There are many arguments in favor of making children's literature a significant component of language teacher training. Many online tutors have adopted the use of adolescent literature not only in preparing for classes but also in entire language courses. For example, English tutoring on the LiveXP platform (https://livexp.com/skills/english) is often based on adolescent literature, making the lessons attractive and functional. Let's return to the advantages of this approach.
These frequently involve offering:
- Captivating repetition of multi-item chunks.
- Phonological repetition, typically "strong sound patterning.
- Dynamic rhythm and rhyme, assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and refrains.
- Incentive for lively and fundamental interpersonal interactions.
- Help for comprehension provided by an enticing narrative and vivid imagery.
- Experimenting with typography and selecting inventive words, promoting kids' writing.
- lack of coursebook-driven ELT and universally applicable resources.
- Due to their "weaker group identity," children are frequently receptive to difference, so there are opportunities for intercultural learning and perspective-changing when entering story worlds and learning about other ways of life. There are also opportunities for connections between children's languages and their overall literacy development.
- Children's literature studies acknowledge the importance of the child's presence in the book, the intricacy of children's responses to texts, and the subtlety of even the seemingly most superficial text.
- Last but not least, reading adolescent books may help language tutors pick up fresh perspectives and new vocabulary. Adolescent readers may therefore give young language learners high-quality input and solid foundations.
While tutors need assistance finding and choosing the materials best suited to supporting children's receptive and productive language development and intercultural understanding, children need assistance recognizing the language patterns in the stories the teacher brings into the classroom. According to Arizpe, Farrar, and McAdam, one of the main goals of tutor preparation is to help teachers comprehend the fundamental principles of decoding, encoding, and creating meaning across various media. Confident educators, mediators, and other professionals who can critically pick texts that make the "literacies" necessary for twenty-first-century existence will result from having a working knowledge of picturebooks and how to construct multimodal meaning.
Adolescent literature often needs more pre-service TEd for language instructors since applied linguists, who typically construct TEYL courses, need to gain more knowledge of appropriate literary works. Children's literary works nowadays aspire to be universal and inclusive, revolving around topics like social justice, the environment, cultural diversity, intercultural citizenship education, and children with disabilities who are members of minorities or refugees.
