TEACHERS’ OPINION TOWARDS THE USE OF

LITERATURE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG

LANGUAGE LEARNERS

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Wian Anggono

112008137

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

SALATIGA

2013

i

TEACHERS’ OPINION TOWARDS THE USE OF

LITERATURE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG

LANGUAGE LEARNERS

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Wian Anggono

112008137

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

SALATIGA

2013

ii

TEACHERS’ OPINION TOWARDS THE USE OF

LITERATURE IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG

LANGUAGE LEARNERS

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Wian Anggono

112008137

Approved by:

Victoria Usadya Palupi, MA-ELT Christiana Sidupa, M. Hum

Supervisor Examiner

iii

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

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any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any

university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material

previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is

made in the text.

Copyright@ 2013.Wian Anggono and Victoria Usadya Palupi, MA-ELT.

All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means

without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English

Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana University,

Salatiga.

Wian Anggono:

iv

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As a member of the (SWCU) Satya Wacana Christian University academic

community, I verify that:

Name: Wian Anggono

Student ID Number: 112008137

Study Program: English Department

Faculty: Language and Literature

Kind of Work: Undergraduate Thesis

In developing my knowledge, I agree to provide SWCU with a non-exclusive

royalty free right for my intellectual property and the contents therein entitled:

Teachers’ Opinion towards the Use of Literature in Teaching English to

Young Language Learners

along with any pertinent equipment.

With this non-exclusive royalty free right, SWCU maintains the right to copy,

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name is still included as the writer.

This declaration is made according to the best of my knowledge.

Made in : Salatiga

Date :

Verified by signee,

Wian Anggono

Approved by

Thesis Supervisor Thesis Examiner

Victoria Usadya Palupi, MA-ELT Christiana Sidupa, M. Hum

1

TEACHERS’ OPINION TOWARDS THE USE OF LITERATURE IN

TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LANGUAGE LEARNERS

Wian Anggono

ABSTRACT

As the front-liner of the educational system, teachers are given

very huge duty and responsibility to teach their students. There are so

many ways of them in doing their duty. One of the possibilities is using

literature in their language teaching. However, there are still some

arguments within the concept of using literature in English language

teaching. Many researchers, like McRae (1991), Hişmanoğlu (2005),

Cremin, Mottram, Bearne and Goodwin (2008), argue that teachers were

often lack of background, preparation and knowledge of literature in

teaching. This study tried to find out what actually happened to the

practice of using literature in teaching English in Indonesia, especially

Salatiga and Semarang Regency. The research question of this study is

“what are the teachers‟ views toward the use of literature in English

teaching?” As a matter of fact, the advantages, problems and

methodologies when they were dealing with literature were covered as

well. The data were collected from classroom observations and

interviews with the teachers that used literature in their English teaching.

The result showed that all the teachers had positive views toward the use

of literatures because it brought some advantages which were

memorability and linguistic modeling benefits. Nonetheless, they also

confessed that it was time consuming and difficult in selecting the kinds

of literature. They prefered to use story and song as their favorite types of

literature. Ultimately, they used discussion and simulation or role-play

as their way of using literature in their teaching.

Keywords: literature as teaching material, young learners, kinds of

literature, teachers‟ view, TEYL.

INTRODUCTION

English is now very popular in Indonesia, it has been taught since the

earliest age of the students. Pre-schools, kindergartens and elementary school now

include English as one of their subjects. They use English even as their main

subject and also as everyday language. Reflecting on my own experience, I was

2

introduced to English language by my English teacher in my fourth grade of the

elementary school. I thought that was rather late, because based on the

Baxamusa‟s article (2012), the ability to think about and the ability to understand

second language are during four to ten years old. It could be said that it is the

golden age of our brain development. Therefore, during that age, it is time to

optimalize their brain capacity by giving them input about languages. Moreover,

recently researchers have shown an increased interest in Teaching English to

Young Learners (TEYL). Lenneberg (1967) in Pinter (2006) said that the Critical

Period Hypothesis (CPH) which suggested that brain plasticity was only

conducive to language learning only until puberty. Therefore we have to make use

this golden period of children brain, because it is the best time to learn language.

Nevertheless, teaching English to very young learners as a foreign

language has its own difficulty. Cameron (2001) considers children do not have

the same ability to use language to talk about language as older learners. In other

words, they do not have the same access to meta-language that the teachers use.

She also adds that children easily lose their interest on the material and are less

able to keep themselves motivated on materials they find difficult. Therefore,

teachers need a strategy to make young English learners more interested to the

lesson. One way to attract children‟s interest in learning English is by using

literature in their teaching and learning activity. Teaching English through

literature has been used in many English speaking countries (Rass & Holzman,

2011). On the other hand, Sell (2005) also concludes that literature in the target

language may enhance language learning at primary level since the cognitive

3

processes of young learners are particularly adept at dealing with narrative

structures. McRae (1991) adds that children learn to use language through

invention, experimentation and stories. The language they use is rapidly related to

imaginative stimuli, so it may be very relevant to use literature in children

education, especially in teaching English.

Essentially, there were several specific reasons why I was interested in

researching the use of literature in TEYL. Despite the fact that many researchers

claimed that literature was beneficial, many of them also argued that teachers had

negative views toward using literature in English teaching. One of them is McRae

(1991). He said that teachers felt rather inadequate when facing literature, either

they had no literacy qualification or they had not studied literature in their past

learning. Hişmanoğlu (2005) added that teachers were often lack of preparation in

the area of literature teaching. He also said that teachers didn‟t have the

background and training in literature and they lacked of pedagogically-designed

appropriate materials. Those were also supported by Cremin, Mottram, Bearne

and Goodwin (2008). Their research revealed that teachers were lack of

professional knowledge and assurance with children‟s literature and the minimal

knowledge of global literature.

