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