TEACHING BRITISH CULTURE AND ETHICS IN THE EFL CLASSROOM THROUGH HARRY POTTER TESIS PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE LICENCIADO(A) EN EDUCACIÓN Prof. Guía:… [608367]

UNIVERSIDAD DE CONCEPCIÓN
FACULTAD DE EDUCACIÓN
PEDAGOGÍA EN INGLÉS

TEACHING BRITISH CULTURE AND ETHICS IN THE
EFL CLASSROOM THROUGH HARRY POTTER

TESIS PARA OPTAR AL GRADO DE LICENCIADO(A) EN EDUCACIÓN

Prof. Guía: Susan Stringer O’Keeffe Ph.D
Seminarista : Norma Scarlette Matus Caro

Concepción, Enero 2016

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“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously
that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
― J.K. Rowling

“To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”
― Victor Hugo

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The dedication of this thesis is split in to four parts . First of all, I would like to thank
my parents, my brother and my aunt , who have stood by me since I first opened
my eyes : my father for pushing me to reach my goals ; my mother who has always
supported me with her humour and wise words. She has always inspired me to
become who I want to be, even when I did not know it myself. To my brother and
aunt for always want ing the best for me.
The second part is to thank my thesis supervisor, Professor Susan Stringer –
O’Keeffe who has guided me through my whole process at university with her
wisdom and patience.
The third part is dedicated to my friends who have made these years more special
and endurable with their humour and support. They have accepted me as I am
and even when I did not believe in myself, they did. That is something I will never
forget.
The last part is dedicated to every person, whet her adult or child , who forgets
about their problems and becomes immerse d in the pages of a book. While
somebody still believes in the power of reading, there is hope.

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INDEX

ABSTRACT ………………………………… …………………………… ……….…….4
INTRODUCTION ……………… .………… ……………….…………… .……….… …5
CHAPTER ONE
Culture in the EFL C lassroom……………………………… ….……….… ………..7
Literature in the EFL Classroom……………………………………………………8
Young -Adult Literature as a Cultural Dimension………………………………12
Situation in Chile…………………………………………………………………….14
CHAPTER TWO
Ethics and Morals in Harry Potter…………………………. …………….………16
Harry Potter and the Hero’s Journey…………………………………………….16
Moral Values and Ethical Dilemmas in the Harry Potter Books…………….20
Mortality and Resilience……………………………………………………………21
Love and Friendship………………………………………………………………..22
Good and Evil………………………………………………………………………..24
CHAPTER THREE
Teaching Unit with a F ocus on Harry Potter ………………………… .…………26
Reports 5th year………………………………………………………………………27
Reports 8th year………………………………………………………………………34
Conclusions………………………………………………………………………….38
CONCLUSION ………………… ……………………… ……….…….………………40
SOURCES ………………………… …………………………… ………………….…41
APPENDIX ………………………………………………………………. ….………..44

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ABSTRACT
This minor thesis is focused on the role of culture and literature in the teaching of
English as a foreign language. It shows how the Harry Potter series can be used
to incorporate not only British culture but also values into language teaching . The
objective of this thesis is to demonstrate the adaptability of the se books to any
content required by the Chilean national curriculum or by a particular school, and
also to p rove that the moral dilemmas faced by Harry Potter and his friends can
help t eachers and students to include ethic al dimensions in classroom
discussion . The experience with the teaching unit showed that the goal was
reached, with the students successfully using English in the treatment of topics
such as tolerance, racism and friendship and demonstrating unusual enthusiasm
in the process .
RESUMEN
Esta tesis p ara optar al grado de licenciado(a) en educación está enfocada en el
rol de la cultura y la literatu ra en la enseñanza del Inglés como lengua extranjera.
Demuestra como la serie de libros de Harry Potter puede ser utilizada para
incorporar no tan sólo cultura Británica, sino que también valores en la
enseñanza del idioma. El objetivo de esta tesis es dem ostrar la adaptabilidad de
estos libros en relación con cualquier contenido requerido por el curriculum
nacional Chileno o que requiera cualquier establecimiento, y también probar que
los dilemas éticos y morales que enfrenta Harry Potter y sus amigos pued e
ayudar a profesores y estudiantes a incluir temáticas éticas y morales dentro de
las conversaciones en el aula. La experiencia con la unidad pedagógica
diseñada demuestra que el objetivo fue alcanzado, con los estudiantes utilizando
el idioma Inglés de m anera exitosa en la discusión de temas tales como
tolerancia, racismo y amistad, demostrando un entusiasmo inusual durante el
proceso.

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INTRODUCTION
Culture , and in particular literatur e, are subjects that are not frequently introduced
into Chilean classrooms, although they are supposed to be part of the national
curriculum. Even i f they are used , they are associated with dull activities that do
not motivate the students. I believe that culture, especially literature, can be used
to educate students with regard to their knowledge of the world, i n addition to
improving reading, on e of the most fundamental activities in the learning of
English as a F oreign Language (EFL) , because it develop s both productive and
receptive skills, improving stude nts’ proficiency.
The Harry Potter series was chosen for this minor thesis because of its wide
popularity among both native and non -native speakers . At first it was classified
as a children’s boo k, but as it progressed , the series incorporated more comple x
subjects because , like Harry and his friends, the reader s were growing up at the
same time. The popularity of the books has boosted the reputation of the incipient
sub-genre now known as Young -Adult (Y-A) literature, targeted at children and
teenagers between ten and twenty years old. The continuing story is one that
children, teenagers and adults can enjoy and identify w ith, connecting
generations and allowing them to interact with the universal values and ethics
depicted.
The first chapter of this th esis present s the arguments of experts who promote
the importance of teaching culture and literature a s a fundamental part of the
teaching -learning of any foreign language. This chapter also describes the
development of Young -Adult literature, first as a b ranch of children’s literature
and after the success of the Harry Potter series, as its own cultural dimension.
Finally , the place of cultu re in English teaching in Chile is briefly explained . The
second chapter analyses the most important ethical aspects of the Harry Potter
books. The final chapter presents the teaching unit designed for 5th and 8th year
classes at a subsidised Catholic elementary school in Hualpen , Region del Bío-
Bío, Chile . Each year was taught four classes related to Harry Potter, each lesson
focusing on one skill : reading comprehension, oral expression, listening
comprehension and written expression. The units were created in a way that they

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did no t interfere with the contents required by the school, reinforcing vocabulary
and abilitie s that seemed weak in the students.

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CHAPTER ONE
CULTURE IN THE EFL CLASSROOM
Learning a foreign language nowadays is a necessity and not a luxury as it used
to be a few decades ago , which has increased the demand for teachers of foreign
languages, especially English. At first it was thought that language and culture
were separate sets of knowledge, the former being teachable in a classroom , but
the latter only being learned through insertion in the target culture.
This belief has changed, and the teaching of a foreign language no longer
consists of sentences translated from one language to another, but requires
students to learn cultural competence , which refers to “ the knowledge of the
conv entions, customs, beliefs, and systems of meaning of another country ” that
allows student s to communicate efficiently within a globalised world
(Thanasoulas, 2001) . Experts now affirm that learning a language is not just a
question of studying structures in isolation, but of acquiring a whole new culture
as well.
We cannot separate language from culture , because language “does not exist
apart from culture, that is, from the socially inherited assemblage of practices and
beliefs that determines the textur e of our lives” (Sapir 1970, p. 207). Buttjes
(1990) makes the same assertion, claiming that i t is accurate to say that
“language and culture are from the start inseparably connected” (p. 55, cited in
Lessard -Clouston, 1997). As a result, culture is integrated into language learning ,
but “not [as] an expendable fifth skill, tacked on to the teaching of speaking,
listening, reading, and writing. It is always in the background, right from day one.”
(Kramsch 1993 ) Thus this must be the main objective of every foreign language
teacher: to be able to i mmerse each student in a culture , so that he or she does
not have to contemplate it as an outsider, but rather as an added member of this
group . There are many ways to introduce culture; what is important is that the
cultural context should always be present in the EFL classroom .

