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Chapter 8. Of learning and poetics

Exploring strategies used by L2 Japanese English learners
  • Takayuki Nishihara
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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 examines the reading strategies of Japanese university-level learners of English with limited experience of reading poetry in English. The aim is to corroborate teaching procedures from the viewpoint of their textual interpretation procedures. To this purpose, data were collected while they were reading Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1923) by asking them to report on the textual features they noticed when trying to construct textual meanings. Results revealed ten reading strategies, classified into three groups: (1) application of strategies acquired through reading expository texts, (2) examination of repetitive expressions, and (3) reference to semantic intuition and explicit knowledge of English. The main features of poetry reading processes performed by the participants of the study are summarized. The chapter concludes by offering suggestions for effective poetry teaching.

Abstract

This chapter examines the reading strategies of Japanese university-level learners of English with limited experience of reading poetry in English. The aim is to corroborate teaching procedures from the viewpoint of their textual interpretation procedures. To this purpose, data were collected while they were reading Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” (1923) by asking them to report on the textual features they noticed when trying to construct textual meanings. Results revealed ten reading strategies, classified into three groups: (1) application of strategies acquired through reading expository texts, (2) examination of repetitive expressions, and (3) reference to semantic intuition and explicit knowledge of English. The main features of poetry reading processes performed by the participants of the study are summarized. The chapter concludes by offering suggestions for effective poetry teaching.

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.24.08nis

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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