English Literature Teaching: An Indonesian Context

Abstract

Literature has gained an increasingly important place in language learning. Particularly in the EFL context, it has been regarded as beneficial for the improvement of English skills. However, there is not much attention given to the teaching of English literature for the sake of literature, not merely as a tool or technique in language learning, especially in Indonesia. The research therefore aims to investigate the teaching of English literature to EFL students in Indonesian universities. More specifically, it attempts to find how English literature lecturers select literary texts, what problems encountered by lecturers in teaching English literature to EFL students, and how they cope with the problems. A case study to three lecturers teaching three different literature courses in a state university in Indonesia was conducted. The findings show that: First, lengths, levels of language difficulty, canonical status, and the cultural background of the author become the main consideration for selecting the literary texts to teach; Second, the problems encountered are of threefold, namely reading habit, English proficiency, and resources; and Third, some of the strategies to cope with the problems consist of individual reading assignment, reading group, and taking the most advantage of the internet for teaching resources. This research has demonstrated that there are many areas for further studies in the teaching of English literature to EFL students in Indonesia, finding effective teaching models is one of them.

The Influence of Locality, Training and Teaching Experience on the Approaches to Teaching Literature

“…It is interesting to note that a number of countries in which English is not their official language have integrated the teaching of English literature in their schools. Novianti (2016) affirms that English literature study in Indonesia is highly inseparable from English language studies, and it does not differ much from other countries, where English is a foreign language. Chen (2012) points out that there is a reform and opening-up in promoting the teaching of literature besides learning English in China though it is less promising in the country.…”

“…The other two least preferred approaches are setting language activities and generating language practices. It is surprising to note that language activities are not highly favoured by the respondents of this study though Novianti (2016) affirms that the study of language has been inseparable from the study of literature. Irrefutably, literature is associated to language and one cannot discard the influence of language learning in literature.…”

“…Teaching literature might be easy as it is associated with language teaching as asserted by Chalikendy (2015) and Violetta-Irene (2015). However, this view is opposed by Novianti (2016) who claims that teaching canonical texts poses many challenges and needs to be undertaken well. On top of that, literature teaching would still pose a big challenge to schools as faced by teachers and students (Ortells, 2013;Tuncer & Kizildag, 2014).…”

“…As revealed by Yunus and Suliman (2014), teachers lack ideas in making a literature lesson meaningful, and this is supported by Muthusamy et al (2017) whose study showed that most teachers claimed that teaching literature is the most difficult thing to do. On the contrary, students might face difficulties to fathom a literary text as a result of limited language mastery as affirmed by Novianti (2016) and Sunardi et al (2018), that limited language proficiency impedes students in understanding literary texts especially classical ones. In detail, the most common problem is the teachers' uneasiness to cope with a wide range of genres (poetry, novel, short stories, and drama) besides the absence of training in literature and the issue of literary jargon mastery (Berrarbi & Bahous, 2018).…”

Scrutinising the Preferences in Literature Approaches and Activities: From the Lenses of ESL Teachers

“…For instance, English teaching and literature teaching are taught simultaneously via an integrated approach in Kenya, implying that literature would be the means of teaching English and vice versa (Njagi, Muriungi & Peter 2014, Okwara, Shiundu & Indoshi 2009. In Indonesia, Novianti (2016) affirmed that English literature study in Indonesia is inseparable from English language studies and it resembles other countries where English is a foreign language too.…”