Literature-based Instruction : A Case Study of an Elementary ESL Classroom in the US

Literature-based Instruction : A Case Study of an Elementary ESL Classroom in the US

  This case study of eight ESL second graders looks into how children in an elementary ESL classroom in the US develop their language and literacies in a literature-based classroom. Drawn upon the key notions of literature as play (Hade, 1991), the role of play as a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Vygotsky, 1978), and Bruner’s (1986) ‘social reality’ in literary narratives, the author explores how children’s literature plays a crucial role in ESL children’s learning of a new language under four different types of play such as dramatic play, language play, pretend/make believe, and play in arts and crafts. This study also looks at how literary narratives inspire children to engage in social realities on their own through play with literature, traversing the emotional and aesthetic realm as well as cognitive and social matters.