1 . . Teaching Shakespeare to EFL Students Coordonator științific: CONF. UNIV. DR. Cornelia Macsiniuc Autor : Dragoi Antoniuc Bogdan Stejarel 2026 2 Table of Contents 3 Introduction When people mention Shakespeare they instantly think of the United Kingdom and the English language. Shakespeare has contributed to the foundation of the Modern Early English and some of the insults and expressions we use nowadays are attributed to William Shakespeare’s brilliant mind and creative wordplay. One of the biggest challenges that a professor of English has to face is to teach Shakespeare to students that study English as a foreign language. The English playwright poses a challenge to native speakers of English due to the archaic use of English, but to a person that studies English as a second language things can get a little overwhelming at times. This is where the creativity and planning of a good teacher come into play. Dedication, the love for the English language, educational and psychological strategies, linguistic knowledge, games, vocabulary tricks and grammar explanations, schemes and drawings are just some of the “tools” that a teacher has to use in order to make Shakespeare appealing to students. The first shock that EFL students have is when they first read a sonnet or a paragraph from one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. The strange language, the bizarre words that somehow resemble the English language can make understanding Shakespeare like something unattainable, unachievable. Some students end up having “Shakespeare-fright” and this is where the real, hard work of a teacher begins. Everything starts with the mood and atmosphere that a teacher sets in the classroom. If he or she uses an approach that highlights from the start that Shakespeare’s language and style are some of the hardest things that they’ll have to face when it comes to the English language and literature, the students will automatically perceive Shakespeare as being out of reach and they’ll either give up on themselves or give up Shakespeare’s greatest works entirely. But Shakespeare can be fun! There are many funny expressions that a teacher can first use as a timid introduction to this great playwright. Students need time to get acquainted with one of literature’s giants. 4 A teacher already knows that most of his or her students have heard of Shakespeare. We have to thank popular culture for that. Popular culture has been portraying Shakespeare as this “arrogant bastard”; a pompous writer that is outdated nowadays but still quoted just “for the fun of it”. These are just some of the stereotypes associated with Shakespeare; stereotypes that a teacher has to know, has to face and has to overcome during English classes and has to somehow instill curiosity and passion in students so that they are at least open to reading and understanding Shakespeare because he was a man ahead of his time. Because most of his themes are still relevant to this day. The best way to learn a language is to experience and understand its customs, traditions and culture. Traveling is a great option but not many persons have the time or the money to do so. But luckily we have literature and history to help us out. Shakespeare is the embodiment of England and it is still such a vivid symbol for Englishmen that take pride in mentioning the playwright every chance they’ve got. I. Popular culture and its role in teaching a foreign language The contemporary world can be such a fascinating place! The 21st century has brought many discoveries and innovations even in the field of linguistics. Teaching a foreign language nowadays is easier than in the past and we have to thank psychology, linguistics, the digital era for that! But let’s not forget the efforts and dedication of many passionate teachers of English that left us some valuable pieces of advice that we can learn from and manipulate in our English classrooms for a better grasp of the English language. There is no recipe for success when it comes to teaching a foreign language. Even if you follow the “step-by-step instructions” that “recipe” might have disastrous effects depending on the classroom, its social and economic status, location, culture, type of personality, way of memorizing things and the list can go on. An ideal world would be filled with teachers that have less than 15 students to handle (being more than capable of spending time with each and every student, getting to learn their quirks and way of learning and helping them out when they need to) but the reality is that most of the times classes are filled with 25-30 students in some countries and a teacher has to make a foreign language appealing and easy to understand. What is the common ground you have to reach for 30 different individuals? What can you say or do in order to make English easy? Any teacher of English will have at least one philosophical crisis regarding the nature of his or her job and the tilting at windmills feeling when dealing with tough subjects such as teaching Shakespeare to EFL students. But these thoughts are natural and every passionate teacher will have doubts; this is 5 proof of a job well done; when you worry and analyze things from the students’ perspective when dealing with a system that combined traditional ways with modern ones. The clash between traditional and modern ways of teaching a foreign language is more than welcome. Students are lucky enough to get the best of two worlds; combining rigid grammatical structures with psychological strategies in order to make the process of learning more appealing; that is something to be proud of as a civilization. Teachers use efficient methods from the past (because decades proved that these methods really work) with educational games (a modern approach) in order to promote creativity, to set a certain mood for grasping some linguistic concepts and to help students develop linguistics skills that need some practice. Popular culture and digital popular culture are the first encounters that a person has with a foreign language. It can be a movie, a cartoon, a TV show, a computer game, an internet meme, a viral video and some words and expressions (typically slang language) that are assimilated by the persons who are exposed to these things. This is still part of the learning process since our brains unconsciously will assimilate a phrase, a sentence or the typical word order of a foreign language and repeat it afterwards because it seems cool or because a certain representation of an object or image prompted us to remember what we heard in a movie or what we read in the subtitles or internet