Teaching Harry Potter: The Challenge
I’ve twice been asked to design a short online course based on Harry Potter for B1 and A2 teenage learners. However, with no graded reader available and parental expectations focused on the “real book,” I’m unsure how advisable a course would be.
Challenges of Using an Ungraded Text
I’ve written about Extensive Reading before. The benefits of ER are impressive and well-documented. Extensive Reading thrives on texts that are slightly below a learner’s proficiency level, enabling them to read fluently and build confidence. The original Harry Potter text, while engaging, doesn’t conform to this model with its complex vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and cultural references.
This brings us to the issue of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)—the range of tasks a learner can perform with guidance but not independently. Harry Potter frequently ventures well outside this zone for many B1-level students. Without careful scaffolding, there’s a risk of overwhelming learners and diminishing their motivation. Balancing these challenges would be critical in the course design.
Is This Course a Good Idea?
Given these challenges, is designing a course around an ungraded text like Harry Potter a good idea? It’s a question I’ve not settled. The answer lies in how well we can mitigate the difficulties while leveraging the immense intrinsic motivation that comes with working on such a beloved story. The potential for engagement, cultural exploration, and language acquisition is enormous if the course is thoughtfully structured. However, with short courses running between 10 and 15 hours in total (even though classes are spaced over a number of weeks), would there be time to do the text justice?
A Chapter-by-Chapter Approach
I envision a course structured around individual chapters. Each lesson focusing on one chapter, carefully selecting key vocabulary and passages to work through. By narrowing the scope, I can ensure that students aren’t overwhelmed and that we can dive deeper into understanding the language and themes. Pre-teaching key vocabulary helps set the stage for each chapter, while focusing on selected passages allows us to explore the most engaging and manageable parts of the text. All the same, there would be a large amount of independent reading to be done if the book is to be completed on schedule.
Collaborative Learning and Multimodal Support
To make the authentic text more accessible, I’d leaned heavily on collaborative learning and multimodal support. Pair and group activities encourage students to help one another, making the challenging text feel less daunting. For instance, students might work together to summarize a passage or create a visual representation of a scene.
Additionally, I’d integrate audio and visual aids, such as listening to the audiobook or watching related movie scenes. These multimodal elements bridge comprehension gaps and bring the story to life, maintaining student engagement even when the language feels complex.
Encouraging Translation as a Tool
Although likely to be unpopular with parents, I’m considering encouraging students to buy a translated version of the book alongside the English text. I think this would be extremely valuable for reducing frustration and building confidence. Having a clear understanding of the narrative, I think, is essential in maintain motivation while gradually improving comprehension of the original English text. Passages from the translated text could be used as pre-reading exercise or as post-reading to check comprehension, it could be used to contrast languages, but it would be necessary to use it strategically.
Gamification: Making Homework Fun
With short courses, in particular, it is essential to encourage students to complete homework. This is where Harry Potter really comes into its own. I think it would be easy to turn assignments into challenges or games that reward effort and creativity. For example, students might earn points, or house points, for completing specific tasks, like finding and explaining new vocabulary, or for writing their own short, Harry Potter-inspired stories etc.
Reflecting on the Process
Balancing the complexity of the text with the language proficiency of my students would require creativity and adaptation. Yet, the enthusiasm students bring to the magical world of Hogwarts would seem to make the project worthwhile. By carefully building a supportive, engaging framework, I believe such a course could offer a rewarding experience.
Teaching Harry Potter in an ESL context is as much about sparking a love for language and storytelling as it is about mastering grammar and vocabulary. I think, on balance, it is worth trying. I look forward to seeing how this course evolves and to sharing the results—challenges and triumphs alike—with you all. And I’d really welcome your comments and ideas.
