The authors present research findings from a collective case study (n=5) conducted in a multimodal composition course for pre-service English teachers. Researchers studied how a course focused on how multimodal composition influenced pre-service teachers' identities as writers and their stances on literacy instruction. Data consisted of students'…

The heart of this article is an account written by a student at the end of the course. In this account Jeremy charts his changing views about teaching literature. Influenced by the work of Jerome Bruner (1986) and others, he argues for greater 'flexibility' in the ways we conceptualise 'critical response' to a literary text. The work his Year 9…

"English Teaching and New Literacies Pedagogy: Interpreting and Authoring Digital Multimedia Narratives" is about the fusion of media and narrative, and explores theoretical and practical dimensions of young people's engagement with contemporary forms of text. It showcases a range of critical interpretative approaches for integrating…

In an effort to introduce students to a relatively new genre and allow them to evaluate it in the context of how they had been taught in the past, the author created an assignment about graphic novels and literacy that guided students through four short papers, forming a longer research paper for a final project. The students would begin with a…

A critical/creative paradigm in contemporary English carries with it an imperative that students should be given opportunities for deep engagement with texts relevant to what matters in their everyday lives. In this paper, I argue that the materiality of everyday life includes the physical and geographic places where we live. When students live in…

This second in a two-part series suggests more than 60 ways to use the young adult novel to enrich the composition program. (DD)

A discussion of the power of first person narrative and the modern predilection for personal witness, especially among the young. Explores personalized reporting based on direct experience, passive observation (or vicarious experience), and the public announcing of personal views, and relates all to the teaching of English, particularly…

GENERAL AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE IMPORTANCE OF IMAGINATIVE LITERATURE IN THE ENGLISH CURRICULUM HAS IRONICALLY GIVEN RISE TO "A STULTIFYING ACADEMIC GAME"--THE REQUIRED BOOK REPORT. STANDARDS FOR READING BOOKS ARE "CADAVEROUSLY" STEREOTYPED--LONG LISTS OF OUTSIDE READING MATERIAL, AND A SPECIFIED NUMBER OF BOOK REPORTS WHICH INCLUDE SOMETHING…

LITERATURE, BEING READILY AVAILABLE AS PART OF THE CURRICULUM, IS A VALUABLE TOOL FOR INSTRUCTING STUDENTS IN COMPOSITION. THE USE OF LITERATURE CAN STIMULATE DISCUSSIONS AND EFFECTIVE WRITING AMONG STUDENTS OF VARIOUS GRADE AND ABILITY LEVELS. INTEREST IS GENERATED BY KEEPING THE CLASSWORK RELEVANT TO THE LIVES OF THE STUDENTS, AND THINKING IS…

This book contains insights into the writer's craft by 17 leading novelists from Australia and New Zealand. The Novelists were asked ten questions that covered the following topics: what the novel form can uniquely accomplish, the scope of the modern novel in comparison to earlier novel forms, the genesis of their own novels, special problems…

In this article, the author deals with a screenplay adaptation assignment that he gave to his students. The purpose is to make readers out of some students who don't like to read, and to teach them something about film as an art form. He starts with a film entitled, "Ernest Hemingway's Soldier's Home." He used it because of the technical…

THE STUDENT PACKET FOR GRADE 10 OF THE NEBRASKA ENGLISH CURRICULUM BEGINS WITH FOUR UNITS ON LITERATURE, EACH STRESSING AN ASPECT OF MAN'S CONCEPTION OF THE WORLD. THROUGH A STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF SEVERAL CULTURES, WRITTEN AT VARIOUS TIMES, STUDENTS FIRST CONSIDER "MAN AND NATURE, MAN'S PICTURE OF NATURE." THE SECOND UNIT, "MAN…

Suggests that by studying and writing dime novels, students can develop their understanding of literary history and gain skill in working with such literary concepts as theme, plot, setting, and characterization. (MM)

THE EIGHTH-GRADE STUDENT PACKET OF THE NEBRASKA ENGLISH CURRICULUM BEGINS WITH A UNIT ON "THE MAKING OF HEROES, THE NOBLEMAN IN WESTERN LITERATURE" WHICH LEADS STUDENTS TO QUESTION WHAT MAKES A HERO, WHAT HE IS LIKE, AND HOW HE EXISTS IN LITERATURE. AFTER READING A NUMBER OF BRIEF SELECTIONS FROM SUCH WORKS AS "THE…