English Language Journal Vol 3, (2009) 27-38 ISSN 1823 6820

Teaching and Evaluating the Literary Reader

Mariyatunnitha Shari English Language Department, Faculty of Languages, Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak

Abstract: The issue underlying this study is whether or not teachers of literature lack a model for testing. Can literature teaching be compared with the language test whereby the target competence can be measured against that of the fully-operational native speaker. The aim of this paper is therefore to share the findings of a qualitative research study conducted to find out how part-time ESL secondary schoolteachers undergoing a Master in Education course assessed students who were taught the literature-based component in English. The researcher was a course instructor who had during the course discussed different ways of teaching literature based on different models of literary readers. A teacher who models the student as an appreciative reader would view literature teaching as developing enjoyment, appreciation and independence in reading, no matter what the text or target cultures, thereby regarding literature as an incentive to independent reading. This view of teaching is consonant with the aims of teaching the literature-based component in English in the Malaysian school context for aesthetic appreciation and concurs with the transactional theory of literary reading (Rosenblatt, 1985) to elicit readers responses. The outcome of the research based on field notes of lessons, interview transcripts, reflective teacher journals, and also documents in the form of students assignments indicate that growth in teaching and learning can be assessed when lessons focus on formative evaluation of aesthetic reading of literary texts. Keywords: Literature, assessment, appreciative reader

27