From those experts‟ statements, I was wondering what exactly happened

with literature and English teaching in Indonesia, especially Salatiga and

Semarang Regency. Did the teachers in Salatiga and Semarang regency also have

negative view and lack of knowledge and preparation of using literature in their

teaching? I was interested in doing my research on the use of literature to teach

4

young English learners in local schools in Indonesia. My research here focused on

knowing the teachers‟ views in using literature. This issue then later on became

my research question. “What are the views of the teachers about using literature in

TEYL?” Therefore, this study aimed to examine the teacher‟s views on how the

teachers select the literature, their methods and their problem in using literature to

teach English.

Teachers are the front-liner in education world. They take a crucial part in

the process of students learning, so teacher should have a way to teach

interestingly. With this study hopefully teachers could be wiser in selecting

literature based on the students‟ need, and this research would encourage other

educators to try using literature in their teaching. By doing this research this study

would give contribution to the teaching of English, especially young learners. I

also wished that the result of this research could usefully add and enrich teachers‟

repertoire of methods and pedagogy. And hopefully, the result of this study would

enrich the literature about the use of literature to teach English to young learners.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Theoretical Background

To analyze the research questions of this study, the research will use

several theories from the experts. The theories about young learners, literature,

selecting literature, methods and approaches of using literature in teaching English

are discussed in attempting to answer the research question about how the

teachers use literature in teaching English to young learners.

5

1. Young Learners

Pinter (2006) classifies the characteristics of younger learners as children

who are at pre-school or in the first couple of years of schooling, have a holistic

approach to language, which means that they understand meaningful messages but

cannot analyze language yet, have lower level of awareness about themselves as

language learners as well as about process of learning, have limited reading and

writing skills even in their first language, they are more concerned about

themselves than others, have a limited knowledge about the world and they enjoy

fantasy, imagination and movement. Whereas, Cameron (2001) said in her book

that young learners mean those between five and twelve years old.

If we look at the statements by the experts above, it can be concluded that

the classifications of young learners are not determined by their ages. It is because

every child starts their language learning in various ages. The term „young

learners‟ entirely functions as an umbrella to cover a range of ages. In other

words, if they are still early learners, they can be categorized as young learners.

But in general, young learners can be categorized as those between five and

twelve years old.

2. Literature

Murdoch (1978) in Lazar (1993) said that literature is a sort of disciplined

technique for arousing certain emotion. Whereas Barthes (1978) in Lazar (1993)

said that literature is the question minus the answer. According to McRae (1991)

literature is any text whose imaginative content will stimulate reaction and

response in the receiver. Therefore, to classify the kind or type of literature, I will

6

also use the theory from McRae (1991) which called literature with small “l”. It is

about the type of literatures other than classic literature. He said that literature is

often associated with canonical literary works. What he means by canonical

literary works are great literature and the study of literature. For example: classic

literary works such as drama, poetry, Holy Bible, Holy Quran, etc. Those literary

works often called Literature with capital “L”.

Whereas, he has a notion that literature is not merely the great literature as

said above. So he proposed literature with small “l”, McRae (1991) defined

literature with small “l” as any text whose imaginative content will stimulate

reaction and response in the receiver. Still in McRae statement, literature with

small “l” may include songs, lyrics, scripts, short stories, novels, folktales,

comics, films, eulogy, haiku, biography, memoirs, advertisements, newspapers,

letter, notes, recipes, leaflets, etc. He said that everything whose imaginative

content will stimulate reaction and response in the receiver is called literature.

If we see again at the theories from the experts above, literature was

defined in various explanations. However, the theory proposes by McRae seems

to fit this research more. The theory of literature with capital „L‟ and small „l‟ was

also used by some studies which are similar with this study, and it will be

discussed later on in Literature Review Presentation point.

3. Advantages of Using Literature

The use of literature in teaching English gives many advantages both for

students and the teachers. There are three findings that are revealed by Scott &

7

Huntington (2007). Those findings can also be said as the advantages of using

literary works in teaching language to novice learners. The first advantage of

using literature in teaching language to novice learners is helping students develop

cognitive flexibility and affective awareness. Secondly, using literature can be

used to develop students‟ insight qualities in the earliest stages of language

learning. And the last one, when discussing literary works in L2 or target language

with novice learners, they can be more productive in using the first language.

Lazar (1993) also states in his book entitled “Literature and Language Teaching”

that literature can be highly motivating the students in learning English. To

complete it, Parkinson and Reid Thomas (2000) list, with more or less approval,

the ten benefits of using literature.

Here are the ten benefits of using literature that were listed by Parkinson

and Reid Thomas (2000). First, they mention about cultural enrichment. Reading

literature promotes cultural understanding and awareness so that will enrich the

cultural knowledge of the students. Then, the second is linguistic model.

Literature provides examples of “good” writing, linguistic diversity, expressive

ranges, and so on. The next is mental training. Better than any other disciplines,

literature trains the mind and sensibility. The fourth advantage is extension of

linguistic competence. Literature stretches the competences of learners who have

mastered the linguistic rudiments. The next benefit of literature is authenticity

since literature is genuine linguistic material, not a linguistically contrived

textbook. Number six is memorability, because literature, especially poetry and

songs, is memorable. It can be a memorized archive of linguistic usage. The

8

seventh advantage is rhythmic resource. Poems assist the learner in assimilating

the rhythms of a language. The benefit number eight is that literature can be a

motivating material. Literature is more likely to engage with and motivate a

learner than artificial teaching inputs because it is generated by some genuine

impulse on the part of the writer and deals with subjects and themes which may be

of interest to the learner. The next is open to interpretation, because literature is

open to interpretation and can serve as a basis for “genuine interaction” between

learners. The last one is convenience. It is clear that literature is a handy

(photocopiable) resource.

From those experts, we can see that there are advantages and values in

using literature to teach English. Despite the fact that there are many advantages

of using literature in classroom, there also some problems underlying the use of

literature in teaching English. As Gray (2000) says that literature is authentic

material, Collie & Slatter (1987) argue that as authentic material, most works of

literature are not fashioned for the specific purpose of teaching a language. Same

as Collie & Slatter statement, Hill (1986) says that the inclusion of literature was

ungradable and unsuitable as a model and as the teaching of English for specific

purpose increased. Specific purpose here means the learners‟ need. Collie &

Slatter (1987) & Hill (1986) agree that teacher often complained that the language

of literature was irrelevant with the learners‟ need.

