Сдаем кандидатский экзамен. Учебное пособие

Why not use literature? 'You need to be an expert'

There are many reasons why teachers don't feel comfortable with literature in the language classroom. Perhaps they are still in the recovery stage themselves, with painful memories of literature classes as a curriculum subject at school. Unsuitable and unhelpful exposure to the weighty tomes of long dead writers has left them numb to the possible charms of the art. It might be that they don’t read books themselves, gain no pleasure from them, and so don’t see why they should take the burden into class. Others might perceive a wide gulf between the teaching of a language and the study of the literature of that language, and why would they not? Many universities maintain sturdy defences between the study of a language and the study of its literature: two different departments; two different mind sets. Others, possibly the largest group, might think literature has a place in the language classroom but that it’s not for them. After all, dealing with literature requires the hand of an expert, doesn’t it? And, let’s face facts, it is a bit elitist, this literature thing, isn’t it?

'It must be "proper" literature'

A reverse distinction can sometimes be seen in some of the many of the reading groups which have been blossoming all over the place in recent years, where people's love of books extends to a desire to meet regularly with others and share that love. In some groups, the readers seem to experience a certain feeling of discomfort at choosing non-canonical, non-classic texts to share to read. The elitism alluded to earlier can be seen dividing popular, or even modern literature from ‘proper’ literature (that is books by dead white men, with an occasional honorary woman allowed in) as if being found sharing, let alone enjoying a popular or, heaven forbid, lightweight book, was something of a minor sin; something to be ashamed of.

'It's too hard for the students'

On the other hand, those who do welcome narrative and poetry into the classroom often do so with a passion, and it is this

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enthusiasm which drives them to want to share with their students. But even here hesitation is noted. Do they feel adequately equipped to share what they see as a precious jewel with their students? Aren’t many of the books they feel passionate about too advanced for their students’ language level anyway?

'There's not enough time!'

However, the biggest cause of excluding literature from the language classroom, the over-riding factor which supposedly clinches the argument, is that there is no time in the school syllabus for such dallyings. Why, there is barely time to cover every page in the course book so why bring in extra work?

The argument for literature

The point to make at this critical juncture is to make it clear that all the teachers who fall into the categories described above, and many others not mentioned here, have misunderstood what literature in the language classroom can be. The key point is that literature can be a very flexible tool for any language teacher:

•it requires no specialist training;

•it can be brief, contemporary and relevant;

•it can be used to enhance, supplement and complement the curriculum;

•it can aid students’ speaking as well as reading skills,

•it can engage the class in aspects of critical thinking that text books rarely do and open minds onto the world;

• it can assist with specific language learning and it is an ideal tool for revision purposes.

Many teachers who have courageously taken the leap from being non-users to users of literature in the EFL classroom speak of the feeling of liberation it gives them, and the sense of creativity it transfers to the class. Literature, they discover, gives them permission to enter other worlds and ideas and to explore them confidently.

Of course, this doesn’t happen without a degree of preparation. A little will happen simply by opening up a book in class and reading to students, but not a lot. Even less will be achieved

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by sending the class away to read Chapter 3 over the weekend for homework. Nothing will be achieved by deciding to structurally analyse the book or its contents. What is required is a careful handling of the sometimes delicate interface between language and literature and to understand where the students fit into the creative reading cycle. What is needed is a way of raising students’ expectations so that reading becomes a positive experience. What is indispensable is an understanding of where the narrative might lead the reader and, at the same time, to recognize that a narrative might take 30 different people to 30 different places, and be able to deal with that reality in class.

Thus, while we may not need any expert skills in literature perse, we will need to be fairly resourceful and imaginative teachers. Luckily there is a growing body of support out there, from engaging classroom resources to help from communities of experienced teachers, and from access to copyright free short stories and poetry to contact with authors and poets.

TEXT 4

Creative writing for language learners (and teachers) (by Alan Maley )

Creative writing normally refers to the production of texts which have an aesthetic rather than a purely informative, instrumental or pragmatic purpose. Most often, such texts take the form of poems or stories, though they are not confined to these genres. (Letters, journal entries, blogs, essays, travelogues, etc. can also be more or less creative.) In fact, the line between creative writing (CW) and expository writing (ER) is not carved in stone. In general, however CW texts draw more heavily on intuition, close observation, imagination, and personal memories than ER texts.

