2023 Literature Talk
With the start of the new term, we have been preparing a number of activities to help new students to fit into a new school environment that is very different from their previous school. One of these activities is the ‘Literature Talk’. This is a lecture on reading given by our English department, library and students to give new students a taste of English reading as a good start to their English learning journey at DHSZ.
The organizer, Mr Tony Qureshi (English Teacher, Head of EAL), told us that "to enhance the talks, we asked current students to come back and present their experiences with their reading this year. Current students were encouraged to step up and lead their own workshops with new students. The literature talks had an immediate positive impact on our students. Listening to their peers talk about the books they love, what they enjoyed about them, how they chose them and importantly what they are hoping to read next really gave students that motivation to go to the library and pick up their next exciting book.” The school library was also renovated over the summer to attract more students to spend more time looking through the wonderful books in the library. This is a more comfortable study space where students can read or share their experiences.
Future J (Y13) is in his second year as a lecturer and once again gave a humorous and entertaining speech to the new students, “I wanted to make my speech more interesting and draw them in to feel all the emotions and thoughts in my speech so that they would have an insight that reading is a fun thing to do. I feel very grateful when I see my work is useful and really encourage them to borrow these books. That's a very wonderful experience for me." For advice on reading skills, Jack B (Year 11), another student lecturer, advised the new students, "If you come across new vocabulary, don’t just scan the text and read the Chinese, you should find those words that you can’t understand. Keep revising them until you don’t need to translate them anymore.” Edith T (Y10), one of the new students, said she benefited greatly from the seniors' speech. “I think this lecture is useful to me to adapt to a new environment in Dulwich. It can improve my reading skill and help me know learn new grammar. When I listen in class, I can understand faster.”
English teacher Mr Benjamin Arnold thinks that having a student like Future who's been through the school, who understands how the library works, who knows the librarian and can maybe help to translate or communicate for the students on how to use the space and how to select a book is invaluable. “I think that if it comes from a teacher, maybe it doesn't carry the same weight. Maybe they won't really believe it or understand it as much as if it comes from a student. I think also having a very charismatic and fun presenter as Future will also make the students really engaged and really be interested to want to go and select a book and to want to read a book.”
Having students as speakers for the lectures not only resonates more with the incoming students, but it is also an excellent exercise for the students standing on stage. Mr Qureshi believes it improves presentation skills, confidence in public speaking, and their ability to connect with the texts that they read. Additionally, it helps them identify literary devices and, more importantly, learn how to use them in their own writing, which has really been evident in many of our students’ work this year. “We feel that the literature talks at the start of year 10 really does set the stage and initiate that spark for reading!”
Aside from events like the Literature Talk, our English department helps new students adapt to our school’s culture towards reading in all aspects. Mr Qureshi believes that leading by example is key: “In all our classes, our teachers are passionate about reading and in developing a love of reading and all things literature with our students. I In class teachers model effective reading techniques and strategies; model how to write appropriate but impactful reflections; and also model how to talk about books they are currently reading. Students are prompted in classes to share their opinions and thoughts of the books they are reading.”
As we continue to promote students' love of literature and reading, their reading and writing skills are improving in every aspect. Students are more motivated to share, and we see them excel not only in our school’s reading challenges, but also in various national and international competitions.
