This workshop is designed to provide theoretical support for secondary school EL teachers preparing students for Section B of the GCE ‘O’ Level 1128 English Language Paper 2 which focuses on assessing reading skills involved in the interpretation of figurative language in literary fiction. Interpreting figurative language is a highly complex skill that taps on not only extensive linguistic knowledge gained from reading literary fiction itself but also on a real world awareness of social-cultural, political and ethical norms of various societies across space and time. It requires students to be able to draw inferences about a character’s attitudes, feelings and moods, interpret the implicit meanings behind the symbolism and analogies used by the writer  as well as construe the overall atmosphere or mood created through the use of particular descriptions and details by the writer. These higher order linguistic skills can be seriously challenging not only for students but also for their teachers who may possess a more ‘intuitive’ knowledge of the area as opposed to a concrete, teachable type of understanding.  Teachers training students for this section need to not only teach students to recognize the use of various literary devices such as metaphors, similes and irony, they also need to equip these students with the very specific interpretation skills for each type of literary device and the appropriate linguistic skills to determine answers to the rather complex question patterns for this genre. The input during the workshop will therefore focus on the types of literary devices that students may need to engage with and interpret while attempting to answer the often highly complex questions. The session will also very importantly present and explain the taxonomy of question types that are typically designed for literary fiction texts in terms of targeted skills and patterns. 



AIM:

To help participants better understand the linguistic knowledge and skills associated with teaching, testing and interpretation of figurative language in literary fiction texts.



 PROGRAMME OUTLINE:

1.    A review of  literary devices  involved in the interpretation of figurative language.

2.    Presentation of  question frameworks for literary fiction text types.

3.    Participants’ practice analysis on sample texts, presentation and discussion.

4.    Concluding remarks on pedagogical implications.