Date of Award

1-1-2001

Thesis Type

Masters

Document Type

Thesis

Divisions

Faculty of Education

Department

-

Institution

Universiti Malaya

Abstract

This study explored the process of the recent implementation of the Literature in English component in the Fo1m l English Language Syllabus in an attempt to examine the teaching and learning of literature in actual classroom situations. It sought to examine the nature of input by teachers and the uptake by students of typical Literature in English lessons in two Form 1 classes, to obtain feedback on the hands-on implementation of the component so as to inform future effective practice. To be more specific, this study sought to identify the approaches used to teach the selected literary texts as well as to explore students' responses to those texts. It also attempted to uncover the teachers' and students' perceptions of the literature-based activities. The study was located in two multi-ethnic Form 1 Literature in English classes in an urban co-ed school. While the teacher participants of this study were two English Language teachers with contrasting level of experiences in the field of literature, the s·tudent participants comprised of two classes of Form l students from contrasting backgrounds and with contrasting level of proficiencies and abilities. Throughout the eight-week study, data were collected through means of participant observation, interviews, teacher and student journals, as well as an examination of all relevant documents, including the circulars from the Ministry of Education, the literary texts, the teaching materials and students' work. The data were continuously analysed, compared and contrasted. A formal overall analysis, including triangulation, was carried out after the fieldwork was over and all the data collected. Among the major findings in this study w as the influence of the lack of information on the teachers' confidence. The lack of knowledge regarding literature as well as regarding the component and how it should be implemented eventually affected the teaching and learning experiences in the two literature classes. The use of a single standardised text to cater for the extensive range of linguistic and intellectual needs of students from contrasting background also seems to work against the components aim to get students interested in reading literature. If such findings are confirmed through further research, the implications for ESL language educators are u follows. First and foremost, teachers must be equipped with knowledge on literature itself, as well as on why they should teach literature and on how to teach it. Learners must be given literary texts that match their linguistic proficiencies and intellectual capabilities. The beliefs that anything local is familiar and anything foreign unfamiliar in selecting literary texts should also be negated. Finally, learners of literature must be given the 'space' and 'freedom' to express their imagination and creativity, so their encounter with the literary texts is made more personal and meaningful.

Initial

snms

Additional Information

Dissertation (M.A) -- Faculty of Education, Universiti Malaya, 2001.

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