TACON 2013 Proceedings

memorizing the linguistic aspects of English. Chiang & Huang (2005) believe that one of the greatest challenges today is to teach students to read, write, and think critically. They believe that literature circles are one of the most effective tools for critical thinking. Bibby (2013) believes that literature and literature circles can provide students with the ability to interact with literary text, promote their L2 communicative competence, and allow them to interpret a text and critically evaluate it. Brown (2009) sees that a literature circle is a way for students to practice thinking and discussing. If they are given class materials demanding it, and the classroom environment is setup for it, then students will utilize more critical thinking skills.

Builds background knowledge, cultural awareness, and teaches cultural norms According to Shang (2006), students can build cultural background knowledge through reading a novel. For example, a teacher can elicit questions related to the content of the novel. A schematic understanding can occur. In this way, literature is used to understand the target culture (Iida, 2012). It becomes a prism to view the context of the times of the novel. It presents the sociocultural features and the aspirations of the society from where the literature originates (Bibby, 2013). When this occurs, students become introduced to the social norms and the practices of the target L2 culture (Allington & Swann, 2009).

Links and Connections with Story Characters In addition to enhancing critical thinking skills and building background knowledge students can also connect and identify with characters from the story.

According to Lin (2004), students link personal experiences to the contents of the stories, which assist in their own personal development. Because of this awareness, Brown (2009) states, that through student discussion, students often change their opinions and viewpoints on various topics, simply from reading and discussing the novel. This enhances critical thinking skills.

Additionally, literature allows students to reflect on their own learning, their own lives, and the target language. It allows students to question, connect, interpret, and explore (Langer, 1997). When students study literature, they develop an ability to comprehend texts and reflect on their own personal values and judgments (Bibby, 2013).

Increased Awareness of Global Issues Lastly, studying authentic text, such as novels, students can help students develop a stronger awareness of global issues. According to Iida (2012), literature promotes critical awareness as students assess, discuss, and evaluate issues within the text. The teacher can approach issues such as deforestation or global problems, or anything commonly talked about in the mass media (Brown, 2009).

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