A Nara JALT and LiLT SIG Collaborative event
Using Literature in English Language Teaching
The guest speakers at this event share some practical ideas on the theme of bringing literature into the language classroom, and encourage participants to consider how they can exploit the rich perspectives and language of literary texts for their own students.
- Date & Time: Saturday, December 15th, 3:00pm – 5:00pm
- Location:Nara Visitor Center & Inn
- Venue Address: 3 IKENOCHO, NARASHI, NARA, JAPAN 630 – 8361
Guest Speakers
Kevin Stein (Clark Memorial International High School)
Memorization versus Realization, a new take on comprehension questions and activities
Many reading comprehension questions merely measure students ability to memorize or find details within a text. For short fiction, these types of questions might not only be unsuited to the task of measuring comprehension, but actually inhibit students engaging with a text at the level of exploration and analysis that is required for true understanding and a meaningful reading experience. In this presentation, teachers will be introduced to 9 types of question categories which can be used to expand the ways in which students interact with a text. In addition, the presenter will share how these question types can serve as the basis for extension activities which require students to experience and share their reading experiences as a progressive journey of deepening understanding.
Biography
Kevin Stein is currently the International Course Teacher Manager at Clark Memorial International High School. He writes a semi-regular column, “The Little Things”, for the JALT ER SIG’s ERJ, blogs occasionally at https://theotherthingsmatter.wordpress.com, and believes in the importance of reflective practice and building communities of practice. He has spent the past two years creating and teaching an introduction to the social sciences CLIL curriculum for high school students and training teachers in how to use standardized tests as a means to develop students autonomous learning skills. In his free time, he likes to write poetry and fiction. He also likes to cook, but it takes him a very long time to get food on the table, so if he offers to cook for you, please be very patient.
Mark Scott (Nara Women’s University)
Lyric Poems in Language Learning
In this talk, I ask what happens when literature written in English is used to get Japanese students to talk to each other in English. I begin by questioning the common distinction between written and spoken language. I then suggest, reductively, that most literature is nothing more than organized talk. Of the many recognized kinds of literature, metered and rhymed lyric poetry is usually considered to be more highly organized than, say, young adult fiction. In non-language-learning classrooms, lyric poems are usually treated as things to read and things to analyze. In my Nara Women’s University classroom, I try instead to turn a few highly organized English Romantic and Modern American poems into things to say and things to talk about. I describe how I and my students go about doing this. I end by reflecting on some of our results and their consequences for my teaching.
Biography
Mark Scott is from Denver, Colorado. He did his graduate work at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (Ph.D., 1992). He has published two collections of poetry, Tactile Values (2000) and A Bedroom Occupation: Love Elegies (2007). He has taught English, literature and language, at colleges and universities in the United States and China.
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