Literature, Reading, Writing, and ESL: Bridging the Gaps

Abstract

For a long time, literature, which once played a prominent role in language study, has been excluded from both ESL programs and first language composition programs whose central aim is the achievement of linguistic proficiency. In recent years, however, many educators in both fields have again acknowledged the academic, intellectual, cultural, and linguistic benefits of the study of literature. An examination of research on the activities of reading, composing, and responding to literature reveals that these three areas of study, usually taught separately, can be viewed as similar processes. After discussing these findings, this article describes a literature and composition course which demonstrates how ESL students can profit from instruction which focuses on the interrelationship of reading and writing. The course also shows that ESL students have much to gain when literature is the reading content of their composition course and the subject matter for their compositions.Those of us who teach composition at the college level want our students to be able to think logically and to write good academic prose. We also want them to be able to use language to explore and express ideas and to communicate those ideas clearly. What we do in the classroom to achieve those goals depends on our individual expertise, taste, and outlook; on our students' knowledge, abilities, and goals; and on the context in which we are teaching. Therefore, we cannot reasonably expect that we can follow a prescription to design a writing course. Nevertheless, since what students read and write about is so crucial to the success of a writing course, this article recommends a variety of assignments which actively engage students in the process of exploring and discovering meaning through reading and writing and which result in the production of the kinds of academic texts students need to write for college courses. 703

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