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Literature in the EFL Classroom
In the past, learning a foreign language was the means to have access to
literature, which is one of the richest and most accessible forms of culture for a
student unable to travel to a country that speaks the target language. It is “through
reading that students learned of the civilization associated with the target
language” (Flewelling 1993 , p. 339, cited in Lessard -Clouston, 1997), hence the
popularity of writers such as Wil liam Shakespeare , Mary Shelley, Oscar Wilde
and Jane Austen among others , who appeal to readers from all backgrounds,
gender and levels of proficiency.
Literature has been used in the past as a tool for instruction, with stories that
amused young readers and at the same time served as cautionary tales,
providing reinforcement of the moral va lues taught at school. In the 17th century,
children’s books spread ideas about social life and good behaviour; in the 18th
century scientific ideas were the main focus of these stories , and in the Victorian
Era in the United Kingdom, children’s stories encouraged “moral values such as
temperance and charity for poor children” (Reynolds 2011, p. 35).
In the 19th century, children’s literature was targeted either at boys or girls with
spec ific settings and subjects addressed in each type of book. Boys enjoyed
adventure stories while girls had to read about domestic situations . One example
of the former is Treasure Island (1881) by Robert Louis Stevenson. On the other
hand, stories for girls were much more popular in the United States, with
engaging protagonists such as Jo March in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women
(1868) and Anne in Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables (1908).
These works helped to pave the way for what Reynolds (2011) calls “ the Century
of the Child ”, which celebrated imagination and creativity and reach ed its
apotheosis with J. M Barrie’s Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Couldn’t Grow Up
(1904)” , not especially targeted at boys or girls, but really for any child or adult ,
as its themes address both childhood and adulthood.
The above -mentioned books are still used today as a way to in troduce children
to stories that will raise issues relevant to them , and at the same time they help
them to identify and comprehend varieties of English and to see how the
language has changed through time. Without literature in the FL classroom,

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students acquire linguistic accuracy , but they “ still have difficulties in
comprehending the nuances, creativity and versatility which characterise even
standard and transactional forms of English ” (Savvidou, 2004). As teachers of
English, our main objective is to immerse our students in language in all its forms,
both spoken and written , with all possible variety of discourse types , the last –
mentioned being best represented by Kinneavy’s Communication T riangle
(1983).
Source: Adapted from Kinneavy: The Basic Aims of Discourse
This classification of discourse types includes the expressive , focused on
personal expression (letter s, diaries, etc.); persuasive discourse , relating to both
the reader and the message (advertisin g, instructions, etc.); and the aesthetic ,
which refers to form and language (poetr y, novels, drama , etc.) This classification
helps us to introduce our students to various examples of authentic material t o
broaden their knowledge , not only of the language, but also of the culture
embedded within the material .
Literature can bring a number of benefits to students given that it is a source of
genuine authentic texts intended for native speakers, providing the reader with
real examples of different styles, text types and subjects that allow them to
recognise different social communicative functions (Kern, 2000 , cited in Bobkina
& Dominguez, 2014) . Another benefit i s “increased motivation in the classroom,
which promotes a favourable attitude toward learning ” (Amtmann Chavez et al.,
2011 ). In addition, l iterature makes students travel mentally and emotionally to

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foreign places and fantastic worlds without the need to spend time or money. If
chosen wisely, literature can bring powerful emotional responses , because
students can relate to these stories while they read them, and this helps them
improve language learning. However, it is crucial that teachers choose literary
texts and associated exercises that motivate students. In other words, suitable
material s and methods increase the interest of the learners , making it possible to
integrate literature into language teaching successfully.
Students also have the opportunity to interact with the text. A text can have
multiple interpretations , which can elicit multiple opinions, helping to build a
healthy discussion, leading to the exercise of active langu age skills by means of
spoken discussion or written opinion. In this sense, the teacher becomes a
facilitator and not an owner of knowledge. Literature can propitiate a wide number
of activities, adaptable to any content in order to develop and improve rea ding,
listening comprehension, and written and oral expression , all in one lesson if
desired.
According to Maley (1989) there are some special virtues related to learning
English through literature , the most important ones being : i) Universality, ii) Non –
Triviality, iii) Personal relevance, iv) Variety, v) Interest, vi) Economy and
suggestive power, and vii) Ambiguity.
i) Universality: There is no language without oral or written literature. This
includes global topics such as love, death, separation, jealousy and pride,
shared by all cultures.
ii) ii) Non -Triviality: Most of the traditional forms of language input introduce
language in artificial contexts that are often rejected by students.
Literature, meanwhile, does not trivialize, but offers the reader genuine,
authentic input.
iii) Personal relevance: Liter ary texts commonly deal with events, ideas,
feelings and emotions that conform to a real or imaginative part of the
readers’ experience. This makes it much easier for them to relate the ir
reading experience to previous background knowledge , thus facilitat ing
the learning process.

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iv) Variety: Literary texts tend to cover a wide variety of topics and to include
all the conceivable varieties of language.
v) Interest: Since the themes treated in literary works are part of the global
human experience, they are intrin sically interesting for readers.
vi) Imaginative power: One of the greatest strengths of literature consists in
its imaginative, suggestive power, evoking ideas and experiences that go
beyond the written text. This makes literature an ideal tool for generatin g
topics for class debates.
vii) Ambiguity: Literature is open to individual interpretation and once again
can be used to generate discussion .
Taking all of this into account, w hether the classrooms are homogeneous or not,
the teacher must “start with the stud ent’s own cultural background and the
cultures that students have direct contact with and then expand from that point
until both cultures have been covered ” (Chlopek, 2008) . Level of proficiency and
age are variables we also need to have in mind .
One source of difficulty when including literature in the curriculum is that it is
sometimes highly demanding , so that the teacher should carry out extensive
research to create a collection of stories that are useful for teaching and are
appealing to the stude nts. According to Van (2009) “ the study of literature is a
must as far as it exposes students to meaningful contexts rich in descriptive
language and interesting characters”. Another potential problem is the lack of
necessary background knowledge and the s hortage of well -designed materials,
which leads to a great invest ment of teacher’s time to develop materials
according to the contents needed. As previously mentioned, the selection of
appropriate texts is essential . The most common problem is “language itself,
more specifically , syntax and vocabulary. Literary vocabulary and grammatical
structures are often considered too complicated, making reading a highly
demanding activity ” (Bobkina & Dominguez, 2014) While some texts might be
highly appeali ng to students, especially between ages 13 -18, the grammatical
structures, level of vocabulary and topics addressed could become a
disadvantage and an obstacle . Length is another issue that can cause conflict

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between teachers and students because sometimes “students do not have the
linguistic, literary and cultural competence to tackle the text ” (Lima 2005, p. 186)
From the teacher’s perspective, both advantages and disadvantages must be
taken into account, as well as the context and needs of each class, in order to
integrate lit erature in to lessons.
Young -Adult Literature as a Cultural Dimension
In the past , children ’s literature was a good choice for classroom use due to its
wide scope , but there was very little literature targeted at teenagers . Childhood
was being prolonged, thus teen culture was born . Adolescents were a neglected
readership , caught between children ’s stories and adult literature without authors
who presented the difficult period they were experiencing. It was not until 1942
when Maureen Daly published wh at is considered the first book written
exclusively for teenagers, called Seventee nth Summer , that adolescents started
having literature exclusively for them, which in many cases could help them cope
with the tensions that are characteristic of this period of t heir lives. The term
“Young -Adult literature” was coined by the Young Adult Library Services
Association in the USA during the 1960s to describe that written for the 12 -18
age range . After Seventeenth Summer was published, The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D Salinger (1951) and S.E Hinton’s The Outsiders (1967) followed, focusing
on the problems that teenagers confront in their struggle to become more
independent from their parents as well as on protagonists from d iverse
backgrounds and ethnicities and , later, with different sexual orientations . To
portray these issues , authors started to use different genres , such as fantasy,
tragedy, comedy and science fiction. One example is Anne Fine’s Bill’s New
Frock (1989) , address ing gender inequality ; and another is Roald Dahl’s Matilda
(1988) presenting the cruel teacher, Miss Trunchbull , together with neglectful and
ignorant parents . As a consequence, young -adult literature became more
complex, including sex, swearing and violence with endings that were no longer
“happy ever after” (Reynolds 2011, p. 21)
Stylistically, writing for children and writing for teenagers used to convey a change
only in level of voca bulary and maturity of topics , but since young -adult literature

