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:

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

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