Using the Emic Perspective in Identifying the Significance of Teaching Literature in the Secondary Level Classrooms

This paper studied the significance of teaching literature in the secondary classrooms in the City of Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines. Literature has been imbedded in the English subject curriculum even before the implementation of the K12 Basic Education and the competencies expected to be mastered by the students are already established by said curriculum; however, there are very limited number of studies about the language and literature teachers’ perspective about the significance of literature in teaching the English language subject. Hence, the study tried to utilize the insider’s perspective, or the emic perspective, of the ethnographic research in identifying its significance and possible drawbacks. Twelve teacher-informants participated in a focus group discussion organized by the proponents of the study. The discussion was led by guide questions that were validated through a peer debriefing. On the one hand, it was concluded that teaching literature in the secondary level classrooms enhances critical thinking, strengthens awareness to cultural diversity, and provides support to creative growth. On the other, some teachers think that the drawbacks include: outdated content of lessons, too much emphasis on “literature component”, and lack of resources. Ultimately, it is recommended to enlarge the sample size of the study to gain more insights from the language and literature teachers and to include the perspective of the learners to corroborate the response of the teachers.