Intertextuality between Literature and Readers’ Life in Aesthetic Reading

Intertextuality between Literature and Readers’ Life in Aesthetic Reading

Denny Nugraha

Literary Work Analiysis

English Language Teaching (ELT) Department 7^Th semester

Syekh Nurjati Islamic State Intitute Cirebon

A.        Introduction

Nowadays the necessity of learning a language is seen as well as the need of communication, not only in oral communication, but also in written form. It has been considered that through listening, we can naturally speak. Then, through reading activity we are considerably expected to be able to write. However, the relationship among the four skills of language is not in terms of a one-way connection. For instance, reading activities may vary between personal/private reading (silence reading) and spoken reading (loud reading). In addition, reading activity can provide readers with the sense of imagination and enjoyment. It can particularly happen in a very different way that reading is not only to explore the containing information about the world, but it is merely used to reveal the realm of a connection between readers’ experience (background knowledge) and something that is offered in every single word by the author of the text.

In case of reading, the connection that comes from the meeting between what has been already known and something new, is considered as intertextuality. Additionally, it has been supported by Wimmers (2012), she quoted Riffaterre’s definition that intertextuality is namely “the reader’s perception of relationships between one work and others, which either preceded or followed it”. Accordingly, in this respect, reading a text is viewed as a life experience of certain sense of imagination and enjoyment. Furthermore, the text that can provide the sense of imagination and enjoyment is namely called as literary work or literature. Then, the reading event itself has been defined as the aesthetic reading. Therefore, intertextuality in aesthetic reading plays its role when there is an occurence of connection between one literary work that has been already experienced and the other work that is currently being read by the learners as readers.

There are so many examples of literature such as short stories, novels, poems, and even song lyrics are included. In the practice of language teaching, based on the genre-based approach, it is necessary for the teacher to promote reading with the feature of intertextuality between literature and learners’ life. It is reasonable that through the intertextuality in aesthetic reading, learning process can be meaningful and joyful. However, it is not an easy task for language teacher in order to do so. The problems come out in the implementation of connecting literature (texts) with learners’ life through intertextuality in aesthetic reading. There were several questions on my mind about it namely: what are the stages/steps to implement intertextuality in aesthetic reading? How can intertextuality provide connections between literature and learners’ life? Those questions depict the importances of intertextuality in teaching reading through literary works or literatures.

B.        The implementation of intertextuality in aesthetic reading

Aesthetic reading, in practice, is not reading for information like in reading a newspaper or magazine. It truly needs a serious planning of the implementation before the language teachers brings this kind of reading activity into their class. It is considered that aesthetic reading presupposes non-aesthetic reading and consists of reading with attention to what readers are experiencing, thinking, and feeling (Alwasilah, 2014). Moreover, this means that learners should be firstly aware of the informational aspects of the text (efferent reading). Literature provides aesthetic values in which learners can get beyond the logical realm of common sense. Therefore, the implementation of the aesthetic reading for learners starts from the competency level of reading for information. Then, after that, they are ready to feel the enjoyment and imagination of reading literature.

For language teachers, there are several things to be concerned before introducing the aesthetic reading into the classroom. These things are considerably related with the competencies that should be mastered by every language teacher. It is supported by the statement from the late Alwasilah (2014) that literature should be taught by professional teachers equipped with competency in literature attitude (a kind of evident among learners in the number of literary works read, written, and discussed in literature circles in the classroom and beyond), literary reading skills (skills that comprise reading for aesthetic purposes and enjoyment), and literary teaching skills (skills of creating literary engagements for aesthetic appreciation which is emotionally pervasive through readers’ experiencing, thinking, and feeling). Those skills are compulsory for every language teacher in the implementation of intertextuality in the classroom’s aesthetic reading event. So that, intertextuality can work well in connecting learners’ life experience and the literary work in aesthetic reading.

