Reading English literature can help learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) to develop their reading ability as well as other language skills. Reading can also have other benefits for EFL students such as learning about the target language’s culture or an English variety in written form. This present study investigates what types of literature are used in Swedish upper secondary school, the EFL teachers’ attitudes towards short stories compared to simplified novels/graded readers and their preferred assessment methods associated with literature teaching. The majority of the teachers that took part in this survey have a positive attitude towards short stories and use them in their EFL classes. The results also show that after the students have completed reading a short story, most of the teachers that participated in this survey preferred to combine examination methods such as a group discussion with a written test.The title of this paper comes from one of the informants’ comments when asked if she would rather use a short story or a graded reader in her English class. This informant had used graded readers in her English language classroom, but she and everyone that took part in this survey chose short stories over graded readers.

Denna uppsats ämnar undersöka svenska gymnasieelevers attityder till litteratur i svenskämnet på gymnasiet samt hur elever tycker att litteraturundervisningen bör gå till. Resultatet visar att eleverna har en positiv attityd till litteratur och litteraturläsning generellt men att den läsning som sker i skolan uppfattas som tråkig och ett måste. Vidare visar resultatet en oenighet när det kommer till litteraturundervisningen. Vissa anser att eleverna borde ha större frihet när det kommer till vad som ska läsas och andra anser att läraren bör styra innehållet i litteraturundervisningen.

This study aims to develop knowledge about the teaching of literary history in upper secondary school. Sub-study I explores: What content is foregrounded when upper secondary school teachers of Swedish introduce literary history? And what significance can different teaching content have for sparking interest? Sub-study II explores: What teaching content sparks students’ interest in literary history? And what other aspects of the teaching spark their interest in literary history according to the students themselves? The study is framed by didactics and curriculum theory and also theories about interest and teaching. The material consists of video recordings from ten different lessons when upper secondary teachers were introducing literary history in the course Swedish 2. The experiences of upper secondary school students of the teaching were collected using questionnaires and interviews. All students were enrolled in university preparation programmes in a medium-sized Swedish city. The results of the analysis in Sub-study I show a wide range of potential literary history teaching content. The study thus contributes new empirical knowledge about what forms (in terms of its content) literary history can take in its teaching. In the past, Swedish as a subject has been discussed to a large extent in relation to the conceptions of the subject of Swedish as a skills subject, as a cultural heritage subject, and as an experience-based subject. The results of the study are discussed in relation to these conceptions but make further contributions by concretizing the variety of teaching content that occurs in classrooms. The results of the analysis in Sub-study II show that upper secondary school students’ interest in literary history can be sparked in relation to different content in the teaching such as students experiences; intertextuality; similarities and differences between different periods; epochs, authors and works, and aesthetic elements. The analysis also revealed aspects that could be linked to the teachers’ ways of leading and organising the teaching. These were passion and engagement; content legitimation; interaction and participation; variety; structure and delimitation and grades or de-emphasis on performance. The many themes identified in Sub-study II contribute to revealing different ways of sparking interest in literary history. This is an important result in view of the fact that previous research has shown that students lack interest in literary history teaching. Together, the two sub-studies contribute to revealing new empirical knowledge about literary history teaching. Finally, there is a reflective discussion which illuminate the study in relation to different perspectives on classroom management.

The problem of this study was a comparison of the responses of students to three techniques of teaching literature. From this comparison, the most effective technique of teaching literature was identified. The three techniques selected for the study were silent reading, Readers Theatre, and videotape Readers Theatre. These three techniques were compared on achievement and attitude response. Effectiveness of each technique was examined by noting each grade level and the pooled-technique effectiveness scores. Also, black and white video-tape scores were examined in comparison to scores from the presentation of color video-tape. The analysis of data revealed that Readers Theatre resulted in significantly higher mean scores on attitude-scale tests than either of the other two techniques. The teaching technique of silent reading produced significantly higher mean comprehension scores than did either Readers Theatre or black and white video-tape, although Readers Theatre resulted in higher mean comprehension scores than did black and white video-tape. Silent reading produced a higher mean score than did black and white video-tape on the attitude-scale tests. Since silent reading produced significantly higher scores on comprehension of literature, it was concluded that silent reading is the most effective method for achieving comprehension. However, it was also concluded that Readers Theatre is of importance in the domain of attitude and affect. This study isolated Readers Theatre as the most effective teaching technique for attitude response toward literature.

Education on sustainable development and environmental awareness is becoming increasingly important with the current climate emergency. This type of education extends across all school subjects and texts of various kinds are shown to be able to help students gain new insights about the world and themselves. This essay analyzes the eco-theological and ecocritical themes found in Sheila Heti’s novel Pure Color, which was published in 2022. Furthermore, this essay illustrates how to use the novel and the ecological theories in the EFL classroom. The results show that there are noticeable spiritual and ecocritical themes in the novel as it depicts existential thoughts about the universe, God, and man’s relationship to nature.

