UNIVERSIDAD DE JAÉN Centro de Estudios de Postgrado Trabajo Fin de Máster THE USE OF LITERATURE IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM: M. R. JAMES’ GHOST STORIES. Alumno/a: Sotomayor Espejo, Inmaculada Tutor/a: Prof. Dr. Eugenio Manuel Olivares Merino Dpto: Filología Inglesa Centro de Estudios de Postgrado Junio, 2016 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 4 2. Introduction............................................................................................................... 5 3. State of the art .......................................................................................................... 6 3.1. The use of literature in the classroom ............................................................... 6 3.1.1. Graded Readers ........................................................................................ 11 3.1.2. Fiction as a helpful tool ............................................................................ 16 3.1.3. Types of activities ..................................................................................... 17 4. History of Horror Fiction ......................................................................................... 20 4.1. Gothic Fiction ................................................................................................... 21 4.2. Modern Masters of Horror .............................................................................. 24 4.3. M. R. James ...................................................................................................... 26 4.3.1. Life and Scholarly work ............................................................................. 27 4.3.2. Ghost stories and style ............................................................................. 28 5. Didactic Unit: The Locked Room and Other Horror Stories by M. R. James ............ 30 5.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 30 5.2. Justification ...................................................................................................... 30 5.3. Background Information and contextualization .............................................. 30 5.4. Objectives and Competences .......................................................................... 31 5.5. Content ............................................................................................................ 32 5.6. Cross-curricular Issues ..................................................................................... 33 5.7. Interdisciplinarity ............................................................................................. 33 5.8. Methodology .................................................................................................... 34 5.9. Attention to Diversity ...................................................................................... 36 5.10. Materials ...................................................................................................... 36 5.11. Assessment: Evaluation criteria vs Evaluation tools: ................................... 36 5.12. Lesson Plan: Step-by-step Account .............................................................. 38 5.12.1. Session 1 (Monday) .............................................................................. 38 5.12.2. Session 2 (Wednesday) ............................................................................. 42 5.12.3. Session 3 (Friday) .................................................................................. 45 5.12.4. Session 4 (Monday) .................................................................................. 49 2 5.12.5. Session 5 (Wednesday)…………………………………………………………………….54 5.12.6. Session 6 (Friday)…………………………………………………………………………………57 6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…...58 7. Bibliographical References…………………………………………………………………………………61 8. Appendix…………………….………………………………………………………………………………….…..63 3 1. Abstract This work consists of two main parts: a theoretical part and a practical section. In the theoretical part, a short investigation about the history of literature in the classroom will be carried out, focusing on a specific genre which is fiction and, in our case, contemporary horror fiction. In the practical part, all this theory will be put into practice and a didactic unit will be developed using several short stories by Montague Rhode James. Key words: literature in the classroom, TEFL, contemporary horror fiction, M. R. James, ghost stories. Resumen Este trabajo consiste en dos partes principales: una base teórica y una sección práctica. En la parte teórica, se llevará a cabo una pequeña investigación sobre la historia de la literatura en la clase, enfocándonos en un género específico que es la ficción y, en nuestro caso, la ficción de terror contemporánea. En la segunda parte, toda esta teoría será puesta en práctica y se desarrollará una unidad didáctica basada en varios trabajos de Montague Rhode James. Palabras clave: literatura en la clase, TEFL, ficción de terror contemporánea, M. R. James, historias de fantasmas. 4 2. Introduction The reason why I have decided to write my master’s dissertation about Literature is because I have always been very fond of it and it also has been my favourite part of my English Philology degree. However, when talking about Secondary Obligatory Education, I have discovered that literature in the English classroom is almost inexistent. This is due to many reasons like the lack of time, for example, or the fact that teachers must teach many obligatory grammar concepts and they focus more in this aspect, etc. But, what if all the objectives that we must achieve could be achieved by reading literature? Why not using literature as a source of input instead of the typical class-book? I have also discovered that this is not a new topic of discussion, as there are many experts and important authors who have already debate and written a lot about this issue, so, I have made a short investigation about this (state of the art) in which I mention different opinions and arguments for or against the use of literature in ESL. The works of authors such as, Widdowson, Hill, McKay, Sage, Demetriou, Day or Gajdusek have been the basis of my study in which I have found more advantages than disadvantages towards this matter and also, motivation. In the second part of this essay, a Didactic Unit will be outlined putting into practice all previously exposed in the theoretical part to show how literature can help us practice not only reading, but also writing, speaking, listening and interaction, apart from many other psychological and social skills. As I wanted to make it engaging, I have chosen “horror literature” which is quite interesting for teenagers and we could exploit on Halloween, for example. In this respect, I have also made an investigation on the subject “Horror Fiction”, history, authors and works, background and evolution until reaching the modern masters of horror, where we find our author, M. R. James. The works of Punter, Lovecraft or Sullivan have also been crucial for this investigation. Montague Rhode James will also be described regarding his ghost stories and style. In addition, his stories are set in the Victorian era of Britain, a part of history which I find quite interesting to show the students; inventions, society, important events or values of the time. In conclusion, this essay plans to defend the use literature in the English classroom as a vehicle to learn and use the language as well as to comply with the current legislation requirements in the subject English as a Foreign Language. 5 3. State of the art This section consists of an investigation on the works of several authors who have dealt with the use of literature in the teaching of English as a foreign language; supporters and non-supporters, advantages of using literature in the L2 classroom, fiction as a helpful tool and also some types of activities. Furthermore, a short investigation in the matter of horror fiction will be carried out dealing with its history and evolution. Finally, I will talk about M. R. James, mainly the features of his personal style and work. 3.1. The use of literature in the classroom Nowadays, nobody can deny the multiple benefits of using literature in the classroom but it has not always been like this; as Widdowson (1984:194) states: There was a time when literature was accorded high prestige in language study, when it was assumed that part of the purpose of language learning, perhaps even the most essential part, was to provide access to literary works. *…+ Now, literature figures at hall in language programs. But what were the arguments against using literature in the English classroom? First, there is the matter of purpose. It can be argued that literature contributes nothing to the utilitarian objectives of language learning *…+ Literature has no practical uses and so it is useless. (Widdowson, 1982:194; the bold types are mine) Basically, what is the point of teaching literature to people who are learning English regarding their academical and occupational needs? What is the point of teaching poems to a biologist? Moreover, there is another argument against literature in classroom that has to do with the process of learning; …it is pointed out that literature is a potentially disruptive influence in the well-ordered world of the carefully controlled