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appeared, authors have c hanged “tone of voice, lexis, register and the amount of
detail contained in descriptions and explanations” (Reynolds 2011, p. 25) . Young
readers expect to understand t hemselves better through the texts, trying to
identify with the experiences described, even if the setting is imaginary or belongs
to another world . They need to see the changes they are going through reflected
in these stories. An accurate depiction of this phenomenon can be seen in Philip
Pullman’s His Dark Materials series (1995) in which most characters have
animals called daemons that externalise aspects of their inner selves. While
children’s daemons are constantly changing , adult’s daemons are permanently
fixed. These stories allow readers to have an insight into a more adult world. The
same happens with the Harry Potter series (1997) , which starts with the main
characters leaving childhood at eleven years old and finish es with the same
characters preparing to enter adulthood at seventeen years old , thus
accompanying expected readers through puberty and adolescence.
Length and vocabulary are other issues that at some point may be problematic.
Some children’s stories include vocabulary regarded as being too complex for
the targeted age group; for example, Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902)
in which the sparrows implore Peter to exert himself after he is caught in Mr
McGre gor’s net. Even today t his vocabulary may seem too advanced for children,
but the topics are probably childish for pubescent readers. While books and
stories targeted at teenagers have become more complex, not many books have
more than one hundred pages . However, the popularity of J.K Rowling’s Harry
Potter series has proved that a compelling story can engage readers with books
that range from 223 pages in the first book and reach nearly 900 in the final
volume.
Unlike in the past, t eenage r eaders are now considered independent enough to
read by themselves without an adult there to explain words or subjects . Even
more than 80 years ago, Hazard realised that modern literature read by children
could be a force for the transformation of their lives. I n his survey of children’s
literature in Europe and America: Les livres, les enfants et les hommes (1932;
translated as Books, Children and Men in 1944) , he claims that children’s books
represented a rejuvenating force in the hopes that “children would learn ab out
each other through reading each other’s books, building international

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understanding and bring an end to conflicts” (Reynolds 2011, p.41). Even more
so in the 21st century, t eenagers are empowered in that they can choose what
they want to read and it is generally considered that adults should no longer
decide for them. This thought is reinforced by m any organisations that have tried
to perpetuate Hazard’s ideas; for example, the International Board on Books for
Young People (IBBY) (1953) and the International Youth Library in Munich
(Internationale Jugendbibliothek 1983) . In addition, the Children’s Peace
Literature Award w as created in 1987. Such organisations and prizes foster both
children ’s and young -adult literature around the world.
Despite the effort to promote literature as a fundamental part of the curriculum,
teenagers are not particularly keen on reading, preferring other forms of
entertainment such as radio and television, and recently internet. T his means that
teachers ha ve to find new ways to attract students to literature so that it can be
beneficial for learning purposes. The appearance of the first Harry Potter book in
1997 chang ed the view that adults had about young -adult literature. Children and
teenagers devoured eac h book and waited for the next one to be published . 11
million copies of t he last book in the series , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ,
were sold on its first day of release in the United States and United Kingdom , an
unprecedented record for a book targeted at children and teenagers.
Situation in Chile
In Chile, English is taught as a foreign l anguage because outside the classroom
students have little or no expos ure to it. According to the Mi nistry of Education’s
teaching g uidelines, the purpose of studying English is to enable students to
develop their abilities in order to communicate in situations similar to real life and
have acce ss to knowledge that promote s better development in their future
academic and working life. In terms of cultural learni ng, students should be able
to recognise the importance and value of the English language as a means to
appreciate literary and cultural expressions of the English language. Students will
be able to consider possible c ultural differences and to have an empathic and
respectful attitude toward their classmates .
Although the national curriculum highlights the importance of English as cultural
expression , the truth is that th is cultural content does not always exist in the

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classroom . Teachers barely have the time to teach the core contents required.
Yet teachers need to make the time to introduce literature in to their teaching by
adapt ing suitable texts relating both to the co ntents set by the Ministry of
Education as well as to cultural aspects essential for every learner of a foreign
language.

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CHAPTER TWO
ETHICS AND MORAL S IN THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
These days it seems that one of the toughest challenges for a n FL teacher,
particularly in Chile, is bringing students closer to literature. Pre-adolescents and
teenagers, with some exceptions, are not interested in reading. Their world
revolves around social media and their friends , so that teachers may lose hope
about introducing books in to their lessons. What they do not take into account is
that a good book c an easily serve as a bridge that links students with their peers,
their teachers and even their parents. Literature , because of its powerful impact,
may even be used to raise subjects such as racism, responsibility, duty, angst,
rebellion, personal maturation and death.
Harry Potter certainly includes a wide range of usable subjects, not only in terms
of reading comprehension and vocabulary, but also as a tool to discuss ethics
and morality. The series of seven books describe the journey of a group of
heroes, namely Harry and his friends . Although it deals with teenagers in a
fantasy world, their struggles and pains of growing up are perfectly re cognisable
to any adolescent.
Harry Potter and the Hero’s Journey
The concept of “Hero’s Journey” was in troduced by Joseph Campbell in The Hero
with a Thousand Faces (1949 ), which describes a basic pattern present in many
literary works . This pattern involves a hero who goes on an adventure and , after
experiencing a crisis, emerges victorious in order to come back home
transformed.

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Source: TEDx Ancient Story Of The Hero's Journey; Everyone Is A Hero, This Is Your Call
To Adventure
Taking into account the whole series , Harry’s journey starts in the first book Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone , in which Harry lives an apparently ordinary life
in England. An orphan left with his uncles and cousin , unloved, neglected and
even abused, he grows up believing that h e is not special and th erefore not
worthy of affection or attention. On his eleventh birthday he receives the “ call to
adventure” , being told he is a wizard and has a place in a magic world : Hogwarts,
the school of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry , believing himself to be ordinary,
refuses the call to adventure saying “I think you must have made a mistake. I
don't think I can be a wizard." (Rowling 1997, p.45) A ccording to Campbell , the
refusal can be explained because the hero has a fear of the unk nown and does
not believe in himself . However , he is convinced by his guardians and mentors,
Albus Dumbledore, Rubeus Hagrid and Minerva McGonagall , who will prepare

