Contemporary theorists have explored the potential benefits of using literature in higher education foreign language programs to achieve a broader linguistic, cultural and aesthetic focus. Their insights have drawn attention to the current practice of college foreign literature. Three problems having serious implications for the pedagogical results have emerged. First, the potential benefits of foreign literature study are still unrecognized and the role of literature in college foreign language instruction remains unclear. Second, since there is still a bias against the integration of literary criticism into undergraduate curricula, students are not equipped with critical concepts and methods needed for higher levels of literary study. Third, because empirical research is lacking, many pedagogical issues and instructional ideas have remained undiscovered. The purpose of this study was to examine content and methods of current pedagogical practice in college foreign literature instruction, and the viability of teaching literary criticism at the undergraduate level. Using Spanish as a prototype, a survey based on questionnaires and follow-up interviews was conducted with Spanish language and literature instructors at the Five Colleges in Western Massachusetts. The investigation included: objectives for teaching literature; selection of curriculum; perspectives on literary criticism; relative study of literature and language, and literature and culture; and finally, the structure of literature courses within language programs. The data revealed that foreign literature teachers see the ideal curriculum as developing reading comprehension, content analysis, multicultural awareness, and critical thinking. Four pedagogical issues were identified: the gap between literature and language; the inadequacy of cultural study in literature; the difficulty of teaching criticism; and the structure of literature courses in foreign language programs. The majority supported the teaching of literary criticism as a goal of the college literature major's professional training. However, no concerted efforts have been directed toward this goal. The areas of difficulty that emerged were the following: students' limited linguistic level; theoretical and textual problems of criticism; and the deficiencies of course structures. Ideas, approaches and techniques were also explored.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-8968 |
| Date | 01 January 1994 |
| Creators | Tsai, Shiun-Fen |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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