Children’s Literature in Second Language Learning

Nafisa Abdelsadek, Ministry of Education, Oman

Presented on 10th March 2005 at TESOL Arabia, Dubai.

Contents:

1) Summary of Presentation
2) Introduction to presenter’s research
3) Issues raised in post-presentation discussion
4) Conclusion

1) Summary of Presentation

This presentation focused on cultural issues and elements of change or

continuity seen in traditional texts, and realistic fiction written by children
themselves. Further objectives were to explore the use of children’s literature in
second language learning by the participants and to investigate the relevance
and value of using children’s literature as a teaching aid, in both cultural and
linguistic terms.

Material presented here was generated by young writers who were second
language learners of the target language. It was seen that interest in peer
achievement and the competitive element could give incentives for young
students’ own writing. The writing of these students was mainly realistic, and this
opened the question of the benefits of realistic versus fantasy literature for
children.

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When dealing with children’s literature an element of justification and defense of
the field is often deemed necessary. However, if one considers the issue
logically, it becomes evident that this body of literature includes a wide variety of
genres and levels. Pre-elementary students may make use of nursery rhymes
and very early readers, but the vast majority of children’s books is above this
level, and provides a rich source of material for all ages of students and areas of
language teaching.

Many second language-teaching texts have taken source material from children’s
literature which often uses simplified language and is, therefore, suitable for
teaching vocabulary and language structures to learners of any age. Much oral
literature, the basis of many children’s stories, has been collected and written
down, making it available as a resource for teaching speaking. The presentation
generated discussion relating to the participants’ own findings and experiences in
the use of children’s literature. This resulted in a focus on children’s literature
used in second language classes for children rather than adults.

2) Introduction to presenter’s research

The presenter briefly introduced her PhD research, part of which focuses on the
dissemination of Middle Eastern children’s literature via Europe to the rest of the
world, and its influence on Western children’s literature.

The presenter has been researching social and political aspects of children’s
literature for the last four years at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In
addition to TESOL Arabia in the United Emirates, she has attended conferences
in Germany, Armenia and Iran, where she has given papers on historical, social
and political aspects of Persianate children’s literature, and in the course of her
PhD research, has dedicated two periods to data collection, one in Tajikistan and
one in Iran. She is the translator of Arash Kamangir, a bilingual children’s edition

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of the famous epic story from the Shahnameh, on which the modern celebration
of Tiregan is based.

Her earlier research dealt with the issue of nuclear war portrayed in Japanese
and English language publications, and the debate about what constitutes
children’s literature. She also looked at the effects of translations on children’s
stories, and how geographical and temporal factors affect the way in which
issues such as racism are perceived. In both her MSc. and PhD research, she
highlighted major dissemination of Middle Eastern and Eastern children’s
literature via Europe to the West. Western children’s literature owes a great debt
to these stories, and their influence on European literature and culture, and by
extension, American literature and culture, is extensive.

Ancient collections of stories such as Kalila wa Dimna, the Panchatantra,

Aesop’s Fables, and others have survived for centuries, illustrating enduring
truths about the nature of mankind and issues which continue to have importance
in society today. Ulrich Marzolph, in an article on Persian popular literature, talks
of texts compiled in the fifteenth century with sources going back to the first
centuries of Islam, which still enjoyed a wide readership at the end of the
twentieth century. Other Eastern collections, not originally intended for children,
such as the One Thousand and One Nights, have given rise to children’s
favorites which continue to be rewritten and reproduced in different media and
forms such as books, cartoons, animation, film, computer software, and so on.

As a result of the worldwide transmission of these stories by way of translation,

today there exists an internationally relevant body of material which contains
culturally specific values of an earlier age; these values may feature implicitly or
explicitly in the text, or may have undergone changes at different levels on the
way to becoming the modern English language versions that TEFL teachers may
encounter. The factors of time, language and economically dominant culture are
relevant in these changes. Horror stories such as those of the Grimm Brothers,

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for example, have been watered down in subsequent rewritings over the years as
they were later considered too bloodthirsty, or otherwise unsuitable, for children
to read. Characters who may have started out life as Indians or Central Asians
have turned into American English speaking cartoon characters in Disney
movies. A degree of sexism which may have been quite acceptable to a majority
of readers a century ago is no longer tolerated in politically correct modern
versions. Conversely, some stories which may have been suppressed because
they did not correspond to political or social mores of earlier times have
resurfaced as changing conditions favored their message.