This study investigates teaching of fiction from outside of the Western world. The study was conducted via a discourse analysis of five semi structured interviews with upper secondary school teachers in Swedish language and literature. The aim is to describe how the discourse of fiction from outside of the Western world is depicted by the teachers’ dictums about literature in general and their own teaching of literature. This is done by adapting Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s theoretical conception of signs, floating signifier, moment, articulation, chains of equivalence and subject position along with the pedagogical conceptions inclusion, integration and exclusion. The result shows that the signs “cultures” and “knowledges” were central in the discourse. The signs had the character of floating signifiers, due to the difference in the teachers’ statements. The chains of equivalence showed that fiction from outside of the Western world often was associated with negativity while the European and western fiction often where given a more positive approach. A majority of the teachers’ approach was further characterized by exclusion of fiction from outside the Western world, even though an individual teacher’s approach were characterized by inclusion. Based on the results, we also claim that the discourse concerning fiction from outside of the Western world in the Swedish subject is in a state of change, since the discourse in general was characterized by instability.

The integration of drama education in the primary education is one of the frequently discussed topics in the contemporary education. This diploma thesis deals mainly with the use of drama as a supplementary teaching method for the work with literary texts. The main aim is to compare the efficiency of literary education that uses standard educatory methods with the education that uses methods and techniques of drama education. The theoretical part deals especially with the terms personality of a child of lower school age, literacy and drama education. The practical part emphasizes the strong impact that own experience have on children readers and therefore underlines the efficiency and applicability of drama methods and techniques not only in the literary education, but in other subjects as well. It also contains the used methodic and results of the research based on questionnaires which were used for recording and tracking of the memorized information.The focus group for the research consists of pupils of lower school age.

Orientador: Ana Maria da Costa Santos Menin / Banca: Renata Junqueira de Souza / Banca: Henrique Silvestre Soares / Resumo: A presente pesquisa está vinculada ao programa de Pós-Graduação da Unesp de Presidente Prudente S/P e à linha de pesquisa Infância e Educação e gestada em um projeto maior denominado Literatura na escola: espaços e contextos. A realidade brasileira e portuguesa, coordenado pela professora Dra Renata Junqueira de Souza e realizado pelo Centro de Estudos em Leitura e Literatura Infantil e Juvenil - CELLIJ. O estudo partiu dos resultados calamitosos do Brasil em provas (Saresp, SAEB, PISA) que avaliam a competência leitora dos alunos comprovando o fato de as escolas não cumprirem com sua função primeira: ensinar a ler e escrever. Estudos têm mostrado que o hábito de leitura dos estudantes tem se tornado precário e insuficiente fato que, somado ao despreparo teórico e pedagógico dos professores relativamente ao ensino da literatura e à utilização do material literário, tem dificultado o trabalho com o livro literário no âmbito escolar, razão pela qual justifica-se esta investigação. A pesquisa teve por objetivo estudar as contribuições da Estética da Recepção para o ensino de literatura e para a formação do leitor, além de investigar a compreensão dos principais aspectos que levavam à aceitação, ou não, da obra e como ocorre a recepção literária. Para tanto, optou-se por um aporte teórico afinado com a teoria recepcional de Hans Robert Jauss, bem como a Metodologia Recepcional criada por Bordini e Aguiar e os Níveis de recepção literária de Hans Kügler. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em uma escola municipal de Presidente Prudente e teve como público alvo alunos do 5º ano com os quais foi vivenciada uma prática pedagógica fundamentada na Estética... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This research is part of the graduate program at Department of Education in Unesp Presidente Prudente and related to the research topic concerning childhood and education, included in the Literature in the school: spaces and contexts, project intended to study the Brazilian and Portuguese realities. The project is coordinated by Professor Dr. Renata Junqueira de Souza and conducted by the Centre for studies in Reading and Literature for children and teens - CELLIJ. The study presented here was first motivated by unfortunate Brazilians' educational institutions results in regional, national and international tests (Saresp, SAEB, PISA) designed in order to evaluate the students' reading skills. Such results have been shown that the Brazilian schools teaching techniques do not meet to their primary function: teach students to write and read properly. There are some studies that have shown a lack between the students' reading habits and the required behaviour to meet a reading proficiency level. Moreover the theoretical and pedagogical teachers' background, generally, is not enough to suitably use the literary stuff with their students. Has a result, the literature learning process has been faced difficulties and the improvement need in this educational context comes out the importance of the research presented here. This research is purposed to study the Reception's Aesthetics contributions to the literature teaching goal and develop the students' comprehensive reading skills. In addition to that, it investigates the major issues related to acceptance of the literature. In order to reach these goals, our study draws on the receptional theory from Hans Robert Jauss, on Receptional Methodology created by Bordini and Aguiar and on Levels of literary reception from Hans Kügler. This research was developed in a school located in Presidente Prudente city... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This work is focused on the matter od the Czech contemporary literature in the context of the secondary school. The Czech contemporary literature and its position in the secodary education is examined in the view of academic literature, textbooks, pedagogical documents and other accessible materials. The position of the Czech contemporary literature is explored by surveys (among teachers and former secondary school students). This work is also focused on the probleme of the definicion of the term "contemporary" literature and characterizes this term taking into consideration all examined materials. This work's aim is to describe the current situation of the contemporary literature at the secondary schools, to define specific problems connected to this theme and to suggest strategies which could help making more advantage of the Czech contemporary literature. This work explains and describes these advanteges. The end of the work offers concrete materials which could be used in the Czech lessons.

The present thesis deals with a possible approach to the literary text in the teaching of literature in secondary school. It discusses the choice of the literary text, its reading, interpretation and meaning. The whole approach is demonstrated on Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road; the theoretical framework of the thesis is provided by Přemysl Blažíček's texts. The thesis aims to figure out whether Blažíček's literary thought is as viable and useful in the pedagogical process as it is in literary criticism and theory.