4. Literature Selection

The first step of using literature in teaching EFL is selecting the literature.

This is very important, because according to McRae (1991) the selection of

9

literary text for use in language teaching is difficult, controversial and ultimately

pretty subjective. Thus, the teachers need to be careful in selecting the literature.

They should use literatures that are suitable for their pupils. The text selections

according to McRae (1991) are divided into: accessibility, difficulty, story, the

theme-based approach, text grouping, the pleasure of the text, relevance and

recognition.

Different from that, Lazar (1993) suggests that the criteria in selecting

literature involve the students‟ cultural background, the students‟ linguistic

proficiency, and the students‟ literary background. Lazar (1993) also adds that

there are other factors to consider when selecting literary text. Those factors are

the availability of the text, the length of the text, the exploitability of the text, and

how it will fit with syllabus.

The selection of literature is indeed very crucial in Teaching English,

especially to young learners. Teachers have to consider plenty of things, like what

the experts says above, before they choose the most suitable material for their

students. Later, this research would be underlain by those two experts‟ theories of

selecting literature.

5. Methodology of Using Literature

Based on Durant‟s (1995) review, there are four methodologies which he

said as the main possible methodologies of teaching literature. The first

methodology is lecture. Lectures are perhaps the most-used method in teaching

literature, especially for exposition of individual texts or groups of texts to large

numbers of students. Durant (1995) said that typically lectures are monologues

10

(sometimes monologues with time set aside for questions or discussion at the

end); and they appear appropriate to transferring information from the lecturer to a

group of students. The second methodology is informal dialogue. In this scenario,

the student is asked by the supervisor to report on what she or he has been doing;

the supervisor then sits back for an extended answer, while the student talks in

detail about what she or he has read and thought. Thirdly, workshops are

involved. Workshops generally take the form of simulations, tasks and role-play.

They involve, essentially, a concern to impose structure on learning-events, by

specifying a task which offers students a clear idea of what they are supposed to

do, and achievable goals or outcomes to motivate and direct the learning process.

The last one is self-access learning. These, where available, have the effect of

freeing students from the constraint of having to work together at the same pace,

or in the same sequence. They can also provide a high degree of individualised

learner-feedback.

B. Literature Review Presentation

Tasneen (2010) had conducted similar study entitled “Literary Texts in the

Language Classroom: a study of teachers‟ and students‟ views at international

schools in Bangkok” which aimed to find out the teachers‟ and the students‟

views about using literary texts in the language classes at some international

schools in Bangkok. This study also investigated about how much compatible are

the classroom activities with their views and what kind of materials do the

teachers prefer to use in their English language teaching. The research questions

11

were attempted to be answered through questionnaires (for the students and the

teachers), interviews (the teachers and the students) and some classroom

observations.

The study conducted by Tasneen (2010) resulted that both the teachers

(37%) and students (68%) believed that literature was an asset to be used as the

language teaching resource. However, she added that both the teachers and the

students faced some problems with literature in the language classrooms; 88% of

the teachers thought that, for the students the linguistic level of the text and

sometimes the cultural unfamiliarity hindered their comprehension of the texts.

They liked both literatures with small and big „L‟ to be used in their language

classrooms. In fact some of them added that in a number of cases literature with

small „l‟ was more functional, as it gave the students quicker glimpses of various

styles and structures.

With the existence of this similar research conducted by Tasneen (2010) I

could draw some hypotheses toward the research question of this study. From the

study by Tasneen (2010) hypothetically the teachers have positive view toward

the use of literature in English language classroom. In addition, I hope this similar

study could also guide me through every process in finishing this research.

THE STUDY

Research Methodology

A. Context of the study

12

. This study was set in eight schools in Salatiga and Semarang regency,

Central Java, Indonesia. There were some reasons why I chose Salatiga and

Semarang regency as my context of the study. The first reason is that the English

education in Salatiga and Semarang regency is growing so fast. Almost every

school includes English as their main subject. Likewise, there are a lot of

elementary schools and kindergarten in Salatiga and Semarang regency. So that it

will make me easier to find the participants of my research.

B. Participants

This study used random samplings strategies. The participants of this

study were eight teachers who were teaching English for young learners in

Salatiga and Semarang Regency. The criterion in selecting the teachers as the

participants was those who were using literature in their English teaching. Pseudo

name were used instead of mentioning the real name of participants (teachers) in

this research. Those participants were Teacher A, Teacher B, and Teacher C and

so on. The teachers were interviewed and observed (recorded) while they were

teaching. The observation supplemented the interview data. It functioned to

provide more information about the actual teaching learning activities in the

classroom and to see the actual teaching-learning activities in the classroom. The

classes were selected based on the these two criterions. First, the classes were

taught English regularly. It meant that the English course was taught for example:

every week or two times a week. Secondly, they were using literature in teaching

English in the class.

13

C. Instruments of Data Collection

In attempting to get the answer of my research question, I got the data

through semi-structured interview and observation. The interview focused on

examining the teachers‟ views (see Appendix A). Each interview lasted for around

twenty minutes. The interviews were done in Indonesian language because as

Nation (2003) suggested, it is easier and more communicatively effective to use

the L1. However, I translated both the questions and the answers from the

participants into English to make it easier for the readers to understand the data

(see Appendix B). I also did observations to some participants. It was done from

February until March 2013. The observations functioned to provide more

information about the actual teaching learning activities in the classroom. The

class activity was recorded from the beginning of the lesson until the end of the

lesson.

