Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 197 The Application of Socio-Cultural Pedagogical Approach in Teaching Popular Literature Nestiani Hutami1*, Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma2 1UIN Raden Mas Said Surakarta, 2Universitas Trunojoyo Madura, Indonesia *nestiani.hutami@staff.uinsaid.ac.id Article History: Submitted on 2nd August 2022; Revised on 15th November 2022 Accepted on 21th November 2022; Published on 31st December 2022 ABSTRACT The trend of online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic has driven English Literature lecturers to come up with effective ways of teaching literature. Concerning this issue, this research aims to analyze how literature, especially popular literature, is taught online. Focusing on the socio-cultural pedagogic principles, the approach of teaching popular literature is examined using a qualitative descriptive approach. This study was conducted at English Literature Department, Adab and Humanity Faculty, UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, involving two popular literature lecturers. The data were obtained through interviews, observations, and documentation and analyzed using the interactive analysis method. It was found that the socio-cultural pedagogic principles were applied partially. (1) the principle of engagement was applied by warming-up questions, mind-mapping technique, mentioning adjectives, and watching movie trailers, (2) the principle of intelligibility was not applied because the lecturers explained the theory of genre and sub-genre characteristics before giving examples, and (3) the principle of participation was applied by delivering quizzes through various online platforms, like Google Classroom, Mentimeter, and Kahoot! and giving tasks which were uploaded in UIN Sunan Ampel’s e-learning system, SAILS ‘Sunan Ampel Integrated Learning Service’. The significance of these findings will contribute to the teaching and learning process of popular literature. Besides, the results will provide insight for popular literature lecturers to apply a better teaching approach. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 mailto:nestiani.hutami@staff.uinsaid.ac.id Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 198 Keywords: popular literature, socio-cultural pedagogic principles, online learning. INTRODUCTION Teaching literature in higher education is considerably challenging, even more so for EFL students. The language ability of the students becomes the main problem when discrepancy with the language of the text exists (Krishnasamy, 2015). Other issues consistently faced by the lecturers are students’ lack of interest, lack of confidence, insufficient time, challenging materials because of unfamiliarity with the cultural and social background as well as literary devices, not to mention inadequate teaching approach (Arvidson & Blanco, 2004; Büyükyavuz & İnal, 2008; Dar et al., 2021; Hussein & Al-Emami, 2016; Işıklı & Tarakçıoğlu, 2017; Karci & Akar-Vural, 2011). Considering all these challenges, lecturers must develop a curriculum and approach to help students successfully learn literature with few difficulties. Most undergraduate students majoring in English Literature in Indonesia learn literature from its genres, divided into prose, poetry, and drama (UIN-Malang, 2021; UIN-Suka, 2020; Unsoed, 2018; UNY, 2018; UTM, 2012). By this, students are expected to comprehend the idea of literature easily because they learn different literary texts. However, a tedious learning process in the classroom is one of the reasons genre-based literature learning is rather ineffective. For instance, students get bored and become unmotivated because they only read poems in the same class for a whole semester and slowly lose interest in learning poems. Another reason is that students learn various characteristics rather than specific ones, making it difficult for them to understand literary texts. For these reasons, the English Literature department at UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya has reformed its curriculum. Students in this department are required to study literature based on the periods of literature. Classic, Romantic, Modern, and Popular Literature are the period divisions chosen by this department to assist the students in learning literature. Each period carries distinct characteristics that students can learn from reading all kinds of text. Students learn specific characteristics in prose, poetry, and drama using the new curriculum. This setting is expected to create non-boring literature learning because students read different forms of texts. For example, when students are in Modern Literature class, they learn that one of the characteristics is absurdity. With this understanding, students will make an effort to identify that certain characteristics when reading prose, poetry, and drama. