Читать книгу Ugandan Children's Literature and Its Implications for Cultural and Global Learning in TEFL - Stephanie Schaidt - Страница 36

Until today only a small number of empirical studies in the field of literary didactics in Germany have been conducted which give insights into cultural learning. The three major studies (Burwitz-Melzer, 2003; Fäcke, 2006; Freitag-Hild, 2010a), all look into the mental processes of students, when engaging with literary texts in the foreign language classroom. Since they offer important contributions to the field to which the present study intends to connect, they require further elaboration at this point.

Burwitz-Melzer (2003) is particularly interested in getting insights into the suitability of certain texts, text introduction methods and task types for the understanding of the other (Fremdverstehen) and intercultural learning. In her study, she combines teachers’ questionnaires, observation of lessons and retrospective interviews with teachers and students about recorded lessons. As a result of her study, she comes up with a task typology that may be applied in the foreign language classroom. Moreover, she finds that a reflection/meta-phase is of particular importance in the context of intercultural learning.

Freitag-Hild (2010a) takes a similar approach, both concerning the theoretical background and the research methodology. Her research aims at finding out to what extent selected literary texts and task types trigger inter- and transcultural learning and comprehension processes. Taking also transcultural learning into account, Freitag-Hild’s study is based on a wider concept of culture than that of Burwitz-Melzer, yet a central element of her analysis is to look into Perspektivenübernahme [adoption of perspective] by the students. This indicates that her research may also be ascribed to a rather hermeneutic approach to understanding otherness. Similarly to Burwitz-Melzer, Freitag-Hild also observes lessons, analyses learner products and conducts retrospective interviews with the students and teachers about videotaped lessons. In her results, she points out that the texts offered various possibilities for identification and changes of perspectives for the students beyond cultural borders. She proposes several teaching principles (“Multiperspektivität, Dialogizität und Reflexivität [multiperspectivity, dialogue and reflexitivity]” (ibid., pp. 60–62)) and a task typology for inter- and transcultural learning with fiction in the EFL classroom.

Fäcke (2006) analyses the mental processes of ten primarily mono- or biculturally socialised young adults engaging with a literary text they are reading in their French or Spanish class. She gains insight into these processes by asking the participants to think aloud, analysing their reading diary entries and interviewing them. By focusing on the subject, taking into account the various contexts students draw on in their meaning creation process and putting particular emphasis on their socialisation, she argues from a deconstructivist perspective. She assigns the learners’ responses to different stages of (transcultural) understanding/openness. The results of her study show that the primarily mono- or bicultural socialisation of the students plays an important role in how they deal with the text. In her study, the references of students with a bicultural background to their own culture and ethnicity differ to those of students who are primarily monoculturally socialised (ibid., pp. 213–214).

The present study intends to add to the field of literary didactics in the context of cultural and global learning in various ways. For one, the focus on Ugandan children’s fiction contributes to an extension of the canon as urged by various scholars. In the manner of the empire writing back to the centre (see The Empire Writes Back by Ashcroft, Griffiths, & Tiffin, 1994), these texts are set against a Eurocentric, Western perspective on an African country. They give insights, for example, into Ugandan perspectives on certain ‘global’ issues such as HIV/AIDS (see Chapters 4.3 and 4.4.3). Referring to Kenyan and Ugandan women’s literatures, Strauhs (2012, pp. 93–94) states: “To cultural outsiders, studying these contemporary literatures can contribute to a sound understanding of the continent and its peoples in times when the image of Africa is still conflicting”. As is illustrated in the quote, literature by African writers may be ascribed the potential to deconstruct existing negative and one-sided perspectives on the African continent. This is particularly important for TEFL since African countries are still widely ignored in this context. Curricula and school books hardly touch upon content related to the African continent. Amongst students in Germany a rather limited, one-sided and negative image of Africa prevails (Reichart-Burikukiye, 2001; Schmidt-Wulffen, 1998; Tröger, 1993). Integrating texts of the type analysed in Chapter 4, may meet some of the demands that are raised by scholars in the field of postmodernism and postcolonialism. It may also encourage teachers and educators to make use of children’s fiction of various origins in their classroom.

In addition, my study intends to give further empirical insights into the mental processes of students who engage with literature in the foreign language. Whereas the studies of Burwitz-Melzer (2003) and Freitag-Hild (2010a) may rather be ascribed to an efficacy study design since they evaluate concrete teaching situations and learning processes in the context of inter-/transcultural learning, my study, similarly to that of Fäcke (2006), looks into individual cases. In line with Fäcke, I argue from a constructivist perspective and aim to reconstruct how the individual students engage with the literature. In contrast to Fäcke’s study, however, my research focuses on the intermediate level of secondary school education (Year 9). Furthermore, it also looks into mental processes with reference to global topics.

As my study uses the framework of an extensive reading project, an overview of studies conducted in the field of extensive reading needs to be provided as well. Empirical studies that focus on extensive reading in a foreign language (Biebricher, 2008; Carrell, 1998; Elley, 1991; Elley & Mangubhai, 1983; Kirchhoff, 2009; Kolb, 2013; Krashen, 1993; Krashen, 1997) examine the impact this reading style has on students’ reading competence in a foreign language, on students’ reading motivation or on their general language proficiency. Bamford and Day (2004, p. 1) summarise some of the effects of extensive reading that are mentioned in the respective scholarship:

Good things happen to students who read a great deal in the new language. Research studies show they become better and more confident readers, they write better, their listening and speaking abilities improve, and their vocabularies get richer. In addition, they develop positive attitudes toward and increased motivation to study the new language.

As far as I am aware, cultural or global learning in connection with extensive reading has not yet been widely researched. Given the potentials of literary texts for cultural and global learning which are commonly listed by scholars (see also Chapter 3.2.), this is rather surprising. A literary text is considered to provide students with opportunities to engage with otherness and different perspectives. It may even lead to changes of perception, it is argued. When students read widely, the amount of possibilities for negotiating otherness also increases and this can have an effect on their cultural or global competence. An empirical investigation of these assumptions is also a major aim of this study.