The above is only part of the author’s research area. For further work and papers
in progress, see the Iran and Tajikistan children’s literature, and Research Center
links at netlangs.com. Links and resources for teachers in French, Farsi, Tajiki,
Arabic, Japanese, English, Greek, Russian, Armenian, and Swahili as well as
forums and children’s literature materials can be found on the site.

3) Issues raised in discussion

A number of issues were raised in the post-presentation discussion. These

included topicality, universality and identification, definition of children’s literature,
lack of appropriate role model materials, crossover literature, realism versus
fantasy, and the value of children’s literature in language teaching.

3a) Definition of Children’s Literature

In any discussion of children’s literature, the first task is to try to give a definition
of children’s literature. This is not as easy as it may sound, as everyone will give
a different answer depending upon their particular interests. While arriving at
some common points, it must finally be admitted that this is an ongoing argument
with no definitive answer. One participant observed that the reason children’s

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literature is an elusive term to define is because it can include a wide variety of
genres such as fairy tales, fantasy novels etc.

Another participant considered that there are basically two different kinds of
literature involved. The first includes folktales and traditional stories which can be
changed. These have been told and retold over the years and are largely oral in
nature. The essential element is the story line which can be told in many different
ways. The second is literature which has been written especially for children, or
is suitable for children, such as Phillip Pullman’s works; in which case the text
also takes on importance. Although the text could, in theory, be changed, this is
not so likely to happen because it’s been written artfully. For example, no one
would want to change Harry Potter; they would want to read it as it is, whereas
folktales can be told differently because they can survive such treatment.
Folktales are suitable for oral telling, storytelling, and maybe the other kind of
children’s literature could be designated more as reading material, at least
initially although it may later be used orally as well.

Another aspect of children’s literature adding to the difficulty in definition is the

phenomenon found in literature nowadays known as crossover literature. This
distinct genre also appeals to adult audiences. These are books not necessarily
aimed solely at an adolescent or child audience. Thus in the past books were
written for adults, but children still had to learn to read so they appropriated adult
texts; nowadays books are written with both children and adults in mind and
adults are appropriating children’s texts.

3b) Universality and identification: lack of appropriate role models

Another issue raised was the ability of students to relate to the texts they use. An
Emirati teacher commented that many of the stories available as readers are set
in the distant past, and added that it is difficult for students to imagine a time
when their grandparents were young. She felt that students might prefer

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something more contemporary, as the content of some stories does not seem to
relate to them. This led to discussion of identification and role models, and the
use of topical and realistic stories compared with traditional stories.
The presenter considered that the further removed from children’s own
experience a story may be, the more it calls for them to use their imaginations;
stories from the far distant past are beyond their present-day experience. They
also reflect a time when magic and wonder formed a greater part of the lives of
ordinary people, whereas in today’s scientific age, everything has been
rationalized and explained.

Another participant said literature is about enrichment and if children enjoy a

story and learn from it, the age of a story is immaterial. Children love stories in
general and will be a responsive audience even if they do not closely identify with
the characters. Stories need not be related to children’s real life or they wouldn’t
enjoy Ali Baba, Cinderella, Joha etc., but they still read and know these stories.
The ancient ones are often the best because there is that element of fantasy, that
element of distance; so old stories should be included. Stories, however, should
be chosen with care in terms of political or cultural baggage; if there are offensive
attitudes one should select something else. Teachers should be careful in the
use of children’s literature as it transmits subliminal ideology and they should be
aware of the relation between the language of the story and its underlying
ideology.

Another participant described her own experience in school, saying,

A lot of the children’s literature we used when I was a kid was Enid
Blyton. I’m not British. I’ve not been to the UK; I grew up here. So, I
thought, how come these children get to go biking all around the
countryside and what are cottages - we don’t have them here, and
what are these scones that they’re eating? Our teacher asked us to
write about going on picnics, but we didn’t really believe in it
because the concepts were strange for us. We didn’t read stories
about children like ourselves, going to a mall or KFC or to the
beach when it’s really hot, and so we couldn’t identify with the story

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 and we didn’t want to write about it. Our teacher searched and
found a book about children like us. Now I’m teaching myself
(grade one) and I try to give a context for the children but still don’t
have suitable books. For example, I have one book about the
children of pearl divers but it’s set in olden times and the kids don’t
connect with it. We need literature that kids can relate to.

