Extensive Reading in the EFL Classroom1
Αn Integrated Approach to Teaching Literature in a Greek EFL
Classroom
A Case Study: Pygmalion
Μαίρη Μαρίν
1. INTRODUCTION
Teachers often regard literature as inappropriate to the language
classroom. This view reflects the historic separation between the study of
language and the study of literature, which Short (1996: 7) refers to as a
‘border dispute over territory’ between linguists and literary critics. This
divergence has resulted in the teaching of the two subjects as ‘disconnected
pedagogic practices’ (Carter and McRae, 1996: xxiv) and has, consequently, led
to the limited role of literature in the language classroom. There are others,
however, who disagree with the false dualism of separating literature from
language, since literature is language and language can indeed be literary. Carter
and Nash (1990: 34) hold that “rather than perceiving literary discourse as
separate and remote from non-literary discourse, we ought to consider the
variety of text types along a continuum with some being more literary than
others”. This paper is not an attempt to argue that all works of literature are
accessible for use in class but it does set out to advocate the role that
literature teaching might have at advanced levels.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
It is undeniably true that reading has been the skill most emphasized in
traditional FL teaching. However, there is often reluctance by teachers and
One form of extensive reading is when teachers guide the whole class in reading the
same book (a class reader). Work with class readers can support and complement
individually-selected reading done by students outside the classroom, and can link
reading with other areas of the language-learning curriculum, such as speaking, listening,
and writing.
1
course designers to introduce unabridged and authentic texts to the EFL
syllabus. There is a general perception that literature is particularly complex
and inaccessible for the foreign language learner and can even be detrimental to
the process of language learning (Or, 1995). Bamford (1984: 4-7), among others
has argued that “reading can be studied more effectively and enjoyably when
students use easy material that they can understand and enjoy, instead of being
forced to decode and translate texts hopelessly beyond their abilities”.
Indeed, it is difficult to imagine teaching the stylistic features of
literary discourse to learners who have a less than sophisticated grasp of the
basic mechanics of English language. This perception is also borne out by
research (Akyel and Yalçin, 1990: 174-180) which shows that the desire to
broaden learners’ horizons through exposure to classic literature usually has
disappointing results. There is a perception that the use of literary discourse
deflects from the straightforward business of language learning, i.e. knowledge
of language structure, functions and general communication.
As teachers of English as a Foreign Language our main concern is to
enable learners acquire communicative competence. Therefore, our teaching
tends to focus on standard forms of linguistic expression. However,
notwithstanding the acquisition of linguistic accuracy, EFL speakers apparently
find it difficult to fully comprehend the nuances, creativity and versatility of
standard and transactional forms of English. To quote Savvidou, “Communicative
competence is definitely more than acquiring mastery of structure and form. It
also involves acquiring the ability to interpret discourse in all its social and
cultural contexts. For this reason, the use of literature in the EFL classroom can
provide a powerful pedagogic tool in learners’ linguistic development” (cf.
Savvidou: 2004)2.
Today, EFL reading instruction is moving increasingly from teaching texts
to teaching readers. Susser and Robb (1990)3 surveyed the literature on
extensive reading and discussed the role of graded readers and the transfer of
L1 reading ability, while attempting to give a definition of "extensive reading" as
a language teaching/learning procedure: individualized reading of self-chosen
material for global or general understanding with the intention of obtaining
pleasure from the text, which is not further discussed in class4. The writers
2
“An integrated approach to the use of literature in the language classroom offers
foreign language learners the opportunity to develop not only their linguistic and
communicative skills but their knowledge about language in all its discourse types”.
3
Their article surveys the literature on extensive reading and establishes a working
definition of extensive reading as a language teaching/learning procedure. It explores
the main issues in extensive reading, including the role of graded readers and the
transfer of L1 reading ability. A model of extensive reading is described, based on
Richards and Rodgers' (1982) definition of "procedure."