D. Procedure

This study is descriptive qualitative research. The data was analyzed

qualitatively. The data collection procedures for this research were divided into

three steps. The first step was the first meeting with the participant of this research

which was the teachers. In this step, I asked permission to the schools‟ principals

and met the English teachers of the schools. I gave the teacher questions asking

about general information and decided the time and setting of the observation. The

second step was doing the observation. The observation was done to the classes

that were using literature in teaching English. To get information about the use of

14

literature to teach English in classroom, the class activity was recorded from the

beginning of the lesson until the end of the lesson. After doing every observation,

I asked the teacher to arrange the last interview which I called the third section of

this data collection (see Appendix A). In that interview the teachers would be

asked some questions related to the teaching in the class that had been observed

before. The questions‟ order more or less were divided into questions focusing

the teacher‟s view in using literature to teach English. The questions would be

flexibly adjusted, depended on the needs until I get all the data.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This section will be discussing about some emerging themes from the

interviews and observations data. Based on my research questions, this research

was conducted to know teachers‟ opinion and view toward the use of literature in

TEYL. Along with that, There were four emerging themes discussed in this

section which are: the advantage of using literature in TEYL, problems they face

when they are using literature in TEYL, the kinds of literature they prefer to use

and the reason for selecting the literatures and teachers‟ methodology of using

literature in teaching.

A. Teacher’s view in using literature in English teaching

This part will talk about teachers view toward using literature in their

teaching. The interview data found that almost all of the teachers gave positive

view toward using literature in their teaching. Some of them gave similar opinion

toward this issue.

15

In my opinion it is one way to make them interested in learning English.

Through some literatures such as short stories that they have been already

familiar with, they will be more interested and familiar with English

language so that it will make us easier to teach and easier also for them to

learn English. (Teacher A)

The opinion from Teacher A above showed that for the Teacher A, literature was

very good in making the students interested to learn English. Similar to teacher

A‟s statement, using literature was a good way to attract the students‟ attention

were also declared by Teacher D. It could make Teacher D easier in doing her job.

In my opinion, literature helps me to teach them easily, I feel that literature

also help the students be interested to the teaching. So that it makes me

easier in doing my job as a teacher, because I can say that literature here

could act as my assistant in teaching. (Teacher D)

We can see that according to them literature is really helpful in making the

students interested in the materials. This is similar to the concept of reason in

using literature by Collie & Slatter (1987). They say that literature deals with

themes and topics which are intrinsically interesting, because it uses part of the

human experience, and treats them in ways designed to engage the readers‟

attention. The use of literature in teaching English does not only attract children‟s

attention, but also facilitates integration of the language skills (Ghosn, 2002). That

opinion is also revealed by Teacher G.

16

It‟s fun, instead of explaining to them directly, I tend to use literature to

make it more fun so that the students will be interested more and not

getting bored. I think it is effective also, as long as the students know the

vocabulary so that they will understand the material. In my institution, the

English learning for children are focused more on vocabulary, because it is

simpler than learning grammar. So, I use literature here as the models of

language to teach them vocabularies. (Teacher G)

As what Ghosn (2002) proposes, Teacher G said that besides it makes the students

interested, literature also facilitates integration to the language area which is

vocabulary. Almost all of the participants in this research gave positive views

about using literature in teaching English language, but there is one respondent

which is Teacher E who mentioned not only the advantages, but also the

challenges in the application of research in her class.

I think applying literature for them is quite difficult, because they tend to

be interested more in moving things, so if I apply it to them they will be

interested but for short time and then forget it. And if I read them a story,

they will be interested more to the teacher rather than the story itself. So, I

think literature is useful for some reasons only, when the teacher is active

it will works really well. (Teacher E)

Therefore, from all those respondents it can be concluded that teachers‟

view toward literature in English teaching is positive. This is similar to what

17

Tasneen‟s (2012) research that both students and teachers had positive view that

literature is a good language learning resources.

B. The advantages of using literature in English teaching

As you see in my introduction part, we all know that there are so many

advantages of using literature in English teaching proposed by the experts. In this

section, the advantages of literature in English teaching from the point of view of

the front-liner in it, which are the teachers, will be discussed. There are several

advantages that were stated by the participants of this research. Their opinions are

various one to the others, and in this section it will be seen deeper the opinions

about the benefits of literature in English language teaching.

Here is one opinion that was said by Teacher C about the advantages of

using literature in English teaching.

It is useful for the students. From the literature itself, they can learn

vocabulary, and also they can learn the structure of every sentence. So it is

a good example for them in learning English language. For the teacher, it

is helpful, because by using it, I feel that the students are more interested

and paying more attention to the teaching so that I don‟t need to yell at

them. (Teacher C)

The same opinion also told by Teacher G and Teacher E. They agreed that using

literature can be useful because it can become models for the language they teach.

I think it is effective, as long as the students know the vocabulary so that

they will understand the material. In my institution, Children learning of

18

English is focused more on vocabulary, because it is simpler than learning

grammar. So I use literature here as the models of language to teach them

vocabularies. (Teacher G)

Here is the Teacher E opinion about advantages of using literature on English

teaching.

It makes me easier to teach. For me literature is like the prolongation or

extension of me. So I can say that I am explaining and the literature is

modeling. When using literature the students will remember better.

(Teacher E)

From the opinion of Teacher C and Teacher G and Teacher E above, it

could be said that the benefit that they got from literature was the linguistic

modeling from literature itself. Teacher C could use literatures as the example

language for the students. The benefit of literature as a linguistic model iss also

discussed by Sell (2005) in his list of ten benefits of literature in foreign language

classroom. He says that literature can be used as linguistic model. He added that

literature provides examples of good writing, linguistic diversity, expressive

ranges, and so on.

Another benefit that was revealed from the interview with the respondents

is the memorability aspect.

19

It makes me easier to teach. For me literature is like the prolongation or

extension of me. So I can say that I am explaining and the literature is

modeling. When using literature the students will remember better.

(Teacher E)

From the view of Teacher E using literature will make the students remember

better. This view is also supported by Teacher D‟s argument.

They will remember and understand it by listening to the story and looking

at the pictures, moreover when I use song which is followed by doing the

gestures so that they will notice and understand the meaning of the song.