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him for the adventure and give him wise advice in moments of adversity . The
existence of mentors in the Harry Potter books can also be related to Campbell’s
heroic journey, for which mentors are an essential element. After meeting his first
mentor, the hero will “cross the threshold” (Campbell’s term), which in this series
is represented by Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross station in London . The fact that it
is placed between platforms 9 and 10 indicates that this magical world is in the
middle of our world. Harry leaves his ordinary world and begins his journey, both
figurative an d literal, travelling to Hogwarts by train. There he meets his friends
and allies Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger , who will help him to discover his
identity and his fundame ntal role in this new world, but he will also meet his
enemies, Draco Malfoy and h is group of intolerant racist friends , who will taunt
Harry and his allies throughout the story. In Campbellian terms, they represent
the obstacles that the hero must face on his journey.
Harry is constantly tempted and challenged, at first with small problems that test
his courage and moral principles, such as whether or not to leave Hermione at
the mercy of a troll, even if helping her means that he is risking his own life. Each
book increase s the level of complexity of the challenge s, which reach their peak
at the end of every book , coinciding with the end of the school year. In the first of
the series, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone , Harry is promised eternal glory
and infinite power, but he proves his moral strength by rejecting this offer an d
choosing to support his friends instead . Yet he does not expect any reward ,
because he does not recognise any sacrifice . Harry does not seek power ;
because of his previous loneliness, he considers his friends to be his most
precious reward, establishing in this way the moral ground that will continue
through out the series. In Campbell’s analysis, loneliness is the burden of the
hero, but in Harry’s case he partly, but not completely, avoids this fate through
his two very close friends.
At the beginning, Hermione and Ron are deeply flawed characters, but by
accompanyin g Harry o n his journey, they are transformed too. Hermione is the
intellectual of the trio. She is an excessively rational girl who respects rules above
everything, as revealed in one famous l ine in the first book after Harry and Ron
break a rule: “ I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been

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killed, or worse, expelled” (Rowling 1997, p.129). She is also described as bossy
instead of feminine or beautiful , which goes against the convention that heroines
should be feminine, exceptionally beautiful and ruled by their heart ,
characteristics also mentioned by Campbell. Rowling’s depiction of Hermione
encourages girls who rebel against conventional gender rules in literature and in
life.
Ron is one of the youngest sons of a big family, in which there is little money but
abundant love and affection . He is the heart of the trio and deeply loyal , but at
the same time he craves the attention given to Harry from the beginning. In the
fourth book , Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , Harry is selected to participate
in the Triwizard Tournament, a dangerous contest that give s “eternal glory ” to the
winner. Campbell talks about this glory, also calling it “the rewar d” or “the prize”.
Although Harry is select ed for this role without his consent , Ron cannot help
feeling jealous. Campbell points out that the hero’s companions face their own
challenges, and this is certainly true in the Harry Potter books. Later in the s ame
book, however, Ron offers his life in order to help Harry with the final challenge.
Ron is definitely not the heroic type, being often shown as clumsy, but he is brave
and overcomes his weaker side. His final test co mes in the last book , Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows , in which he abandons his friends because he feels that
he is not as brave as Harry or as clever as Hermione. Yet he comes back ,
because his conscience tells him that his friends need him for moral support , and
establishes his worth by discovering a sword, a traditional symbol of courage,
that will le ad to Voldemort’s final demise. Boys can thus identify with Ron, in part
because he defies the norms established for male heroes. Nor is he considered
attractive or successful with the opposite sex, another norm , until the end of the
series when he conquers Hermione’s heart. This goes against the convention,
mentioned by Campbell that the hero and the heroine end up together.
Other characters in the novels, such as Neville Longbottom , are insecure and
fear disappoint ing their families , which can also give support to young readers
who might be in a similar situation . Neville is able to fight his friends when he
believes that they are not conducting themselves properl y, which can help
readers not to be afraid of losing their friends by disagreeing with them.

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Before the climax of the story , in the Campbellian schema, the hero “approaches
the inmost cave” where the he must find the object of the quest. For Harry this
occurs at the beginning of the seventh and last book , Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows , when he must find the horrocruxes that contain fragments of
Voldemort’s soul, in order to make him mortal and kill him. At first , he wants to go
through this quest alone, but his friends refuse to allow him to do so , knowing that
the quest might be long and deadly. Their friendship is so strong that they are
willing to give their life for this cause.
In this quest, the trio confron t their fears in order to be prepared for, in Joseph
Campbell’s terms “the abyss”, enduring “the supreme ordeal”. In this stage, the
hero reaches bottom and faces the possibility of death. This is the mo st critical
time of the story, in which the hero dies and comes back to life, the most magical
moment in the hero myth. T he reader identifies with the hero and experiences
the abyss with him. For Harry, his abyss is t he final battle , in which he accepts
his fate and dies by his own will, coming back to life again in order to defeat the
villainous Voldemort , thus ending his heroic journey . In the final stage of his
journey, also called by Campbell “the return”, the hero reconciles his past and his
present to prepare his journey home. Thus, b y the end of the la st book, Harry and
his friends come back to their normal lives, with only Hermione returning to
Hogwarts to finish her education, transformed and ready to embrace adulthood.
The two young men are now ready to assum e the responsibilit y of forming their
own families and rebuildin g their world . Their journey has ended.
Moral V alues and Ethical Dilemmas in the Harry Potter Books
As shown, Harry Potter is filled with archetypes and conventions that are
some times reinforced and sometimes challenged. The appeal of the story to the
readership resides in th e fact th at these ethical dilemmas help the m and th erefore
students in the classroom situation , to confront their own predicaments.
Archetypes and their function are closely related to the theories of the
psychologist Carl Jung , who argues that every person is equipped with a
collective unconscious, or a set of images that consist of universal fictional

21
characters . According to Berndt & Steveker (2011) our attraction to specific types
of stories and characters originates in their appeal to our collective unconscious.
In the following pages , certain archetypes present ed in the series are explored
together with the moral values and ethi cal dilemmas that appeal to students , so
that the latter begin to question their own set of moral values . This enables the
teacher to raise topics such as racism, intolerance, death and loyalty in the
classroom .
Mortality and Resilience
Death is one of the great themes of the series. Harry’s parents died when he was
still a baby, having been killed by Voldemort , an evil, powerful wizard. H is parents
were soldiers in a war that almost destroyed the magical world and now the threat
of war rises again . Being an orphan is a situation that any child can experience
and reading how Harry copes with his pain and long s for his parents while he is
grow ing up can be a cathartic experience. The fact that his parents died in a war
that was not entirely over is another experience that many children and teenagers
in the world are familiar with.
Voldemort is also an orphan, whose desire for power and fear of death leads him
to become a cruel wizard . His fear of death is so great that he f ragment s his soul
into seven parts in order not to die. In the first book, he needs the sorcerer’s
stone, an object that give s its owner eternal life. Harry obtains it because he has
a pure heart, whereas Voldemort does not, so that the stone hurts him when he
touches it. In one sense we could say that Harry and Voldemort are two sides of
the same coin.
One might expect that , in a story targeted at children and teenagers, death would
be less recurrent, but as the series progresses Harry loses his long -lost
godfather, many of his friends, and almost every important parental figure in his
life. Even his innocence dies symbolically, when his owl is killed by one of
Voldemort’s followers , another stage in the hero’s journey, according to
Campbell . In the fourth book, one of his close friends is killed, traumatising him
for a long time, giving him n ightmares and causing him to blame himself. This is

22
a situation that could happen in any school, and reading how Harry learns to live
with the feelings that this death produces could help students to recover from
such circumstance and understand that pain can be overcome.
At the end of the last book, Harry has to die in order to defeat Voldemort. He
accepts his fate and walks quietly to his final destination. Afterwards he is
received by Dumbledore in a state of purgatory , where he is told that he has the
option of coming back to fight Voldemort , or of permanently dying, which Harry
seriously considered because he was not afraid to die. Nevertheless, he chooses
to come back and of course kills Voldemort.
A special object in the series is the Mirror of Erised (“desire” backwards) , which
reflect s “what the heart [of the person in front of it] desires the most”. Harry sees
his parents touching him and telling him how loved he is, whereas Ron sees
himself holding the house cup, being recognised and admired. At some point,
Dumbledore also sees his dead sister. This device allow s reader s to ask
themselves what they would see if they were in f ront of the mirror and what they
think about death and the after -life.
Thus the role of death in the Harry Potter saga can help students to express their
fears and describe their experiences, identifying with the characters and thereby
perhaps coping better with the feelings that death produces.
Love and Friendship
Love is a central theme throughout the series , being described as one of the
“strongest kinds of magic” . Many types of love are represented in the story,
including friendship and romantic love, but also toxic relationships represented in
the association between Voldemort and his lieutenant Bellatrix Lestrang e. Even
when Voldemort expresses his cruel disregard for her, she remains at his side.
Love is Voldemort’s ultimate weakness, giv en that he does not understand or
possess the power to love. Love is Harry’s strength , given that his mother’s love
is what pr otected and saved him at the beginning and at the end of the series. In
addition, love and loyalty to your friends is another strongly emphasised theme ,