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 199 Interestingly, after conducting a preliminary research, the researchers found that the students were learning differently in a popular literature class because they were given materials related to genre fiction. Genre fiction is a widespread-appealed fiction that follows certain formulas (Callahan, 2020; Glatch, 2021; Strathy, 2021). In this sense, the students learned fiction genres according to the reference book they used, The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction (Saricks, 2009). The genres are adrenaline, emotions, intellect, and landscape genre. Because the learning materials are different in popular literature class, the lecturers of the English Literature Department at UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya have made efforts to ensure that the students comprehend and take an interest in what they are learning. The idea that genre fiction “attracts a broad audience” (French, n.d.) is actually helpful in increasing interest in learning popular literature. Lecturers can also underline several positive impacts to make students take more interest in reading fiction from various genres, for instance, increasing vocabulary, improving empathy and social relationships, and bringing out creativity (Fong et al., 2013; Mar & Oatley, 2008; Seifert, 2020; Seiter, 2018; Tamir et al., 2015). It is also revealed in a study conducted by Lao & Krashen that “University level EFL students in Hong Kong who participated in a popular literature class that emphasized reading for content and enjoyment, including some self-selected reading, made superior gains on measures of vocabulary and reading rate” (2000). The attempts to teach literary texts, in this case, popular literature texts, are even more challenging with the pressure of conducting online learning as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Most universities in Indonesia have switched their teaching and learning process to online learning (Haris et al., 2021; Pradana & Syarifuddin, 2021; Salehudin et al., 2021). This way of learning has benefits and also drawbacks. Some benefits are that students have flexible learning time, and learning can be conducted anywhere. However, the teaching-learning process can differ greatly from previous years before the Covid-19 pandemic. Lecturers must change their approach to teaching that is adapted to online media. Moreover, lecturers must have pedagogic skills to deliver various genres in the course of popular literature. Thus, lecturers need a good teaching approach to assist students in understanding popular literature texts. This way, socio-cultural pedagogic principles are chosen as the approach to teaching popular literature. According to Chambers & Gregory (2006), socio-cultural pedagogic principles are categorized as a good teaching approach that has the purpose of making a possible learning situation. Teaching is purposed to arouse students’ interest in the course http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 200 object and encourage them to study without burden. Moreover, this principle of good teaching evaluates skills of teaching which relate learning materials to students’ background knowledge. Lecturers have to hone their skills with the ability to choose the introductory materials that engage students’ attention to learning, explain the material that encourages students to understand easily and encourage students to participate in discussion and assignments. There is hardly any study discussing socio-cultural pedagogic principles as a teaching approach for teaching literature. A number of studies, as written by Yimwilai (2015), Divsar & Tahriri (2009), and Savvidou (2004), proposed an integrated approach to teaching literature in the EFL classroom or context. This approach combines the three existing models; cultural-based, language-based, and personal growth, based on Carter & Long (1991). Another research has been conducted by Poedjiastutie et al. (2021), exploring the challenges of English teaching and learning due to socio-cultural aspects. Unlike this research focusing on teaching literature, Poedjiastutie’s study discusses more English language learning in remote areas of Indonesia. Furthermore, studies concerning teaching and learning popular literature are also scarce. One research conducted by Mustakim et al. (2014) delved into approaches to teaching contemporary children’s literature. Other studies written by Dar et al. (2021) and Bernstein (2013) examined teaching world literature which is entirely different from teaching popular literature. Building upon the stated framework, this study aims to answer how the socio-cultural pedagogical approach is applied in teaching popular literature in the context of online learning. Hopefully, the results of this study will contribute to the teaching and learning process of popular literature, especially for the English Literature department or study program that includes popular literature in the curriculum. This study also represents the teaching experience in online learning. Accordingly, it can give popular literature lecturers insight into applying a better teaching approach. METHOD This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach. It was designed to examine how the socio-cultural pedagogical approach is applied in teaching popular literature online. In conducting the research, the researchers gathered the information and interpreted it (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Since this research analyzed the approach to teaching popular literature, the respondents chosen were two lecturers from the English Literature department at UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya who were http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 201 teaching it. Following the socio-cultural pedagogical approach guideline by Chambers & Gregory (2006), the data were collected through interviews, observations, and documentation. According to Doyle, “a semi-structured interview is a meeting in which the interviewer does not strictly follow a