One of the chief distinguishing characteristics of CW texts is a playful engagement with language, stretching and testing its rules to the limit in a guilt-free atmosphere, where risk is encou-

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raged. Such writing combines cognitive with affective modes of thinking. As the poet, R.S. Thomas once wrote, ‘Poetry is that which arrives at the intellect by way of the heart.’ The playful element in CW should not, however be confused with a lax and unregulated use of language. On the contrary, CW requires a willing submission on the part of the writer to the ‘rules’ of the subgenre being undertaken. If you want to write a Limerick, then you have to follow the rules governing limericks. If not, what you produce will be something other than a limerick: obvious, perhaps, but important too. The interesting thing is that the very constraints which the rules impose seem to foster rather than restrict the creativity of the writer. This apparent paradox is explained partly by the deeper processing of thought and language which the rules require.

What are the benefits of CW for learners?

• CW aids language development at all levels: grammar, vocabulary, phonology and discourse. It requires learners to manipulate the language in interesting and demanding ways in attempting to express uniquely personal meanings. In doing so, they necessarily engage with the language at a deeper level of processing than with most expository texts. (Craik and Lockhart) The gains in grammatical accuracy and range, in the appropriacy and originality of lexical choice, in sensitivity to rhyme, rhythm, stress and intonation, and in the way texts hang together are significant.

• As mentioned above, a key characteristic of CW is a willingness to play with the language. In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in the role of play in language acquisition. (Carter 2004, Cook 2000, Crystal 1998) In some ways, the sunami of the Communicative Approach has done a disservice to language teaching by its insistence on the purely communicative functions of language. Proponents of ‘play’ point out, rightly, that in L1 acquisition, much of the language encountered by and used by children is in the form of rhythmical chants and rhymes, word games, jokes and the like. Furthermore, such playfulness

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survives into adulthood, so that many social encounters are characterized by language play (punning, spontaneous jokes, ‘funny voices’, metathesis, and a discourse which is shaped by quasipoetic repetition (Tannen). These are precisely the kinds of things L2 learners are encouraged to do in CW activities. This playful element encourages them to play creatively with the language, and in so doing, to take the risks without which learning cannot take place in any profound sense. As Crystal (1998) states, ‘Reading and writing do not have to be a prison house. Release is possible. And maybe language play can provide the key.’

• Much of the teaching we do tends to focus on the left side of the brain, where our logical faculties are said to reside. CW puts the emphasis on the right side of the brain, with a focus on feelings, physical sensations, intuition and musicality. This is a healthy restoration of the balance between logical and intuitive faculties. It also affords scope for learners whose hemisphere dominance or learning-style preferences may not be intellectual or left brain dominant, and who, in the normal process of teaching are therefore at a disadvantage.

• Perhaps most notable is the dramatic increase in selfconfidence and self-esteem which CW tends to develop among learners. Learners also tend to discover things for themselves about the language… and about themselves too, thus promoting personal as well as linguistic growth. Inevitably, these gains are reflected in a corresponding growth in positive motivation. Among the conditions for promoting motivation, Dornyei (2001: 138-144) cites:

–“5. Create a pleasant and supportive atmosphere.

–6. Promote the development of group cohesiveness.

–13. Increase the students’ expectation of success in particular tasks and in learning in general.

–17. Make learning more stimulating and enjoyable by breaking the monotony of classroom events.

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–18. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable by increasing the attractiveness of tasks.

–19. Make learning stimulating and enjoyable for learners by enlisting them as active task participants.

–20. Present and administer tasks in a motivating way.

–23. Provide students with regular experiences of success.

–24. Build your learners’ confidence by providing regular encouragement.

–28. Increase student motivation by promoting cooperation among the learners.

–29. Increase student motivation by actively promoting learner autonomy.

–33. Increase learner satisfaction.

–34. Offer rewards in a motivational manner.”

•All these conditions are met in a well-run CW class. The exponential increase in motivation is certainly supported by my own experience in teaching CW. Learners suddenly realize that they can write something in a foreign language that has never been written by anyone else before, and which others find interesting to read. (Hence the importance of ‘publishing’ students’ work in some form.) And they experience not only a pride in their own products but also a joy in the ‘flow’ of the process. (Czsikszentmihaly).

•Finally, CW feeds into more creative reading. It is as if, by getting inside the process of creating the texts, learners come to understand intuitively how such texts function, and this makes similar texts easier to read. Likewise, the development of aesthetic reading skills (Kramsch, Rosenblatt), provides the learner with a better understanding of textual construction, and this feeds into their writing.

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TEXT 5

Global English and the teaching of pronunciation (Jennifer Jenkins, lecturer in Sociolinguistics and Phonology at King's College, London )

The emergence of so many different kinds (or 'varieties') of international English has caused a number of linguists to question the use of native speaker pronunciation models in the teaching of English. This article presents my research into the pronunciation of global English and gives some teaching implications.

•What is global English?

•What are the implications of EIL for pronunciation?

•The findings from research

•What are the implications for pronunciation teaching?

What is global English?

