The Teaching of Literature Approaches and Methods
There has been a remarkable loss of interest in the study of literature among secondary school students these days. This has been attributed to a number of factors. Apart from the obvious laziness on the part of the students and the teachers, there is observable shift from recreational reading to electronic chatting generally. This paper reiterates the value of literature as a school subject appraises the approaches and methods over the years and recommends contemporary techniques that are believed will facilitate the teaching and learning of literature. Introduction The curriculum of Nigerian Education is carefully planned by experts in the various fields of study and distinguished scholars in the business of education. Thus, every school subject in the curriculum is a means of achieving some educational and national goals. Same applies to literature as a school subject. Perhaps, one good question to address is why teach or study literature in schools? When this is justified, it will become expedient to boost the interest or morale of those who study it. Rationale for Teaching and Studying Literature The value of literature is so enormous that its mention can never be over flogged. For instance literature; Gets one acquainted with the world"s great minds, personalities and great teachers of all ages. Aims at helping one understand oneself as well as others. Provides opportunity for development of sensory, affective, social, intellectual and religious senses or faculties. Provides vicarious experiences to those exposed to it Trains the mind and equips the child for independent work and unbiased judgment i.e in analysis and criticism. Helps one operate one"s rationale facilities. It in fact exposes one to healthy human values and attitudes, character and behavior and to understand the complex nature of human being (Rees 1973) Helps one in analysis, interpreting and dealing with the world of reality. Helps in the acquisition and reinforcement of the language skills (Gbenedio 1984) Imposes a kind of high discipline on those who are exposed to it. Broadens the cultural needs and horizon of the child. Exposes the child to the beauty and potentials of language (i.e the aesthetic value of literature) Encourages attempts at creative writing which stems from understanding a creative processes as well as appreciating the principal of creativity (Lawal 1985) International Journal of Education and Evaluation ISSN 2489 0073 Vol. 2 No.5 2016 www.iiardpub.org IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development Page 74 In fact, the nature of literature makes it so sterile that Moody (1973) says, it offers a vast reservoir of human experience and judgment of experience, a development of imagination, an entry into human situations which otherwise might fall outside our ken. These imply that even though other subjects contribute to the making of the whole man, literature has a unique effectiveness in opening the mind and illuminating it; also of purging the mind of prejudices and received ideas and leaves it free and active. In summary literature by its nature moulds the personality of a child more effectively than other subjects. Factors Militating Against the Study of Literature As captured vividly above, literature is a functional, valuable school subject that has the capacity of molding an all round personality that is socially acceptable not deviants and outlaws. Below are some of the reasons students do not study literature these days. a. Laziness The factor of laziness although sounds childish, is the fundamental reason why students do not study literature anymore. The teachers on one part do not show sufficient interest in reading the recommended texts in the class. Any teacher who wants his students to read must be seen reading. The teacher of literature must practice loud reading in the class. He or she must model reading so that the students can emulate. A good literature teacher will take advantage of loud reading to teach pronunciation, new vocabulary, correct speech disorders and consequently develop communicative competence in the learners. Today, a lot of our children are leaving secondary school without the aptitude for independent study neither do they acquire sufficient proficiency in reading. How would such students survive the competitive world of academics or world of work. They choose to be spoon fed. Instead of buying and reading the actual recommended text, they would buy the summarized version with questions and answers; versions that aid examination malpractice. Some of the would read the texts at home and summarize them in the class leaving greater details out while the nonchalant ones would simply ask the students to read and summarize for themselves. This is sheer case of laziness. The teaching and learning of literature goes beyond story telling. The styles of the authors, the language aphorisms, diction, vocabulary, didactics, characterization, gestures and body language are important components to be discussed in their relevant contexts while reading the texts with class participation. When literature texts are read in the class, the students will develop interest that will be infectious enough to motivate one another. The more they brand themselves with the characters in the books, the more they popularize the books and the subject. b. Competing Media and Electronic Chatting among Students In those days, people whether students or not irrespective of their discipline would undertake recreational or leisure reading to kill boredom, relax their nerves, for fun or for whatever reason. This is hardly observed days because of competing mass media. Today, television viewing and precisely movie watching has become the undoing of most children. This is so apparent that a professor I know finds himself drilling his children every morning with the following chorus, ,four things that will destroy you are" and the children will respond while drawing their ears, ,film, phone, friends and fear" Students these days are so engrossed with movie viewing that they throw away useful time to gratify their obsession. The time they would have availed themselves to read is directed to movie watching. Some of them claim that movie watching is a way of studying literature. This is not far from being true but the International Journal of Education and Evaluation ISSN 2489 0073 Vol. 2 No.5 2016 www.iiardpub.org IIARD International Institute of Academic Research and Development Page 75 issue is, what type of movies do students watch? If the literature texts are acted out and cut into CD it is good but if they watch all manner of films censored and uncensored with wild and anti social didactics at the expense of their recommended texts, it is their undoing. Furthermore, the new technology competes with students" interest in reading and studying literature. The social media such as 2go, whatsApp. Twitter, You Tube, face book to mention but a few have brought a new dimension to the concept of talking without noise. Students spend more time chatting with friends and peers on phone than they are ever willing to give to their studies. c. Methods of Teaching Literature Concept of Approach and Method In the discussion of these two concepts, mention will be made of the concept of techniques for its relationship with others. These three concepts have been misapplied on many occasions. That"s why you hear one teacher say, ,I am using discussion method" another says he uses discussion approach or technique, the question is this, are they saying the same thing? To answer this, Edward (1965) addressed the ambiguity in the use of the three concepts. In the first instance, he placed them in a hierarchy with the operational key that techniques carry out a method which is consistent with an approach. In his own study, Ubahakwe (1991) also considers the three as closely related. In his own ranking, he placed approach on top, followed by method and then technique. By definition, both Edward and Ubahakwe agree. For instance; Approach they see as ,a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of teaching and learning a subject and as a theoretical or ideological concept which underlies a peculiar way of teaching a given subject" To them approach is axiomatic. It describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught. Speaking further, Edward says that ,approach states a point of view, a philosophy, an article of faith i.e something one believes but cannot necessarily prove, often unarguable except in terms of the effectiveness of the method that grow out of it. By method is meant ,an overall plan for orderly presentation of subject material" (Edward 1965) Method is systematic and procedural and to be used by teachers who know it. It is based on a selected approach. In agreement too, Ubahakwe (1991) says ,method is a systematic, predictable procedure of teaching" According to him, it includes selection and ordering of teaching contexts, a specification of the roles of the teacher as well as of the learners in the classroom encounter, a specification of the types and functions of the teaching materials in a given situation. Also, they agree that in one approach, there may be many methods. Approaches and Methods of Teaching Literature over the Years Historically, there are two major approaches to the teaching of literatures. These approaches are viewed equally as traditions in the teaching of literature over the years. They are the conservatives and the progressives. Also, each one of them has characteristics. For instance, the conservatives are characterized thus: Not believing in the didactic functions of literature they are simply engrossed in the literary works itself. Prefer intensive reading to extensive; in other words quality in place of quantity not considering the background of the students in selecting texts for them. They ignore the principle of individual difference and also make the students