(Teacher D)

Those two opinions from the teachers are agreed by Maley and Moulding (1985)

they said that literature is having the benefits of memorability. Because literature,

especially poetry and songs, is memorable, it can be a memorized archive of

linguistic usage. Eventually, It is very agreeable with Teacher D‟s opinion.

Along with those two views I also found interesting fact about modeling

and memorability benefits of using literature in English teaching. There are 3

teachers that use literature as a model of language and asked their students to

make their own literature based on the models. They claimed that by using that

method it will make them remember everything because they experience it

themselves.

So far I still asked them to make a narrative text or short story. Like for

example yesterday when I discussed about transportation, I asked them to

write a story about what transportation that they use when they were in

20

their vacation. Another example when we discussed about profession, I

asked them to make their own story about what are their aspiration in the

future. I asked them to look at the example of short story as a guide. By

asking them to create their own literature, I believe that the students will

always remember that. (Teacher A)

In that statement, Teacher A used literature as a model for the students and asked

them to create their own literature. During my observation in Teacher A‟s class it

was clearly shown that Teacher A asked her students to produce their own

literature in a kind of short story. By asking them to create their own literature,

Teacher A believes that the students will always remember what Teacher A taught

them. The same opinion also stated by Teacher B below.

I think children tend to imitate what they experience. If they introduced to

literature and they try to practiced it and imitate it by asking them to create

their own literary work like short story, it will be easier for them to learn

and remember it. (Teacher B)

Teacher B agreed that by asking them to create their own literature, it will be

easier for them to learn and remember it. To make it complete Teacher H also

stated that

As I experience when I taught writing to the students, I use literature, in

this case short story, as an example for the students before they made their

own short story. By doing that I found out that students will memorize it

better the next day. (Teacher H)

21

These were supported by Bertrand (2010) in Read (2010), he said that usually the

children take the story they've read and using the vocabulary they've learnt around

the subjects in the story can personalize it and re-create their own story. It's a very

enriching process. From those teachers statements, it can be concluded that from

the point of view of the teachers, literature has memorability and linguistic

modeling benefits as what Sell (2005) and Maley and Moulding (1985) stated in

their works.

C. Problems in using literature to teach English to young learners.

Using literature in English teaching has so many advantages. Teachers

have claimed it as a fact of their teaching. Nevertheless, from the interviews with

all the respondents, it is found out that there are also some problems underlying

this issue. As suggested by McRae (1991), the selection of literary text for use in

language teaching is difficult, controversial and ultimately pretty subjective. He

adds that the criteria in selecting literatures are manifold, and probably every

individual teacher would place the important points that follow in a different order

of importance (McRae, 1991). Thus, this chapter will reveal teachers‟ views about

the problem they faced when they are using literature in their class. In general,

there are two main problems that were revealed from the interviews with the

respondents. The first one is the problem with time and the second one is the

problem in selecting the literatures. Most of them were experiencing both

problems.

Some teachers confirmed that they have problem in time management for

preparing the literature to teach the students.

22

In my opinion, I can‟t handle the time, because in preparing the literature it

needs much time. The literature that is given can‟t be random literature, I

should consider the topic, theme, level, etc. So it is sometimes time

consuming in preparation. (Teacher A)

Another idea was also declared by Teacher B and Teacher D. They also have

problem in time usage. However, in both teachers‟ statements, they said that the

problem also relied on the selection of the literature which will be discussed also

later on. Here are their statements.

It maybe my fault in selecting the literature itself, because one literature

can be applied nicely in certain class but maybe won‟t be in another class.

When I use literature maybe it makes them lose focus because they enjoy

the literature too much and forget the main material. And it is time

consuming also. (Teacher B)

In addition to that, Teacher D said that

Sometimes, I have difficulty when looking for or selecting literature for

them. Besides the limited time, media and money, I also have to consider

their level in English. My students are not so good in English so that I have

to select literature that is easy enough for them and suitable for their level.

(Teacher D)

From those answers confessed by some teachers, we can see that for them, using

literature is sometimes time consuming. This finding is also supported by

O‟Connell (2009) he says that it is the biggest cause of excluding literature from

the language classroom, the over-riding factor which supposedly clinches the

23

argument, is that there is no time in the school syllabus for such wasting time

material like literature.

Another problem of using literature in English teaching that arouse from

the interview sections with the respondents was the selection of the literatures.

Some teachers confessed that they sometimes got difficulty in choosing or

selecting the suitable literatures to teach their students. Like what Teacher B and

D have already mentioned above, Teacher E stated that

The problem occurs when the literature I chose is not suitable with their

age. They can‟t understand when the materials are too alien for them. So I

have to choose the material that is familiar for them. (Teacher E)

Lazar (1993) suggests that the criteria in selecting literature involve the students‟

cultural background, the students‟ linguistic proficiency, and the students‟ literary

background. Along with that statement, Teacher H also claimed that it was hard to

choose literature in Teacher H‟s teaching.

When I have to search the literature, it is sometimes hard for me because I

have to consider so many things, the suitability, the length of the story and

the difficulty for the students. I have to find the most suitable literary

works for them. (Teacher H)

Lazar (1993) also adds that there are other factors to consider when selecting

literary text. Those factors are: the availability of the text, the length of the text,

the exploitability of the text, and how it will fit with syllabus.

Selection of literary text for use in language teaching is difficult,

controversial and ultimately pretty subjective (McRae, 1991). From those

24

discussions above, we can draw a conclusion that teachers were sometimes get

problems or difficulties in the process of using literature in their teaching. The

main problems that they usually got were the time limit and the selecting of

literature. It proves that McRae‟s (1991) hypothesis which mentioned about the

criteria in selecting literatures are manifold, and probably every individual teacher

would place the important points that follow in a different order of importance is

very true.