The term 'global English' is being used increasingly nowa-

days. It is a means of demonstrating that English is spoken in every part of the world, both among speakers within a particular country who share a first language, and across speakers from different countries/first languages.

English is no longer spoken only by its native speakers in the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand, and by those who learn English in order to communicate with native speakers. It is also spoken among non-native speakers within countries like India, the Philippines and Singapore and internationally among non-native speakers from a wide range of countries/first languages throughout the world. This last use of English is often referred to as 'English as an International Language' or EIL, and it is this kind of English which we will focus on here as it is the largest group of English speakers, numbering around 1.5 billion.

The emergence of so many different kinds (or 'varieties') of international English has caused a number of linguists to question the use of native speaker pronunciation models in the teaching of English. Their argument is that native speaker accents are not necessarily the most intelligible or appropriate accents when

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a non-native speaker is communicating with another non-native speaker.

As regards intelligible pronunciation for EIL, we need to identify which pronunciation features are crucial for mutual understanding when a non-native speaker of English talks to another non-native speaker and which are not at all important. These are often not the same features that are so crucial and unimportant for a native speaker of English.

In my research I analysed interactions between non-native speakers of English. The aim was to find out which features of British/American English pronunciation are essential for intelligible pronunciation, and which are not. The findings have been formed into a pronunciation core for teaching which is known as the Lingua Franca Core. This is to indicate that it is intended as a guide for lingua franca interactions, not interactions between a native and non-native speaker of English. The main features of the Lingua Franca Core are...

•All the consonants are important except for 'th' sounds as in 'thin' and 'this'.

•Consonant clusters are important at the beginning and in the middle of words. For example, the cluster in the word 'string' cannot be simplified to 'sting' or 'tring' and remain intelligible.

•The contrast between long and short vowels is important. For example, the difference between the vowel sounds in 'sit' and seat'.

•Nuclear (or tonic) stress is also essential. This is the stress on the most important word (or syllable) in a group of words. For example, there is a difference in meaning between 'My son uses a computer' which is a neutral statement of fact and 'My SON uses a computer', where there is an added meaning (such as that another person known to the speaker and listener does not use a computer).

On the other hand, many other items which are regularly taught on English pronunciation courses appear not to be essential for intelligibility in EIL interactions. These are...

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•The 'th' sounds (see above).

•Vowel quality, that is, the difference between vowel sounds where length is not involved, e.g. a German speaker may

pronounce the 'e' in the word 'chess' more like an 'a' as in the word 'cat'.

•Weak forms such as the words 'to', 'of' and 'from' whose vowels are often pronounced as schwa instead of with their full quality.

•Other features of connected speech such as assimilation (where the final sound of a word alters to make it more like the first sound of the next word, so that, e.g. 'red paint' becomes 'reb paint'.

•Word stress.

•Pitch movement.

•Stress timing.

All these things are said to be important for a native speaker listener either because they aid intelligibility or because they are thought to make an accent more appropriate.

What are the implications for pronunciation teaching?

•Students should be given choice. That is, when students are learning English so that they can use it in international contexts with other non-native speakers from different first languages, they should be given the choice of acquiring a pronunciation that is more relevant to EIL intelligibility than traditional pronunciation syllabuses offer. Up to now, the goal of pronunciation teaching has been to enable students to acquire an accent that is as close as possible to that of a native speaker. But for EIL communication, this is not the most intelligible accent and some of the non-core items may even make them less intelligible to another non-native speaker.

•The non-core items are not only unimportant for intelligibility but also socially more appropriate. After all, native speakers have different accents depending on the region where they were born and live. So why should non-native speakers of an international language not be allowed to do the same?

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• Finally, students should be given plenty of exposure in

For EIL, this is much more important than having classroom exposure to native speaker accents.

TEXT 6

The Canon: A New English Grammar,

Logical and Historical. By Henry Sweet (Richard Hudson is emeritus professor of linguistics, department of linguistics, University College London)

My nomination for inclusion in the Canon goes to a grammar book. How ridiculous, you may think – how can a grammar book be inspiring? In the words of the American linguist H.A. Gleason, "the English-speaking world has long held grammar in low esteem and grammarians in even lower!" Gleason wrote these words in 1965, the year I bought my copy of Henry Sweet's New English Grammar. So why did it make such an impression on me?

A New English Grammar was published by Oxford University Press in 1891 (followed by a smaller second volume in 1898). That makes it the first in a long line of major analyses of English grammar that try to cover everything; and in 1965 it had the distinction of being the only one written by a Briton – a very odd fact, I thought (and still think). Why were Brits so uninterested in the grammar of their language? For me, brought up on grammars of French, German, Latin, it was a revelation to see my own language on the dissecting table. Since I already knew all the facts, it was a case of pure analysis and debate.

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