23
with the main trio complementing each other in the whole series . Voldemort’s
supporters are constantly compared to Harry’s friends , given that what links
Voldemort and company is the common feeling of superiority and dominance
over the world without magic, in contrast to Harry’s friends who bond through trust
and acceptance. An example of acceptance and tol erance is the moment when
some students bully Hermione because she does not belong to a magic family,
referring to her looks and her “dirty blood”. Hermione’s friends stand by her and
defend her , even when her “blood status” is no longer simply the object of jokes
at school, but used as a reason to kill her. Ron being a “pure blood” wizard tells
Voldemort’s supporters that she is his cousin, making her learn by heart his whole
ancestry to prove it. Ron is also an object of ridicule because , although he come s
from an ancient and pure family of wizards, he is poor and uses second -hand
robes and school supplies. This situation is addressed in the first chapters of the
first book, when the intolerant and cruel Draco Malfoy learns about Harry’s fame
and invite s him to be his friend , saying "You'll soon find out some wizarding
families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends
with the wrong sort. I can help you there." (Rowling 1997, p. 86). However, H arry
quickly reject s him, stayi ng by Ron’s side.
As in any friendship, they go through situations that test their commitment to each
other , but by overcoming the obstacles , they become stronger and more united
than before, making their relationship more sincere and emphatic . For exampl e,
in the fifth book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , Harry is accused of
lying about Voldemort’s return and many of his classmates do not believe him.
He is rejected and bullied by his peers, with the exception of Ron and Hermione.
After discove ring that Harry is not lying, most of his closes t classmates admit their
mistake and ask for forgiveness, which is a valuable lesson on mutual
understanding and second chances . In the final battle, Harry tells Voldemort that
he pities him because he never knew love, compassion and true friendship , as
he only had supporters that followed him out of fear, not love. By reading about
an imperfect, and thus more real friendship, s tudents are learning about social
behaviour and trust, which will help them in thei r future life.

24
Good and Evil
One characteristic of children’s stories is that the heroes and villains are
identifiable from the beginning. According to the conventions, t he hero is pure
and benevolent, whereas the villain has no redeeming qualities at all, with no
background that explains the reasons behind his or her behaviour. This stark
contrast is blurred in Young -Adult literature , with villains that no t only represent a
threat to the main he ro, but a re also a threat to humankind, so that the old
boundaries between good and evil are no longer completely clear. Glanzer (2008)
says:
Rowling defends the existence of an objective moral universe. In
fact, it is the villains that tend to speak in Nietzschean terms. The
main vi llain deconstructs himself thus: ‘A foolish young man I was
then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. There is no good
and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to see it’. Of
course talki ng about good and evil can be explosive in real li fe, but
should a teacher help students to decide if there are even such
battles? Isn’t it better to avoid such topics altogether? But dodging
the issue would prove tragic for the consideration of ethics in public
schools. After all ethics is about duty and obligation in human
conduct and of reasoning of choice about them .
I am in absolute agreement with Glanzer. Harry’ s journey throughout the series
is about defeating evil, represented in the person of Voldemort, a former
Hogwarts student whose ambition and cruelty led the wizarding world into a civil
war. His past is explained in Harry Potter and the Half -Blood Prince and while ,
his actions are not justified, the reader is invited to understand the context that
took the orphan Tom Riddle and transformed him into Lord Voldemort, the most
feared wizard in the world. He embodies the dangers of intolerance and
totalitari anism, advoca ting the sup eriority of wizards over ordinary humans . When
Voldemort’s aims are explained to the students, obvious historical figures and
periods of history can be debated, raising subjects such as tolerance and even
areas we might think they do not care a bout, such as politics.
It should be emphasised once again that Harry is not perfect either. In the la st
three books he is not afraid to harm people because he needs to focus on the
greater scheme of things and particularly on winning the war. At one poin t, Harry

25
asks Dumbledore if he is becoming like Voldemort and Dumbledore re plies that
our choices show who we really are , leaving Harry to draw his own conclusions .
The ethics of the characters keep them on the right path even when it would be
easier to surrender to evil. Harry finally fulfils his destiny because he remains
optimistic and is able to do what is right instead of doing what is easy.
All the characters’ complexities help students to understand that people are more
difficult to understand than they thought as children . Whited (2002 ) says that “the
sense of ambiguity, of no clear answers grows with each book, as Harry grows
and sees more and farther .” (p.24) To explain his claim, Whited uses the example
of Snape: “ Professor Snape is a thorough ly unpleasant, mean -spirited man
driven by jealousy of Harry and what he represents, and yet he is willing to protect
him when he must ” (p.24)
Thus th e Harry Potter series is about the duality of good and evil and resilience .
A magical world i s contrast ed with a world without magic. The forces of evil not
only threaten the magical world, but also our world. Voldemo rt has the need to
dominate the human race , supporting his claim by saying that the strongest have
to rule over the weak. The statement “ Magic i s Might” is the motto of the Ministry
of Magic (controlled by Voldemort ), the entrance of which is decorated with a
black statue depicting two wizards seated on tiny human beings . Nevertheless
this conquest of good by evil is not what happens in the Harry Potter series. In
the last book, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows evil is defeated and ,
although many lives are lost, the resilience of the good characters will help to re –
build the world in the hope that the lesson has been learnt and that evil will not
return.

26
CHAPTER THREE
TEACHING UNIT WITH A FOCUS ON HARRY POTTER
Teaching Unit
This chapter focuses on the units I implemented during my teaching practice at
High Scope School, a Catholic elementary, semi -private school in Hualpén. I
chose to work with one 5th year class and one 8th year class, because I wanted
to compare their beha viour, attitude and achievements with regard to the material
designed for them. English is a compulsory subject from 5th year onward, so that
this was a good opportunity to work with these two years together. The material
designed was almost the same, exce pt for the level of English required and used.
As it was a Catholic school, I decided to orient my units towards ethics, given that
the Harry Potter books deal with situations in which personal values and morals
are put to a test. I also assumed these stu dents would be very familiar with either
the books or at least the films and could relate to some of the situations presented
in the books, given their age range.
I presented my idea to my supervising teacher, who was delighted by it and gave
me the freedo m to teach my lessons after the units in the national curriculum had
been taught, that is, towards the end of the year. Thus, I decided to use four of
the seven books of the s eries , two with each year. I picked the simplest books,
which also meant that the characters were the same age as the students, in order
to appeal to students in a more personal way. I chose Book One, Harry Potter
and The Sorcerer ’s Stone, and Book Three, Harry Potter and The Prisoner of
Azkaban, to work with the 5th year and Four, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire,
and Seven, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, to work with the 8th year.
The units were focused on the four skills: oral production, reading
comprehension, written expression and listening comprehens ion. The two mai n
tools were the printed books, together with audio books for the activities related
to listening comprehension. My supervising teacher asked me to relate my whole
unit to topics in the non -Ministry textbook s, Beep! 5 and English in M otion 2, used
by the school. She advised me to assess the units with points to be added to the

27
marks for the final test or practical work of each year, in order to reinforce the
importance of the unit.
Reports
5th year Unit “A Great Day Out”

