2021-2022
Course: Literature 2
Leraar Engels 2e Graad
René Kuijper
[Bedrijfsnaam]
2021-2022
,Inhoud
Preface ........................................................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 2
2. Targeted audience............................................................................................................. 3
2. Three criteria. What kind of book is best for my audience? ................................................ 4
2.1. The story or theme of the book should contribute to the critical thinking of the student.
.......................................................................................................................................... 4
2.2. The students must be able to identify with the characters in the story ......................... 4
2.3. The book takes into account the large differences between students in both age and
interest ............................................................................................................................... 5
3. Book reviews .................................................................................................................... 6
3.1. Book review 1. Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Bartellali ................ 6
2.1.1. First impression .................................................................................................... 6
Criteria’s ......................................................................................................................... 7
Age suitability ................................................................................................................. 7
Last impression ....................................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.
2.2 A Monster Calls........................................................................................................... 9
First impression .............................................................................................................. 9
Age suitability ................................................................................................................10
Last impression ....................................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.
2.3 The Book Thief ...........................................................................................................11
First impression .............................................................................................................11
Age suitability ................................................................................................................11
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................12
1.1. Aristotle’s and Dante discover the secrets of the Universe .....................................14
Book review 2.2. Release. Patrick Ness............................................................................17
Reading projects ..................................................................................................................20
Reading project 1. Podcast or YouTube show ..................................................................20
Reading project 2. Pitch and write a sequel ..........................................................................24
Verantwoording boekprojecten ....................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.
6. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................28
Postface ...............................................................................................................................29
Bibliografie ...........................................................................................................................30
, 1. Introduction
When I took the English course in high school as a student, there was nothing of literature in
it. Even when I studied at the MBO, none had to do with books, stories, or poetry. I received
assignments on grammar, writing skills, speaking skills, and drafting cover letters
In retrospect, I find this a great loss because in my vision as a future English teacher, learning
and applying a language also has to do with the cultural roots of a language, the use in
popular media, and the use of the language to communicate in various ways. Reading books
and stories is an essential part of that in my opinion, but unfortunately, I did not get to
experience that when I was a student. What also plays a role in my view as a teacher is the
didactic interpretation of the lesson. Every student learns in his or her way and where some
are better at speaking, others can learn the language better by reading.
In research by Gardner (2011), the various learning styles are also described as multiple
intelligences. Some students learn by listening, others by reading, and still others by playing
drama. Also in language teaching, you can use the various didactic resources that meet the
different learning needs. Which book you choose, how you use the book, and how you as a
teacher ensure that the students do something with the story, is in my opinion just as
important as using literature in your curriculum.
I hope that in this course I will learn more about this and at the end of the course, I can
argue which Young Adult book I choose for my specific target group and in what way I am
convinced that this book contributes to the learning process of the English language within
my curriculum.
As a teacher I want the students to be enthusiastic about the story of a book, to be
stimulated to think about the underlying themes or to identify with the characters, and thus
want to read more and more. Subconsciously, they are so enthusiastic about the English
language and they actively get to work. If you can achieve that as an English teacher with the
use of literature in class, then that gives you a lot of learning results.
, 2. Targeted audience.
I am currently working as a teacher of History and English at the MBO Utrecht in the field of
commercial economics. Most of my lessons are intended for the students of the MBO level 4
marketing, communication and journalism employee course. The main goal of my English
lessons is to prepare students to use the English language in their (future) work field. The
emphasis is on speaking, reading, and writing at the C1 level. This is higher than the average
for MBO education. This has to do with the fact that we offer a so-called mhbo education,
which includes some subjects at the HBO level and which therefore offers a higher level of
English than many other mbo educations.
In the curriculum, we use the Cambridge English B2-C1 method. The emphasis is on
preparing for the B2 final exam, but there is always room in the lesson program to offer
other types of lessons.
The average age of the students when they begin their education at our school is between
15 and 22 years. It is a diverse target group, not only in terms of age but also because the
students come from different previous studies and schools before beginning at our school.
one of the direct consequences of this is that the difference in the level of English is
therefore also an important aspect to take into account when devising a work format and
choosing the right literature.
So far, our English classes have not used any form of written stories or any form of literature.
We let the students work on reading skills by reading short texts and at the same time, we
focus on reading comprehension.
In other subjects, books are used. Like in the subject of Citizenship, a non-fiction book is
used in the third grade, and the subject of Dutch, second-grade students get to pick their
book for a reading project in which they have to present a review of the book and debate
the main themes of that book in class.
For this literature project, I focus on the students of the second year. In the third year, the
focus is on preparing for the exam, and in the first year, there is a lot of repeating and
catching up on grammar, speaking, and listening. In the second year of the program, there
could still be room for a reading or literature project.
What typifies students within our program is that they are goal-oriented, have commercial
thinking, and are engaged in social issues. This is often linked to an interest in the journalistic
aspect of the training. At the same time, there is variation in the types of students. Some
students want to enter sports journalism or fashion journalism, so there is quite a difference
in the interest of topics. The focus of the student is reflected in the type of education: the
student wants to know what the learning objectives are and how the student can use this in
his or her situation or future workplace. After all, we are a career training institution.
Therefore, the explanation of the learning objectives to the student is an important part of
our teaching program.
