Page 40 - Getting of the fence
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                                Chapter 2
 and religion (Barrette et al., 2010; Van, 2009). Being informed about the history and demographics of literary movements as well as historical and biographical elements of a literary text could add to this contextualization and, therefore, could further understanding. Even though the world created in a literary work might appear foreign and different to language students, learning that this world is taken for granted by native speakers (Littlewood, 1986) might help develop a sense of tolerance and understanding (McKay, 1982). The imagination, interpretation, and representation of the human experience form the core of the humanities (Carter, 2007; Ceia, 2012). Culture plays a fundamental role in the interaction between language and thought (Kramsch & Kramsch, 2000). Literature not only gives access to a plethora of cultures (Hoecherl-Alden, 2006; Urlaub, 2013) but also allows for cross-cultural comparing (Gholson & Stumpf, 2005) and challenging pre-conceived notions of culture (Costello, 1990) thereby promoting intercultural and critical cultural awareness (Byram, 2014; Kramsch, 1998).
2.1.2.3 Reader approach
A Reader approach to literary texts does not only emphasise specific attention to the reader as an independent maker of meaning (Amer, 2003), but could also encourage foreign language students to step outside their comfort zone and experiment with looking at familiar as well as unfamiliar situations in a critical way. Foreign language literature classes can support students develop a so-called Theory of Mind (Dumontheil, Apperly, & Blakemore, 2010), especially because of the often unfamiliar contexts of literary works written in a foreign language. In other words, through discussing a literary text in the foreign language classroom, students are invited to analyse how people from different parts of the world where the target language is spoken have beliefs, desires, and perspectives that might be different from their own. This could not only enhance foreign language students’ translingual and transcultural competence (Barrette et al., 2010; Modern Language Association, 2007) but can also be seen as an essential in understanding contemporary prose (Council of Europe, 2001).
The third core curriculum standard where students are required to report about their reading experiences is in line with Reader Response Theory, where students learn that their position as a reader cannot be disengaged from the meaning of the text (Amer, 2003). The very nature of literature with its multiple levels of meaning invites students to actively ‘tease out’ the unstated implications and assumptions of the text (Lazar, 1993) since in a literature class information does not come “ready
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