meme photos and since English is an international language most people tend to combine English words or expressions with their native language when speaking with someone because this is how popular culture works. Popular culture impacts our day to day life and it also influences the trends be them fashion related or not. Even our way of thinking is influenced by pop culture. Cultural studies, anthropologists, psychologists and linguistics have conducted different studies to observe and understand the relationship between pop culture and its influences over different fields (including languages). In order to analyze a concept, one has to define it first. But popular culture isn’t so easy to encapsulate in words and it is definitely no easy feat to find an accurate, succinct definition that embodies all its uses, functions and concepts. At the beginning, popular culture was just a term that turned into a concept in the contemporary Western world (heavily influencing this part of the world more than others). How can one define a concept that is perpetually changing? After all, popular culture refers to popular things (that usually don’t last long). Since popular culture has a mass effect and is relevant to many people, it is only natural that more and more teachers have begun to use some pop cultural references when teaching a foreign language because associations are the most efficient tools in studying, understanding, memorizing and learning a second language. 6 Popular culture is appealing and easy to copy and memorize. The same can be said about some parts of language. Teachers often use references that are already understood by students so learning a new language can be easier done and students will feel more motivated and compelled to find out more things about a domain that they face on a regular basis (after all language impacts mostly anything that we do since we are social beings after all). Even if many people may not like to admit it, popular culture has some relevance; it deals with the real world while some theoretical concepts taught in classrooms may or may not have any relevance in the real life. A combination of theoretical and practical concepts is essential when it comes to learning a foreign language. It’s hard to find a common ground and to reach out to students using the definition and use of an English article, for example. But using a popular video or a scene from a movie that includes many English articles will definitely be remembered by most of the students (if not by all!) We are part of a community and we often think like one, too since we are heavily influenced by our history, mentality, geographical space that we live in and economical and historical data. This is why teachers put so much emphasis on false friends; because students must somehow learn to think in a different way; their brains are programmed to use the grammar and word order that is typical for their native language while English has a different word order and other sets of grammatical rules. Learning a new language broadens one’s mind and teaches him or her not only to acquire a second language but to acquire a different perspective about the world we live in and the world that surrounds us. We end up being open to changes and our personalities will tend to be a little more flexible, more tolerant to others and humbler. Using popular culture will help students understand their culture and the English culture better. It sounds a bit unusual, but it seems rather logical in the end. But that doesn’t make it any easier; it makes it more interesting. And it takes time and polished abilities in order to juggle with both popular culture and the English grammar, literature, culture and vocabulary. Movies, songs, TV shows are the most accessible forms of popular culture and English language, too. Many people that study English as a second language claim that they know some words and expressions from the movies they’ve seen or from the cartoons they used to watch when they were kids. These visual aids are very important because we, as humans, tend to pay attention to people when they utter sentences to check for their facial expressions, gestures and listen carefully to their tone of voice to better analyze a situation. This helps us distinguish sarcasm for a sincere reply and other human emotions and feelings. It’s part of our nature; to be sociable and to analyze words till we know for sure with what emotions we’re dealing with. 7 But like with many things in life, using popular culture alone isn’t recommended when teaching English as a foreign language. There are other pedagogical tools that one must use in order to help and perfect a student’s linguistic abilities. The power of the internet shouldn’t be underestimated either. There are podcasts, tutorials, spreadsheets and many other options that can help a teacher deliver a close-to-perfection lecture. There are visual, audio aids that can really make a difference in these cases. Some teachers even have social media accounts to keep in touch with their students and provide them with English lessons online, outside of classroom just to show the fun side of this language. And, just like any other language in the world, English has plenty of interesting, fun sides. They just need to be better highlighted, that is all. A teacher has to borrow some traits from psychologists because they have to be up to date with the latest developments in society. How does society evolve? What are the new trends, slangs used by students? In order to teach a student a foreign language, you need to understand where he or she comes from, what he or she enjoys and how you can help a student stay focused and interested during class. A teacher shouldn’t be limited to an academic side only; he or she can have opinions over mundane, trendy things, too. A teacher, in general, should distance himself or herself from the traditional image of a severe figure that is imposing and distant. Showing a human side isn’t weakness; is recommended to make students feel less stressed out, more relaxed and open to studying and learning. Because a teacher that exposes some truths about himself or herself will instantly become more interesting in the eyes of students. A teacher has multiple roles; he is an encourager, an imposing figure that has authority over the class, a surrogate parent etc. And a great teacher will know when to play every single role in order to teach students a valuable lesson; be it grammar or life related. An English class can also host debates on several topics be them of general interest, related to linguistics or literature or even popular culture. Even a combination of all of these can do the trick. With so many options available nowadays, most English classes can get so interactive because there is an open door that allows an exchange of opinions and information and there’s always room to grow because sometimes teachers find out or learn new things from their students while students discover many useful things during their English class. It’s not uncommon that the typical master-apprentice relationship to be switched between the two parties. The beauty of video games, of YouTube videos, of films and cartoons or comic books or radio broadcasts or podcasts lies in the fact that all of these can be adjusted and adapted to fit academic purposes. Everything can be used in the process of learning whether it is a negative or a positive example given in a certain context or situation. 