Page 21 - Getting of the fence

in language teaching” (Paran, 2008, p. 465) has seen a growth in the corpus of 1 empirical and classroom practice articles on language-literature instruction,
Carter (2007), Paran (2008), and Paesani (2011) all conclude their surveys with
a call for more empirical research into the use of literature in foreign language
classrooms as well as “systematic enquiries into the views of the learners” (Paran, 2008, p. 490).
This resurgence is in response to or at least in line with two major developments internationally. First of all, the 2007 report Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World authored by the Modern Language Association. In this report, the committee recommends replacing the traditional two-tiered structure of foreign language programmes in higher education in the United Stated with a more coherent structure where literature and language are merged. The myriad responses this report received (e.g. Bernhardt, 2010; Gala, 2008; Grabe, 2010; Rarick, 2010; Rifkin, 2012) shows the impact this message had on the foreign language teaching and researching community.
The second major development concerns the changes regarding literature in the recent companion volume to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Council of Europe, 2018). Whereas the 2001 edition referred to literature or literary texts sporadically, the second edition includes the following three aspects relevant to creative text and literature: reading as a leisure activity; expressing a personal response to creative texts; and analysis and criticism of creative texts (Council of Europe, 2018, p. 50).
1.4 The focus of this thesis
The position of literature in the foreign language curriculum has seen a circular movement where it started as the core of foreign language teaching then became marginalised and separated from language development and now is moving towards an integrated and more holistic and integrated model. These recent movements appear to break with the principium tertii exclusi, leaving the ‘either- or’ situation behind. Interestingly though, as Carter (2007) already observed, we keep asking the same questions which focus on the justification for the inclusion of literature in the foreign language programme, the use of the target language in foreign language lessons and exams, and the position of foreign language literature as integrated or separate. Repeating these questions without finding consensus
General introduction
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