The Use of Culturally-Familiar Literature in the EFL Classroom

ISBN-13: 9783659379987 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 180 str.

Khalil Ahmad Sadaf

Opis

This research project sought to learn about the views of EFL instructors at post-secondary level in the UAE on the significance of literature in language teaching and the use of culturally-familiar literature in EFL classrooms. In addition, it aimed to find out whether reading culturally-familiar literature positively impacts the reading comprehension of EFL students compared to reading culturally less-familiar literature. A questionnaire was used to learn about the instructors views and an exploratory study involving 76 EFL students was designed to test whether cultural-familiarity had any effect on reading comprehension. Quantitative and qualitative measures were employed to discuss the findings of the study. Analysis of the research data revealed that instructors acknowledged the significance of utilizing literature in teaching the target language and were in favor of using culturally-familiar literature in EFL classrooms. The results of the comprehension tests also confirmed that cultural-familiarity positively impacts reading comprehension of EFL students.

O autorze

Sadaf Ahmad earned a MA in TESOL from the American University of Sharjah. Currently she works as a language instructor and as a researcher. Her areas of interest include critical pedagogy, curriculum design and development, World Englishes and emotional intelligence. She has presented in conferences as well as conducted teacher training workshops.