8 In the past, talking with a native was a unique, surreal experience because it was out of reach for so many students of a foreign language. People used to have pen pals and they communicated using letters and it took ages to reach their destination. Nowadays, social media websites offer you a drop box menu where you can be as selective as you feel like; you can pick a country, a specific city and with a simple click you can search for a native speaker of English and hear the pronunciation and read the words this person is typing to you. Access to information and learning has tremendously been simplified for us. We can better understand different cultures, too by being exposed to their way of thinking and to their customs and traditions. But just like any major invention, the internet has its bad sides, too. Popular culture helps a teacher introduce and explain the vernacular language of English whereas the typical English lessons explain the academic, theoretical use of this wonderful language. Popular culture opens many doors and invites explanations of cultures and anthropology in. And these concepts are important when it comes to linguistics and the history of languages. Understanding the beginning and the basics of a language is the first step towards being fluent and proficient in said language. Language practice needs all the motivation it can get and by encouraging students to read, to watch movies, to listen to music and to analyze literary texts on their own they will discover the pleasure and importance of acquiring a second language in their life. What most people don’t seem to understand is that using a single approach when teaching and dealing with languages never works. A combination of both traditional and modern approaches is vital; there are so many students that have a different opinion on different matters, on life, language etc. and most of the times the way in which they learn and memorize something has plenty to do with the senses they are using the most. People with bad eyesight will rely more on active listening while people that can’t stand still will love interactive lessons or watching movies or getting engaged in games or project activities and on and so forth. A teacher has to make time to understand the different types of personality they have to work with in order to adjust their materials and aids so as to encourage different ways of learning (using listening and visual skills and making students use all of their senses when learning English). The biggest achievement of a teacher is seeing that their students have language autonomy and initiative; they start to study on their own and to research a certain topic in order to better understand it. Instilling passion, interest and motivation are the hardest tasks a teacher has to handle. The downside of using popular culture in teaching a foreign language is the fact that it has to be adjusted so as to fit a certain age group. Popular culture is filled with inappropriate messages, with sexual innuendos, double entendre words and the student needs to have some linguistic and cultural background knowledge in order to grasp some concepts. Apart from that, the intertextuality of popular 9 cultures proves how intricate this concept is, because it requires that a student is knowledgeable in many domains in order to understand some references. Cross-cultural concepts are also used and this requires a certain level of intelligence and understanding that is typical for teenagers, young adults and adults. Critical and creative thinking are incredibly useful and these things aren’t developed when it comes to primary school students which renders the introduction of popular culture in English lessons useless if it isn’t adjusted to fit this age group; some references are allowed as long as the teacher makes the information more accessible for that age group in particular. And luckily popular culture can be split in different categories and still make sense to people. Popular culture should be included in English classes because it has plenty of advantages but this strategy works only when the teacher has adapted the information to fit the level of English and understanding of the student that is exposed to such concepts. And other strategies of teaching need to be incorporated into the English lessons because popular culture references alone aren’t enough to help a student learn the English language. II. Shakespeare in Popular Culture It may take decades and even a lifetime to discuss Shakespeare in popular culture. Truth be told, Shakespeare will continue to be mentioned in popular culture for centuries to come. The symbols, the themes found in his greatest works will never cease to impress readers from all around the world. Things are far more complex than citing Shakespeare or mentioning him in popular culture. There are different approaches and opinions regarding England’s most famous playwright and in order to understand Shakespeare’s place and impact in popular culture different opinions should be mentioned and analyzed here for a better understanding of the bigger picture. Kids get acquainted with Shakespeare from a very young age. Even grownups sometimes fail to see the subtleties of some Shakespeare references in different movies or cartoons. It’s only natural, since some adaptations of Shakespeare’s play can be very well done. By finding out which popular movies, songs and references to Shakespeare exist, children can look at something appropriate for their age while getting a glimpse into the playwright’s world. It is the sort of step-by-step approach that leads to a passion for finding out more about a certain reference and ending up discovering the pleasure of reading Shakespeare (in some cases). Next >