4
According to Waring (1997: 9-12), "Graded Reading is the reading of material which
has been made easy to read." A key link between graded and extensive reading is that,
agree, though, that there is no reason extensive reading should be confined to
graded materials. They observe that, although graded readers are widely used,
research has, unfortunately, pointed out some important problems: some of
them are written in poor English or are empty of content (Davison, 1986: 20-21;
Wallace, 1988: 153-154). More importantly, the process of simplification often
leaves writing that is more difficult to understand than the original, because
cohesion, coherence, and discourse structure are impaired (Anderson &
Armbruster 1986: 154ff). In addition, some reading experts argue that denying
FL learners access to complicated prose will prevent them from ever learning to
comprehend it. Lautamatti (1978) believes that we cannot use graded readers
because “the reading process relies on a selective use of all possible levels of
the text, and it is only by giving the student material containing all the features
naturally occurring in informative texts, that we can make it possible for him to
learn to take advantage of these” (in Susser and Robb 1990: 104).
On the other hand, the "intensive reading procedure" which implies close
study of short passages, including syntactic, semantic, and lexical analyses and
translation into the L1 to study meaning is, according to Alderson and Urquhart
(1984), not a reading but a language lesson, since it consists of a series of
language points, using texts as points of departure. Reading texts, in other
words, are sources of language exercises, rather than reading exercises. (ibid:
246-247). This view is supported by Brumfit (1984: 83) and Hyland (1990: 14). I
agree with Bamford and Day (1997: 6-8)5 who argue convincingly that extensive
reading can be integrated into the second language curriculum in a variety of
ways, from a stand-alone course to an extracurricular club activity.
Having decided that integrating literature into the EFL syllabus is
beneficial to the learners’ linguistic development, we have to decide upon the
approach that best serves the needs of EFL learners and the syllabus. Is it
possible to broaden learners’ horizons through exposure to classic literature
with positive results? This is what this research set out to answer.
"Graded Reading uses specially prepared materials while Extensive Reading can, but need
not do so." The author also gives reasons for the importance of graded reading: "building
reading speed, lexical speed access, reading fluency, and the ability when reading to
move from working with words to working with ideas." He finally agrees with Bamford
that students’ motivation can also increase.
According to the authors, all students must engage in extensive reading if they are to
become skilful and fluent. "Automaticity of 'bottom-up' (word recognition) processes
upon which comprehension depends is a consequence of practice." The authors list
characteristics of successful extensive reading programs, including "Reading is its own
reward. There are few or no follow-up exercises to be completed after reading." They
also argue that simplified materials are an appropriate choice for students whose level
of L2 proficiency makes it very difficult to read texts written for native speakers.
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3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK : THE INTEGRATED APPROACH
Drawing on Carter and Long’s (1991) description of the three main teaching
models of literature, Savvidou (2004) provides a rationale for an integrated
approach to teaching literature in the language classroom: She suggests
combining the traditional approach to teaching literature, i.e. the Cultural Model,
which requires learners to explore and interpret the social, political, literary and
historical context of a specific text and encourages them to understand
different cultures and ideologies in relation to their own, the Language Model ,
an approach which enables learners to access a text in a systematic and
methodical way in order to exemplify specific linguistic features and the
Personal Growth Model which emphasises the interaction of the reader with the
text and encourages learners to express their feelings and opinions. 6
Carter and Long suggested three models: (1) the cultural model, (2) the language model,
and (3) the personal growth model.
The Cultural Model aims at providing the students' input in the form of "accumulated
wisdom." Literature has been seen as the medium in which "the most significant ideas of
human beings" are expressed. This model links students with a range of expressions
which have universal values over a long period of time. Carter and Long profess that a
literature curriculum based on the cultural model would transport the learner into the
realm of another culture, and this would provide the learner the motivation to indulge in
the study of humanities itself: “Teaching literature within a cultural model enables
students to understand and appreciate cultures and ideologies different from their own
in time and space and to come to perceive tradition of thought, feeling and artistic form
within the heritage the literature of such cultures endows. It is this particular 'human'
sense that gives literature a central place in the study and teaching of the humanities in
many parts of the world” (Carter and Long, 1991:2).
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The Language Model basically uses literature to consolidate language skills taught in the
classroom. Most educationists are of the opinion that the language of the ESL classroom
is too rigid, too ‘textbookish’, too artificial, and too contrived and so the language model
helps expose students to the more subtle and varied creative uses of the language.
Although critics say that the manipulation of literature to serve the purposes of
language teaching can make literature mechanistic, proponents of the model argue that
literature and language should complement one another and that language should be
treated as mother to this child called literature:
The proponents of this model argue that “language is the literary medium, that
literature is made from language and that the more students can read in and through
language the better able they will be to come to terms with a literary text as
literature”(Carter and Long, 1991: 2).
