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5.2.2. Suggestions for Teaching English Using Literature
A literary work, in this matter a novel, does not only give pleasure and enjoyment to its readers, but also the moral teaching which the novel has. Moreover, it
is also a source of knowledge. Therefore, teachers may use it as a material for teaching learning process. Although the text that is used and students’ responses will be
discussed in the literary terms, the basic intention is to teach the language. Implementing literature in teaching English is quite necessary because the
students can enrich their vocabulary and language skills; i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It can be used to reach the goal in teaching English, which is the
language mastery. Furthermore, teachers must not only help to develop individuals’ personality
and intellectual potentials, but also their capacity to be more responsible for their own
development.
5.2.2.1. Teaching Writing
Writing is the way people can express their opinions, feelings, and points of view. It is more difficult than the other language skills. Writing needs more effort to
produce meaning than to identify meaning through listening or reading because what can be told can not be expressed easily and quickly in writing. The students have to
follow the conventions of the spelling and punctuation that will make their compositions understandable for others.
Kabilan 2000 explains that to become proficient in a language, the students should not only learn about the language but also use it. Writing is considered one
aspect for students to learn a language, while the application of their learning is
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through speaking. Furthermore, Kabilan explains that using a life situation into a problemsolving situation is a way to utilize this principle. Therefore a novel can be
used since it is a reflection of human life.
In writing activity, the students are also exploring, observing, imagining, and listening to their experiences and knowledge. Then, they categorize, compare, analyze,
and compose their opinion and ideas into written form. Thus, it is a must for the students to apply their imagination and literary abilities in interpreting the novel and
pouring them out on the paper. Anyway, reading skill and writing skill support each other. It is because the processes closely connected and reflect the organization of the
ideas in the minds of the readers. Some students find that writing task is a difficult and boring activity. So, the purpose of this writing activity is to stimulate the students’
creativity in giving opinions, in making suggestions, and in exploring ideas.
There are many ways to teach writing using this novel. Descriptive writing is a way in which the students are to describe about: a person, a place, an event, and a
concept, while in narrative writing the students are asked to write about series of events according to the novel. Another way is argumentative writing in which the
students are to state their opinion or explanation about certain aspects in the novel. Finally, in the writing the students can use their imagination to write about the
continuity of the stories in the novel. Those types of writing can be assigned to university students in their writing class, especially for the students who are in the
English Department. Below are the procedures of teaching learning writing:
1. The teacher chooses the model paragraphs from the novel.
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2. The teacher classifies the paragraph in the novel according to the types of writing.
3. The teacher gives a brief explanation about the types of writing to the students.
4. The teacher asks the students to write a free writing about other versions of the continuity of the story, based on their creativities and imagination, in
groups.
5. The example of the material for teaching writing can be seen in appendix 6. 5.2.2.2. Teaching Reading.
Prose II is one of the subjects that uses novel as the object of the study. This subject is referred to the students of the 4
th
Semester of English Language Education study program. The goal of this subject is that the students are able to appreciate
novels and put forward their own opinions concerning with the content of the novels. They can analyze the theme, characters, setting, plot or other psychological and moral
values of the novel.
The novel A Painted House can be used as the material for teaching learning activities. These activities are to exploit reading materials in the classroom, namely
prereading activity, whilereading activity, and postreading activity. The prereading activity is to help the students with the cultural background, if any, to stimulate the
students’ interest in the story and teach them vocabulary. The whilereading activity is to help the students to understand the literature elements such as plot, setting,
characters, and others and to help the students with the language style. The post
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