As this lesson was at 8 am on Monday morning, the students were fresh and
apparently ready to learn. The unit in Beep! 5 is called “A Great Day Out” and
deals with hobbies and sports. Hence I decided to use quidditch and
sportsmanship as main themes for th e lesson. I started with reading
comprehension, because passive skills are easier than productive skills. The
moment I told them we were going to be working with Harry Potter they began to
comment on the films and their favourite episodes. I explained to t he students
that we were going to organise a house c up competition, which aroused their
enthusiasm. They wanted to pick their house, but I told them that they would be
assigned to a house according to the seat ing arrangement in the classroom . They

28
became very enthusiastic about choosing prefects , because some of the students
already knew the system and how it worked in the films. Some students claimed
not to know about Harry Potter or to have never watched the films, because they
thought they were for younger children. Two students claimed to be great fans of
the series and one of them had even read most of the books in Spanish.
Eventually the latter answered all the questions, which led to complaints from
other students who were eager to participa te.
In preparation for the reading activity, I presented relevant vocabulary and asked
students what the words meant. Then I distributed the reading excerpt from The
Sorcere r’s Stone. At first it took more time than estimated to deliver the
instructions i n English because they are not used to using English in the
classroom, but by the end of the class, they understood almost everything. They
did not want to read English aloud, so I decided to read a little first, then they read
in chorus, and finally indi vidually. While they were reading I used body language
to help them understand. At this point, students became more concerned about
their points and more competitive, asking to see the point s poster to know their
situation . They wanted to check if they had lost points and when this happened,
they told their classmate to behave better because they did not want to lose any
more .
Subsequently, the students worked individually, writing the answers to
compr ehension questions projected on to the board. Only two s tudents did not
participate in the activity, even though they knew it was going to be assessed
later. These students have behavioural problems and sometimes do not work in
other subjects either. I was warned about this situation and one of these students
is always ignored when she is not working because otherwise she distracts the
rest of the class. I was amazed at the behaviour of another troublesome student,
who did every activity as requested, which is not usual. Some other students did
not want to work and distracted their classmates at the beginning of the lesson,
but by the time I presented the first activity, they were more motivated and even
wanted to go to the library to borrow some dictionaries, which usually takes them
more time than necessary , but this time they returned quickly.

29
To answer the questions, students needed more time than initially planned,
because this was a new activity for them. I explained the questions, first in English
and then in Spanish. I allowed them to answer the question “Why do you think
Harry wished he had 8 more eyes?” in Spanish because it was an open -ended
question and they do not possess the abilities to write their thoughts in English
yet. The rest of the questions had to be answered in English and most of them
did it in very basic English.
By the end of the lesson, they were very excited and involved. When I asked
them what they thought of the activity I received positive feedback. However, I
believe that for the level of English they possess, a 45 minute lesson is too short,
because they tend to waste time and I had to expend a great amount of energy
to keep them focused.
The second lesson in the 5th year was also on a Monday at 8 am and was focused
on oral expression. The objective was to plan a day out for the class, using
vocabulary from the unit in the textbook . Students were eager to participate , but
found it hard to get down to work . Once a gain, the instructions in English gave
them problems and although I used body language I still had to resort to Spanish

30
for some key words. They agreed to keep the same prefects for every class ,
because the students who wanted to be prefects were always the same and they
happened to be the mo st responsible too.
Students remained eager throughout the lesson , but I had to make a change from
forcing all students to work in pairs , as a few said they wanted to work alone in
order to complete the task quickly and I allowed them to do it, with positive results .
I should say that students are seated in a certain way for behaviour al reasons,
partly related to the children with special needs (ADHD in various degrees,
extreme misbehaviour and Asperger syndrome) These arrangements sometimes
cause disruptions and arguments , because they either do not like or feel
uncomfortable with the classmates near them .
Regarding the activities , they watched the video in silence and were glad to
comment on it. I was surprised when I asked them to compare the fictional sport
quidditch with existing sports they know and they talked about football and rugby.
They were amazed to learn that it is now a real sport in Europe. They talked
briefly about their hobbies, many related to indoor activities such as playing video
games, watching TV and surfing on the internet. I was perturbed to discover that
they mostly spend t heir spare time on the internet.
It caught my attention that in mixed pairs it was the girls who had the ideas and
were more enthusiastic. In general, the b oys were easily distracted and the girls
bossily reminded them to focus on the task an d they obeyed . Usually when two
girls worked together, they finished sooner and wrote more ideas than two boys
working together or mixed pairs. The same thing happened when they presented
their ideas to the class . Pairs of girls were more anxious to show their work than
pairs of boys. In the voting at t he end , the most popular ideas were those
presented by pairs of girls , with o nly one mixed pair and no pairs of boys.
When I asked which hobbies could help them improve their English, they could
not answer, apart from one girl who mentioned reading and listening to music in
English. When I asked if they did that, two g irls mentioned that their English was
not good enough now, but they would like to do it in the future. None of the
students said they listen ed to music in English, although they knew popular

31
musicians such as Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi from the 19 80s, probably due
to their parents’ influence.
This activity was difficult to start because the preceding class was a rt, so that the
classroom was in a mess . Also, as this was the last lesson of the day the students
were desperate to go home . The audio recording consisted o f a brief excerpt from
the book The Prisoner of Azkaban narrated by Stephen Fry. They listened three
times , the first while reading the vocabulary on the board , the second listening
without the vocabulary and the third with the transcription of the recording on the
board.
Students had to make notes of their perception of rhythm and pronunciation.
Unfortunately, they are not used to listening exercises, hence most of them were
demotivated and distracted , giving up on the task. However, s ome students
completed the activity with ease but I still had to chop up the recording into
fragments, reading the transcription and pausing the recording to explain in

32
simpler words what had happened. They had no problems wi th the activity that
consisted i n ordering the pictures , but I believe this was so because they
remember ed the films, not because they truly understood the extract .
When asked about the pronunciation and rhythm of the reader , they recognised
some words but said that the general context was unclear . Nevertheless , they
internalised the speech rhythms and int onation and were able to imitate the m,
but speaking in Spanish, not English , which was very funny . Their comments on
the reader were , for example, “he sounds very natural”, “if it were in Spanish I
would like to hear a tale told by him” and “I imagine him as a nice grandad”.
Despite the difficulties, I feel that the lesson was worthwhile and made them more
conscious of the fact that English has a different rhythm and intonation from
Spanish.
This lesson was difficult to start because the previous teacher ha d not a ppeared
and the students had been idle . I lost time getting the class under control . After
hearing about the activity, s tudents were not enthusiastic and found it difficult to

33
write because they are not used to produc ing texts of any kind in English . In
addition, there was very little time . The result was that most students simply
copied the example I had written on the board with minimum changes, which
disappointed me greatly. Many of the texts lacked coherence and only consisted
of four or five lin es. I asked them what they thought they could do to improve their
performance, but they were not interested in taking any responsibility and just
blamed their teachers.
Before finishing, I asked what they thought of the activities in the whole unit and
they said they had been fun and they had enjoyed most of them . They said they
wanted more of th ese kinds of lessons in the future. When I explained that this
unit was going to be included in the final test , they did not believe that it had had
any real conten t. To me this was an ambivalent sign; on the one hand it was good
that they had not realised that they were learning through these activities , but on
the other hand I felt guilty and a little anxious, because they felt they we re not
ready to face a test.

34
8th year Unit “A Magical World”

My lessons with the 8th year were based on the fact that I was required to teach
some grammatical aspects , which I included in my lessons successfully. The
students were excited about working with Harry Potter. All of t hem knew the films
and were familiar with the plotlines , even though they had never read the books.
They are a very unruly group, so they started to shout out their favourite parts ,
but they were also worried that they would have to read the books, and were
relieved to discover that they would not. They also tried to find out how well I knew
the films. They reacted enthusiastically to the house c up contest , but were not
familiar with the prefect system . However, they understood perfectly when I
explained it to them.
Our first lesson was focused on reading comprehension in the hope that they
would be able to answer some questions about the one-page text on Christmas
in the UK. T hey thought the text was too long, but they did the activity anyway.