D. The kinds of literature they prefer to use and the reason for selecting the

literatures

McRae (1991) divides literature into literature with capital “L” and

literature with small “l”. Literature is often associated with canonical literary

works. What he means by canonical literary works are great literature and the

study of literature. For example: classic literary works such as drama, poetry,

Holy Bible, Holy Quran, etc. those literary works often called Literature with

capital “L”. Whereas, he defines literature with small “l” as any text whose

imaginative content will stimulate reaction and response in the receiver. Still in

McRae statement, literature with small “l” may include: songs, lyrics, scripts,

short stories, novels, folktales, comics, films, eulogy, haiku, biography, memoirs,

advertisements, newspapers, letter, notes, recipes, leaflets, etc. He says that

everything whose imaginative content will stimulate reaction and response in the

receiver is called literature. So with the theory which is proposed by McRae, I

want to know what literary works were used by the teachers.

25

From the participants‟ answers, most of them were using short story and

song lyrics as their materials. A view of them was also using poems and mini-

drama. Nevertheless majority of them were using story as their preference either

short story text or story books.

So far, I‟m still using story books and short story texts, because I realize

that they are still elementary students, so their grade and level in English is

still not too good. And I thought that the most suitable material for them is

short story. (Teacher H)

From the statement above it can be seen that Teacher H prefered to use story

books and short story texts because Teacher H thought that it would be suitable

for elementary school students. In agreement with Teacher H, Teacher D

confirmed that Teacher D was also using story books, and Teacher D added some

detail information about it.

I usually use story book, which has pictures in it, we read it first for them

and show the pictures to them then we translated it into their language, so

that they will understand the English word of the pictures. They will

remember and understand it by listening to the story and looking at the

pictures. (Teacher D)

In the statement above, Teacher D was using story books frequently, and Teacher

D added that s/he tend to use story book that has pictures in it so that the students

will understand the English word of the pictures and they will remember and

understand it by listening to the story and looking at the pictures. During my

observation, it was also seen that they majority were using story in teaching

26

English to their students. It is clear that story, no matter kinds of it, is preferred a

lot by the teachers.

Another kind of literature that is very popular to use based on their

answers in the interview is song. Almost all of them used song in their teaching

with the reasons which were various, and here are some opinions from them.

I usually use song, short story, mini drama and also posters. For songs, I

usually make it myself because I tried to adjust to the students need or to

the theme. Sometimes, song lyrics that is already created or already in

books are not always suitable for students‟ needs and the theme, so I

usually made the lyrics myself. (Teacher F)

In this case, Teacher F was creating the lyrics himself. It was due to the suitability

with the learners‟ need and the theme s/he brought. Teacher F also added,

From my experience for about 9 years in teaching children I notice that

averagely children likes singing, no matter their voice are good or not, it

doesn‟t matter. The importance one is they like song. That‟s why I prefer

song in my teaching. (Teacher F)

Additionally, Teacher C has the same opinion about using song lyrics when

teaching.

In my class I still only use short story and sometimes song. I use those

literatures because I think those literatures are not too complicated for my

students. If I use other materials like poems for example, I think it is not

suitable for them because since they are young learners I think it is better

to teach them simpler use of English like what I find in short story and

27

song. In addition I use song more for their entertainment. I hope when I

use song they feel enjoy and not stressed. (Teacher C)

From those statements by the interviewees, it can be affirmed that the

reason they use song as their teaching materials is because the students enjoys it.

Once again, McRae (1991) in his book “Literature with a Small „l‟ ” provided

some support toward the reason they use song as their teaching materials. McRae

(1991) summarized that the reason for using songs are well-known and hardly

need to be gone into again here: familiarity, accessibility, memorability, the close

links between sound and sense, rhythm and rhyme, melody and meaning, as well

as simple enjoyable language practice, are all valid reasons for using song. In the

end, the answers from the teachers shows that they were all preferring to use

literature with small „l‟ rather than the capital „L‟.

E. Teachers’ methodology of using literature in teaching

At this point, we will be discussing about kind of methodology or way of

teaching that the teachers use when they include literatures in their teaching. From

the interviews it was found out that the way teachers used literature in their

teaching is various. On the other hand, some of them were in agreement of the

same technique as can be seen from their answers below.

I have 2 ways of teaching and it depends on the number of the students.

First, when the numbers of the students are about 15 or below, I usually

asked them to form their seat in circle and we do sharing and small

discussion. In the bigger number of students, I usually divide them into

several small groups and I let them discuss the material with their group.

28

Or sometimes I ask the representatives of them to read the literatures I give

or the literatures they made themselves and also some kind of role-play.

(Teacher A)

In the statement above Teacher A explained two ways of teaching, but I

recognize that the thing Teacher A use is the same, which is discussion. Teacher

A also added that s/he used role-play also in the teaching. An almost similar

statement is also confirmed by Teacher C.

Sometimes I ask them to read the short story and I help them to correct the

pronunciation and tell the meaning of the words they haven‟t known yet.

Sometimes I also ask them to form groups and discuss in their group. Also

I often ask them to act or practice the things in the text. But usually I just

teach them as standard teachers do, you know, teacher standing in front of

the class and the students pay attention to me. (Teacher C)

Teacher C also mentioned discussion as his/her way in teaching which is

collaborated with teacher centered teaching. In addition, Teacher C stated his/her

believe toward discussion in class.

I focus More to group discussion, it is my way to make them cooperate

with other, to communicate and be active. I believe that somehow group

discussion is more enhance them to memorize something rather than when

they work themselves. I also doing what usually teacher do, like teacher

centered teaching. I teach them and they listen to me. I used to do it when

we are going to face test or examination. Usually when I gave them short

29

story I walk around them and help them with their problem or explain if

they have questions or difficult vocabularies. (Teacher B)

From what Teacher B said, it is clear that s/he also prefers group discussion in

class; Teacher B added that group discussion can make them communicative,

active and cooperative with others. Teacher B believes that somehow group

discussion can enhance them more to memorize something rather than when they

work themselves. It was agreed by McRae (1991), he said that discussion, in

pairs, in groups, or in the form of debate or whole class interaction will develop

reading memory, memory reference search and recall.

Another methodology that was popularly used by the participants was

role-playing or simulation.

