Ways Towards Understanding: Teaching Literature in a Foreign Language

The purpose of this interdisciplinary study is threefold: first, to develop a theoretically sound and empirically valid theory of literary understanding in a foreign language; secondly, to define the components and sub-skills involved in literary competence in a foreign language; and thirdly, to develop a methodology for teaching literature within an English studies curriculum at university. The theory of literary understanding is developed by drawing on research from literary theory, especially reader reception theories; on models from the cognitive sciences and on empirical cognitive reading research; and on learning and teaching research, mainly from the areas of applied linguistics, psycholinguistics and EFL (English as a foreign language) methodology. Based on these investigations and with a focus on the reader as an active producer of meaning, I will devise a model of literary competence in a foreign language. Literary understanding will be seen as a dynamic and non- linear process rather than a product, and as a dialogic interaction between the reader and the text. The individual reader will be a central concern in this study, especially factors such as motivation, attitude, aptitude, autonomy, cognitive styles, world knowledge, field dependence, and tolerance of ambiguity, and in how far these factors determine the outcomes of the reading process. Drawing on this model of literary competence, a methodology for teaching literature within an English studies context at university will be developed. Special emphasis will be laid on awareness-raising processes, on language- based methods such as stylistics, on cognitive strategy development and on activities that promote learners` participatory response.