[etni] Re: the purposeof teaching English]

Hi Moty,
I think it's fine for kids to be exposed to English language literature in
translation (hey, I certainly had to, in high school in the USA, read a
bunch of works by Moliere, Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Chechov, Cervantes, etc.
and I certainly did not know Russian or Spanish, but am glad to have been
required to read those). I think that reading of literature texts is PART of
language instruction, or at least should be. It's very enriching. As for all
the cultures, I would ideally expose students to a bit of USA literature, a
bit of British literature, etc. Whatever the teacher feels they will be able
to read and enjoy. There are marvelous Indian and Canadian novels too (S.
African and Australian etc. too, of course). All are good for teaching
English if the students can get through them and if the students will find
them interesting, relevant, etc.

Cheers,
Sharon Peress
>
>  -------- Original Message --------
> From: Motty <motty24@xxxxxxx>
>
> I see the purpose of teaching English as affording our students  the
> ability to use it in real life. This includes travel, (backpacking
> around the world,University studies-dealing with intricate and boring
> texts in English , surfing the web, talking to tourists , being fluent
> enough to be understood in business meetings etc.) Whether you are
> preparing a 3,4, or 5point class the ultimate goal should be for them
> to be able to use and understand English when they have to. As far as
> literature goes, in my opinion, that is a different course altogether.
> Frequently, to my consternation, texts I've brought in in english have
> been already taught in Hebrew-I.E. Catcher in The Rye,  Etc. etc. etc.
> as well as many short stories. If English literature is to be taught as
> literature then don't let the "safrut " teachers steal our texts. I
> generally see language instruction as my goal and literature as a tool
> and let the Literature teachers teach Literature as a separate subject.
> (English Language literature is so vast , spanning the gap of hundreds
> of years and 5 continents that to presume by teaching "english
> literature " you are teaching its culture brings up the question "which
> culture?" Brit, Us. Australian, (yes ,I assume they can write books Down
> under) South African, Indian , Canadian , Jamaican And so on. Teaching a
> play, a novel and several short stories can teach about a very specific
> culture of a very specific period, but what 'Culture' is everyone
> talking about?
>
>
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