Very effective, because in my opinion students cannot concentrate only to

the teacher or to one object only but always change to the other object, so

here literature is very effective and suitable for which are very active and

dynamic. One technique to deal with that matter is making them

practice/doing the words in a song or story. For example: the rabbit jump,

jump, jump. The students will also do jumping. (Teacher E)

It is very clear explanation that was established by Teacher E that in order to deal

with active students Teacher E used role-playing as his/her technique in teaching.

By the side of the statement above, Teacher F is in agreement with Teacher E

statement.

30

I like it more in practice material, not theoretical materials. Back to the

children‟s characteristic which is playing and active. For example singing

and mini drama. . . . . I also notice that children is active, their motoric

ability is strong, so I also have to provide a place for them like using mini

drama every the end of semester . . . . Actually in my institution, the

methodology used for every child is different. It depends on every child‟s

characteristic. But basically it can be concluded that the methodology is

active learning. They are not taught like conventional teaching like they

are silent and the teacher teach them. It can‟t be like that. So we let them

active as they like and teacher here act as facilitator for them. For example

they sing a song with music; they do drama performance every semester. It

will make them have place to express their activeness and also interested

more in English. (Teacher F)

It makes it clearer that from those opinions, role-play can make the students have

some place to express their activeness. And those teachers agreed that role-

playing is a good way when dealing with active students. During the observations,

it also can be seen that discussion and role-playing were used by them and it

worked very well with the students.

CONCLUSION

Literature has played a big role in language education for so long. Yet,

there are still so many things that have to be considered in the practice of using

literature in English language teaching. Teacher should consider the selection of

31

the literature itself, the problems that may occur when they deal with literature

and the methodology when they use literature in their teaching. Through this

study, I was wondering what exactly happened in the practice of using literature in

English language teaching in Salatiga and Semarang regency. Therefore, this

study aimed to identify the teachers‟ view towards the use of literature in English

teaching to young learners. Furthermore, the teachers‟ real practice and

application of using literature in their teaching can be seen clearly along this

study.

Throughout this study, it is concluded that all the teachers agreed to give

positive views toward the use of literature in English language teaching. Majority

of them stated that literature was really helpful in making the students interested

in the materials and also facilitated integration of the language skills, for example:

vocabulary, reading and writing skill. From this research, I also found that

teachers pronounced some advantages of using literature in their teaching. The

common advantages that were pronounced by the teachers in this research were

memorability and linguistic modeling benefits. However, there were also other

benefits revealed by the teachers. Literatures, for them, were considered as

interesting and motivating materials.

Conversely, there were also some problems underlying the usage of

literature in English teaching. As what Hişmanoğlu (2005) says that teachers are

often lack of preparation in the area of literature teaching. Teachers are also not

having the background and training in literature and they lack of pedagogically-

designed appropriate materials. It is very obvious that they also had some

32

problems within the using of literature in their teaching. Nevertheless, their

problems are a bit different with what Hişmanoğlu (2005) has argued. The

teachers in Salatiga and Semarang regency commonly has problem in selecting

the literatures and time management. Choosing the appropriate and proportional

literature materials for the students was claimed as a difficult and time consuming

matter for them. They have to suit the requirements when they are selecting the

literatures. Consequently, the teachers chose their materials based on the students

needs. Generally, they preferred to use songs and stories as their materials because

those were the most suitable materials for their students.

To deliver the materials, teachers actually need the methodology or way of

teaching. Furthermore, when using literature in their teaching, some teachers in

my study commonly did class-discussion or group discussion in their class and

some of them asked their students to do role-playing. They believed that group

discussion could make them communicative, active and cooperative with others.

Moreover, somehow group discussion could assist them to memorize something

rather than when they worked by themselves. They also believed that role-play

enabled the students to express their active participation in class. And those

teachers agreed that role-playing was a good way when dealing with active

students. Although Hişmanoğlu (2005), Cremin, Mottram, Bearne and Goodwin

(2008) states that teachers are often lack of background, preparation and

knowledge of literature in teaching, the teachers in this study, however, showed

us that they were actually well-prepared and have the knowledge to teach English

by using literature as the teaching aids. It is proven from the result of this study

33

that the teachers are well-prepared from the selecting of literature, anticipating the

problems that occur and teaching.

To sum up, using literature in English language teaching carries so many

benefits both for the teachers and the students. However, there are still some

problems that may occur. Hence, teacher should consider a number of things

when they deal with literature to teach young language learners. They have to suit

the needs of the students and the materials that they are willing to present. As a

matter of fact, knowing what the students need, want, lack, and desire in their

study of literature is a key of success (Thom, 2008). At the end, as the suggestions

for further research, researchers should find a way to know what the students

need, want, lack, and desire in their study of English language with the help of

literature.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, thank to God, the Almighty for everything. This paper owes many

debts to many people. The foremost debt goes to my supervisor, Mrs. Victoria

Usada Palupi, MA-ELT, and my examiner, Mrs. Christiana Sidupa, M.Hum., who

vigorously guided me in finishing this paper. This paper will never be done

without the kindness of Mrs. Suzana Maria, M.Hum and Mrs. Anita Kurniawati,

M.Hum who has helped me to solve some problems related to the publishing of

this paper. Biggest thank to my parents, Djoko Prastowo and Siti Widiyatni who

have sacrificed everything and tirelessly gave me support in completing my study

and my sister Annisa Prastiwi who indirectly supports me in my thesis. Thanks as

well to my thesis classmates, Yayas, Dika, Renata, Put, Wimbo, Daniel. My crazy

34

besties, Bugil, Maki, Iled, Chembun, Kuma, Benny, Damn, Keong, Pepi, Ninda,

BuRoso‟s boys and 2008ers family, for supporting me. Also my scooter, Smithy

Werben Jaggerman Jansen who tirelessly accompany me wherever I went in the

process of making this paper.

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37

APPENDIX A

Interview questions

1. What do you think about using literature in your teaching?

2. What do you feel when you are using literature as your aid of teaching?

3. How often do you use literature in your teaching?

4. What teaching materials (literature) do you use in your teaching? (story

books, song lyrics, poems, self-made materials, etc). why?