formalized list of questions. Instead, they will ask more open-ended questions, allowing for a discussion with the interviewee rather than a straightforward question and answer format” (2020). For this reason, the researchers asked ten questions (Interview Sheet) which were then followed by conversations concerning the issues “deemed important in relation to the research project” (Leavy, 2014, p. 286). Furthermore, the second data collection was observations done two times for each respondent. By doing this, data had reached saturation for no more new data could be collected. as stated by Glaser & Strauss, “saturation means that no additional data are being found…and similar instances are seen over and over again” (1967, p. 61). Since the learning sessions were conducted online, the researchers did observations in Google Classroom and Google Meet or Zoom Meeting, as these were the online platforms used by the two respondents. The last means of data collection was documentation. The researchers collected two public documents that were considered essential for teaching popular literature. The first one was the lesson plan. The researchers used it to know the appropriate times to do the observations. Scanning through the lesson plan, the lecturers alternately divided the theories and readings. For instance, meeting II is for theory, meeting III is for reading, meeting IV is for theory, meeting V is for reading, and so forth. Hence, the researchers decided to do the observations once in a meeting for theory and once for reading. Below is one part of the lesson plan: Picture 1: The Lesson Plan http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 https://drive.google.com/drive/u/2/folders/1kceF6pb_3OmDJHj3-SmwElDWZw2jfNWv Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 202 The second document was the reference book, The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, written by Joyce G. Saricks (2009). The researchers used it to understand what materials were taught in popular literature classes and how the learning process was done. In analyzing the data, the researchers utilized the interactive analysis method consisting of three parts: data condensation, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions (Miles et al., 2014). In the condensation process, the data were selected based on the focus of this research which is the teaching approach of popular literature. After that, the data were abstracted into three principles of the socio-cultural pedagogical approach. It was done to see how each principle was applied in teaching popular literature. Moreover, data display in this study was done to form a description from a compilation of information to allow conclusion drawing. The last is conclusion drawing and verification, done after all data were examined. In addition, this research did triangulation in the data collection technique by comparing the data taken from interviews, observations, and documentation. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Findings Teaching popular literature during the Covid-19 pandemic is challenging. Lecturers need to adapt to the teaching-learning process from face-to-face learning to online learning. This study focuses on teaching popular literature in online learning using socio-cultural pedagogic principles (Chambers & Gregory, 2006). This section presents the results dealing with the socio-cultural pedagogic principles applied by the two lecturers in teaching popular literature classes based on the interviews first and then observations; they are the principles of engagement, intelligibility, and participation. The Principle of Engagement This principle was applied in the first step of the meetings by the lecturer, the introduction, by exposing warming up activities, like asking questions about students’ experiences. In online learning, the virtual meeting application was Zoom Meeting or Google Meet. The lecturers implemented introductory strategies related to students’ experience or background knowledge, which had an impact on arousing students’ enthusiasm in the learning process. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 203 I ask students about popular stories on Wattpad’s storytelling platform: Have you ever read a story on Wattpad? What is the title? What genre does the story belong to? (Respondent 1) The strategies used by the first respondent to initiate a course on the topic of emotion genre were warming up questions and a mind mapping application. In the first thirty minutes, the lecturer generated students’ enthusiasm for studying the emotion genre by asking them about popular stories on online reading platforms, such as Wattpad. This question was also used to understand students’ reading references and preferences, particularly their current knowledge and experience of popular literature. The brief discussion would have run smoothly if the students had read references related to their emotions or feelings. Moreover, the lecturer raised questions and wrote the students’ answers in a mind-mapping application (MindMup 2 For Google Drive). The mind mapping application is used in the introduction session to examine students’ understanding of a given or previous topic. In this approach, I ask for the summary of the lesson, and students will answer it. I then write down the answers in the mind mapping application. (Respondent 1) I give warming-up questions in Google Classroom or SAILS as a preview of the lesson. Instruction for the warming-up activity