Teaching Young Adult Fiction - Einzelansicht

Commentary:

While it is frequently lamented that young adults are practically glued to their mobile devices, numbers in traditional publishing and the print market speak a different language: Young Adult Fiction is very much alive!

For teachers in the EFL-classroom, novels and short stories for young adults can be much more than merely a means to developing language skills and bringing across content – they can foster creativity, aesthetic understanding, and valuable empathetic understanding of pressing issues for todays youths.

In this seminar, we will focus on the various cultural functions of young adult fiction. We will explore how findings from Cultural Studies and Literary Theory can provide useful tools for teaching contemporary literature in the EFL-classroom. Further, we will discuss how to develop engaging and dynamic approaches to complex and sensitive topics in young adult fiction, and touch upon the issue of handling emerging genres and media adaptations in the classroom.


Literature:

In preparation for the seminar you are required to read Angie Thomas' „The Hate U Give” (2017) and Walter Dean Myers' „Shooter” (1999). Both books will be available in an affordable paperback version at the local Thalia Bookstore. Additional literary texts as well as theoretical reading will be provided on Wordwise.

Dear participants of Teaching Young Adult Fiction,

not too long until this rather special summer semester starts! So, here´s some informationabout what I´ve planned for the coming months:

1. It´s still looking pretty grim for our regular Präsenzveranstaltungen. This seminar is therefore conceptualized as online-only, and – to make it more fun – it will integrate a number of different components. The seminar will consist of brief weekly online teaching sessions, self-organized digital meetings for group work in pairs and in groups of 3-4 people (you may want to think about preferred ways of connecting with your fellow students before the semester starts), and one overarching individual assignment with online feedback. I will also hold a weekly digital ”office hour”, so none of your questions will go unanswered and we can have a productive and happy semester.

2. Before May 7, I will provide you with a syllabus, a PPT and some reading material on Wordwise, so you can all prepare for the seminar. Please study the (preliminary) syllabus including the planned group-work assignments and the required reading, the requirements for the term paper, and the PPT carefully prior to our first digital meeting on May 7, 12:00, so that I can answer all questions and we can plan a productive semester together. Please know that I am happy to include your ideas and comments into my plans!

3. You will receive an invitation to our first online session on May 7 via email. Right now, I plan on working with Zoom, as it provides the best audio and video quality available. Know that you are not required (but very welcome!) to use your webcam and you are allowed to use a pseudonym. Just let me know who´s who via email or group chat and bear in mind that I will address with you that pseudonym during our sessions, so choose wisely!

4. You are required to read one novel, two short stories and some secondary literature for this seminar. As bookstores have just re-opened, you will be able to get your copy of Angie Thomas´ The Hate U Give at Thalia Neue Mitte. We will decide to which extent we will work with Walter Dean Myers Shooter together during our first session. Almost each week you are required to read one academic article on aspects of teaching young adult literature, which serves as basis for our discussions and your group work! Any additional reading material – book chapters, short stories and secondary literature will be uploaded to Wordwise in due time. Please keep in mind: for this seminar to work, it is crucial that you read the texts!
Since we´re working on a pretty packed schedule once the seminar has started, I strongly advise you to finish The Hate u Give before May 14!

Since I am not yet an employee of the FSU Jena, you can reach me via my personal emailaddress only: s.braselmann@hotmail.de
I will let you know my official Uni-Jena-address asap.
I am looking forward to meeting you online soon! All the best, stay healthy!