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Chapter 7. Literary themes across cultures

  • Shisheng Liu , Zhijun Zhang and Cuiling Zhang
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Scientific Approaches to Literature in Learning Environments
This chapter is in the book Scientific Approaches to Literature in Learning Environments

Abstract

This chapter explores the effect of the thematic analogies (from a classic Chinese novel Journey to the West) that Chinese EFL students draw when reading a modern English novel, namely, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Participants were second-year English majors divided into two groups: experimental and control. In the latter, the teacher taught Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland only through the work itself, but in the former Journey to the West was used to facilitate the students’ understanding. Qualitative data composed of questionnaires, journals and interviews were utilized and the findings show that Journey to the West had a positive impact on the students’ understanding of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Abstract

This chapter explores the effect of the thematic analogies (from a classic Chinese novel Journey to the West) that Chinese EFL students draw when reading a modern English novel, namely, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Participants were second-year English majors divided into two groups: experimental and control. In the latter, the teacher taught Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland only through the work itself, but in the former Journey to the West was used to facilitate the students’ understanding. Qualitative data composed of questionnaires, journals and interviews were utilized and the findings show that Journey to the West had a positive impact on the students’ understanding of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Contributors xv
  6. Chapter 1. Empirical approaches to the study of literature in learning environments 1
  7. Part I. Reading processes in communities of practices
  8. Chapter 2. Learning from literature 19
  9. Chapter 3. Authorizing the reader in the classroom 39
  10. Chapter 4. Transforming readings 57
  11. Part II. Reading processes in EFL/L2 contexts
  12. Chapter 5. Enhancing responses to literary texts with L2 learners 83
  13. Chapter 6. Empirical stylistics in an EFL teaching context 105
  14. Chapter 7. Literary themes across cultures 125
  15. Chapter 8. Of learning and poetics 151
  16. Chapter 9. Literature and the role of background knowledge for EFL learners 169
  17. Part III. Creative writing, corpus, and empirical stylistics as learning tools
  18. Chapter 10. Effects of creative writing on adolescent students’ literary response 193
  19. Chapter 11. ESL students’ perceptions of creative and academic writing 213
  20. Chapter 12. Empirical stylistics as a learning and research tool in the study of narrative viewpoint 227
  21. Chapter 13. Point and CLiC 253
  22. Chapter 14. Literary awareness in a high-school EFL learning environment 271
  23. Index 303
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.24.07liu

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Foreword vii
  4. Acknowledgements xiii
  5. Contributors xv
  6. Chapter 1. Empirical approaches to the study of literature in learning environments 1
  7. Part I. Reading processes in communities of practices
  8. Chapter 2. Learning from literature 19
  9. Chapter 3. Authorizing the reader in the classroom 39
  10. Chapter 4. Transforming readings 57
  11. Part II. Reading processes in EFL/L2 contexts
  12. Chapter 5. Enhancing responses to literary texts with L2 learners 83
  13. Chapter 6. Empirical stylistics in an EFL teaching context 105
  14. Chapter 7. Literary themes across cultures 125
  15. Chapter 8. Of learning and poetics 151
  16. Chapter 9. Literature and the role of background knowledge for EFL learners 169
  17. Part III. Creative writing, corpus, and empirical stylistics as learning tools
  18. Chapter 10. Effects of creative writing on adolescent students’ literary response 193
  19. Chapter 11. ESL students’ perceptions of creative and academic writing 213
  20. Chapter 12. Empirical stylistics as a learning and research tool in the study of narrative viewpoint 227
  21. Chapter 13. Point and CLiC 253
  22. Chapter 14. Literary awareness in a high-school EFL learning environment 271
  23. Index 303
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