35
They are not used to reading in English , which explains why they took a long time
and some questions at the end of the activity had to be left unanswered.
They were genuinely curious about the fact that i n the UK and some other
English -speaking countries people open Christmas gifts on Christmas Day and
not the night before. They mostly said that they preferred the Chilean way ,
because they would not want to wait . They also asked about boarding schools
and if they existed in Chile. They wanted to know how Harry spent his Christmas
before and after going to Hogwarts and when they were told about his unhappy
home situation , they felt very sorry and compared it with the Sename system in
Chile.
The “ regular -irregul ar verbs” activity was difficult for them, as they have p roblems
writing correct English . They tend to fall into Spanish , both in speaking and
writing. Some students tried to talk English , but when they made a mistake they
were mocked by their classmates. Another problem is that they are not used to
speak ing in front of an audience and they do not respect each other’s opinions,
which can turn a simple discussion into an argument very easily.

36
The second lesson was after lunch and this was t he lesson that my teacher from
university came to assess, which result ed in unusual ly good behaviour and
extremely high participation , yet with discipline and respect, which proved to me
that the students were able to behave w ell in the classroom, if they chose.
The introductory video kept their attention and they were excited about
participat ing. I explained the activity only once and most of them understood
immediately . They worked quickly and even wanted to perform the spells which
were funny and creative, but others relied heavily on what they knew from the
films. Most o f the spells and potions created were used to solve typical teenager
problems.

This lesson was not taught because they had extra -curricular activities that week
and a n English test in the following class that had already been prepared.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to teach the class later either .

37
Without any previous notification, at the beginning of the class another teacher
demanded that the s tudents leave the classroom for another activity. This meant
that I lost 15 minutes of class time, with the result that this last lesson was the
least satisfactory in my opinion . It was the final class before the last English test
of the year and the students were very undisciplined when they returned . They
had many questions about the test, which took up 10 minutes . Thus the writing
activity was rushed and the final purpose not achieve d. Sadly, very few students
finished. Some of them were confused about the task and spent time thinking
instead of asking .
The following week we had some time to discuss the unit. The students said that
they had enjoyed the activities and they remembered what had happened in each
class which made me feel g ood. They also said they had never had such
interactive classes and they wished they could understand m ore English,
because having classes totally in English seemed fun and cool. Some students

38
even wanted to read the books and discuss them in class, which was a great
surprise in terms of their interests and general attitude towards English. We also
had s ome time to reward the winning h ouse and , as it ended up i n a tie, I gave
the two winning h ouses a small prize. The feedback from the students was
positive and left me very hopeful about my future classes .
Conclusions
After reflecting on my unit, I can see t hat I was overambitious and had high
expectations regarding my classes. Some of my goals were achieved, for
example , the discussion questions led to interesting subjects raised by the
students in both classes. On the other hand, some goals were not achieve d due
to the lack of practice of the students and because I was not realistic enough
when preparing my lessons. At first I thought that my main problem would be that
students would not understand what they had to do; in other words that the
instructions we re more problematic than the tasks themselves. I therefore put
more effort into the delivery of instructions than into the performance of each
activity, which was a mistake, and, combined with my high expectations, did not
always produce the desired effect .
With regard to the 5th year, I was unaware of their lack of motivation and did not
anticipate their frustration when they did not understand something immediately.
This situation led to my wasting time in each class trying to motivate them and
gain cont rol of the class. Now I can see that I should have simplified some of the
activities, especially the active skills. I was surprised by their lack of knowledge
of the Harry Potter books, which did not always interest the students, so that
some of them remai ned indifferent to the topics discussed. However, something
different happened with the 8th year. They knew the books, which increased their
enthusiasm, so they approached the lessons focused on Harry Potter with a more
positive attitude than the one they showed towards the lessons not related to
Harry Potter. They became easily involved and enj oyed the house cup
competition, because they already knew about it, in contrast to the 5th year class,
who needed more time to understand what it was about.
In addition, the 8th year made much more effort to complete the activities than the
5th year, with lower levels of frustration and more motivation. Although I was not

39
able to teach the listening lesson, I was more satisfied with the 8th year, because
they were eager to discuss certain topics related to the books, despite the fact
that they w ere not within the activities taught. Their comments regarding Harry’s
situation be fore going to Hogwarts and the racism depicted in the series were
discussed on their own initiative and left me very satisfied with their level of
comprehension and argument ation, even when they were lacking the tools such
as vocabulary and grammatical knowledge . Many of them were concerned about
Harry’s solitude and lack of parental love before going to Hogwarts. They
expressed their fear of losing one or both of their pare nts by putting themselves
in Harry’s place.
In both years the least satisfying activity was the written expression, because, for
different reasons, students did not achieve the objective, which was to produce a
written text ten lines long. The 5th year man aged to write four or five lines by
summarising the ten -line model on the board and the 8th year did not write more
than six lines at the most, but at least they did not copy from the board. However,
their sentences were very poorly constructed.
In sum, I am satisfied with what I learned from my unit, and even though I am
aware that it can be improved and that such activities require more preparation
than usual, I remain convinced that students can be inspired to read and th at
fiction can be related succes sfully to any content we are teaching in our
classrooms.

40
CONCLUS ION
This minor thesis has attempted to prove that the Harry Potter books can be used
by teachers to include both British culture and ethical dimensions in the Chilean
EFL classroom and that the series can be adapted to any content required by the
curricu lum. As explained in Chapter O ne, many experts conclude that
incorporating literature in to FL lesson s not only improves the development of the
four skills , reading and listening comprehension and oral and written expression ,
but also has other beneficial effects related to personal development and the
acquisition of attitudes that foster tolerance and respect for difference . Teachers
can integrate culture in such a way that students become active learners through
the discussion of the subjects presented. Chapter Two focuses largely on the
ethical issues in the H arry Potter novels, with the underlying idea that by reading
and discussing Harry’s moral dilemmas students can debate issues such as
tolerance, racism, bullying and friendship. The application of my ideas in the
teaching unit presented in Chapter Three did indeed show that students are
genuinely i nterested in debating these subjects, asking questions and taking part
in the lesson as active participants in the teaching -learning process .
My experience in the classroom shows that students are eager to learn English,
but the dull activities that seem to have become the norm in the classroom
prevent them from being interested in the subject. Students participate d more
enthusiastically in the lessons focused on Harry Potter than in the lesso ns that
were focused on the book used by the school, demonstrating that innovation is
fundamental to attract the attention of our students.
Access to the Harry Potter series through its movies, books and audio -books is
easy, and given its popularity, students know the basic plots, even if they have
not seen the movies. As proved by my teaching practice , many ac tivities can be
implemented , making the classes different , thus motivating students and offering
them entertaining learning . As an overall conclusion I would say that I am eager
to implement this unit again in the future, taking into account my mistakes an d
improving on them, because I believe that students and teachers can benefit from
learning more about British culture while at the same time discussing e thics and
morals, so often neglected in modern education .

