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                                The relevance and usefulness of the Comprehensive Approach
 6.1 Introduction
Previous chapters in this thesis discussed how research on EFL literature education is slowly gaining ground in the world of Applied Linguistics research. Nevertheless, little scientific attention so far has been given to what is actually happening inside the EFL literature classroom and how teachers experience EFL literature lessons. Moreover, as has been stressed a number o times in this thesis, most research that takes place in this field focuses on higher education (Paran, 2008). In Chapters 2 and 3, we introduced the Comprehensive Approach to foreign language literature teaching and learning as a pragmatic interpretation of an integrated EFL literature teaching model where literary texts can be taught and studied through a Text-, Context-, Reader-, and a Language Approach. We then used the Comprehensive Approach as an analytical model in two studies focusing on the students (Chapters 4 and 5). We also argued that we need to obtain more detailed data at the secondary school level regarding the way literature is taught thereby taking the three elements - audience, purpose, and context - into serious consideration (section 2.5).
Therefore, in the final empirical chapter of this thesis, we report on a
longitudinal multiple case study (n = 8), which involves an intervention that
focused on enriching existing EFL literature curricula through the Comprehensive 6 Approach. We first focus on the changes in the EFL literature lessons regarding
the time spent on the four approaches of the Comprehensive Approach by means
of video recorded EFL literature lessons. We then report on the changes the
teachers perceived after working with the Comprehensive Approach for one year
by means of interviews. The aim of this chapter is an evaluation of the relevance
and usefulness of the Comprehensive Approach from a teacher’s perspective.
In this chapter, relevance refers to how teachers experienced working with the Comprehensive Approach. Usefulness in this study refers to the applicability of the Comprehensive Approach to teachers’ regular curricula and classroom contexts.
6.2 Background
6.2.1 Theory of Change
According to Desimone (2009), a conceptual framework for studying the effects of professional development on teachers and students includes four interactive critical features: a teacher (1) takes part in a professional development programme
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