MIDTESOL BRINGING NOVELS TO LIFE

Teaching Tips

Articles from the MIDTESOL Newsletter

Bringing Novels to Life

By Jessica Walter

aafwalte@amber.indstate.edu
Interlink Language Center
Indiana State University

The past few years have seen a reintroduction of literature into the ESL classroom. This is especially true in academic programs. This is due to the fact that they help the students increase their intellectual as well as academic ability.

Whether in EFL or ESL situations, using novels is invaluable as a method of illustrating culture in context. It creates a perfect venue for presenting ideas for discussion and writing assignments, providing in depth ideas about life that can be meaningful to students. Novels can present real-life situations which reflect the human condition (universal, timeless themes). Because students can relate to the ideas, they can begin to think more deeply about the themes, questioning, connecting and developing more complex ideas for writing. This in turn helps foster critical thinking so important in academia. Some good examples of novels for this purpose are: Ordinary People, Anne Frank, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

However lofty, theoretical reasons for including literature in an ESL curriculum are not sufficient to convince most of us of the usefulness of reading novels. Fortunately, novels also build and reinforce essential university skills. Upon entering most western universities, international students are often shocked and overwhelmed by the enormous quantity of reading expected of incoming freshmen. Many of them read slowly looking up all unknown words in dual language dictionaries. Advising them that this method is both inefficient and ineffective does little or no good. What we as ESL teachers need to do is break them of the habit. Novels provide bulk reading which increases speed and forces students to put down their dictionaries and deduce the meaning of vocabulary from context.

Reading novels is not just good for building context and improving reading speed, however. The fact is, most degree programs require students to take at least one literature class and much of student writing will be about literature. It is therefore in the students' best interest to introduce them to novels in English. Furthermore, American/English writing styles may be very different from those of the ESL students' home countries, and reading novels can familiarize students with certain classics that most of their American classmates will have read.

Finally, reading books gives students a feeling of accomplishment not achieved with shorter readings. Students can say "I read a whole 250 page book." They can discuss it with other Americans and refer to it in their writings later. All of these reasons make a strong argument for including novels in the curriculum of academic preparation centers. The difficulty then becomes how to sell the student on the idea. How can we as teachers build enthusiasm towards such a large task as reading an entire novel, when many students have never read anything larger than a TOEFL reading selection? How can we get them interested in the books and keep their interest? How can we bring these stories to life?

In my opinion, the answer lies in the students' senses. The more senses we appeal to, the more ways we can use and connect the novel to their lives and experiences. The result will be an exciting and memorable experience. In my classes, I have used several types of activities to bring novels to life.These activities have been served to increase the students' reading skills, appreciation of literature, and enjoyment.

I. Writing Activities

A. Summaries & quizzes.
B. Response journals. Have the students use their journals as a sounding board for their ideas about the novel.
C. E-mails with classmates or the teacher for immediate feedback.
D. Letter to or from characters. You can have the students do this as an in-class assignment or as homework. Have students write a letter to a character or from a character in the book. They can decide. It is also fun to have the students read them in class.
E. Character sketches. Divide the class into groups by character. (They can pick which group they want.) Have each group discuss/brainstorm ideas about the character. They can take notes. They should be especially encourage to make a list of adjectives describing that character. Then they go home and write a paragraph about that character. Take the list of adjectives and make a chart. Hang all the charts on the wall, attaching the paragraphs to the corresponding character chart. During break times and before class, the students can go to the board and read all the paragraphs about the characters.
F. Essays can be used to compare characters, examine the cause/effects of actions, etc. A variation is to use essays to connect the novel with the students' personal experiences, e.g. have them compare themselves with a character and discuss what they would have done.
G. Class collected writing books. At the end of the term, I gather student writings about the novel. If you want, you can have students choose their favorite writing piece from the term. I have them rewrite it neatly or type it. Then I put it all together in book form and hand it out to the students. It is a treat, and they get a feeling of real accomplishment and production. It also becomes something that they can show their parents and friends.
H. Write a letter to the author. The students can ask him/her questions or make statements about the novel.
I. Have students write comments/ questions after each section/ chapter. They can discuss things that they don't know or understand or are curious about. They can also make predictions about the next chapter.

II. Audio/Visual

A. Movies - rent the film or watch the story in the theater as a class. Compare the book to the movie.

B. Plays - the same as the movie.

C. Students act out or write dialogues for real or imaginary scenes (Roger Elliot, Encouraging Reader Response to Literature). When students act as the characters, they feel the motivations more. The audience can also visualize the scenes better.

D. Pictures - Have students draw pictures of their favorite scenes. They then explain the scene with the picture. Hang up the pictures on the bulletin board next to the character sketches. If they want, they can also cut out magazine pictures which resemble scenes or characters.

E. Game. Guess the character. Have the students give information about a character, then have other students guess who they are talking about.

F. David Letterman - Set up the class like a late night talk show. Have a student be David Letterman (or another favorite). Have him/her come up with interview questions for certain characters in the novel. Then stage the show, bringing on character guests (other students).

RETURN TO