- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9729383/Catcher-in-the-Rye-dropped-from-US-school-curriculum.html
It says in the article that seventy percent of American literature classics are going to be replaced by “informational text” in US classrooms, in order to ready pupils for the workplace. I do not think this is applicable.
Throughout
the studies of literature, we have learned much more than a language. Reading a
good book is like talking to an erudite philosopher. The things that literature
implies will gradually pervade every aspect of our lives, and gradually change
our comprehension of the world, the society, and ourselves. We are taught how
to be a man. If “informational texts”
take place of literatures, if we only read in order to obtain information, the
school will just become an assembly line that produces workers. I think this
mechanized method of study violates the original principle of education---- how
to be a man.
In
China, the way of studying literature is different from North America. Different
kinds of Argumentative essays, informational text, poems, ancient Chinese
proses, short stories, and abridged novels make up a text book for our
literature classes. Memorizing poems and ancient proses is a major part of what
we studied, because the main purpose of all four years of high school in China
is to prepare for “Gaokao”, the test that get you into universities. We never
studied a whole novel, because we have to get through the long “test
curriculum” list. This is mechanized and meaningless. I think this is the
direction America is moving forward to.
Your view is right. Most of academics revolves around information based texts. English literature is probably the only class, where fantasy and fictional things have their place. Thus english teaches us knowledge about being good and well rounded people, rather than being professional sportsmen, mathematicians, or chemists.That is the key aspect that differentiates english from any other class, and reiterates it's importance.
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ReplyDeleteDisagreed with the point of how we learn literature in China. It is not the teachers' fault of not teaching the whole book but your mistake of not putting your effort. Teachers taught the skills of reading literature but cannot focus on the whole thing in class, not even in Canada. No matter which school you went, you should get the list of books and literature you should read and if you have any questions of those books the teachers will help you. Actually, just in grade 10, I made reading logs for over 10 books.
ReplyDeleteIts very interesting how you compare North American curriculum with China. The US changing the curriculum does not directly affect you but you did a very good job in making an intriguing response. I agree with the point you made that we will not be as well rounded after only learning informational texts. We will be made for work not for being a knowledgeable human being.
ReplyDeleteI also like how you compare China's curriculum with ours. It's unfortunate that you don't read whole books there. They should definitely introduce that in the schools there. It is important to learn about these because it teaches you about society and builds character.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you compared this events happened in United states with China. This gives a more rounded explanation and example about how learning English can be with the help of novels. I also like the terms you used "assembly line" and "working people". With the help of novels, student will learn meaningful personal views or interesting facts from a new aspect they have never been interested into before. However, if students only study informational text, that will even be more boring to students. Moreover, reading is not everyone's interest. Some may be interested in music or science but just not reading. By reading more books in English class, this can basically increase our vocabularies but most importantly change our views to a certain events.
ReplyDeleteNovels are meaningful in English Class!
Mechanized and meaningless. Interesting view point from a foreign student! What you're saying makes a lot of sense. We shouldn't only read to obtain information, I think that's your most important point. Reading means so much more than that, and we can get so much more than that from it. We're missing out on a lot if all we do is read to get the words at their face value. Fiction in English class helps keep us from becoming mechanized and meaningless, it has to stay!
ReplyDeleteYou brought up some very good points, that I agree with completely. "We have learned much more than a language". This sentence is very significant. In my experience, I have learned about the language, but I have learned much, much more. I have learned about history, about morals, and about creativity. These novels should definitely not be taken away from children.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you compare North America and China. In Hong Kong, it's almost the same as China. I agree that students should learn something more than language. They need imaginations and be creative and they will also learn about morals, society and a lot of stuffs happening in our daily lives that we've never noticed. Novels should not be taken away!
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