is: Mention any adjectives related to ‘emotion’! (Respondent 1) The mind mapping activity was applied as the overview of the previous lesson because that could measure students’ understanding of the previously discussed topic. Furthermore, the lecturer asked students about the common adjectives of the emotion genre for the lesson preview. The lecturer helped students find the meaning by relating the words with students’ background knowledge or things that they had already known. For the second respondent, the lecturer implemented an introductory strategy that was adapted to the lesson topic. I usually start my class with games or question-and-answer (Q and A) sessions. (Respondent 2) Then, to sustain and increase students’ enthusiasm, the lecturer always checked students’ understanding by simultaneously asking questions to students. Moreover, to teach literature joyfully, the lecturer had to update http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 204 herself on the latest popular information to relate it to the lesson and engage students’ attention. I try to connect with them by following what is happening nowadays. (Respondent 2) Based on the observation, not all students responded in the Q and A on the warming up session in the first meeting of the intellect genre. Students who did not prepare well for the course experienced difficulty answering the question. Besides that, the answers given were mostly copied from the coursebook. Another strategy to arouse students’ enthusiasm, which the second respondent used when she taught the intellect genre, was exposing students to a movie trailer that correlated with one of the sub-genres explained, science fiction. This strategy resulted in students’ activeness in learning about popular literature. Watching movies and giving them questions related to literary works are used to engage students in learning. (Respondent 2) It can be inferred from the observations that the introductory strategy using a movie trailer that students are familiar with may evoke more enthusiasm. After watching the Star Wars movie trailer, students were actively involved in a brief discussion. It means an interesting opening arouses students’ interest in the learning process. In conclusion, the lecturers conducted the principle of engagement using various strategies such as warming up questions, mind- mapping technique, and watching movie trailers. These activities have the purpose of attracting students’ attention and arousing students enthusiasm The Principle of Intelligibility The two respondents did not apply the principle of intelligibility because they explained the theory first and then gave examples in teaching popular literature. The learning process was in the form of lecturing and group discussion via virtual meetings, such as Zoom meetings or Google Meet. The lecturers explained the summary of the materials in power points. The first respondent exposed the theory first and then gave examples. Besides that, to explain the sub-genres key points and characteristics, the lecturer cited paragraphs taken from a novel to discuss. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 205 I explain from the theory to example because students don’t have any reading references. After explaining the theory using PowerPoint, it is continued by giving examples through paragraphs taken from the novel or Wattpad. (Respondent 1) For the first meeting on the emotion genre, the lecturer explained the theory of the genre and sub-genres. She asked the students to open their reference book, The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, written by Joyce G. Saricks (2009), to find out the meaning of sub-genres names, which were gentle reads, horror, romance, women lives, and relationships. In this case, the lecturer explained the gentle reads sub-genre first, followed by other sub-genres. In explaining the theory, the lecturer frequently did code-switching and mixing between English and Indonesian to ensure that the students understood. This activity was followed by a PowerPoint presentation that contained a summary of the four sub-genres, consisting of the definition, characteristics, pace, setting and focus. While explaining the characteristics of one of the sub-genres, for example, gentle reads, the lecturer asked about the stories or novels students had read in the sub-genre. Since it was a new sub-genre for the students, they had difficulty answering the lecturer’s questions. It was easy for the students to mention the novel examples for the horror subgenre. In this case, the students mentioned Goosebumps. The reason was they were already familiar with horror. However, the students hardly ever knew about certain sub-genre like gentle reads. Thus, the lecturer first explained the sub-genres theory, which was then followed by giving examples. After explaining the theory, the lecturer mentioned a novel’s title as an example of one of the sub-genres, in this case, gentle reads. The novel chosen as an example was A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks. After that, she exposed the novel's prologue, showing how the gentle reads described the detail of the setting. In this session, students assisted by the lecturer practiced analyzing the sub-genres characteristics by reading and analyzing several paragraphs of the novel. For the second meeting of the emotion genre, the class activities were group presentations that trained students to analyze a novel entitled The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Students practiced analyzing the novel by showing certain sub-genres characteristics and the novel’s quotations. After the presentation, the respondent provided feedback by presenting a PowerPoint analyzing the novel’s intrinsic elements and quotations. After the discussion, the lecturer invited all students to determine the novel’s sub-genre. