Cultural Approaches In Literature

1.2.3. The influence of students’ socio-cultural background in understanding literary texts

One of the most important parts in preparing a literature class is to choose the adequate text, something that should have an impact on learners’ lives and attitudes. But how do we, the teachers, do that? Of course, when dealing with literature, we deal first with students’ reading abilities and level of knowledge, so we design various teaching strategies that are student-centred, we use visual aids like pictures or even short movies, and however at the end of the class some of the learners didn’t like the text, so we start wandering what we did wrong. Today, children face obstacles that have an impact on who they are and who they might become.

The interest in teaching English as a second language has grown in importance and many studies have revealed what are people interested in, when it comes to learning a foreign language, and how to deal with language and cultural differences. All researchers consider that communication is the essential goal of learning a second language, focusing on speaking, writing, reading and listening.

My eleven years of experience as English teacher have led me to the conclusion that focusing on reading comprehension is the starting point of developing the other sub-skills that enable a student to become a good communicator in English. This is the reason I have chosen to undertake this research which aims at synthesising the process of reading acquisition and its obstacles in middle school and to measure the perception of learners on studying literary texts in English classes.

The aims above will be accomplished by carrying out the following research

It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research. Qualitative Research is also used to uncover trends in thought and opinions, and dive deeper into the problem. Qualitative data collection methods vary using unstructured or semi-structured techniques. Some common methods include focus groups (group discussions), individual interviews, and participation/observations. The sample size is typically small, and respondents are selected to fulfil a given quota. Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into useable statistics. It is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviours, and other defined variables – and generalize results from a larger sample population. Quantitative Research uses measurable data to formulate facts and uncover patterns in research. Quantitative data collection methods are much more structured than Qualitative data collection methods. Quantitative data collection methods include various forms of surveys – online surveys, paper surveys, mobile surveys and kiosk surveys, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, longitudinal studies, website interceptors, online polls, and systematic observations.’ As