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education and role of foreign languages text

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education and role of foreign languages text

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The role of literature in instructed foreign language learning and teaching: an evidence-based survey.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

The resurgence in the use of literature in language teaching has been accompanied by an increasing number of research articles in this area. Research (in a number of second languages) has looked at the type of interactions and the type of language that arise from classroom discussions about literature, as well as at the views of teachers and learners. Importantly, the reactions that learners have to incorporating literature in their language lessons are linked to the type of approach and type of task that are used in the classroom. The paper surveys the existing research, as well as evidence from practitioners about approaches that are used and the range of works and authors that are taught.

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  • Volume 41, Issue 4
  • Amos Paran (a1)
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S026144480800520X

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The Role of Literature in Foreign Language Learning

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education and role of foreign languages text

  • Masako Nasu  

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This chapter examines the role of literature in foreign language acquisition by engaging in a qualitative analysis of the oral histories of successful foreign language learners. First, by reviewing some recent studies on past ‘masters’ of the English language, I will attempt to reconstruct how Japanese professionals of the past acquired advanced levels of English proficiency. In tracing the learning experiences of some ‘Eigo Tatsujin’, 1 or Japanese masters of English, such as Inazo Nitobe (1862–1933), Tenshin Okakura (1862–1913) and Hidesaburo Saito (1866–1929), I will discuss how reading literature intensively and extensively contributed to their successful learning. Second, I will analyse my own interviews with successful learners of English, Chinese and Japanese as a foreign language to identify the role of literature in their language learning. The oral histories of advanced-level foreign language learners will be used, not as hard evidence, but as reference data to discern the extent to which literature can help individuals to become competent bilinguals capable of using more than one language practically, skilfully and strategically.

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Benson, P. and Nunan, D. (2005) Learners’ Stories: Difference and Diversity in Language Learning . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Takeuchi, O. ( 2010 [2003]) Yoriyoi Gaikokugo Gakushu-hô wo Motomete:Gaikokugo Seikô-sha no Kenkyû [Looking for a Better Learning of Foreign Language: The Studies of Successful Learners]. Tokyo: Shohakusha.

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Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

University of Hyogo, Japan

Masayuki Teranishi

The University of Tokyo, Japan

Yoshifumi Saito

University of Nottingham, UK

Katie Wales

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© 2015 Masako Nasu

About this chapter

Nasu, M. (2015). The Role of Literature in Foreign Language Learning. In: Teranishi, M., Saito, Y., Wales, K. (eds) Literature and Language Learning in the EFL Classroom. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137443663_16

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education and role of foreign languages text

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book: Culture and Foreign Language Education

Culture and Foreign Language Education

Insights from research and implications for the practice.

  • Edited by: Wai Meng Chan , Sunil Kumar Bhatt , Masanori Nagami and Izumi Walker
  • X / Twitter

Please login or register with De Gruyter to order this product.

  • Language: English
  • Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
  • Copyright year: 2015
  • Audience: Second and Foreign Language Teachers and Researchers; Linguists; Curriculum Developers; Language Education Policymakers
  • Front matter: 9
  • Main content: 378
  • Keywords: Foreign Language Education ; Second Language Acquisition ; Language Teaching ; Culture
  • Published: July 31, 2015
  • ISBN: 9781501503023
  • Published: July 20, 2015
  • ISBN: 9781501510946
  • Title & authors

Kizi, Juraeva S. K. "Role of Literary Text in Teaching A Foreign Language." European Scholar Journal , vol. 2, no. 6, 2021, pp. 17-20.

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Role of Literary Text in Teaching A Foreign Language Image

The article talks about the importance of using literary texts in teaching foreign languages. It is emphasized that it is the work with fiction that contributes to the introduction to the national-cultural specifics of speech behavior in the country of the target language; helps to form students' understanding of various spheres of modern life of another society, its history and culture.

Quantitative Determination of the Preparation Cobalt\u002D30 and Its Comparison of Leukopoesstimulating Effectiveness Image

Table of contents

  • Political Science
  • International Relations
  • Intercultural Competence

Intercultural competence in foreign language education

  • January 2009

Michael Byram at Durham University

  • Durham University

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    The language instructors are undeniably a crucial factor in language education for learners (Pinter, 2006). They also play a significant role in teaching language through literature. Thus, in order to make their teaching efficient they require considering some factors. First, they should define the goal of teaching language based on the

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    language learning processes will provide useful reference data for EFL/ ESL teachers and students. 4 Methodology: the definition of oral history and its merit for research into foreign language education In this stud y, the actual ex periences o f hi ghly success ful foreign lan guage learners are examined in detail through a series of interviews.

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    ntrenched in the training program foreign language. Literary text is understood in the article as a separate highly individual work of artistic speech, writte. in a given language, as. ell as an integral unit insystem of similar texts. LT has long been firmly entrenched in the foreign education program language, and its role in the l.

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