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Subject: Language and Written Expression IV Teacher: Blas Bigatti Student: Carolina Perez Cibez Assignment: individual paper (analytical) Course: 4° year Ingles “He will come and take you”: an analysis of the benefits of using “The Bogeyman” in the EFL classroom Used by adults and feared by children all over the world, “The Bogeyman” is one of the many urban myths that belong to the collective unconscious of modern society. However, the story of the man that has a bag on his back and carries naughty children away not only can be used as a threat, but it can also be applied as a tool for exposing young adults to short stories in an EFL classroom.

When working with adolescents, implementing a short story like an urban legend, they already know, might have many benefits. This paper will try to analyse the possible benefits of the use of the story “The Bogeyman” in a secondary EFL classroom.

Before expanding on “Bogeyman” and its appealing elements for secondary school students, it might be useful to clarify what urban legends are. They are defined as “...a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true, and often possess horror implications that are believable to their audience.” (Wikipedia, 2014) If urban legends are not real stories, what makes them attractive to young adults? Adolescents have a tendency to prefer stories that contain dark themes (Maggie Stiefvater, 2011). Apparently, it is their elements of horror, mystery, fear and sensation of the unknown what makes perfect to deal with urban myths in secondary classrooms.

Heather Whips explains in her article “Urban Legends: How they start and Why they persist “, that legends are an important part of our culture, and that they are good fun (Livescience, 2008).

Heather uses the words of Michael J. Kovel to expand on the topic by saying: “....Life is so much more interesting with monsters in it...legends are just good stories...” (lecture given in the University of Wales, 2006). Other characteristics of urban legends are that they are not easily verifiable; they are usually passed on orally suffering some modifications throughout the years. Besides, they do not have a requirement of corroboration of the truth, making this kind of tales much more entertaining for adolescents. Taking the mentioned features into account, Jan Harold Brunvand (1981) states that legends are enjoyed merely as stories, because they tend to at least be half believable as possible accurate reports.

Using a short story in the English classroom can bring a series of doubts regarding the didactic purpose of it. The possible reservations that may appear are: is the topic of the tale too difficult for students to understand? Is the story too long or too short? Do students master the language quite enough to understand the vocabulary of the story? According to the book “Short Stories in the English Classroom” (Regional NETworking Coordinating Team, 2012) short stories in an EFL lesson are a great way to introduce learners to the world of literature, encouraging them to read and tell new narratives. The urban legend of “Bogeyman” is a short story that uses understandable vocabulary, because is generally told to little children. It may be expected that secondary school students would not have further problems to understand the vocabulary of the tale. The following extract could help to clarify the idea:

“Do you know what happen to naughty children like you? The Bogeyman is a monster that carries a bag on his back everywhere it goes. The Bogeyman takes the shape and form of your worst fear. It can hide in your bedroom walls, live under your bed, or it can be inside your closet. The Bogeyman is very patient and waits for the perfect moment to take you away in the deep darkness of the night. Finally, when you are too far from home, the Bogeyman opens his mouth, and little by little it starts to eat you until bones are the only thing left from you.”

Teachers not only would like to work with short stories to teach language, vocabulary or grammar.

They usually try to look for narratives that would teach a moral, an additional element that would make students think, question themselves and others, and make an original interpretation of the chosen tale. A second benefit of using urban legends in the classroom, is that they tend to offer an ethical lesson. However, these interpretations do not necessarily have to be about the deep meaning of life (Koven, 2006). Urban myths can be used to reflect about a specific problem that occurs repeatedly in the classroom. Using the “Bogeyman” may help to deal with attitudinal issues from the students. Since adolescents tend to develop a rebellious personality, reject the sense of morality and push the social boundaries (Quiroga, 2004). “The Bogeyman” gives young adults, the opportunity to think over the consequences of their actions in a non obvious way. The opening question has a warning tone that might lead to find the moral mentioned: “Do you know what happens with naughty children like you?...”

Adding to this, even though, the “Bogeyman” is a horror story, it may end up being a funny story for adolescents, giving one more benefit to the list. Humour helps to engage students in the class. It helps learners to relax, and it is known as one of the most important qualities of a successful EFL lesson (Highlet, 1989). It might help to break the tension between the students and the teacher, a very important and useful quality of humour when working with young adults. As it was previously exposed, they tend to have a defying attitude towards adults or figures of authority (Quiroga, 2004).

This gives “The Bogeyman” another entertainment feature, together with the topics already mentioned that are appealing to young adults. The following lines will explain the formerly exposed: “...Finally, when you are too far from home, the Bogeyman opens his mouth, and little by little it stars to eat you until bones are the only thing left from you.”

Another benefit of implementing “The Bogeyman” is that it is possible that learners are already familiarized with the short story, because they heard it in their childhood. This may avoid unexpected confusions about the topic of the tale, and perhaps it gives the opportunity to students to participate of the EFL classroom. Listening to adolescents and their personal versions has the advantage that young adults learn more about their own culture. They may find out possible different endings, or shapes of the monster. This will depend directly on the previous knowledge that each student has of the legend. Taking this into account “The Bogeyman” might give a trigger to work with diverse cultures. For example: “...In Hispanic countries the story of “El Coco” is combined with native beliefs and has a strong relation with the American version. This reveals the existence of a dangerous monster that lies under the mischievous children and kidnaps or eats them when they did not listen to their parents. In Spain, the Bogeyman is a hairy monster.

In Brazil, it is a woman called “Cuca”. In Germany, the “Butzemann” is a paranormal creature..” (Wikipedia, 2014).

Basically all the versions share the same structure. But the minimal singularities given by the cultural origin of each country are, precisely, the ones that open the students to a broader cultural knowledge.

The story of “Bogeyman” is one of the most ancient urban legends. Nowadays it still maintains a particular popularity among adults, adolescents and most importantly children that fear the monster.

As it was formerly exposed, the use of the story “The Bogeyman” can bring many benefits when working in an EFL classroom of secondary school. Most probably, more benefits can be found according to the way the story is applied. Or even take these same benefits and use them for a similar urban legend. It is important to take into account the students taste for literature, and their previous knowledge and connection to the chosen legend, which might lead to a successful lesson.

References: 

Heather Whipps, (2006) http://www.livescience.com/7107-urban-legends-start-persist.html “Urban legends: why do they start and why they persist”

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Wkipedia, Bogeyman (accessed October 15

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Wikipedia,Urban legend (accessed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_legend

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Dave Dodgson (2011) http://www.davedodgson.com/2011/01/26-01-11-eltchat-review-roleand.html “Reflections of a teacher and learner”

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Gilbert Highlet (1989), “The Art of Teaching”. New York: Paperback

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NETworking, Using short stories in the English classroom http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/curriculum-development/resourcesupport/net/NETworking%20Short%20Stories%20(Aug%202012).pdf

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Maggie Stiefvater, (2011) http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/12/26/the-dark-sideof-young-adult-fiction/pure-escapism-for-young-adult-readers “Pure escapism for young adult readers”, The New York Times

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Susana Quiroga, (2004), “Adolescencia”. Buenos Aires: Ed Eudeba.

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Jan Brunvand (1981), “The Vanishing Hitchhiker: American Urban Legends and Their meanings”. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

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Mystical Myth http://www.bellaterreno.com/art/a_mainchars/boogeyman.aspx October 29th 2014)

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2014) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogeyman October

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