Texts (written, oral and visual) are the heart and soul of FLLITE. Texts act as a basis for associative thinking, a jumping off point for linking information about language, style, genre conventions and social, political or cultural events that can help students to grapple more effectively with interpreting meaning. (For tips on what to look for in a text, see the FLLITE Resources page on this site under the How-to rubric). You may also wish to familiarize yourself with the following terms and definitions: Literary devices: http://literary-devices.com/; Stylistic/Rhetorical devices: https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/writing/style). Finding the ideal authentic text–a literary-in-the-everyday text that promotes language play and creativity–is the first step in creating user-generated L2 literacy materials.
Finding an Open Text on the Internet
Did you know that Internet search engines can be optimized to find openly licensed content such as texts and multimedia? For example, CC Search is a webpage maintained by Creative Commons that gives you convenient access to search services provided by many independent organizations (e.g., YouTube, Google Images, SoundCloud, Wikimedia Commons, etc.). The best starting point for finding a text is doing a search using keywords related to the topic or theme that you wish to construct a possible lesson around. If this doesn’t produce an appropriate text, dig deeper via a process of associative thinking for generating new key words and continued searches.