Forum 3: The proper topics for adolescents

Sex, drug abuse, abortion, family conflicts, discrimination... Many authors agree that young adolescents feel attracted to stories reflecting these realities they must face in their everyday lives. However, does this mean we can touch upon those topics in your ESL classrooms? In what conditions? To what extent? Many are the questions, and much is the time we have to exchange our opinions. So, what do you think?

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Forum 2: The appropriate topics for children

As we read at the beginning of the year, Corbally sustains that “children’s literature is didactic (teaches/preaches); even the best of children’s literature is didactic.” This conception became apparent in the last essay analysed in class, too. And, of course, it's also something that came to our minds when discussing taboo in the TV show 'Ren & Stimpy'. So, if we agree products for children are supposed to ‘teach’, what do you think they should teach? Or, the other way round: what do you think they should not teach? What topics are proper or improper when children are the target?

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Forum 1: Characterising the stories for our students

Two meetings ago we set to discuss the elements and characteristics that should make a story for children. Among other things, we arrived at the conclusion that audience age was determinant in conditioning any possible answer. Thus, it seems necessary to contextualise and specify our audience before advancing on this discussion. 

Having in mind that our aim this year would be to teach in primary schools, let us agree on Argentine primary students of English as a foreign language as our expected audience. This settled, then:

What elements should characterise the stories we choose or create for them?

You can join the debate by clicking on the 'comment' button and sharing your opinion with us.