ql-align-justify">As English majors, we have literature subjects that require us to analyze literary works, and one reading approach that I have experienced, which my literature professor integrates into the classroom, is the book club strategy or also known as literature circles. Literature circles is a student-centered reading approach that allows students to work in small groups to discuss and read their assigned literary work provided by their literature teacher. Literature circles are an effective approach for encouraging students to actively read and appreciate a literary work. This approach also promotes collaborative learning as literature circles are a peer-to-peer teaching method that helps students foster critical thinking and improve social and communication skills.

To further discuss the pedagogy behind this approach is how students learn through literature circles. The skills that students will gain through this approach are not just reading skills and communication skills. Through this reading approach, students are the ones actively driving their own learning as this encourages them to think independently and critically. For example, in a classroom setting, the teacher provides them with a literary work that they have to read it within their group. Students will have to analyze the plot, genre, characters, and the text itself, where the characters give meaning in the story. After that, the teacher will ask questions and give the small groups a minute of time to discuss the given question, which is related to the literary work. This approach is not just about reading but also about students responding to the literary work.

This means that the approach is effective as students are able to analyze and read the literary work given to them. Furthermore, it increases the engagement of students as this allows expressing their ideas confidently in class. Through this approach, students who experience the book club strategy or literature circle have become more responsible for their own learning.

REFERENCES:

Literature Circles | Social Sciences and Humanities | Research Starters | EBSCO Research. (n.d.). EBSCO. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/literature-circles

Literature circles. (2021, November 12). Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/21/11/literature-circles

Neal, D. (2021, March 15). Literature Circles: Student-Driven instruction. AMLE. https://www.amle.org/literature-circles-student-driven-instruction/

READ AND APPRECIATE: LITERATURE CIRCLES AS LEARNER-CENTERED READING APPROACH