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 206 Based on the observations, some students actively analyzed or interpreted the given theory. The students actively engaged in the lecture could follow the materials well. Meanwhile, those who did not have any preparation for the discussed topic, neither read the novel nor did the tasks, would avoid any discussion in the class. The second respondent took the same approach as the first one. She explained the characteristics of the sub-genres, which were presented using PowerPoint. The explanation was followed by a question and answer (Q and A) session to ensure students’ understanding. Then she provided examples of famous movies or literary works that students were familiar with. I teach theory first, then give an example. After giving warming- up questions regarding genre fiction, I explain the theory using PowerPoint. (Respondent 2) Based on the observation, some students actively analyzed or interpreted the given theory. It was because the lecturer gave students a chance to mention some movies related to each sub-genre. Moreover, at the second meeting of the intellect genre, a group of students did a presentation about the novel The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. The lecturer applied class discussion to train students’ understanding of the characteristics of the novel’s sub-genre and the students’ critical thinking. In this case, whenever the group presented one characteristic found in the novel, the lecturer would invite other students to give questions or responses to the group or ask several questions herself. At the end of each discussion, the lecturer would give feedback. The lecturer invited all students to determine the novel’s sub-genre by the end of the group’s presentation. To sum up, the lecturers did not conduct the principle of intelligibility because they explained the theory of genre and sub-genre characteristics before giving examples. Both of the respondents began to explain the theory first, followed by giving examples. Finding familiar examples of novels or movies was rather difficult for certain sub-genres, for example, gentle reads, because students did not have any reading references, which was new for them. However, providing examples of novels or movies for sub-genres like horror, science fiction, or mystery was easier because students were already familiar with them and had many movie references. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 207 The Principle of Participation The principle of participation was applied by delivering quizzes on various online platforms, such as Google Classroom, Mentimeter, and Kahoot!, and giving tasks uploaded in SAILS ‘Sunan Ampel Integrated Learning Service’. This online learning platform enabled lecturers to assess students’ understanding and participation since that platform facilitated lecturers to give feedback. The data from the interviews and observations are presented below. The reflection section at the end of each meeting is used to observe students’ understanding. The example of questions given in the reflection session is: Of the four sub-genres of emotion, what are the points that distinguish those sub-genres? (Respondent 1) Besides that, to always monitor students’ learning progress, I give an assignment of ‘sharing notes’ on Instagram. The notes contain a summary of learning in class. (Respondent 1) From the first respondent’s point of view, a post-teaching or reflection session was used to summarize the course by giving a question, for example, “what are the differences between the four sub-genres?”. The answer was considered as the summary of the meeting. Other than that, to encourage students to read the literary works and the theory, the lecturer gave both individual assignments by sharing notes on Instagram and a group assignment which was preparing a presentation about the genre characteristics of the novel given using PowerPoint. In the next meeting, to start the class, the lecturer always gave students questions or trivia quizzes uploaded in SAILS to measure the extent to which students read or understood the novel about to discuss. At the end of the meeting, the students were given a question regarding possible issues discussed in the novel. It was done to hopefully boost students’ critical thinking in analyzing the novel by relating the possible issues with the theme of the novel discussed. A trivia quiz is uploaded in SAILS which will be scored. The examples of questions in the trivia quiz are (1) Mention one fact from the novel! (2) Is it possible if the novel to be discussed using the romantic suspense genre? (3) What is adrenaline? The other examples from the trivia quiz are: (1) The novel has … chapters. