School of English - AUTh

Description

Course Description

This workshop class will focus on how literature, the arts, and cultural practices can be used as pedagogical tools employed in the educational process, and more specifically in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL). Literature, culture, and language will be considered not as isolated fields, but as naturally intertwined and engaged in an ongoing dialogue. Informed by modern theories of language as hybrid and dynamic and involved in a process of constant (re)construction, as well as poststructuralist approaches to literature and the arts that question their hegemonic nature, we will experiment on experiential and learner-centered educational methods that consider the cultural and personal background of students as a pivotal factor in the teaching process. Each week, students will be called to engage actively in a number of creative activities, games, and improvisations related with the use of poetry, drama, fiction, film, etc. in the EFL classroom. During the last weeks of classes, students will work in groups, in order to devise their own lesson plans. At the end of the semester, there will be 2-3 visits to (primary, secondary, or second chance) schools, where students will have the opportunity to teach learners of different age groups, language level, and backgrounds.

Please note that Lit6-488 belongs to the list of the “Teaching for Special Purposes and Teaching Practice” elective courses required for the Certificate for Pedagogical and Teaching Competence (Student Guide p. 17).

Course Objectives

• to transfer learning in and through literature and the arts to language learning
  
• to familiarize students with modern experiential pedagogies
  
• to provide students with a set of tools which they will use in their own teaching
• to help them design a lesson plan for an EFL class
  
• to inspire students to study literature and language as an opportunity to understand and encourage an even more open and multicultural society

Teaching