Integrating Language and Literature

Integrating Language and Literature: Teaching Textual
Analysis with Input and Output Activities and an Input-

to-Output Approach
By Weber-Fève, Stacey
Abstract:
The Modern Language Association report and Profession issue from summer
2007 (Geisler et al., 2007) are highly indicative of the increasingly debated
concerns in the profession surrounding (1) the traditional division of foreign
language curriculum between "language" and "literature" and (2) the
instruction of textual analysis (or practice of close reading) in the student-
centered literature classroom. In this article, I discuss the need in the
profession to address the contemporary problems inherited from the
traditional "language-literature" divide and postulate the use of close reading
as a tactic to overcome this traditional divide. This article specifically
addresses the issue of "why" and "how" to teach students textual analysis
meaningfully and communicatively in the foreign language classroom and
then proposes and demonstrates the use of input and output activities as a
pedagogical strategy.
Key words: close reading, input and output activities, integrating language
and literature, literacy, teaching methods
Language: relevant to all languages
Introduction
The Modern Language Association report and Profession issue from summer
2007 (Geisler et al., 2007) are highly indicative of the increasingly debated
concerns in the profession surrounding (1) the traditional division of foreign
language curriculum between "language" and "literature" and (2) the
instruction of textual analysis (or practice of close reading) in the student-
centered literature classroom. It is not my objective in this article to engage
theoretically in these two issues. Rather, in this article, I wish to make a solid
case for the need in the profession to address a few of the contemporary
problems inherited from the traditional "language-literature" divide. In
addition, I wish to introduce into the same discussion a "languageliterature"
issue that continues to plague many college-level foreign language
instructors: the questions of "why" and "how" to teach students textual
analysis meaningfully and communicatively while at the same time
maintaining a focus on language acquisition. I specifically discuss this issue
of "why" and "how" in relation to a third-year introductory foreign language
"literature" course and also touch on more general implications of teaching
textual analysis meaningfully and communicatively beyond its traditional
literary context.
Grounding this article in Kern's (2000) "literacy-based" approach to the
teaching and learning of reading and writing in the second and/or foreign
language classroom, I discuss below the place for input and output activities
and an input-to-output approach in the "literature" course. Kern's approach
adopts the perspective that reading and writing ought to be viewed as
intertwined and integrated processes. Overlapping this concept with the
format of controlled input and output activities and an input-to-output
approach, I specifically discuss several roles this "coordinated approach"
(Kern, 2000) may play in the teaching and learning of close reading in any
language acquisition-oriented and content- or text-based foreign language
classroom. In general throughout the foreign language profession, but
especially in French, activities focusing on language acquisition are not
widespread strategies adopted in upper-division literature and cultural studies
courses (Frantzen, 2002). Yet I propose that they - especially when
accompanied by close reading and a process-writing approach - may play a
useful and helpful role in such academic settings.
Close reading and academic writing remain critical practices that most
literature and cultural studies instructors value and emphasize in their
courses. Yet many literature and cultural studies instructors who are not
training graduate teaching assistants tend to be unfamiliar with input and
output activities and an input-to-output approach to second language (L2)
learning. In the latter half of the discussion in this article, I call for and
demonstrate the use of input and output activities and an input-tooutput
approach specifically as one manner (1) to introduce students to the practice
of textual analysis and critical thinking development in the target language,
(2) to articulate critical interpretation through standardized academic stylistic
or rhetorical writing conventions, and (3) to keep target language acquisition
in focus at all times in the teaching of foreign language literary texts.

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Integrating Language and Literature: Teaching Textual

Analysis with Input and Output Activities and an Input-

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