English Literature is losing its status in society today. This is reflected by the changes effected in the Secondary School curriculum. Traditionally, English Literature carried its own slots on the timetable. It was a subject in and of itself. However in most Secondary Schools today, English Literature has been merged with English Language, to the extent that English Literature no longer has a separate slot on the timetable. What's worse is that the number of English Language slots have not increased to accommodate or satisfy that change. The scheduling of English Literature classes have been left to the discretion or indiscretion of the Language Arts teachers.
Clearly, English Literature is slowly losing its prestige. It is no longer being viewed as an asset required by students to lay the foundation for their intellectual maturation in all other subject and content areas.
To be continued...(Do the books taught at the Secondary School level reflect the principles of Adolescent Literature?)
To be continued...(Do the books taught at the Secondary School level reflect the principles of Adolescent Literature?)
I stand in unison with tour statement that Literature is losing its pretige in our schools. Although integration has many advantages I preferred the isolatiion of each subject. The independence of each subject not only awarded prestige but also it allowed for appreciation and sufficient time for concepts to be understood and appreciated.
ReplyDeleteVery well said Miss Antoine. I think that if students were given the opportunity to do literature separately they would develop a love, understanding and appreciation for the subject. In order to ensure that students develop this appreciation the subject must be offered at higher levels and we as teachers need to play our part in helping students develop this love for the subject.
ReplyDeleteI share the same sentiment regarding the merging of the two subjects. However, i think the proponents of this idea were looking at this integration through one lens. As we have learnt so far, integration does not necessarily mean a merger of the two subjects (English Language and English Literature).I think the thrust should actually be on educating teachers as to how to link the two subjects, using one to substantiate the other as we will agree that the two cannot be taught in isolation.Merging the two subjects has had so many drwabacks and as you guys have highlighted it definitely takes away from the students would have had to grow to love, appreciate and value the subject
ReplyDeleteInteresting exchange. Is it possible to argue that one of the advantages of integration is that it forces/allows teachers to use appropriate strategies to foster effective reading across the curriculum. If we isolate literature then the belief may be that we only concentrate on meaning making only in this subject.
ReplyDeleteThanks to everyone for reading and commenting on my entry.
ReplyDeleteA special thanks to Ms Gimie for clarifying what the merger entails. I had not thought about it quite that way.
In response to your question Mr Emmanuel:
ReplyDeleteYours is a very insightful point of view (as usual:)). I suppose that this is one of the advantages, though perhaps unintended, of isolating English Literature from other subject areas. Teachers are indeed forced or encouraged to complement the roles that Literature teachers traditionally fulfilled on their own. This does thankfully entail using effective reading strategies, as mastery of reading is an essential skill across the curriculum.