FORMING APPROPRIATE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS: TOWARDS A FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF LITERARY RESPONSE IN L2

The aim of this study is to look into the notion of literary reading and response in L2 by pre-service teachers in Malaysia in order to improve teacher education. The researchers will provide an outline of Reader Response theories and how they affect the learning of literature in L2 in this study. The researchers will go over their conceptual framework, which was developed based on past research. This conceptual framework will be developed in order to conduct in-depth research on pre-service teachers' perceptions of literary reading in L2 and to assist them in improving their practises in the classroom. Using the conceptual framework, based on Reader Response Theory, it allows researchers to explore what types of responses pre-service teachers have to literary texts while they are involved in the reading process. Hoping that the experience will aid in the improvement of teaching and learning.

CEFR Based Learning Approach: Using Literature to Enhance EFL Students’ Reading Skills and Critical Thinking Skills

The purposes of this research were to: 1) study whether the use of literature activities improved EFL students’ reading skills and critical thinking skills according to CEFR at C1 level; 2) investigate students’ critical thinking skills in studying a literature course; and 3) examine students’ attitudes towards the use of literature activities in developing reading skills and critical thinking skills. The sample consisted of 47 second-year English major students who were enrolled in the Introduction to Literature Course in the academic year 2020 at a public university in the northern part of Thailand. The instruments included five lesson plans using literature activities to develop reading skills and critical thinking skills, a reading test, a reflective writing task, and a list of semi-structured interview questions. T-test, mean, and standard deviation calculations including content analysis were used for data analysis. This study found that the EFL students’ reading skills and critical thinking skills improved significantly following participation in literature activities based on Reader-Response theory. The EFL students demonstrated average level critical thinking skills and they held positive attitudes towards the use of literature activities for developing reading skills and critical thinking skills.

Identity Construction in Adichies two texts Half of a Yellow Sun, and Purple Hibiscus

The study attempts to examine Identity construction in Adichies texts, Half of a Yellow Sun (2006) and Purple Hibiscus (2003). The study was guided by the reader response theory. A critical reading of the texts has revealed that, every character in both texts has been struggling in constructing his/her identity. The study involved three aspects of identity, which included self, social, and national identity. All children in texts struggle to carve out their own identities through interaction with the environment through which they pass they through. Chimamanfa Adichie is also introducing the concept of social identity, where by the elite in Half of a Yellow Sun organizes to meet in Odenigbo house and share different ideas concerning Pan Africanism, tribalism, nation, and race. Likewise in Purple Hibiscus, the family of aunty Ifeoma with father Amadi helps Jaja and Kambili to build their social identity through interaction, and engaging them into different activities. National identity is also discussed in this study by involving both children and adult characters from the texts. Everyone is looking forward on possible ways in which they can put their hands together to bring harmony and peace in their country. Keywords: Identity, Construction, Adichies texts, Half, Yellow, Sun, Purple, Hibiscus.

Powerful Prose

What makes a reading experience »powerful«? This volume brings together literary scholars, linguists, and empirical researchers to elucidate the effects and reader responses to investigate just that. The thirteen contributions theorize this widely-used, but to date insufficiently studied notion, and provide insights into the therefore still mysterious-seeming power of literary fiction. The collection investigates a variety of stylistic as well as readerly and psychological features responsible for short- and long-term effects - topics of great interest to those interested or specialized in literary studies and narratology, (cognitive) stylistics, empirical literary studies and reader response theory.

Adapting the Australian Canon and Decolonizing the Tertiary Classroom: Settler Students Respond to Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife

The ‘Drover’s Wife Reading Group’ was a collaborative teacher–student project piloted between 2018 and 2020 at Federation University Australia with the intention to create spaces for decolonization, particularly settler (un)learning, beyond the limits of the tertiary English classroom. Drawing upon aspects of reader–response theory, the project began as a small constructivist study in that it sought, initially, to gauge the different responses undergraduate settler students had to a work of Indigenous Australian literary adaptation. However, the transformative nature of the text being engaged with – Leah Purcell’s play, The Drover’s Wife (2016), a literary work which has been widely recognized for the critical literacy it promotes – coupled with the sophistication of the participants’ various responses to it, quickly saw the project shift to one of intense collaboration, with the students involved becoming partners in shaping the project’s outcomes.

