Lo and Fai Li. 1998. Songs Enhance Learner Involvement. Forum Journal, Volume 36 Number 3 Jul – Sept 1998.
Weda, Sukardi. 2008. English Learning Strategies. Makassar: LPPMM.
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