Education is essential in the lives of all children and adolescents since it fosters valuable skills and provides the necessary information, which the students later use in their lives. For instance, literature fosters critical thinking and expressing one’s opinions on specific issues and matters learned through novels, stories, or poetry. As a result, it is the duty of an educator to find appropriate approaches to teach the students through a variety of activities and help develop their abilities. In many cases, literature discussion groups (LDGs) are formed in order to aid students in not only analyzing the piece but understanding and learning how to communicate with others. Therefore, LDGs are aimed at improving interpersonal and critical thinking skills by incorporating groups.
First, it is necessary to outline the purpose of LDGs. As a social circle, literature discussion groups are designed to foster the growth of analytical skills, communication, and listening abilities (Roessing, 2019). LDG encourages teamwork, self-reliance, and reading as social and lifestyle activities in this situation. This is why many educators choose to incorporate these activities into their curriculum. When it comes to the way these groups are formed, in most cases, teams of between three and six people are created, which later meet to select and debate a book (Roessing, 2019). Although some teachers develop long-lasting teams with participants continuing to read and debate multiple works, others prefer to create short-term teams that separate when the book is finished.
Here, it is essential to separate the roles of educators from the role of students since they differ. While serving as a mediator, the teacher observes each team without joining them. The instructor takes notes during the group interaction, which are later used for assessment, class training, or indicative comments (Roessing, 2019). Students formulate ideas, take part in in-depth discussions, and use critical reasoning to support their arguments with citations. With interactional learning, individuals improve their understanding of one another. Therefore, the activity is based on first-hand observations and feedback.
As for the tactics and strategies which teachers use when organizing and conducting literature discussion groups, these might involve personal responses and paraphrastic approaches. For example, when it comes to the first one consists in encouraging students to express their opinion regarding the book and then relate them to personal experiences (Mustakim et al., 2018). Moreover, the educator might enable students to relate their personal experiences and emotions to the main issues of the material (Mustakim et al., 2018). This way, the strategy is aimed at reflective tasks and individual perceptions. In another strategy, the educator might conduct a lesson aimed at learning the underlying meanings of the text and retelling the storylines (Mustakim et al., 2018). This way, the educator will foster memorization and critical thinking.
In sum, LDGs incorporate groups in order to enhance communication and critical thinking abilities. Literature discussion groups serve as a social setting that promotes the development of critical thinking, speaking and listening skills. In this circumstance, LDG promotes reading as a social and lifestyle activity, self-reliance, and teamwork. This is the reason so many teachers decide to include these exercises in their lesson plans. When it comes to how these groups are organized, teams of three to six individuals are often established, and they subsequently gather to choose and discuss a book. Personal response and paraphrastic techniques are only two examples of the tactics and strategies that instructors may employ when planning and leading literary discussion groups.
References
Mustakim, S. S., Mustapha, R., & Lebar, O. (2018). Teacher’s approaches in teaching literature: Observations of ESL classroom. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 2(4), 35-44. Web.
Roessing, L. (2019). Talking texts: A teachers’ guide to book clubs across the curriculum. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.