The Personal Growth Model bears some similarities to the language model in that it is
student-centred and it helps students achieved "an engagement with the reading of
literary texts." The teacher's role is to implant in his students a "lasting pleasure in
reading and a deep satisfaction in a continuing growth of understanding."
According to Duff and Maley (1990), the main reasons for integrating these
elements are linguistic, methodological and motivational. As already stated, this
paper describes how such an approach was used in a Greek high school EFL
classroom in a way that made literature both accessible to learners and
beneficial to their linguistic development.
4. METHODOLOGY
4.1. PARTICIPANTS
To research the effectiveness of the integrated approach to teaching
literature, I chose to work with second grade senior high school learners of
English. They all attended A’ Arsakeio Lykeio Psychikou, a semi-private school at
which I have been a teacher of English for the past eight years. The reasons
why they were chosen were their level of competence in the English language
and their general interests and motivation for extra-curricular activities. There
were eleven students in the class, aged between 16 and 17 years old, all
Proficiency holders at the time the program was being put into effect. The
students already had a high level of oral and written competence in English and a
variety of interests. Despite the fact that they enjoyed surfing the Internet,
most of them admitted to having limited time for extra-curricular reading and
none of them had done any extensive reading in the English language since
Grammar School. One thing they all had in common, which played a decisive role
in the choice of literary material, was their love for theatre and mainly cinema, a
passion I shared and a subject on which several heated discussions had
preceded my decision to introduce literature into their curriculum. The program,
which started in mid November 2006 and lasted five months, was inserted into
their weekly two-hour English course and was taught along with their
coursebook7. We generally devoted half of the 50-minute-period to literature.
4.2. SELECTION OF MATERIAL
In my search for the appropriate literary material in compliance with Brumfit’s
(1981: 243-248) suggested basic criteria for the selection of texts for
7
“On the Move” Proficiency Level Coursebook . Hillside Press 2001
advanced work in teaching foreign literature, i.e. linguistic level, cultural level,
length, but also the pedagogical role of the text, the genre and finally classic
status, and given the limited amount of time available to me, I decided to use
drama: George Bernard Shaw’s famous play ‘Pygmalion’ seemed to satisfy all the
presupposed criteria I was looking for. Firstly, George Bernard Shaw is
considered by some the second greatest English playwright, behind only
Shakespeare, with a truly massive corpus of work including about 60 plays, 5
novels, volumes of music, dance and theatrical criticism, and heaps of social
commentary, political theory, and voluminous correspondence.
Secondly, one of Shaw's greatest contributions as a modern dramatist is
in establishing drama as serious literature. Of all of Shaw's plays, Pygmalion,8
for which the author won both the Nobel Prize for literature and an Academy
Award for the script adaptation of the film version of 1938 is, without a doubt,
the most beloved and popularly received, if not the most significant in literary
terms.
The original play itself is an invaluable teaching tool since it works on
several levels: it serves both as (a) a gripping story appropriate for reading,
discussing and assessing in terms of literary value, structure, plot9, characters,
(b) a motive for discussion, -Shaw’s satire and harsh criticism of the social
standards of his time- as well as (c) a linguistic tool -study of the phonetic,
grammatical and syntactical particularities of the cockney speech10. In addition,
8
“Pygmalion” by George Bernard Shaw. Copyright 1916 (Renewed 1944). Shaw's
plot was derived from Latin poet Ovid's story (in the Metamorphoses) about a
character named Pygmalion who fell in love with a beautiful ivory statue of a
woman. In later Greek tradition, his prayers to Venus that the beloved statue Galatea - would come to life came true so that they could marry.
9
The plot: Henry Higgins is an arrogant, irascible professor of phonetics who boasts to
fellow linguist Colonel Pickering that he can train any woman to speak so properly that he
could pass her off as a duchess, including Eliza Doolittle, a poor girl with a strong
Cockney accent whom he encountered selling flowers in Covent Garden. Pickering is
intrigued by Higgins's boast and wagers that he cannot make good on his claim. Higgins
takes on the challenge and begins an intensive make-over of Eliza's speech, manners and
dress in preparation for her appearance at the Embassy Ball. The experiment is a
success, the bet is won and Higgins falls, despite himself, in love with his “creation” who
is impressively transformed. But, besides learning to speak beautifully, learning to walk,
dance and converse like a lady, Eliza’s greatest accomplishment is the way she holds
herself in front of Higgins who by praising himself that he has made a woman of her,
does not realise he has contributed to her emancipation.