Teaching Short Stories through the Use of the Reader-Response Theory: Second-Year Students at Dr. Moulay Tahar University-Saida

The Reader-Response Theory considers the learner as an active participant in extracting meaning from a literary work depending on his/her prior experience. Teaching literature critically allows the reader to create a sense, and compare the previous experience with the written text. Second-year students cannot decode and scrutinize a short academic text, which unveiled that they are unaware of the different types of readings. The research question arises in this vein is: To what extent does the Reader-Response Theory contribute to the development of the EFL students’ skills? The piece of work aims at introducing and applying the Reader-Response Theory to teaching short stories to second-year university students. The current study was conducted on students taught by the teacher-researcher at Dr. Moulay Tahar University-Saida, Algeria. A questionnaire, observation, and the analysis of students’ written assignments employed in the present work for the overarching aim of gathering data in a timely period. Yet, the results revealed that after implementing this approach, EFL students become aware of how to undertake an academic written piece. It also reinforces their thinking skills, and boosts their creativity.

Application of Reader Response in Literary Pedagogy: A Case Study of English Literature Classroom at a Public Sector University, Pakistan

The current study aims to analyze the application of reader response theory in literature classrooms. It focuses on the potential reader response teachers at a public sector university, Pakistan and their questioning practices in classrooms based on Probst’s (1994) suggested model. Probst (1994) has given five model generic questions for reader response teachers. For this purpose a sample of three teachers of English Literature has been picked up through non probability purposive sampling method. Data is collected through recorded systematic class observation where focus was on the questions asked by the teachers. Substantial amount of literature related to reader response theory and its application in classroom is also discussed which supports the findings of this research. Through observation of teachers’ classes and analysis of data, researchers advocate the use of reader response teaching methods in literature classrooms at university level. The Study further concludes that the types of questions, teachers ask impact hugely the understanding of students. Data indicates that a classroom can only be reader response when students are given space, freedom and are encouraged to discuss and give answers of open ended questions. Study also suggests, teachers’ training and academic excellence also affect the degree to which a class can be reader response. So, it is necessary that teachers should be aware of reader response methods and the ways of its application in the classroom

Teaching Short Stories through the Use of the Reader-Response Theory: Second-Year Students at Dr. Moulay Tahar University-Saida

The Reader-Response Theory considers the learner as an active participant in extracting meaning from a literary work depending on his/her prior experience. Teaching literature critically allows the reader to create a sense, and compare the previous experience with the written text. Second-year students cannot decode and scrutinize a short academic text, which unveiled that they are unaware of the different types of readings. The research question arises in this vein is: To what extent does the Reader-Response Theory contribute to the development of the EFL students’ skills? The piece of work aims at introducing and applying the Reader-Response Theory to teaching short stories to second-year university students. The current study was conducted on students taught by the teacher-researcher at Dr. Moulay Tahar University-Saida, Algeria. A questionnaire, observation, and the analysis of students’ written assignments employed in the present work for the overarching aim of gathering data in a timely period. Yet, the results revealed that after implementing this approach, EFL students become aware of how to undertake an academic written piece. It also reinforces their thinking skills, and boosts their creativity.

पाठकको दृष्टिकोणमा पगेनीको प्रणयवेदका ऋचाहरूः पाठकीय प्रवृत्तिको अध्ययन [Pageni’s Hymns of Pranaya Veda from the Reader’s Perspective: A Study of Affective Stylistics]

