Page 177 - Getting of the fence

Language approach. This separation is further shown in the focus of lessons as well as teaching materials. Whereas the ‘regular’ lessons focus on the foreign language development of students where teachers often use course books, literature lessons primarily focus on literary content with often (semi-) self-made materials. In order to integrate both foci, teachers have to create language-learning activities based on literary texts, which requires not only time and effort, but also knowledge and experience in how to do this. Methodological issues with the Language approach centre around a much wider concern within foreign language research, namely, how do you know a student is in fact acquiring new knowledge or practicing existing knowledge about the language during the lesson? How do you measure the language development of students during the foreign language literature lesson?
Although the four approaches of the Comprehensive Approach can be regarded
as conceptually separate, we suggested that there is a reciprocal relationship
between the four approaches and that, when taught in an integrated manner,
could enrich the foreign language literature lessons and enhance student learning.
For the purpose of analysis, this interpretation was translated into an assumed
even distribution of 25% lesson time per approach. This assumption indicates that
each of the four approaches are equally beneficial for foreign language students.
From a student perspective however, it could be argued that about half of the EFL
literature lesson should focus on the Language approach. Then again, based on
how EFL literature is approached currently, most emphasis should be placed on
the Text approach. In other words, an even distribution of 4 x 25% represents a 7 simplification of the underlying notion of the Comprehensive Approach (see also
section 7.4). The question therefore remains what the desired distribution of the
four approaches should be in order for the foreign language literature lessons to be
as beneficial as possible for all students.
We also assumed that in foreign language literature lessons where the Comprehensive Approach is used as a framework, each of the four approaches should be taught in an integrated way. Such an assumption becomes interesting when observing how eight EFL teachers implemented the Comprehensive Approach in their existing literature curriculum. Some teachers consciously focused on including more than one approach within one lesson, thereby aiming to find some sort of balance or variety or aiming to reduce the emphasis on the Text approach. Ysabel, however, was very content about her interpretation of integration. She organised her literature module of eight lessons in such a way that each approach stood central in two lessons. Perhaps this interpretation of
Summary, discussion, and conclusion
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