Literature as Discourse. An Educational Research to Bridge the Gap Between Theory and Practice in the Dutch EFL Classroom

Abstract

Dutch teachers of English often struggle to make literature relevant and meaningful to their pupils. In addition, literature lessons are considered time consuming in their preparations. In the Dutch EFL classroom this results in limited attention for literature. However, both researchers and teachers stress the importance of teaching literature. Using extensive earlier research into the theory of teaching literature, a survey on teacher attitudes among Dutch teachers of English and the analysis of Curriculum.nu, this thesis aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on literature education in the Dutch EFL classroom. This paper is guided by the following research question: How can the limitations experienced by Dutch EFL teachers to implement more literature in their lessons be addressed to bring the teaching in line with the preliminary results by Curriculum.nu? The results from the questionnaire showed a deep engagement of the teachers about using literature in the EFL classroom. The key restrictions they voiced were time limitations (not having enough time to prepare and teach literature next to the curriculum) and the lack of a clear structure on how to teach literature. The answer to the research question is presented in two diagrams. The first shows the requirements for effective literature education. The key finding is that learners should be acquainted with literature from the first grade upwards to familiarize learners with reading literature. The second diagram visualizes the responsibility on micro, meso and macro level to promote literature education in the EFL classroom.