RESPONSE PAPER

How I would use The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin in my English classroom?

Integrating literature such as short stories in the English classroom would be really
interesting not only for the students but also for the teachers. The use of short story as one of the
materials in English classroom would be really beneficial and advantageous. Based on Erkaya
(2005), the use of short stories in English for Second Language Learners (ESL) Classroom will
provide these four benefits which are motivational, literary, cultural and higher-order thinking
benefits. Therefore, in order to make use of the benefits and advantages of using short stories in the
classroom, I would like to discuss and describe the activities that I could plan and organize in my
English Lesson based on the short story The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin. All of the activities
planned targeting the high proficiency form five students in secondary schools
First and foremost, based on this short story, I am thinking of activities which could
challenge the students current thinking abilities and implementing the high order thinking skills
(HOTS) in the lesson. This is in line with one of the objectives of secondary school education in
Malaysia which is to Develop and enhance their (students) intellectual capacity with respect to
rational, critical and creative thinking (Curriculum Develoment Centre, 1989, p.2) .Thus, before I
ask the students to read the whole plots of this short story, I would introduce the title: The story of
an hour and ask the students to imagine and think how the story would be based on the title
introduced by the teacher. In addition, the title of the story itself is a very intriguing title and it can
bring out lots of questions and imagination once reading or listening to the title. So, this will
encourage the students to stimulate their brain and making relation between the title of the story
with what they imagine in their mind hence integrating the critical thinking elements which
resembles the HOTS. This is parallel to the statements : The critical thinking category includes
definitions that refer to reasonable, reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe
or do (Norris & Ennis, 1989) and artful thinking, which includes reasoning, questioning and
investigating, observing and describing, comparing and connecting, finding complexity, and
exploring viewpoints (Barahal, 2008). Then, I will choose several students randomly and ask them
to tell the whole class regarding what they have taught and their imagination based on the title of
the short story and give several reasons why they say so. Their ability and capacity to give reasons
and describe what they had taught are some of the characteristics consisted in the critical thinking
elements.
Furthermore, another thing that I would do before asking the students to read the this short
story, I would introduce some words or phrases together with the correct pronunciations of those
words and phrases that might be difficult for the students to understand. The selections of these
words and phrases will be based on the students level of English proficiency and the referred
syllabus and text book. The words which not emphasized in the syllabus and the text book will be
precedence since the students are not exposed with these words formally in class. As for my
students, I had chosen these words and phrases to be introduced beforehand and ask the students
to search the meanings with the aid of dictionary as well as discussing it with their friends and with
me as their teacher.

Words Phrases
tumultuously
exalted
illumination
imploring
elixir
importunities
unwittingly
clasped
veiled hints that revealed in half concealing
had hastened to forestall any less careful, less
tender friend in bearing the sad message
with a paralyzed inability to accept its
significance
physical exhaustion that haunted her body and
seemed to reach into her soul.
whose lines bespoke repression and even a
certain strength

By asking the students to know the meanings of several words introduced beforehand, it
will prevent the students from stuttering in the flow of comprehending the text. It is because, the
students feel that they must frequently stop reading and look up words (whether in a dictionary, a
corpus, or elsewhere) before they can continue. Even when trying to read just for the gist, they
frequently give in and begin looking up what appear to be the critical words (Alessi & Dwyer, 2008),
thus troubling the reading session and ultimately affect the comprehension process of the story.
Plus, it is good for the students to use the dictionary and search the meaning of the words by their
own as dictionary consultation not only will assist the students, but it is also considered as the
initial step in learning a new word (Gonzalez 1999). Furthermore, when the students are equipped
with the meanings of the difficult words from the short story beforehand, it will be easier for them
to get the clearer views and understanding about the story they read. It is because most teachers
and researchers would agree that knowing vocabulary before reading and having vocabulary
knowledge that is well developed is much better for fluent and successful reading in the second
language (Alessi & Dwyer, 2008).
Futhermore, another activity that I would want to do with my students based on this short
story is the character analysis. I would ask the students to read the short story thoroughly and ask
the students to discuss in group about the characters in this short story. They will be given the
freedom to interpret the characteristics that had been illustrated by author and they are required to
give supporting reasons to their interpretation based on their group discussion. Then, they will
need to transfer all the points that they had discussed into a mind map and they will present it to
the whole class.







ask them to do mind map on the characters and their characteristics in the short story (in group-
find support about the use of mind mapping in class and working in group)

ask them to dramatize the story: this will help the students to improve their speaking skills by
practicing the correct pronunciations, intonation and stress while acting the scenes. Enhnce their
social skills and improving their confidence to talk and perform in front of audience. As well as to
cure and overcome the students stage fright























First of all, literary texts can be more beneficial than informational materials in stimulating the
acquisition process as they provide authentic contexts for processing new language. Since literary
texts contain language intended for native speakers, literature stands as a model for language
learners to become familiar with different forms and conventions. Second, using literature in
language teaching has the advantage of providing cultural information about the target language.
Literary texts increase foreign language learners' insight into the country and the people whose
language is being learnt (Collie and Slater, 1991), which fosters learners' ability to interpret
discourse in different social and cultural target language contexts (Savvidou, 2004). Third,
containing real examples of grammatical structures and vocabulary items, the literary texts raise
learners' awareness of the range of the target language and advance their competence in all
language skills (Povey, 1967). Finally, since literature enables students to understand and
appreciate other cultures, societies and ideologies different from their own, it encourages personal
growth and intellectual development (Carter and Long, 1991, 2-4). In line with that, Erkaya (2005)
notes four benefits of using of short stories to teach ESL/EFL, i.e. motivational, literary, cultural and
higher-order thinking benefits.