Literature’s role in the foreign language classroom has been extensively researched, and the benefits of enjoyable reading firmly established. But could teachers benefit from a new perspective in the form of Critical Literacy Pedagogy when choosing and teaching literary works? Critical Literacy Pedagogy, CLP, is a method of critically examining literature to detect possible power structures e.g. concerning ethnicity and gender. This study examines how teachers and students value a number of criteria and aspects in connection to what literature is used in the class. Two empirical web-based questionnaire surveys were conducted on a total of 23 teachers and 42 students in upper secondary school in Sweden. The results are primarily presented quantitatively with the complement of excerpts from the written answers to the open-ended questions, and has then analyzed with the help of CLP, to see if the method has a possible role in EFL-teaching in upper secondary school in Sweden.   In the present study, the participating teachers valued practical characteristics, such as level of difficulty, higher than conceptual characteristics, such as the sexual orientation of an author or character, when choosing what literary works to teach. These ratings were seen as problematic when compared to the teachers’ concrete exemplifications of taught works. Moreover, both teachers and students rated the possibility of critical and ethical discussion very highly in regard to the chosen works. A comparison between the ratings and the exemplified works indicate that CLP could be a valuable method when choosing what literature to teach.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka skillnader i pojkars och flickors litteraturval, beroende på genus. Undersökningen tittar på karaktärernas betydelse, handlingen och författarens genus, för att se om det är detta valet grundas på och varför faller det där det gör. Jag har tittat på tidigare forskning och resultat från PISA och PIRLS, vilket var grunden till att denna studie gjordes. För att komma fram till ett resultat har jag använt mig av intervjuer. Informanterna var 20 elever i årskurs 4–6 och 2 mellanstadielärare. Resultatet visade en skillnad i litteraturvalet beroende på genus, men denna skillnad tydliggjordes först bland informanterna i den högre åldersgruppen. / The purpose of this study is to investigate differences in boys and girls literature choices, depending on gender. The survey looks at the significance of the characters, the act and the authors gender, to see if this is the basis of which the choice is based and why does it fall where it does. I have looked at previous research and results from PISA and PIRLS, which was the reason why this study was done. To arrive at a result, I have used interviews. The informants were 20 students in grades 4–6 and 2 middle school teachers. The result showed a difference in the literature choice depending on gender, but this difference was first clarified among the informants in the higher age group.