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 208 (2) There are … chapters told from the main character’s point of view. (Respondent 1) At the end of the meeting, I ask questions about possible issues in the novel. An example of the question is: By observing the character of the main character and her mother, what elements can be analyzed? (Respondent 1) The questions were expected to lead students to study the theory through literary analysis or genre analysis of the literary works. However, according to the observation in the classroom, some of the students were actively engaged in learning about popular literature, especially those who had reading references of the genres or sub-genres discussed. At the beginning of the class, the second respondent applied Mentimeter, an online quiz, to assess students’ understanding. This online application creates an engaging class because this encourages teacher- student communication in teaching-learning (Mentimeter, n.d.). The example of the lecturer’s question in the Mentimeter was, “what mystery movies have you ever watched?” Students answered the question based on their experience of watching movies. This strategy promoted the activeness of all students, who were eager to write the answers. After the quiz session, feedback in the form of discussion was given to ensure that all students understood the genre and the sub-genres learned. In the next meeting, the second respondent invited all students to take a Google Classroom quiz to start the class. The questions for the quiz were related to the novel that the students must read before attending the class. The questions were (1) “what is the theme that you find in The ABC Murders?” and (2) “which character do you suspect as the murderer?”. This quiz was given as one way to motivate students to read the literary text so that all could participate in the class discussion. Some students actively participated in the class discussion, while others did not. However, most of the students could correctly answer the questions asked by the lecturer, although they were not active in the class discussion. In addition, at the end of the course, the lecturer checked the students’ attendance and gave an assignment that must be submitted in SAILS. The questions I give students are about the intrinsic elements of the literary texts and the characteristics of the literary texts’ genre. (Respondent 2) http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 209 The purpose of asking questions about the intrinsic elements of the literary works, such as characterization, point of view, plot, and setting, was to guide students to understand more deeply the genres and characteristics of the novel that had been discussed. The questions encouraged the students to learn popular literature through literary or genre analysis. In brief, the two respondents applied the principle of participation to assess students’ comprehension of the topic given in each meeting. The techniques applied were giving quizzes using various online platforms and tasks uploaded in UIN Sunan Ampel’s online learning service. The assignments were in the form of individual and group works. The questions in the tasks guided students to read the theory of genres, sub- genres characteristics, and literary works. Discussion Teaching literature in the EFL classroom or context is challenging. According to Tayib & Hassan, one of the challenges is “the teaching approach or teachers’ wrong choice of teaching methods” (2020), as also mentioned in a thesis (Prochet, 2017). The challenge is even more apparent when the learning process is done online, and specific kinds of literature are taught, in this case, popular literature. Teaching popular literature is different from teaching literature in general because of the materials prepared. While, in general, literature is usually taught based on its literary devices, popular literature is taught based on its genre fiction. In this case, students will learn not only the literary devices but also the genre’s characteristics, and at the end of the course, they will be able to identify the genre fiction of literary works. Teaching popular literature online is another issue because as the materials are unfamiliar to students, lecturers must be able to deliver the materials with limited interaction. In doing so, the lecturers must develop a teaching approach that can assist students in learning and understanding the materials, which is genre fiction, thoroughly. In the English Literature department at UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya, the popular literature lecturers have applied a certain approach for their students to comprehend the idea of genre fiction, which is based on socio-cultural pedagogic principles (Chambers & Gregory, 2006). However, only two principles out of three were applied: the principle of engagement and the principle of participation The principle of engagement intends to “arouse students’ interest in the study of Literature/sustain their initial enthusiasm and aim to increase it”. One way to do it is by “connecting with something that already exists (people’s knowledge, experience, understanding, http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 210 preconception, skill, desire) and harnessing it, ready to take off in appropriate directions” (Chambers & Gregory, 2006, p. 125). The lecturers of popular literature have attempted to arouse the students’ enthusiasm for studying genre fiction by using warming-up questions. The questions should be related to students’ knowledge of stories they are familiar with, novels they have read, or movies they have watched. When this strategy is applied directly at the beginning of the class, it sometimes does not work because certain sub-genres are new for students, so they cannot give examples if they have no prior knowledge. The strategy that might work to