| Summary: | This study explores the selection processes regarding fictional literature in English as a second language education. The aim is to illustrate the relationship between the knowledge teachers seek to pass on to their students and how the governing documents and the Western literary canon affect which literature that is chosen. The study uses qualitative interviews with six teachers from different gymnasial schools in Northern Sweden. The results show that teachers use literature as a tool for teaching grammar, lexicon, language structure and story-telling skills. In the more advanced English courses, the teachers prefer to exert more control over which literature is read, mainly due to the fact that the governing documents specifically require a presence of older, culturally established works. These choices are highly influenced by the Western literary canon. Teachers use different methods to make sure that these works are covered, including adaptations such as film, music or poetry. Some teachers argue that the use of adaptations robs the students of the chance to learn how to enjoy the true art-form that the originals represent, while others argue that this is a way to make sure that their students access canonized works in a, for them, interesting way. Validerat; 20110531 (anonymous)
|
|---|