Oposicions mestra dangls

Tema 16. La literatura infantil en lengua inglesa. Tcnicas de aplicacin

didctica para acceder a la comprensin oral, iniciar y potenciar los
hbitos lectores y sensibilizar en la funcin potica del lenguaje.
16. ENGLISH CHILDRENS LITERATURE.
1. Introduction.
There is literary work that has been created with the aim of being used
by children and there are some works that, although they were not created
with that aim, they have been used for children for such a long time and
have become part of childrens literature.
Even if it is childrens literature of not, we as teachers, should develop
the interest in reading of our students. Encourage them to read stories of
any kind
To help students to conquer the written kingdom is one of the most
important aims of all the educative systems.
The reading practice needs two requisites to be fully developed:
- To recognize many diverse forms within the text (paragraphs,
letters)
- To understand the meaning these forms have.
2. Childrens literature in the UK.
Childrens literature in English has been the first literature of this kind
studied and classified. It is a very important type of literature and it is
included in the Cambridge History of English Literature.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731): Robinson Crusoe
- Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): Gulivers Travels
- Charles Dickens (1812-1870): David Copperfield
- Lewis Carroll (1832-1898): Alices Adventures in Wonderland
- Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936): The Jungle Book
- Mary Norton: The Borrowers
- Pamela Travers: Mary Poppins
3. Childrens literature in the USA.
Literature for children in America is the result of the culture, the life
and the believes of this country.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Peter Parley: Tales of Peter Parley about America
- J. Fennimore Cooper: The last of the Mohicans
- Herman Melville: Moby dick
- Louise M. Alcott: Little women
- Clement Moore: Night before Christmas
- Mark Twain: The adventures of Tom Sawyer

1
 Oposicions mestra dangls

4. Childrens literature in other English-speaking countries.

Both in New Zealand and in Australia, literature for children has been
recently created. They usually used the British and American work.
Some famous authors of this kind of literature are:
- Ethel Turner: Seven Little Australians
- Norman Lindsay: The Magic Pudding
- Nan Chauncy: Tangara
- Ivan Southhall: Ash Road
5. Reasons to use literature for children.
Children enjoy listening to stories in their mother tongue. For this
reason books provide an ideal introduction to the foreign language
presented in a context that is familiar to the child.
It is not the same to use a story for adults than a story for children.
Children need books with a suitable language for them.
The reasons to use literature in class may be summarised as follows:
a) Motivation: Stories are motivating and fun and that develops positive
attitudes towards the foreign language.
b) Imagination: Stories exercise the imagination. That involve children
with the story, they try to interpret the narrative
c) The meaning: They also wish to find a meaning. If they find it, they
know they are able to understand the foreign language.
d) Linking tool: stories are useful in linking fantasy and the imagination
with the childs real world.
e) Vocabulary: Listening to stories allows the teacher to introduce or
revise new vocabulary and sentence structures.
f) Linguistic accuracy: Develop the ability of understanding new words
from the context.
g) Linguistic knowledge: Contributes to introduce new linguistic
structures.
h) One more time: Repetition allows certain language items to be
acquired.
i) Communication: Listening, reading and giving an answer to the stories
are good ways to develop communication.
j) Cross-Curricular subjects: Reading stories help to teach them other
aspects as social or cultural aspects.
6. Techniques to develop listening comprehension.
a) Use mother tongue with beginner pupils from time to time.
b) Provide a context for the story and introduce the main characters.
c) Prediction of the contents.
d) Use the help of pictures, draws, cards, etc, while we are telling the
story.

2
 Oposicions mestra dangls

e) Follow-up activities.
f) Repetitions of the story: we can tell the story more than once to
avoid that the children get lost.
g) Simplification of the story.
h) Rhymes and songs to reinforce the language introduced.
6.1. Techniques to understand the poetic function of language.
First of all, we need to bear in mind that literature must be a source
of amusement and pleasure for the children.
We can encourage the reading habit of our students at the same
time they understand the poetic function of language.
One of the best methods to achieve these aims is to read and to tell
stories in class.
7. Activities to do with a Literary text.
1. Pre-reading activities.
These are the tasks to do before telling the story that helps
students to predict what is going to happen, to predict the vocabulary, the
characters, etc.
2. Activities to do while telling the story: while reading.
The most important objective is that children enjoy the story. Some
activities we can do are:
- Ask them what they think is going to happen next or before.
- Use mime, performances, etc.
- Put some pictures we give them in the correct order.
- Repeat words or sentences.
- Sing a song, etc.
3. Post-reading activities: after telling the story.
These tasks are called follow-up activities. They allow children to
use what they have learned. Some activities we could do are:
- Draw part of the story.
- Make mask, puppets
- Make a poster of the story.
- Invent a similar story.
- Perform the story, etc.
8. Conclusion.
There are many activities that we can do with the children in our
classes. They just should be creative and they should encourage
comprehension and communication in the foreign language. If they fulfil all
these requisites they would be motivating for our students and in a step-
by-step process they would love literature.

3
Oposicions mestra dangls