UNIT 16 - XTEC Blocs

UNIT 16 LA LITERATURA INFANTIL EN LENGUA INGLESA
TÉCNICAS DE APLICACIÓN DIDÁCTICA PARA ACCEDER A LA COMPRENSIÓN ORAL,
INICIAR Y POTENCIAR LOS HÁBITOS LECTORES Y SENSIBILIZAR EN LA FUNCIÓN
POÉTICA DEL LENGUAJE. 1.- Children's literature in the English language.
1.1. Literacy language.
1.2. Children's literature in the English language.
1.3. Analysis of literary language through relevant works. 2.- Didactic application techniques for listening comprehension;
introducing and encouraging reading habits and appreciating the poetic
function of language.
INTRODUCTION
Children's literature has certain particular features which, apart
from the author's inspiration, are what make it more attractive and
interesting for children, namely: it is a free and happy activity, contains
imaginative elements, reflects inner grievances suffered by the child, uses
argumentative techniques and language suited to children, has a most
intuitive presentation, appeals to feelings, affectivity, transmits moral
values, conveys serenity and balance on the part of the author, has
expository clarity and is interesting.
In children's literature, children's folklore can also be included,
which is a form of literature that has been passed on by word of mouth.
Carmen BravoVillasante states that an aesthetic education using folklore
enhances sensitivity. Children who are not taught by means of songs,
stories or poetry are children with poorness of spirit. Children's
literature is an inexhaustible fountain of resources for programming all
sorts of language activities. 1.- CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 1. LITERARY LANGUAGE. A) LITERARY AND FAMILIAR LANGUAGE.
The language used in literature differs from the language we ordinarily
speak. By and large, literature and speech use the same language with
identical sounds and grammatical procedures, and however, there is a clear
separation between them, a difference in level. In writing there is always
an urge to improve which makes the writer avoid words, sentences or turns
of phrases that are used unscrupulously in informal speech.
The difference begins from the moment that literature acquires enough
development and prestige to impose a select taste for its language. In
certain areas, the literary inflow raises the tone of average speech; in
others, while literary language barely changes, common speech quickly
changes, as it occurred with vulgar Latin.
Literary language broadens and enriches vocabulary and refines
subtleties of meaning with its incessant creative process. It chooses
between certain forms of expression and others, thus contributing to the
lastingness of a language; and it serves to halt tendencies that hasten the
development of a language. B) QUALITIES OF LITERARY LANGUAGE.
- Clarity is achieved by presenting an idea in such a way that it cannot
be interpreted erroneously; it denotes exactly what the author means to
say. The opposite of clarity is ambiguity or amphibology, a sentence,
expression, etc., capable of double meaning. When amphibology is used
intentionally, it is called an equivocation.
- The quality of propriety occurs when the words that are used are those
that are suitable for what is being expressed. Words are not
interchangeable, for there are no true synonyms.
- Language has expressive vigour when it expresses with representative
force what the writer or speaker means. If the expressive power is so great
that what is stated appears in our imagination, with features of sensitive
reality, it is said that language contains plasticity.
- Decorum eliminates all that is deemed uncouth, impolite or indecent.
- Concreteness requires complying with the language rules in force. The
violation of syntactic rules is called a solecism.
- Harmony is achieved by, when choosing words, attending to their sound
quality and arranging sentences in such a way that the musical elements of
the language are enhanced. The opposite of euphony or pleasant sound is
cacophony.
- Abundance lies in the richness and variety of the vocabulary.
- Language is pure when words and constructions are used in accordance
with the particular nature of that language, without the use of unnecessary
foreign elements.
- Barbarisms or superfluous foreignisms must be repudiated. The reaction against foreign influences may lead to the extremes of
purism and correction, which insist upon absolute purity in language, based
on the servile imitation of the classics and on strict correctness, which
often sacrifices naturalness and liveliness.
2. CHILDREN'S LITERATURE IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Children's literature is a branch of the science of books which has been
so useful and charming as any other type of literature.
Children's literature includes many books that adults enjoy reading even
when they do not read them to or with children. The most famous children's
book is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", and it is read more by adults
than children. The same occurs with "Peter Rabbit", one of the books best-
known for its humanity.
In the past years, the study of children's literature has regained
popularity. a) FAIRY TALES.
It is one of the most important divisions of children's literature. It
contains a similar proportion of wishes and fears, which creates a balance
that keeps the attention of readers and listeners. It can tell lots of
meaningful stories in many different ways.
Elliot says that fairy tales are best as bedtime stories for young
children, but they are also valuable for older children.
Bottelheim specifies that they are good for children between the ages of
nine and ten, which is when children are maturing in processes that they
are afraid of. b) ANIMALS
They are the strongest bond between fairy tales and modern children's
literature.
Animals are creatures that speak and act like human beings. They are
present in most old and modern children's stories and are the most
important source of power in the best children's literature, a source which
other types of literature had abandoned before the 19th century.
Animals in fairy tales are enchanted and live in a world of human beings,
and human beings play a minor role. Any animal can be used as the enchanted
beast in a fairy tale: a bird in "The Juniper Tree", a fox in "The Golden
Bird", a prince frog, a cat, a snake in "Countess d'Aulnoy". These animals
do not wish to be animals and while they are under a spell, they are the
kindest, most patient and civilized of beings.
Modern children's literature contains animal fables and fairy tales. "The
Three Little Pigs" and "The Little Red Hen" are examples of stories that
young children read.
English children's literature shows signs of persistence in writing and
reading. In England, childhood was considered the only stage in life in
which it was good to believe in a world of magic and imagination and
talking animals. Children were seen as beings that were capable of enjoying
instinctive sympathy for animals and of establishing an alliance with them
against adult human beings. c) GREAT ENGLISH STORY WRITERS.
There are many famous English writers of children's stories, but the two
most famous ones were Lewis Carroll and Beatrix Potter.
Lewis Carroll, an English writer, was born in 1832 and died in 1898. He
is the best-known author of story books, which are read by children and
adults.
His main works are "Alice's Books" (the most famous one), "There's Glory
for you" and "It was the best butter".
Beatrix Potter wrote stories as popular as "Peter Rabbit", which
everybody has heard of and which became a film. Others are "Taylor of
Gloucester" and "The little mice star: down to spin". In the latter, the
mice were not humanized, although they did weave men's coats. Another
popular story is "Jemina Puddle".
Oscar Wilde was an Irish author who wrote all his works in English and
became one of the best renowned writers in English literature. He is famous
for his plays and his popular theory of beauty. His best collection of
stories are "The Shellfish Giant" and "The Canterville Ghost", which is one
of the short stories included in his book "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime".
Kenneth Grahame understood children's tastes very well and invited them
to the enchanted circus he created. His books "The Golden Age" and "Dream
Days" were immensely popular among children. The ideal world of this writer
seems more percectible and desirable than the world of Peter Pan.
Rudyard Kipling is known as the writer from India, although he never was
an ardent apologist of the presence of the English there. His main works
are "The Jungle Book" (1894-95) and "Stories" (1902). "The Jungle Book" and
"Kim" are blithe books about the world of ideas. His most important book is
"The Jungle Book": it is the most accomplished expression of Kipling's
quality of work.
B. Frank Baum, a German-North American novelist, was born in Vienna in
1896 and died in 1960. He wanted American children's literature to be free
of unpleasant incidents. He wrote many children's books: "A New
Wonderland", "The Book of the Hambergs", "His Book", etc. d) FANTASTIC LITERATURE OF TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES.
The fantastic aspect lies within transcendence and imminence, in other
word, between the truth of facts, the correspondence between discourse and
reality, and internal evidence, which makes a