Teaching novel through the characters of Ralph Ellison's invisible man with a specifc reference to Elt Department of Gazi Faculty of Education, Gazi University

This study focuses on classroom practices and activities related with the working on characterization in Novel Analysis and Teaching classes in the English Language Teaching Department at Gazi University. This study has two major aims. The first one is to determine and inquire the approaches used in Novel Analysis and Teaching classes in the English Language Teaching Department at Gazi University. The second aim is to affirm the need for a more studentcentered and language-based approach for teaching literature and propose a model for working on characters with related classroom practices and activities. Ralph Ellison?s award-winning novel Invisible Man has been used as a source for suggesting a student-centered and language-based model for teaching fiction. The study also proposes a sample lesson that rests on working with characters in Ellison?s novel. For the data collection and analysis, a questionnaire has been applied to 130 fourth grade undergraduate students currently attending the ELT Department of Gazi University who have taken and accomplished the course of Novel Analysis and Teaching in the 2005-2006 academic year. The results of the questionnaire have shown that Novel Analysis and Teaching classes at the ELT Department at Gazi University are predominantly student-centered. However, the need for more language-based and communicative approaches has simultaneously become apparent. .