Scaffolding Literature for the Japanese EFL Classroom
(Parallel Session 3: Room A, 15.00-15.50)

Marcos Benevides, Lecturer, Intensive English Studies Department, Kansai Gaidai University

Abstract

Western literature courses in Japanese EFL contexts suffer from important but often overlooked cultural and linguistic limitations. Schemata which are taken for granted as being readily accessible and comprehensible by English native speakers and L2 learners from Western backgrounds, such as Greco-Roman and Christian frameworks, are largely absent from Japanese students’ experience, and must be taught. Compounded by difficulties in reading cognitively demanding material in heavily stylized and often archaic English, it becomes an unreasonable goal to expect Japanese students to tackle the sheer volume of material typically expected of native speaker students in a comparable undergraduate literature course.

If not properly addressed, these limitations can lead to decreased student motivation and create lifelong resentment toward reading literature. To mitigate these effects, a tailored-for-Japan and Western history informed (as opposed to merely chronological) Introduction to Literature course is recommended. This would blend together a survey of Western history from Ancient Greece to the present, introduce some key texts in a variety of adapted and authentic forms, and be held together by a focus on broad literary themes and movements in Western culture. Such a course can then serve as a scaffolded entry point into subsequent and more intensive literature courses.

Biographical Data

Marcos Benevides currently teaches an 8 credit  Introduction to Western Literature course to second year English majors who are preparing for immersive content-based study abroad. He holds a double major B.A. Honours in Literature and Creative Writing (Concordia University) and a Masters in Education (University of Calgary). He has taught in Japan for ten years, is an active EFL teacher trainer and presenter, and has co-authored two popular international coursebooks. Widgets: A task-based course in practical English (Pearson, 2008) has been critically acclaimed as the world’s only truly task-based coursebook. His second title, Fiction in action: Whodunit (ABAX, 2010) is a genre-based reading course which attempts to bridge the divide between intensive and extensive reading through an approach known as narrow reading. He is currently co-developing a third title, Speech Acts: Analyzing oral communication, which will be a content-based course in pragmatics. He can be reached at < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >.