Procedure
of Using Short Story
Ghasemi
& Hajizadeh (2011: 70) A systematic teaching strategy for
the short story can include the following stages:
a. Pre-reading
activities: to provide students with vocabulary exercises and cultural
background
Pre-reading the vocabulary items
can also be used to facilitate the introduction of the necessary cultural
background and even refer to thematic features of the short story. However, the real vocabulary task occurs when
students try to use these words in the
textual context. A related and accompanying activity can be preparing a brief
cloze-type exercise to encourage the
students to guess the meaning from the context. In selecting and making the final vocabulary
list, items which contain vital or emotional clues should be chosen.
b. In-class
oral reading: Comprehension work
In the second stage, students focus
on smaller units of the text. At the third stage, the teacher may activate the
students' initial response to the text and finally in the fourth stage the
teacher can introduce the formal features (figurative language) of the text.
During the reading process, the teacher
can help students prepare questions which can ultimately lead to the overall
understanding of the text and thus facilitate the reading comprehension
objectives. This list of questions can serve various purposes. It can stimulate
a motivated reading at home, prior to the short story's live presentation in
the classroom.
At the same time, it aids the
comprehension of the text. It can also
draw the students' attention to the major issues and ideas presented in the
text. It will also serve to prepare and
assist the students' capacity for developing independent literary and critical
skills. It is not, however, recommended that the teacher provide a plot summary
or a statement of the theme since that should be reserved for the end
result. The teacher should allow the
students to enjoy the pleasure of discovery and learn how to comprehend and
appreciate literature.
c. Textual
analysis and group work: to improve reading comprehension and communicative
skills
A useful activity at this stage is
allowing time to the students to think about major issues of the text. To
initiate this process, the teacher can give the text to the student, to read at
home, using the prepared glossary, and requiring the students to comment on
basic issues of the text. The teacher can stimulate their imaginative power by
inviting the students to write one or two paragraphs on the main ideas of the
text or relate these ideas to their own real life experiences or even imagine
themselves in circumstances suggested in the text. When working with motivated
students, even two readings of the short story at home prior to its oral
presentation in the classroom can be achieved.
d. Post-reading
assignments: to establish the acquired knowledge and improve written skills.
Re-reading of the short story
provides the students with an added advantage of establishing their previous
knowledge about the text. To augment the
effect of this re-reading activity, short writing assignments can be
given to students to enable them to articulate and further develop their
thoughts and the thematic meanings they have
discovered through class discussions. Writing assignments based on the
assigned short story enhance the students' involvement with the text and
encourage them to think about, re-read, and further explore the text.
In
addition Pardede (2011:21) point out the procedure in teaching
short sory in reading as follows:
a. Make
students lose interest
in the activity.
This activity helps students
to learn more vocabulary, and it
also teaches them how to use a dictionary.
b. help students
to understand how a different
word/phrase can be
used in the same context.
c. students
practice using the words they already understand the meanings
