Learning Language Through Literature in Secondary Schools: A Resource Book for Teachers of English

Chapter 8 - 'The Course of True Love': Bringing Romance to the English Classroom

Q CI----IAPTER \J 'The Course of True Love': Bringing Romance to the English Classroom Sarah Woodhouse INTRODUCTION Although the lessons which follow are based on the text ofRomeo and Juliet, students are introduced to only a few lines of the original text. This is the ageold story of two teenagers in love. The unit of work which follows provides students with plenty of opportunities to consider contemporary examples of this theme and to interpret the play in ways that are relevant to their own lives and situations. Filmed extracts of two modern versions of Romeo and Juliet have been included in the lessons to provide opportunities for language practice and textual analysis. In my view, film is a much under-utilized resource in the EFL classroom.This is a particularly surprising omission since the current generation of young language learners watch a lot of films (through home-video, movie channels and cinema) and have a sophisticated understanding and enjoyment of film at an early age. Film offers great opportunities for learning language in context and learning language as it is spoken. It also provides insights into the culture(s) of the target language. It can be used for listening exercises or as the basis for discussion. It can provide the stimulus for narrative, descriptive, persuasive and factual writing. The unit of work comprises a series of activities which, if used in their entirety, would take six to eight forty-minute lessons to complete (with some work set as homework). Considerable flexibility has been built into the materials 92 Sarah W oodhouse so that the teacher has the freedom to adapt both the content and the approach according to the group he/she is teaching. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The emphasis of the lessons is less on introducing new linguistic material and more on offering a fresh approach to language reinforcement and textual analysis. It is intended that the use of film and literature will not only provide a meaningful context and a stimulating environment for language practice, but will also introduce students to the skills needed to analyse and appreciate literary texts written in English. The more specific objectives of each activity are: Activity Objectives A Love Story Brainstorming • To introduce the topic and stimulate interest. • To activate relevant prior knowledge. B Awareness of Romantic • To develop students' Stereotypes awareness of character types and stereotypes. • To activate and enrich students' vocabulary. C Story Construction: Skeleton • To practise structuring and Story writing narrative. • To encourage discussion and interpretation. D Jigsaw Reading • To develop students' intensive reading skills. • To underline the importance of references, sequencers and time-markers in the writing of narrative. E Identifying Significant • To develop students' Incidents understanding of the relationships between character, plot and situation. • To create short dramatic episodes. 'The Course of True Love': Bringing Romance to the English Classroom 93 Activity Objectives F Developing Reading Skills • To provide practice in reading for gist. • To foster the skills ofinference and reference. G Expressing Opinions: • To encourage students to The Films express their opinions and feelings about the characters, events and themes of the film. • To reinforce the skills of prediction and inference. • To provide intensive listening practice. H Extension Activities: • To promote students' ability to Developing Writing Skills interpret and understand points of view. • To practise narrative writing skills. LEVEL The lessons have been targeted, in terms of both content and language, at students of Form 4 level and above (Juliet is only thirteen years old when she marries Romeo). This should provide an excellent opportunity to discuss historical and cultural differences and similarities, and more general issues concerning love and marriage. By Form 4, students should have reached a level of maturity which allows them to deal with the romantic theme of the work in a sensitive and appropriate manner. The teacher need not present the material in a stuffy, humourless way. A lot of the motivation and enjoyment is derived from playing with the language of love. The language input is lower-intermediate level, but the materials can be used profitably with more advanced students. PREVIOUS LEARNING To complete the reading and writing activities, students will need to have a working knowledge of the structures associated with simple narrative such as the past tense, sequencers and connectors. A familiarity with different film types would be advantageous but not essential for the discussion, e.g. Westerns, horror films, romances, comedies, musicals, action films and...