Transactional Literature Discussions in English Language Teaching: An Investigation of Reader Stance and Personal Understanding Among Female Arabic-Speaking Learners of English at Qatar University
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: The primary purpose of this investigation was to explore an instructional approach for reading, writing, and talking about literature in an EFL environment.The instructional approach investigated in this study is Transactional Literature Discussions (TLD), which has an aim of facilitating the aesthetic experience with literature.TLD is grounded in reader-response theory and recognizes that there is no single correct interpretation of literature.Instead, the understanding of the text is highly personal and unique to every reader in that the reader's previous experiences, thoughts, and feelings contribute to its meaning.Two research questions were explored (1) Does participation in TLD affect the stance readers adopt toward a text and (2) Is there a relationship between stance and level of personal understanding?An instrument for Rating a Reader's Stance and An Instrument for Measuring Level of Personal Understanding (Cox and Many, 1989) were used to score the pre-post test responses.The results of the statistical analysis revealed that participation in TLD encourages students to adopt the aesthetic stance and results in a higher level of personal understanding.The study also revealed a relationship between stance and level of understanding, particularly whenTable of Contents
Author: Mary L. El-Mereedi
Institution: Ohio University
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2523838695