start students’ interest and understanding is asking questions about the adjectives related to the genre. It is more effective because the lecturers can help students find the meaning of the adjectives and associate them with students’ background knowledge or things they already know. Another strategy to introduce the genre of fiction is the mind-mapping technique. This technique will also be effective if students already have knowledge about the genre fiction theory because in applying it, the lecturers will interact with students in a discussion by asking questions, and the student’s answers will be created as a mind map. The discussion will not run smoothly if students do not have prior knowledge about the genre fiction theory. The last strategy to arouse students’ interest in learning genre fiction is watching movie trailers. This strategy seems to be the most effective because the visuals will attract students’ enthusiasm. As cited in Briggs (2015), Kennedy states, “Ninety percent of all the information we take in from the world we take in visually”. It means that visual information will be easier to be captured. Hence students learn better and understand quickly. By watching movie trailers, students will get an immediate idea of what they are going to study because they can see the characters and the movie’s setting. The second principle is the principle of intelligibility. This principle “demands teachers to teach from example to explanation” (Chambers & Gregory, 2006, p. 129). The lecturers in the English Literature department at UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya did not apply this principle because they explained the theory first and offered examples. The main reason for this procedure is that the materials are new to students. Because students’ prior knowledge greatly influences how they receive and process new information (Assessing Prior Knowledge, 2022; Dong et al., 2020; Hailikari et al., 2008; van Kesteren, 2016), without prior knowledge of popular literature materials, the learning process will not go well. As students learn genre fiction, they will be exposed to various genres and sub-genres. Some sub-genres are familiar to students, and others are not, for example, gentle reads. Even the term ‘gentle reads’ is uncommon http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 211 and not used in everyday life. Accordingly, students need to comprehend the term before learning the characteristics, then find examples of the genre. The last principle is the principle of participation. This principle “is promoted through the series of activities referred to two previous principles, which drives the teaching narrative and is designed to keep students actively engaged in their studies” (Chambers & Gregory, 2006, p. 131). The two lecturers of popular literature applied this principle in UIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya by delivering quizzes and tasks. Even after the learning process in the class is done, students are still engaged with what they have learned by doing quizzes and tasks, as revealed by a study that “homework benefited and supported students’ learning” (Songsirisak & Jitpranee, 2019). From the quizzes and the tasks, the lecturers can assess and measure students’ understanding of topics discussed in the class because both the quizzes and the tasks will be scored. CONCLUSION The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the approach to teaching Popular Literature. In this study, the lecturers have partially applied socio- cultural pedagogic principles to engage students in the learning process. The principles are divided into three: engagement, intelligibility, and participation. The principle of engagement that is purposed to increase students’ enthusiasm was presented by the lecturers using warming-up questions, mind-mapping technique, mentioning adjectives, and watching movie trailers. Second, the principle of intelligibility was not applied because the lecturers explained the theory of genre and sub-genre characteristics before giving examples. The last one, the principle of participation which aims to assess students’ comprehension, was conducted by delivering quizzes through various online platforms, such as Google Classroom, Mentimeter, and Kahoot! and giving tasks uploaded in UIN Sunan Ampel’s e-learning system, SAILS. The quizzes and the tasks guided students to read and understand the theory provided in the reference book. The challenges faced by the lecturers in teaching popular literature were the student’s background knowledge of popular literature and preparation for reading the given literary texts. The students’ lack of knowledge of the genre of fiction in popular literature obstructed class discussion because they had difficulty giving examples of literary works or movies, especially for the new sub-genres. Aside from that issue, providing encouragement to students to read literary works was another problem. As popular literature deals mostly with novels, students were not eager to read. The thickness of novels and the difficult language have become the http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 12 No. 2, July-December 2022, Page 197-216 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X The Application of Socio-Cultural… Nestiani Hutami,Meria Zakiyah Alfisuma DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.12.2.2022.197-216 212 main reasons for this problem. 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