Literature, Poetry and Literary Essays are the Literary Form of English.
Why should teachers even bother teaching literature, poetry and literary essays when students can’t understand the substance of a passage in simple English? Instead, teachers in schools, primary and secondary, should place more emphasis on the Competence Form of English – grammar, sentence structures, sentence-building, syntax, vocabulary, summary, reading, essays, writing letters and comprehension – to enhance the spoken and written skills of students to prepare them for the real world where English is used in practically all disciplines on earth.
Most people will end up as ordinary people doing ordinary jobs to make a living in their adult lives. Most people are not going to end up as LITERARY GREATS (SASTERAWAN NEGARA) in their adult lives. Most of them may not even have a liking for the Literary Form of English at all.
Comprehending an ordinary piece of prose in simple English contained in academic books, newspapers and magazines already gives many of the non-native speakers of English numerous headaches. Do we honestly expect the foreigners, who are non-native speakers of English, to comprehend literature, poetry and literary essays written in unintelligible English? Do we also honestly expect these foreigners to paraphrase the literary information into modern-day English? Pshaw!
What about the study of grammar, sentence structures, sentence-building and syntax?
When a student can’t even write a sentence in the English language correctly, how can he possibly write AN ESSAY that contains many correctly-strung sentences together?
Writing an essay must start with a sentence. Gradually, the combination of various sentence structures and the prior knowledge of sentence-building make essay writing a breeze for students as they have been forced to marshal their thoughts according to the accepted conventions of writing well in English. In this manner, the students won’t create their own sentence structures which break the rules of English composition and which mar their written English. It is a question of forming the right habits of writing English well as these right habits will continue into the students’ adult lives. After all, aren’t we producing clear thinkers who can speak and write English clearly to the outside world?
Students who have been trained to marshal their thoughts clearly via the study of grammar, sentence structures, sentence-building, syntax and essay writing stand a better chance to land jobs that require competent employees who are not only proficient in their respective disciplines but also proficient in the spoken and written forms of English. Employers from all industries regard such employees as independent workers who need minimum supervision and guidance in their day-to-day work.
The preparation of formal letters, memorandums, e-mails, reports of various kinds and for various purposes in the work environment demands an employee who is a clear thinker as he can help his organisation to meet its objectives easily. An employee who has not been trained to think clearly can cause many difficulties in the organisation.
Therefore, the study of grammar, sentence structures, sentence-building, syntax and essay writing does play a major role for students who intend to pursue their tertiary education in English. Wouldn’t such knowledge help these students when they are adults?
Essay writing is not a difficult task. It should be considered as a vital tool to help students express themselves better. It is a question of confidence for students to deal with the outside world that uses mainly English as the lingua franca. For that reason, an outline in essay writing compels students to think clearly before they write an essay of 500 words.
Hence, knowing all the relevant and vital items contained in the Competence Form of English enables a non-native speaker and also the native speaker to be competent in the use of English in all its four skills when they are adults. It is only then that they can claim to be proficient in their communication skills which are sorely needed in the competitive business world of today and in future.
I don’t have a penchant for the Literary Form of English. Even I have to rack my brains to understand the kind of English used in poetry and the literary essays.
The English language used in such materials only serves to enhance my appreciation of the written word as they inform me of the spirit and the mood prevalent among the writers then. As such, the Literary Form of English is just a pleasurable activity of the mind for me. It helps me to write English well.
The understanding and the appreciation of materials associated with the Literary Form of English come with age and experience. As an eighteen-year-old adolescent, I could never understand the essays written by Ralph Waldo Emerson. His essays began to make sense to me in my late 20s and early 30s. Emerson’s essays made a real impact on my psyche in my early 40s. By then, I was matured enough to understand and appreciate fully the substance of his essays. Nowadays, reading Emerson’s essays is such a breeze.
It is not my intention to trivialise the importance of the Literary Form of English. It has its rightful place in the teaching and learning of English only for the few who have A LITERARY BENT OF MIND. Not everyone is able to understand that kind of English as I have explained above.
In my humble opinion, students should be taught the Competence Form of English in their primary and secondary schooling as it prepares and equips them to face the challenges in the real world boldly.
LEARNING ENGLISH USING THE STRUCTURAL APPROACH 