In the other perspective, Short (1991) presented the term of ‘Text Sets’ in her paper entitled ‘Intertextuality: Making Connections across Literature and Life’ at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English 81^St in Seattle. According to her, text sets is a curricular strategy that highlights intertextuality, the process of searching for connections among reading texts and personal experiences. The strategy consists of gathering groups of related books or works and engaging small groups of learners in a discussion of how the books interrelate. In addition, intertextuality in this respect is seen as the result of the strategy that involves learners in groups reading activity. The groups frequently discussed connections to particular kinds of characters, plot elements, and themes across their books. For instance, a certain group of learner discuss mainly about the characters of ‘ The Mousedeer and The Crocodile’ short story, then the other group can discuss about its plot elements, the themes, etc.

Moreover, Short (1991) added that while groups often discussed literary elements such as character and theme, they considered these in terms of the impact on the reader and decisions by the author. For example, a group of learner spent the majority of their time talking about why they thought the author of the story wrote about the theme of honesty and how the concept of honesty related to their lives as readers. They also talked about her decision to write information about the books they read and the reasons why they found certain kinds of genres easier or more difficult in their own writing. Then, after they read and discuss about the story, they can make or write a conclusion as their reflection individually or in group’s perspective.

C.        Intertextuality between literature and learners’ life

The term of intertextuality, as it is explained above, has an important unconscious role to the reading activities in the classroom context. It is realized or not, learners always tends to connect something new in the text that is being read by them with another texts or their life experiences in the past. They can learn the things that are new for them to enrich their knowledge or insight about the texts and their life’s experiences. It is a meaningful learning when learners can get something that is worthful for them and so they can apply it in their life as like a culture.

Furthermore, literatures or literary works offer many things not only the text, but also the values of cultural education and wisdoms. Alwasilah (2012) noted that literature is a monumental element of people’s culture. Therefore, it stands to reason that wherever there is education, there is the study of literature. So that, intertextuality can provide somewhat meaningful reading experience when learners find any literary work that has a monumental impact to their life.

Based on the discussion above, both Alwasilah and Short found that literary circle among learners is simply useful as it is able to trigger the literary attitude. It can be viewed from the result of their research (Alwasilah, 2014; Short, 1991) that learners can easily learn language through the meaningful and joyful learning where they are actively involved in the process of gaining worthful knowledge for their life. So that, learning language is no longer perceived as a complicated and problematic or even boring activity that has no benefit for them. However, it will not happen if learning process can not provide them somehow connection between what is being learnt and their life experiences.

Conlusion

The writer concludes that learning language through the meaningfulness of literature in aesthetic reading activity can give learners something useful for their life. The implementation of intertextuality between literary work and life make language teaching and learning becomes meaningful and brings the sense of enjoyment process stated in some studies (Alwasilah, 2014; Short, 1991). They implicitly discovered the useful strategy of classroom reading event and also the criteria behind the implementation of aesthetic reading both the teacher and the learners.

Learning language through the aesthetic reading activity, in order to be meaningful and joyful process, could be applied with the present of intertextuality which gives a bridge the learning material with learners’ life experience. However, intertextuality can play its role well in connecting learners’ life experience and the literary work in aesthetic reading if there is not only the material of learning, but also various and innovative methods and procedures which support learners in learning process that is not boring or complicated.

References

Alwasilah, Chaedar. 2012. Pokoknya Rekayasa Literasi. Bandung: PT Kiblat Buku Utama.

Alwasilah, Chaedar. 2014. Islam, Culture, and Education: Essays on Contemporary Indonesia. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya.

Short, Kathy G. 1991. Intertextuality: Making Connections across Literature and Life. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of English (81st,Seattle, WA, November 22-27, 1991).

Wimmers, Inge C. 2012. Proust and Eliot: An Intertextual Reading. Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature: Vol. 36: Iss. 1, Article 3.

Teaching English through Literature: Road to The Successful of Genre-based Literacy In Indonesia

Teaching English through Literature: Road to The Successful of Genre-based Literacy In Indonesia

Denny Nugraha

English Language Teaching (ELT) Department 7Th Semester

The State Institute of Islamic Studies Syekh Nurjati Cirebon

Introduction

Genre-based literacy is widely known as a pedagogical approach in the development of literacy based on the use of genre (text). Literacy itself has a huge dimension of language use by means of critical textual study particularly in reading and writing. Genre-based approach or in further called by genre-based literacy concerns with how the critical study of text brings into the classroom where language is being learned by the students. In Indonesia, the approach based on the Competence-based Curriculum (KBK 2004) is still now widely used to teach English as in the recent curriculum (KTSP 2006). One of the goal of the approach is that students are able to show gratitude to the literature. However, to promote English with the meaningful ness of literature is not an easy task for English teachers in Indonesia considering that there are still many of them who don’t know how to do with the approach. Therefore, they must be well-prepared and fully understood first about some important things before bringing it to their students.