10
Cockney speech. London East-End Cockney speakers have a distinctive accent and
dialect characterised mainly by the lengthening of the vowel sound and the dropping of
the /h/ sound. Cockney speakers frequently use Cockney rhyming slang.
several film versions have been made of the play, and it has even been adapted
into a musical, which gave me the opportunity to use both recordings of the film
dialogues and ultimately the film ‘My Fair Lady’ itself for comparison. It was
then decided that the play would be approached act by act and not read all at
once.
4.3. PROCEDURE
The same procedure was followed throughout the first part of the program until
the whole play was read, explained and fully discussed.
STAGE ONE: BEFORE READING
As a warm-up exercise, we held a discussion where I found out what the
students already knew about the author and the times he was writing in, then,
since there have been so many adaptations of the play, drawing on their theatre,
cinema and TV knowledge, we explained in what way this piece of literature was
well-known.
John Camden Hotten, in his Slang Dictionary of 1859 makes reference to "their use of a
peculiar slang language" when describing the costermongers of London's East End. In
terms of other slang, there are also several borrowings from Yiddish. Typical features
of Cockney speech include:











Dropped H, as in 'alf pronounced [af], ("not half")
Appearance of H in front of vowels, as in “ever” pronounced [hever]
Diphthong shift of [i] to [əi] (for example beet [bəit]), [e] to [a] (for example
bait [bait]), [ou] to [au] (for example going [gauing]
Monophthongisation of the /au/ phoneme, means that in some dialects the words
'math' and 'mouth' rhyme.
Merger of /θ/-zd- with /f/, and [ð]-d- with /v/, hence [mæfs] for ‘maths’, [bavə]
for 'bother'.
Monophthongisation of /au/ to [æu], hence [dæun] for ‘down’
Use of a glottal stop for intervocalic 't', as in bottle or butter (but not when it
precedes the stress, as in deter);
Intrusive 'R' after a vowel, hence 'America-r-is' for 'America is'
Use of me instead of my
Use of ain't instead of isn't, am not, are not, has not, and have not
Use of "In'it" to question a positive when making a statement, for example,
"Good day today in'it?" (excerpt from the students’ project)
Note:The students were first introduced orally to these peculiarities ant then
taught in detail before starting to gather examples of their own from the text.
The students were given some background information on Shaw, the plot,
the characters and the characteristics of the Cockney speech and listened to
the first scene on a tape recorder to get a taste of it. Act 1 was assigned for
reading. This sort of warmer helps arouse interest and fits more into the
‘cultural model’ of teaching literature which requires learners to explore and
interpret the social, political, literary and historical context of a specific text.
STAGE TWO: UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT. GENERAL
COMPREHENSION
It is important to let students approach a piece of literature the first time
without giving them any specific task other than to simply read it. One of the
aims of teaching literature is to evoke interest and pleasure from the language.
If students have to do a task at every stage of a literature lesson, the pleasure
can be lost. So, once students had read each scene or act once at home, we read
it in class, each student undertaking a different part to “play” each time, after
which, they were asked to retell the story and explain the significance of
certain key words of the text or to comment on the characters, the storyline
and what they particularly liked11. Various drama techniques were also used, such
as freeze-frame and prediction of what was going to happen next, role-play and
suggesting stage directions.
11
Excerpts from the students’ responses:
What reason does Eliza give for wanting lessons in speaking? Why does she want Higgins
to know she came in a taxi?
_Eliza begs to be taught to speak well enough to work at a flower shop. Coming in a taxi
gives her some kind of dignity, or so she thinks, and she wants Higgins to know that, in
order to be impressed enough to take her on.
Why is Higgins willing to take her? What does Pickering promise to do? How does each
man regard Eliza?
_When Pickering convinces him that it would make an interesting challenge to actually
teach Eliza how to speak and promises to cover all the expenses of the experiment,
Higgins is intrigued and willing to do it in order to prove he is the best phonetics teacher
alive.
_Higgins regards Eliza very low “a drab guttersnipe, a squashed cabbage leaf” and treats
her like dirt, whereas the Colonel is very polite towards her and treats her like a lady by
calling her Miss Doolittle.