5. What reason do you have in choosing that/those materials?

6. Why don‟t you use other materials other than that?

7. In what way do you use literature in your teaching?

8. What are your expectations when you are using literature in your teaching?

9. What do you think the advantage(s) of using literature in your teaching?

for you? For the students?

10. What do you think the disadvantage(s) of using literature in your teaching?

for you? For the students?

11. In your opinion, how important is literature in your everyday teaching?

12. How effective do you think using literature in your teaching? Why?

38

APENDIX B

Example of interview answers

1. What do you think about using literature in your teaching?

In my opinion it is one way to make them interested in learning English.

Through some literatures such as short stories that they have been already

familiar with, they will be more interested and more familiar with English

language so that it will make it easier to us to teach and easier also for

them to learn English.

2. What do you feel when you are using literature as your aid of

teaching?

I feel it sometimes could be easy but sometimes could be difficult, it‟s so-

so. It is easy when the students were interested to the material (literature)

that I brought. It will make the students more engaged and involved in the

teaching process.

It is difficult for me in selecting the literature, it is quite hard for me to find

some suitable literatures for their knowledge and their level, but it‟s Quite

challenging.

-added Question: you said that it’s difficult for you to choose

literature which is suitable for them, so how did you deal with it? what

is your trick in selecting literature for them?

Before that, I need to tell you that usually I give literature for them not at

the beginning of the class/ semester. but I have to see their ability in

English and their level in English first. for example: I teach 4,5, and 6th

grader of elementary school, their characteristic are far different one

another. For example, 4th

graders are easier in absorbing the materials I

gave, so it is easier to apply literatures in their class. the application of

literature in the other classes are quite difficult. So I have to be more

careful in selecting the literature for them. I have to reconsider their level,

knowledge and ability in English. For example; I usually choose literatures

such as short story that are familiar for them. If they don‟t know or not

familiar yet with the story it will make it difficult for them also for me. So

I tend to not to give them that material.

3. How often do you use literature in your teaching?

Not too often, it depends on the materials and theme that I have to teach

them. For example: transportation, etc. so not in every single class I teach

using literature. It also depends on the time. Because for example: in grade

6, we are demanded to finish all materials in time before the national

exam, so the inclusion of literature here only be used for refreshing, not as

the main material. Because it‟s quite time consuming. But in grade 4 and 5

I often ask them to create their own literature (short story).it doesn‟t mean

that I am too lazy to provide them literatures but with that, I am sure that it

will emerge their sense of appreciating literature itself. When they have

39

their own literary work and they read it in front of class and the others give

them applause, it will teach them how to appreciate literature.

-added Question: you asked your students to create their own

literature? what kind of literature? And what is it used for?

So far I still asked them to make a narrative text or short story. Like for

example yesterday when I discussed about transportation, I asked them to

write a story about what transportation that they use when they were in

their vacation. Another example when we discussed about profession, I

asked them to make their own story about what are their aspiration in the

future. I asked them to look at the example of short story as a guide. By

asking them to create their own literature, I believe that the students will

always remember that.

4. What teaching materials (literature) do you use in your teaching?

(story books, song lyrics, poems, self-made materials, etc). why?

It depends on the context and theme, so usually I use short story or poem, I

rarely use song in my teaching because I am not good in singing and also

limited in media, because my school is placed in remote area.

5. What reason do you have in choosing that/those materials?

For short story, I use it because it is easy to find and very familiar with

students. so it is easy for me and the students also. For poems, I choose it

because it will help them with their vocabulary. Because in poems there

are so many variations of vocabs and word choices. I also consider their

background knowledge and level in selecting the literature. So that they

are not shocked or unfamiliar when they get the materials. Usually my

trick is explaining to them first about the material that will be discussed.

6. Why don’t you use other materials other than that?

If I use song for example, it will take too long time, because we have to

consider remembering the lyrics, the music etc, but if I use poem or short

story it‟s only based on their mind no need other consideration.

7. In what way do you use literature in your teaching?

I have 2 ways of teaching and it‟s depends on the number of the students.

First when the number of the students are about 15 or below, I usually

asked them to form their seat in circle and we do sharing and small

discussion. In the bigger number of students, I usually divide them into

several small groups and I let them discuss the material with their group.

Or sometimes I ask the representatives of them to read the literatures I give

or the literatures they made themselves and also Some kind of workshop..

8. What are your expectations when you are using literature in your

teaching?

40

When talking about elementary students they are tend to be interested

more in fun activities such as listening to a story, singing and so on. So,

with the inclusion of literature in class I hope that they will be more

interested in learning English although their chance in it is still not too

many. Besides that, I hope they begin to like English, if they like it their

motivation in learning is also increasing.

9. What do you think the advantage(s) of using literature in your

teaching? for you? For the students?

With literature, it will make easier for us to deliver the material. It

minimalize gap between the students and the main material.

-Added Question: gap between students and the main material? Can

you please explain it to me?

Sometimes when we explain about certain materials, the students were not

easily understand what I taught them. So here literature play its role as a

bridge to connect the gap between the students and the material.

10. What do you think the disadvantage(s) or problem that you face when

using literature in your teaching? for you? For the students?

The time, because in preparing the literature itself needs time. The

literature that is given can‟t be random literature, I should consider the

topic, theme, level, etc. so it is sometimes time consuming in preparation.

For the students, I find it difficult when they are dealing with literature that

are unfamiliar for them. So it is a challenge for me to find the most

suitable literature for them.

11. In your opinion, how important is literature in your everyday

teaching?

I think it is not too important, I mean for me, literature is not the main

issue in English teaching. In my teaching it is not the main material, it is

only giving the students new atmosphere and refreshing media besides

their main material. But still it gives many benefits.

12. How effective do you think using literature in your teaching? Why?

In my opinion, it is very effective, because with using literature students

are more interested and motivated. When they are interested and

motivated, it makes them easy to absorb the materials.