In reply, one participant said that books are available in the UAE which relate to
children and society and the environment here, and which address real issues
that are topical and do not simply use the locality as a backdrop. Thirty years
ago, there was no such market, but nowadays people are writing for that market.
An example is Aisha the Turtle. Further information was not on hand about books
in English which are presently available in the UAE, but major regional TEFL
book catalogues would be a source of information on suitable new titles.

3c) Value of children’s literature in language teaching

One participant, working with age range 7-11 uses sets of readers of well-known
children’s stories such as Jack & the Beanstalk, Hansel & Gretel and so on in her
classes. She heard the originals of these stories as a child when living in
Germany, and found them very frightening. Her students told her that they knew
Aladdin but they only knew the Disney version, which shows little relation to the
original. She found a more original version and her students were excited when
they recognized it as a story they had read in their own language. She acted out
the story with them after reading it, a stage which is always popular, or the
students write their own story, which can also be adapted for puppets. They start
to recognize the elements and after some time they know almost by reflex that
‘once upon a time’ is how to start a story. One student told a story beginning
‘Once upon a time when I was driving in my car to college…’ It had to be
explained explicitly that this expression is used to begin a story set a long time
ago in an imaginary era. The same teacher used literature in high school
teaching French: for example, Little Red Riding Hood: La Petite Chaperon

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Rouge, and she received the same response; the children loved it because of the
instant recognition factor.

Another participant uses literature as a springboard for many other activities: for
looking at grammar, examining the construction or structure of storytelling and so
on. She reads fables or cautionary tales and uses them as a model. The students
then write their own cautionary tales, not in rhyme or in rhyming couplet because
that is too difficult initially, but simply as a story with a moral. They enjoy the idea
of a story carrying a lesson. She uses traditional folk tales from all over the world
and looks closely at the contents. Then the students try to write their own
folktales using the same ingredients and structures. This teacher uses literature
as the basis for all her English work.

In the discussion of using literature to teach language, the topic of the benefits of
realism versus fantasy arose. One participant who had done her first degree in
children’s literature studied at a time when popular opinion favored the use of
realism. Many teachers and researchers felt that children should be given books
featuring the world that they know about and can relate to. She studied this topic,
asking students and looking at the realistic literature used in high school. She
found that the problems of inner city life, poverty etc. were things that the
students did not want to know about. They said, ‘We live that life; this is where
we are every day of our lives. We want to use literature to escape from that world
and reality’. Books she thought they would find boring like The Wizard of
Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin, came number one on the students’ popularity
list. These results completely overturned the literature teaching trends of the time
regarding the identification of books that children would like and would relate to.
So, it was interesting for this participant that an Emirati colleague supported
realistic literature:

You want to find a way out if there is one, or read literature which
helps you make some choices, understand, spell out some stuff for
you – you want to know more about life, sometimes read stuff about

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 yourself. When you’re fifteen years old maybe you want to read
something more contemporary to know there are people writing
about it, that there are ways of getting out and you do get out of it.

The answer to the question, ‘fantasy or reality?’ can be different at different times
depending on the psychological needs of the reader. No one answer can be
correct. Reading materials should be balanced; giving a worldview, addressing
issues which students can relate to, as well as satisfying the need to feed the
imagination and provide escapism. Many children enjoy adventures and reading
about topics such as traveling into space, or a new life, or discovering a world
other than the one we live in.

Teachers need to be aware of cultural issues before introducing literature to

students so that they are able to answer any questions that may arise. One
participant remarked, ‘We also have to ask ourselves a question; is children’s
literature only for tales and old stories? It’s not! It’s also social. So we can use
aspects of children’s literature in our everyday classroom.’ She felt that it was
impossible to avoid the cultural aspect of stories.

