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Selecting the Right Literary Texts for Middle Eastern Students: Challenges and Reactions
- Author(s):
- Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, Marielle R. Risse (see profile)
- Date:
- 2014
- Group(s):
- CLCS Global Arab and Arab American, HEP Teaching as a Profession, LLC Arabic, LSL Second-Language Teaching and Learning, RCWS Writing Pedagogies
- Subject(s):
- Education, Middle Eastern literature, Language and languages--Study and teaching
- Item Type:
- Book chapter
- Tag(s):
- arab world, teaching, Composition, Teaching of language
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6CS3M
- Abstract:
- The benefits of using literature in teaching and learning a foreign language are numerous. It not only embodies contextualized language, but also portrays human experience in breadth and depth and hence, through it, learners can be exposed to different cultures, with shared or unique beliefs, traditions and life styles. Given these advantages, and if used appropriately, literature can be a rich source of communicative language as it depicts actual language use in real situations. It can also be an ideal forum in which to develop cross-cultural understanding and critical thinking (Al-Mahrooqi, 2011a, Al-Mahrooqi, 2012). This paper, however, asks if all literature is fit to be used in EFL contexts. In particular, it addresses the questions “What criteria can be used to select appropriate literature for Omani EFL students?” and “What literary texts are considered best by these students?” Further, the paper reports on an exercise in which Omani students reacted to some texts they had studied. The paper concludes by recommending fiction and non-fiction texts that have worked with students who are majoring in English at Dhofar University, Oman.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Book chapter
- Status:
- Published
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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