Why does Alfred Doolittle come to see Higgins? How does he feel toward his daughter?
_Thinking that there is an opportunity to extort or blackmail Professor Higgins for
keeping his daughter (possibly for a scandalous sexual liaison), Alfred visits him “to
rescue her from worse than death”. He really considers Eliza a burden he would be very
happy to get rid of, and when he is convinced of Higgins’ honourable intentions and gets
STAGE THREE: UNDERSTANDING THE LANGUAGE
At this stage, the more difficult and unfamiliar words in the text were dealt
with and, given the peculiarity of the language in the first two Acts, before
Eliza learns how to speak “beautifully”, all the non-standard grammatical forms
were discussed and “corrected” 12. We focused on analysing the text at a deeper
his five-pound note, he advises Higgins to keep his daughter in line with physical force:
“If you have any trouble with her, Governor, give her a few licks of the strap. That’s the
way to improve her mind!”
The experiment is finished and Higgins has won his bet. How does he react to his
success?
_After successfully passing off Eliza as a princess and gloating over his “immense
achievement”, “a total triumph”, Higgins is very arrogant and complacent and
congratulates himself and Pickering. But he completely ignores Eliza’s role in the
strategy. Higgins takes his success for granted. He says the whole thing was very
simple and that he was sure of the outcome from the very beginning. It seems he has
lost his interest now that the experiment is over.
Eliza has been silent and brooding, but finally her “beauty becomes murderous”. Why?
How does Higgins first react to her outburst?
_After their self-congratulatory pronouncements for their ”glorious victory”, Eliza is
left alone, tragically hurt and angered by their indifference toward her. Feeling she is
expendable, Eliza is weeping when Higgins reappears and turns furious when all he cares
for is his slippers so she throws them at him crying “may you never have a day’s luck with
them”.
_Higgins is, at first, shocked by her violent outburst and cannot understand what he has
done to hurt her feelings. Going on treating Eliza the same way, he tries to calm her
down but to no effect.
12
Examples of Cockney Speech from Pygmalion as gathered and “corrected” by the
students and featured in the booklet they made:
Nah then, Freddy, look wh’ y’ gowin, deah. ( Now then my friend, look where you are
going, dear!)
Te-oo banches o’voylets trod into the mad! ( Two bunches of violets trod into the mud!)
Ow, eez ye-ooa san, is e? ( Oh, he is your son, is he?)
Wal, fewd dan y’ de-ooty bawmz a mather should, eed now bettern to spawl a pore gel’s
flahrzn than ran awy athaht pyin. Will ye-oo py me f’ them?
( Well, if you had done your duty by him as a mother should,he’d know better to spoil a
poor girl’s flowers than run away without paying. Will you pay me for them?)
Cheer ap, Keptin; n’baw ya flahr orf a pore gel . ( Cheer up , captain; Buy a flower off a
poor girl)
I’m come to ‘ave lessons and to py for ‘em too,mike no mistyke (I’ve come to have lessons
and pay for them too, make no mistake )
I washt me fyce and ‘ands afore I come (I’ve washed my face and hands before I came)
Meself and the missus (Myself and the wife)
I ain’t pretendin’ to be deservin’ ( I don’t pretend to be deserving)
level and exploring how the message was conveyed through overall structure and
any special uses of language - rhythm, imagery, word choice etc. Each Act took
us about three or four lessons to complete and every time it was finished and
discussed in detail, we listened to the dialogues of the movie. Then the students
had to write a guided summary, answer comprehension questions and
characterise the main persons in the scene.13
This resembles the most common approach to literature in the EFL
classroom, what Carter and Long (1991) refer to as the ‘language-based
approach’, which is a systematic and methodical way to access a text in order to
exemplify specific linguistic features. This approach lends itself well to the
repertoire of strategies used in language teaching - cloze procedure, prediction
exercises, jumbled sentences, summary writing, creative writing and role play,
and we used them all. This stage, despite being more teacher-oriented and
intensive, proved to be quite a joy for both the students and myself.