41
SOURCES
Printed S ources
Maley, A. (1989). Down from the Pedestal: Literature as Resource. In Literature
and the Learner: Methodological Approaches . Cambridge.
Reynolds, K. (2011). Children's Literature: A Very Short Introduction . United
States.
Rowling, J. (1997). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's S tone. United Kingdom
Rowling, J. (1998). Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. United Kingdom
Rowling, J. (1999). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. United Kingdom
Rowling, J. (2000). Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. United Kingdom
Rowling, J. (2003). Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. United Kingdom
Rowling, J. (2005). Harry Potter and the Half -Blood Prince. United Kingdom
Rowling, J. (2007). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. United Kingdom
Online S ources with Author
Amtmann Chavez, M. (2011). The use of literature in the EFL classroom
through three different perspectives. Exploring poetry as a strong option.
Formacion Profesorado . Retrieved from https://blogs.funiber.org/formacion –
profesorado/2011/09/28/the -use-of-literature -in-the-efl-classroom -through -three –
different -perspectives -exploring -poetry -as-a-strong -option
Berndt, K., & Steveker, L. (2011). Heroism in the Harry Potter Series (1st ed.).
England. Retrieved from http://www.gbv.de/dms/goettingen/637930517. pdf
Bobkina, J., & Dominguez, E. (2014) Australia. Retrieved from
http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1108/1038
Campbell, J. (1949) (1st ed.). The Hero with a Thousand Faces Retrieved from
http://www.tekgnostics.com/dnload/campbell –
the_hero_with_a_thousand_faces.pdf

42
Chlopek, Z. (2008). The Intercultural Approach to EFL Teaching and Learning
(1st ed.). Retrieved from
http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/08 -46-4-c.pdf
Glanzer, P. (2008). Harry Potter' s Provocative Moral World: Is There a Place for
Good and Evil in Moral Education? (1st ed.). Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20442552?seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents
Kramsh, C. (1993). Context and Culture in Language Teaching (1st ed.).
Retrieved f rom http://lrc.cornell.edu/events/past/2003 -4/KramschArticle.pdf
Lessard -Clouston, M. (1997). Towards an Understanding of Culture in L2/FL
Education . Retrieved 21 January 2016, fr om http://iteslj.org/Articles/Lessard –
Clouston -Culture
Lima, C. (2005). Is the rest… silence? (1st ed.). Retrieved from
http://associates.iatefl.org/pages/materials/voicespdf/ltskills11.pdf
Sapir, E. (1970). Culture, Language and Personality (1st ed.). California: David
Goodman Mandelbaum. Retrieved from
https://books.google.cl/books?id=evTb5pXZ4mgC&printsec=frontcover&hl=es&
source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Savvidou, C. (2004). An Integrated Approa ch to Teaching Literature in the EFL
Classroom . Retrieved 21 January 2016, from
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Savvidou -Literature.html
Thanasoulas, D. (2001). The Importance Of Teaching Culture In The Foreign
Language Classroom (1st ed.). Retrieved from
http://www.radicalpedagogy.org/radicalpedagogy/The_ Importance_of_Teaching
_Culture_in_the_Foreign_Language_Classroom.html
Van, T. (2009). The Relevance of Literary Analysis to Teaching Literature in the
EFL Classroom. English Teaching Forum , 47(3), 2. Retrieved from
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ923454
Whited, L. (2002). The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary
Phenomenon (1st ed.). Missouri. Retrieved from
https://books.google.cl/books?hl=es&lr=&id=iO5pApw2JycC&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&

43
dq=moral+values+harr y+potter&ots=AEIL234DVy&sig=_r5XuMhQpoJAOf_Qwy
G8U3kYQQE&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=moral%20values%20harry%20potte
r&f=false
Online Source without Author
Deconstructing Rhetoric,. (2009). Kinneavy: The Basic Aims of Discourse .
Retrieved 21 January 2016, from
https://prelimsandbeyond.wordpress.com/2009/01/10/kinneavy/

44
APPENDIX
Materials used in the teaching unit
All the materials presented were created by the author of this minor thesis apart
from the extracts from the novels and the films .
Lesson 1, 5th year: Reading Comprehension
"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley ."
Harry wished he had eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as
they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the
things outside them, and the people doing their shopping. A plump woman
outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying , "Dragon
liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad!"
There were shops selling robes , shops selling telescopes and strange silver
instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat
spleens, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion
bottles, globes of the moon….
"Gringotts," said Hagrid.
They had reached a snow white building . Standing beside its burnished bronze
doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was – “Yeah, that's a goblin ," said
Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. The goblin
was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a clever face, a pointed beard and,
Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now
they were f acing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved
upon them: “Enter, stranger , but take heed of what awaits the sin of greed , for
those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn. So if you seek
beneath our floors a tre asure that was never yours, Thief , you have been warned,
beware of finding more than treasure there.”
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 1997, p.56

45
Activities for this lesson
Reading comprehension:
1- Why did Harry wish he had 8 more eyes?
2- What objects are sold in the shops?
3- Can you describe the Alley?
4- Can you describe Gringotts?
5- Can you describe the goblin?
True or False:
1- The apothecary is like a theme park
2- Harry was sad to visit “Diagon Alley”
3- Goblins wore a silver uniform
4- Goblins are taller than Harry
5- Thieves are welcomed in Gringotts
Lesson 3, 5th year: Listening comprehension
Activities for this lesson

46
Lesson 1, 8th year: Reading comprehension
Harry awoke very suddenly on Christmas Day. He opened his eyes, and saw
something with very large, round, green eyes staring back at him in the darkness,
so close they were almost nose to nose. It was Dobby.
"Dobby is only wanting to wish Harry Potter 'Merry Christmas' and bring him a
present, Sir! Harry Potter d id say Dobby could come and see him sometimes,
sir!"
“It's okay," said Harry, still breathing rather faster than usual. His yell had awoken
Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville. Therefore they decided that now they were
awake they might as well get down to some present -opening too.
"Can Dobby give Harry Potter his present?" he said tentatively.
"'Course you can," said Harry. "Er. . . I've got something for you too."
It was a lie; he hadn't bought anything for Dobby at all, but he quickly opened his
trunk and pull ed out a particularly knobby rolled -up pair of socks.
Dobby was utterly delighted. "Socks are Dobby's favo urite, favo urite clothes, sir!
Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which turned out to be – socks.
"Dobby is making them himself, sir!" the elf sa id happily. "He is buying the wool
out of his wages , sir!"
Harry's other presents were much more satisfactory than Dobby's odd socks –
with the obvious exception of the Dursleys', which consisted of a single tissue, an
all- time low.
Hermione had given Har ry a book called Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland;
Ron, a bag of Dungbombs; Sirius, a handy penknife with attachments to unlock
any lock and undo any knot; and Hagrid, a vast box of sweets including all Harrys
favorites: Bertie Bott's Every Flavour B eans, Chocolate Frogs, Drooble's Best
Blowing Gum, and Fizzing Whizbees. There was also, of course, Mrs. Weasley's
usual package, including a new sweater and a large quantity of homemade mince
pies.
Harry and Ron met up with Hermione in the common room, an d they went down
to breakfast together. They spent most of the morning in Gryffindor Tower, where
everyone was enjoying their presents, then returned to the Great Hall for a
magnificent lunch, which included at least a hundred turkeys and Christmas
pudding s, and large piles of Cribbage's Wizarding Crackers .
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2000, p.266

47
Activities for this lesson
Underline cognates
Circle the verbs. Classify them into regular and irregular verbs
1- When do they open their Christmas presents?
2- Which present would be your favourite?
3- Do they open their presents at night or in the morning?
According to the text, can you name these Christmas traditions?

48
Lesson 4, 8th year: Written expression
Worksheet
Exercises: Complete the sentences with ‘will’ or ‘going to’
1. Harry 17 next July (to be)
2. Neville and Luna a new wand. (to get)
3. I think Hermione this book. (to like)
4. Ron a new owl. (to have)
5. They at midnight to the Burrow. (to arrive)
6. Just a moment. I you with the potion. (to help)
7. In 2017, Harry’s son into Hogwarts (to get)
8. Draco a party next week. (to throw)
9. Remus and Tonks across the river Thames tonight (to
fly)
10. Look at the clouds! It soon. (to rain)
Read the text. It is incomplete so you will create the ending to the story.
Remember to use ‘will’ and ‘going to’. The text must be at least 5 lines long.

After drinking the tea, Ron began to guess Harry’s future. "Right, you've got a crooked
cross… That means you're going to have 'trials and suffering' – sorry about that – but
there's a sun… that means 'great happiness'… so you're going to suffer but you will be
very happy for it…." “Alright” said Harry. “Now I can see a giant dog that means…