Firstly, the purpose of teaching English through genre-based approach is to create students who are functionally able to read, write, and show their gratitude to literature. In line with this, Alwasilah (2014) stated that teaching literature is commensurate with recognizing and valuing students’ subjective experience. By this way, students are encouraged to organize their own experience through literature works guided by the teachers. However, it cannot be likely that students are fully aware of the experience during reading such literary works i.e., short stories, poetry, drama etc. They must fulfill the requirement of the sense of enjoyment in literary reading. In addition, it is also supported by the statement of Cope (1993) that literary reading skills comprise reading for aesthetic purposes and enjoyment. The students’ experience of aesthetic reading must be emerged first. Thus, this makes the teaching of literature more challenging for English teachers.

Secondly, in the significance of literature as a part of teaching English, English teachers must have the competencies or skills that strongly support the teaching of literature. According to Alwasilah (2014), they are namely literature attitude, literary reading skills, and literary teaching skills. Literature attitude is a kind of evident among students in the number of literary works read, written, and discussed in literature circles in the school and beyond. In addition, literary circles have been defined as an alternative model of teaching literature where the perspective is shifted from traditional text-centeredness to reader-centeredness (Christie, 1990). Literary reading skills are skills that comprise reading for aesthetic purposes and enjoyment. Then, literary teaching skills are skills of creating literary engagements for aesthetic appreciation which is emotionally pervasive through readers’ experiencing, thinking, and feeling. Through these competencies, not only the teachers, but the students can also feel engaged more to comprehend literary works and the importances to the humanization.

Thirdly, reading and writing are the main skills to be mastered when teachers utilizes literature to teach their students. Besides, students’ attitude towards literature primarily determines their interest to these skills (Hyland, 2007). Teachers must have this attitude first before they start to bring literary works in their class. In other words, they must promote to the whole class that literature is a meaningful and joyful media to learn English. This is emphasized by Alwasilah (2012) that the goal of teaching literature is to develop the students’ textual awareness that every single literary work is a unique creative work of a certain unique author. Therefore, the genre-based approach will make sense if both students and teachers are aware of it.

Conclusion

            There are some important things as the requirements to be beared in mind of English teachers in Indonesia. Teaching literature is not about delivering a simply short story to students. It needs a considerable efforts to make it acceptable for them in the context of learning language. The literary awareness must be built by the teachers since that they are about to teach students with different interests, potentials and backgrounds. They have to be ready mentally and physically when they are in the classroom. Then the three competencies-literary teaching, literary reading, and literature attitude-are a set of priority for the teachers to promote literature in the classroom. So that, the goal of genre-based approach in teaching English can work successfully in order to increase the quality of literacy for students in Indonesia.

References:

Alwasilah, Chaedar. 2012. Pokoknya Rekayasa Literasi. Bandung: PT Kiblat Buku Utama.

2014. Islam, Culture, and Education. Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya.

Christie, F. (Ed.). 1990. Literacy for a changing world: A fresh look at the basics. Melbourne: Australian Council of Educational Research.

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (Eds.). 1993. The powers of literacy: A genre approach to teaching literacy. London: Falmer Press.

Feez, S. (2002). Heritage and innovation in second language education. In A. M. Johns (Ed.), Genre in the classroom (pp. 47–68). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Freedman, A., & Medway, P. (1994). Genre and the new rhetoric. London: Taylor & Francis.

Hasan, R. 1996. Literacy, everyday talk and society. In R. Hasan & G. Williams (Eds.), Literacy in society (pp. 377–424). London: Longman.

Hyland, K. 2003. Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12 (1), 17–29.

2007. Genre pedagogy: Language, literacy and L2 writing instruction. Journal of Second Language Writing 16 (2007) 148–164.

Wray, D., & Lewis, M. 1997. Extending literacy: Children reading and writing non-fiction. London: Routledge.