STAGE FOUR: INTERPRETATION AND PERSONAL RESPONSE
The focus of this final step was on increasing understanding, enhancing
enjoyment of the text and enabling students to come to their own personal
interpretation of the text. This is based on the rationale for “the personal
growth model”, and is clearly learner-centred. Students provided written
answers to more general and complex questions such as “in what significant ways,
and with what effect, Shaw has transformed the Pygmalion myth in his play”, to
“describe the primary ways in which Eliza Doolittle changes in the course of the
play”, or “how the play conforms (or not) to the traditional form of a romance” 14.
Lots of coal mikin’ lots of ‘eat (Lots of coal making, lots of heat)
Sellin’ er bloomin’ flahrs ( selling her blooming flowers)
Y’ ain’t gonna tike me hard-earned wiges (You aren’t going to take my hard-earned wages)
13
Of course, the students' main task is reading, but “writing summaries is valuable not
only to provide a means for teachers to check comprehension, but because the writing of
summaries improves comprehension” (Smith 1988: 277). In addition, this practice helps
students improve their writing ability. Another task that can be adapted for extensive
reading is the "standard exercise, "a set of open-ended questions that can be designed
to suit most books available to students in a course. (Robb & Susser: 1989)
14
Selected students’ responses:
What is the Pygmalion myth? In what significant ways, and with what effect, has Shaw
transformed that myth in his play?
_Pygmalion was a greek sculptor who fell in love with one of his statues, his masterpiece,
a perfect woman. He asks the gods to give life to the statue and they live happily ever
after. In the play Higgins is a modern Pygmalion who transforms Eliza from a common
flower girl to a high society lady of strong character. Shaw develops the myth further
In addition, they were asked to come up with a sixth Act or rewrite15 the final
Act of the play, the ending16 of which apparently disappointed the more
romantic female members of the class.
by having Eliza also transform Higgins from an arrogant, rude man to a kind and loving
human being.So the Pygmalion effect works both ways.
_…Professor Higgins treats his “creation” like a doll< dressing Eliza, teaching Eliza,
talking to Eliza…> and in this he resembles Pygmalion. He tries to change the “façade”
but there is more to it than meets the eye. Eliza has her own ideas and personality
Which Higgins cannot have impact on.< But I cannot turn your soul on!>
Describe the primary ways in which Eliza Doolittle changes in the course of the play.
Which is the most important transformation, and what clues does Shaw give us to
indicate this?
_At first, Eliza is a common flower girl whose accent and manners place her at the
bottom of the social scale. After Higgins and Pickering make their bet and the lessons
start, simultaneously along with the rapid improvement of her vocabulary and
pronunciation the true beauty of her soul and spirit emerge. But the most important and
impressive transformation is her last one: when with pride and courage she manages to
escape from Higgins’ influence, stand up to him and expresses her free will
independently and becomes “a tower of strength”.
Is "A Romance in Five Acts" an accurate description of the play Pygmalion? How does
the play conform (or not) to the traditional form of a romance? What do you think Shaw
is trying to achieve in highlighting the concept of the romance in the title?
_ The title is not an accurate description of the play, as it does not reveal any details of
the plot. Some more appropriate but of course less intriguing titles could be “Eliza”, or
“Taught to love». It is interesting, though, that although this is not a conventional love
story with a happy end, most adaptations of the play and the film followed the
traditional pattern. So Shaw wanted to be both original and, by highlighting the concept
of romance in the title, to seduce audiences.
_ The play does not conform to the traditional form of a romance. It is not the classic
love story. The play narrates the story of a man who meets a girl and, in the process of
changing her life, falls in love with her despite his beliefs and bachelor habits. But in the
end, they do not end up together married nor do they live happily ever after. Shaw
wants to attract audiences and arouse their interest, which is partly also accomplished
by the choice of the title “Pygmalion”.
15
Here is a selection from the students’ responses:
_I would prefer the film’s ambiguous ending as it is not clear what Elisa will do next and
gives the viewer the opportunity to create his own end in his mind. If I were to create
my own end, then Eliza would marry Higgins.
The feedback I received from my students was so enthusiastic that
viewing17 the film adaptation of the play, as a “reward” was only the beginning of
a series of follow-up activities.
STAGE FIVE: FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
Apart from the different ending of the movie which aroused a lot of discussion
and contrastive analyses, the film18 triggered the students’ interest on exploring
other aspects such as collecting data on the making of the film, the cast, the
idiomatic nature of the cockney speech, the lyrics of the songs, which proved
another invaluable source of reading material, and all the adaptations of the
_... Personally, I would be enormously pleased to add a sixth act in which I would present
Eliza married to professor Higgins with two adorable children. Moreover, Eliza would
have joined Higgins in teaching as his assistant but would remain sweet and down to
earth. Higgins would no longer be arrogant but sweet-talking and able to express his
feelings.
