journal review

Evidently, the importance of literature in the educational system has grown recently. There has been an increase in discussion about why, when, and how literature can be employed to enhance service delivery in the classroom. Further investigation into the relationship between literature and its application has produced fruitful outcomes, including the development of the best implementation strategies to best support the students. Sage (1987) asserts that the use of literature in the classroom as a teaching tool is an important factor that should be noted and taken into account. According to Stix and George (2000), due to the failure experienced by students who face a mismatch of information available and their stage in learning, introduction of literature is very convenient and suitable method to be used to compliment the traditional textbooks.

Use of other methods by teachers is considered outdated and experiences a lot of challenges. This is because the previous traditional methods are not custom made to suit the state and stage of the students. More often than not it leads to frustrated and discouraged students who feel that their needs have not been met. The literature developed has an amazing touch which enables it to fit in well with the students’ curriculum and blend in well with the traditional methods. Stix and George (2000) contextualized this issue by illustrating a social studies teacher, Harry, who admitted the power of incorporating literature in social studies. He noted the deteriorating level of learning that the students experienced due to overreliance on teacher centered mode of learning. This made him consider switch the experience from teacher centered to student centered so as to involve the students in the learning process. This mainly assisted the students to step out of their comfort zone and think harder which resulted to better performance. He also challenged to students to look for a different perspective which made the students understand the various points of views.

Among the various uses of literature in classrooms, the one which stands out is that literature in classroom assists in providing context which the students can relate to and valuable learning materials which enable the students be able to apply what they have learnt in the real world (Klaric and Vujcic, 2014). According to Collie and Slater (1987), the other uses of literature in the classroom include aiding in studying the culture of a particular people and involving the students studying a particular matter at a personal level so as to get a better and clearer understanding of the subject under consideration. Literature further encourages the students to be able to think and understand the various meanings. It provokes thoughts into the subject and makes the students to get a deeper meaning. This goes a long way in ensuring that the student is aware of the traditional works and how it has been applied and the contemporary works and how both have been merged.

Conclusion

This methodology has been widely praised because of its ability to challenge students to get students to explore their cultural backgrounds and be able to use it in class. It gives the students room to merge classroom work and cultural backgrounds so as to get a better understanding. Therefore literature plays a key role as illustrated by Harry’s story and this should be taken into consideration.

References

Andi S., Marshall G,(2000). Using Multi-Level Young Adult Literature in the Middle School American Studies. Social Studies Journal, v91 n1 p25-31 Jan-Feb 2000. http://www.andistix.com/using_multi-level_young_adult_literature.

Collie, J. and Slater, S. (1987) Literature in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1987

Klaric I., Vujcic J. (2014). Literature in English for Specific Purposes Classroom. International Journal of Social and Educational Innovation (IJSEIro) No.2/ 2014

Sage, H. (1987). Incorporating Literature in ESL Instruction. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.