3 - Using Literature in Text-Driven Materials to Help Develop Spoken Language Awareness

Summary

This chapter advocates the use of contemporary literature to help second language (L2) learners to become more aware of how their target language is typically used in speech to achieve intended effect. The approach being proposed is a text-driven approach in which a written or spoken text is used initially to engage the learners affectively and cognitively and then as a source for discovery activities designed to help the learners to become aware of how a particular linguistic or discourse feature is being used to achieve intended effects. The emphasis is on spoken interaction, and the focused feature is investigated further in learner out-of-class activities. After describing, justifying and exemplifying the proposed approach, the chapter reports the results of a research project seeking to find out the responses of language teachers to the approach. Language teachers in a number of different countries were asked to rate the potential value and the contextual feasibility of such an approach by responding to units of materials driven by the approach. In the conclusion to the chapter, recommendations are made with regard to materials development, to teacher and learner adaptation of materials and to assessment of learner achievement.