Reading Together: Student Teacher Meet in Literature Circles.

Abstract

Teachers are given too much power in a reading classroom. We choose the texts, design the course syllabuses, and put up a written exam after another written exam. However, we cannot stop our students from becoming book haters as soon as they leave our classroom. By implementing literature circles, we teachers might return the power back to our students, giving them freedom to choose, to organize their path, and assess their own reading as well as progress independently. In searching for a student-centered teaching method, this paper draws from Daniels’ (1994) idea of literature circles and Henry’s (1995) reading-writing workshop approach. It first introduces basic ingredients and discussion roles of literature circles. Added with Henry’s (1995) requirement of literary letters, an experimental syllabus for an L2 reading class is presented. The theories behind literature circle syllabus will be discussed next. Finally, challenges that Taiwanese EFL teachers may encounter when managing a literature-circles-based reading class will be provided.