Using literary texts in the EFL classroom has been widely practised in the field of EFL teaching and learning. Many scholars ascertain that English literary texts provide language learners with a kind of authentic language used by native speakers in real contexts. Research studies in the EFL field illustrate that EFL learners' problems in reading English literary texts are due to two main reasons. Firstly, the complex structure of literary texts. Secondly, lack of familiarity with the cultural content of English literary texts. However, the present study sets out to suggest that collaborative work in the classroom can bridge learners' difficulties in constructing the meaning of literary texts. In Libyan universities, learners in the Department of English Language and Linguistics study literature for a considerable period of their university program. The present research suggests a new model to improve the teaching of literary short fiction in one of the English departments in Libyan universities. The new model emphasizes three main tenets: 1. The role of background knowledge in processing literary short fiction. The background knowledge includes not only knowledge of English language but also familiarity with cultural content of the literary text as well as the formal organization of the literary texts. 2. Since language and culture are intertwined, the approach focuses on developing Libyan learners' cultural and intercultural awareness. 3. The approach suggests the use of Learning Conversations as a scaffolding procedure that allows more interaction and negotiation for co-constructing the meaning of the text. The study adopts a qualitative research approach. The investigation is carried out across three phases. Phase 1 focuses on the assessment of the Libyan EFL participant problems in reading literary texts by interviewing the ten participants and using a diagnostic test. The second phase is interventional. It seeks to investigate learners' development in constructing the meaning of literary text through the suggested scaffolding procedure (i.e. Learning Conversations). The third phase of the investigation explores learners' reflections on the effectiveness of interactive work in reading literature. The study aims at providing evidence of Libyan EFL learners' perspective of the new model and the development of their understanding.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:720594 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Mohamed, Hana |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=232406 |
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