Another participant commented on the duality of language and ideology, saying

that at the surface level, what’s going on can be read easily, but on a deeper
subliminal level, it is not as easy to identify what the story is saying. Folk tales
exist in all cultures often with different versions of the same story coming from
different places. Children are interested in hearing the same story from other
places as it shows how others think. An example of this is the existence of many
versions of Cinderella which differ according to the dominant ideology. One can
usefully compare versions from different cultures: Korean, Chinese etc. In the
original French Cinderella, the slipper was made of fur, which in later translations
became glass. In mixed nationality classes, children discover that they know the
story already in their own language, and this leads to a feeling of inclusion and
connexion both to the group and to the material. This can be valuable for those
working in a multinational environment where different versions may be taught;

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for example, seven or eight Cinderellas from different countries may be
presented to show features of different cultures.

The area of translation was briefly addressed as a recurring problem which

applied not only from language to language, but also region to region, time period
to time period etc. Simplified readers or abridged versions, not necessarily for
children, which change the register or level of language in the process of
simplification, were criticized on the grounds that the text is written by an author
artfully, so simplifying it takes something from it. This process is a kind of
translation. It was considered that authors should address their readership level
and write simply in the first place to try to avoid this problem. However, many
authors purposefully use words likely to be unknown to their readers in order to
spur their curiosity and increase their vocabulary. Not everyone can write a story,
but teachers could join forces to write as a group. One of the participants said
that he worked with a group every year comprising teachers from nine Asian
countries who meet for a workshop to write stories for secondary school children.
These stories are published and the teachers, as writers, have control over the
content and can address the needs of their students. A similar online writing
forum could make stories accessible for everyone as well as giving them the
opportunity to make their own contributions.

The lack of value and importance given to children’s literature as a serious

research subject was discussed. One teacher was surprised that this attitude
persisted and thought that maybe it was only true in TESOL teaching circles. She
felt that the rise in popularity of the genre of crossover literature was important in
making people aware of the value of literature aimed at all levels of readers
including children. The remarkable amount of high quality writing for children of
all ages which is being produced at the moment makes it even more surprising
that children’s literature is still not adequately valued.

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4) Conclusion

The issues raised in the discussion focused chiefly on the following areas:
definitions of children’s literature, the benefits and purposes of children’s
literature, identification with texts, lack of appropriate role models, and realism
versus fantasy.
The discussion was attended by teachers and researchers who were already
involved in the field of children’s literature or who had used it extensively in their
teaching, thus time did not have to be wasted justifying the importance of the
field. The value of children’s literature in language teaching was well known and
appreciated by participants. However, in wider academic and literary circles there
are still those who would minimize and categorize children’s literature as
something only relevant for young children, which has less value than literature
written for adults.

The discussion focused more on the use of children’s literature in schools, rather
than as TEFL material for adults or students at tertiary level. At these higher
levels, task-based activities using children’s literature can elicit creative
responses from the students which provide real practice in language. Stories
furthermore can be an excellent source of discussion topics on serious issues
affecting society. The change or continuity of the choice of themes dealt with in
classical collections, or their treatment, can reflect the vision of society or
societies on cultural issues. This can work in the language teacher’s favor when
exploiting such material for linguistic points, as the linguistic and cultural aspects
can be clearly and separately utilized. Familiar stories remove the problem of
presenting foreign concepts which students must grasp before attempting to
master the necessary linguistic aspects. Many stories are based on unchanging
moralistic issues or treatment of human nature. These appeal to the common
sense and inherent knowledge of the learner, thus increasing their self-
confidence when dealing with the text.

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On a practical level, many second language-teaching texts have taken source
material from children’s literature because of the simplified language used,
suitable for language learners of any age. In short, the field of children’s literature
is a valuable resource for language teachers of all levels, teaching students of all
ages, including adults.

References:

Ba Dastha-ye Kuchekeman Book 1, (1977). (Collection of Children’s Writing)

Tehran, Iran: Kanun.

Ba Dastha-ye Kuchekeman Book 2, ((1977). (Collection of Children’s Writing),

Tehran, Iran: Kanun.

Marzolph, Ulrich. (2001). Persian Popular Literature in the Qajar Period, Asian
Folklore Studies, Volume 60: 215-236.

Rangin Kaman. (1977). (Poetry and Illustration of Children of the Kanun

Libraries) Tehran, Iran: Kanun.

Salehi, Kourosh. (2005) Arash Kamangir (N. Abd El-Sadek, trans). Mashhad,
Iran: Bamshad.

Yaquti, Mansur. (Ed.). (1973). Pusht-e Divar-e Barf, Collection of Children’s

Essays of Pak Rusta, Tehran, Iran: Shabgir.

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