_…If I had the honour to add a sixth act to Shaw’s masterpiece, I would want to see
both characters reveal their true feelings to each other. I would like to see Higgins put
his pride aside and become a romantic sweet-talker and Eliza break all class barriers
and let Higgins see her as an equal, not as an experiment. Someone might say that the
age difference is a problem, but I say love knows no boundaries, and never ages, so my
ending would be…and they lived happily ever after…..
16
Despite the intense central relationship between Eliza and Henry, the original play
ends with her leaving to marry the eager young Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Shaw, annoyed by
the tendency of audiences, actors, and even directors to seek 'romantic' reinterpretations of his ending, later wrote an essay for inclusion with subsequent
editions, in which he explained precisely why it was impossible for the story to end with
Higgins and Eliza getting married. Subsequent adaptations have all changed this ending.
Despite his previous insistence that the original ending remain intact, Shaw provided a
more ambiguous end to the 1938 film: instead of marrying Freddy, Eliza apparently
reconciles with Henry in the final scene, leaving open the possibility of their marriage.
The musical version My Fair Lady and its 1964 film have similarly happy endings.
17
The film was viewed with English subtitles on five separate sessions, one for every act
of the play. Reading the subtitles (which besides the dialogues, included the
transcriptions of the songs and the cockney speech) while watching the film was an
extra reading activity and enhanced students’ exposure to the idiomatic use of language.
18
My Fair Lady (1964) was experienced director George Cukor's film musical adaptation
of George Bernard Shaw's 1912 play Pygmalion that had played successfully on Broadway
from March 15, 1956 to 1962. The non-musical version of the play, from Shaw's own
screenplay, was first filmed in Britain in 1938. The musical was honoured with twelve
Academy Award nominations and eight wins, including Best Picture.
play19. The students also surfed the Internet to find more information and the
results were so impressive that we decided to gather all the material into a 70page booklet. Finally, the students presented selected scenes from the play in
the school auditorium, following a brief presentation of the play’s plot while
their work also featured in the yearbook.
What started as a simple reading task evolved, mainly thanks to the students’
motivation, into a rich, highly pleasurable learning experience.
19
The musical has been spoofed by or served as an inspiration for episodes of numerous
American television programs, including Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Nanny, Will &
Grace, Doctor Who, Arthur, Star Trek: Voyager, and even the Greek TV sitcom Two
Strangers. The films She's All That , Overboard and Pretty Woman are modern
interpretations of the plot. The Willy Russell play Educating Rita also is a variation on
the Pygmalion theme. Similarities with William Shakespeare’s comedy The Taming of the
Shrew were also discussed.
5. CONCLUSION
The three approaches to teaching literature differ in terms of their focus on
the text: firstly, the text is seen as a cultural artefact; secondly, the text is
used as a focus for grammatical and structural analysis; and thirdly, the text is
the stimulus for personal growth activities. This paper set out to show that
using an integrated approach as well as a combination of audio-visual aids and
drama techniques to teach literature, there are many benefits to using
literature in the EFL classroom. It gave a brief outline of how a classical
theatrical play, George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’, was taught in a Greek high
school Proficiency class, described the method used, the teaching techniques,
suggested a variety of post-reading activities and evaluated the results of the
students’ work. It was made clear that apart from offering a distinct literary
world which can widen learners’ understanding of their own and other cultures,
literature can create opportunities for personal expression as well as reinforce
learners’ knowledge of lexical and grammatical structure. Moreover, an
integrated approach to the use of literature offers learners strategies to
analyse and interpret language in context in order to recognize not only how
language is manipulated but also why. In this paper, it has been possible to
discuss only one case of the integrated approach. Although teacher-student
relationship and motivation20 play a highly important role, the use of literary
texts in the language classroom can be a potentially powerful pedagogic tool in
itself and seems a direction worth exploring in further work.
20
I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with a highly-motivated class, which
turned teaching into sheer joy and gave more feedback than I could ever have wished or
hoped for. This is, sadly, not always the case, but, more often than not, it is worth the
extra effort on the part of the teacher.
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