प्रस्तुत अनुसन्धानात्मक लेखमा प्रकट पगेनी ‘शिव’ को प्रणयवेदका ऋचाहरू गजलसङ्ग्रहमा प्रस्तुत पाठकीय प्रवृत्तिको विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । गजलका प्रवृत्तिहरूलाई पाठकीय सिद्धान्तमा ढालेर गरिने विश्लेषणलाई पाठकीय प्रवृत्ति भनिन्छ । यहाँ लेखकीय अभिमत वा लेखकसँग कुनै सरोकार नराखी निर्वैयक्तिक रूपमा पाठकीय प्रवृत्तिका आधारमा कृतिको विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । प्रणयवेदका ऋचाहरू गजलसङ्ग्रहलाई प्राथमिक स्रोत सामग्री र गजल सिद्धान्तसँग सम्बन्धित ग्रन्थहरू, समालोचनात्मक कृतिहरू, समीक्षात्मक लेखहरू तथा शोध सामग्रीहरूलाई द्वितीय स्रोतका सामग्रीको रूपमा लिइएको छ । यस लेखमा गजलीय सिद्धान्तका मान्यताहरूलाई आधार मान्दै पाठपरक विधिमार्फत विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । पाठकीय परिवृत्तका आधारमा विश्लेषण गर्दा प्रतिनिधिमूलक रूपमा गजलहरूका उदाहणहरू प्रस्तुत गरिएको छ । पाठकीय प्रवृत्तिका संरचनागत, विषयगत, अर्थगत र शैलीगत आधारहरूमध्ये संरचनागत र विषयवस्तुगतका आधारमा विश्लेषण गरिएको छ । संरचनागत प्रवृत्तिका आक्षरिक, शेर, काफिया, रदिफ र तखल्लुसहरूको प्रयोग गजलहरूमा भए पनि अक्षरगत र शेरगत प्रयोगमा एकरूपता भएको देखिँदैन । तखल्लुसको प्रयोग पनि गजलीय सिद्धान्तको मूल मर्मअनुरूप नगरी केवल प्रयोगका लागि मात्र प्रयोग गरेको देखिन्छ । गजलहरूको विषयवस्तुगत पक्षलाई नियाल्दा प्रायः सबै गजलहरूको विषय प्रणयपरक वा श्रृङ्गारिक (संयोग) रहे पनि एउटा गजलको विषय श्रृङ्गारिक कम तर नेपाली संस्कृति पक्ष सबल रहेको देखिन्छ । यसै गरी केही गजलहरू शब्दगत र भावगत रूपमा अति अश्लील रहेका छन् तापनि विषयवस्तुको कोणबाट यिनका गजलहरू मुसलसल शैलीमा प्रस्तुत भएका छन् । [This article analyzes the reading tendency presented in Hymns of Pranaya Veda, a collection of ghazals, authored by Prakat Pageni 'Shiva'. An analysis of the trends in ghazal based on the reader response theory is called reading tendency. Here, the work is analyzed based on the impersonal reading without any relation to the author's opinion. Examples of ghazals are presented representatively when analyzing the work. The ghazal collection itself is considered as the primary source material and the secondary sources include the texts related to ghazal theory, critical works, critical articles and research materials. In this article, the analysis is based on the basic tenets of ghazal and reader response theory. The analysis is based on the structural and thematic angles out of the structural, thematic, semantic and stylistic bases of the reader’s responses. Although there is abundant use of the components of ghazals like structured uses of the alphabets, sher, kafia, radif and takhallus, there does not seem uniformity in the use of sher and the alphabets. The use of takhallus also seems to have been used without following the basic tenets of the ghazal theory. Looking at the thematic aspect of ghazals, the subject matter of almost all ghazals is romantic or erotic (coincidentally) but the content of one ghazal seems to be less erotic but more Nepali cultural. Similarly, some ghazals in the collection are very vulgar both verbally and emotionally. However, from the point of view of subject matter, the ghazals have been presented in Musalsal.]

Reader Response to Feminism in Elizabeth Gilbert‘s Eat, Pray, Love

This study is about reader response to feminism in Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006). The topic is analysed under the guidance of reader-response theory proposed by Louise Rosenblatt. The objectives of this study are twofold: first, to collect related readers’ response to feminism on the Goodreads website, one of the biggest and most famous book review websites worldwide; secondly, to discuss readers’ underpinning views towards feminism and their expectation for women in the 21st century. This paper seizes on qualitative research. The primary data of this study is gleaned from the Goodreads website. Other sources of data include literary works, book rating websites and news reports. The conclusion is that feminism is deemed as self-indulgence or a kind of self-discovery by different readers and such fact reflects, to some extent, what people expect for women in the 21st century.