Ugandan Children's Literature and Its Implications for Cultural and Global Learning in TEFL - An Extensive Reading Project Study

Acknowledgments

Contents

List of Abbreviations

1?Introduction

2?Relevant Concepts and Developments in the Fields of Cultural and Global Learning

2.1?Discussions on Landeskunde

2.2?The Rise of Intercultural Learning

2.3?Understanding Otherness: Optimistic vs. Sceptical Hermeneutics

2.4?Postmodernism, Postcolonialism and a Changing Concept of Culture

2.5?Transcultural Learning

2.6?Constructivist Approaches to Understanding Otherness

2.7?Implications of Anti-Racist Pedagogy

2.8?Globalisation and Global Education

2.9?Relevance of the Different Concepts and Developments for the Present Study

3?Children’s Literature in the EFL Classroom

3.1?Literary Texts in the (Lower and Intermediate) EFL Classroom

3.2?(Children’s) Literature and Cultural and Global Learning

3.3?Extensive Reading in the EFL Classroom

4?Ugandan Children’s Literature

4.1?Towards a Definition of Ugandan Children’s Literature

4.2?History of Ugandan Children’s Literature

4.3?Neo-imperialism, Postcolonialism and Ugandan Children’s Literature

4.4?Selected Genres, Topics and Titles

4.4.1?Folktales

4.4.2?Fiction in a Realistic Mode

4.4.2.1???Growing Up in Post-Independence Uganda

4.4.2.2???School

4.4.2.3 HIV???/???AIDS

4.4.2.4???Empowering the Girl Child

4.4.2.5???Child Soldiers

4.4.3?Potential of Texts for Cultural and Global Learning

5?Research Design and Methodology

5.1?Previous Studies and Focus of the Present Study

5.2?Research Aim

5.3?Qualitative Research Design

5.4?Participants

5.5?Research Instruments

5.5.1?Questionnaires

5.5.2?Reading Diaries

5.5.3?Interviews

5.6?Procedure

5.6.1?Preparations

5.6.2?Piloting

5.6.3?Reading Project Design

5.7?Data Analysis

5.7.1?Data Preparation

5.7.2?Structure of the Data Analysis Phase

5.7.3?Coding Procedure

5.8?Critical Reflection upon Study Design

6?Research Findings: Cases

6.1?Niko

6.1.1?Case Description

6.1.2?Reading Background

6.1.3?Prior Knowledge and Expectations

6.1.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.1.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.1.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.1.7?Summary

6.2?Magdalena

6.2.1?Case Description

6.2.2?Reading Background

6.2.3?Prior Knowledge

6.2.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.2.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.2.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.2.7?Gender Issues

6.2.8?Summary

6.3?Oliver

6.3.1?Case Description

6.3.2?Reading Background

6.3.3?Prior Knowledge

6.3.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.3.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.3.6?Gender Issues

6.3.7?Summary

6.4?Emma

6.4.1?Case Description

6.4.2?Reading Background

6.4.3?Prior Knowledge

6.4.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.4.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.4.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.4.7?Gender Issues

6.4.8?War Involving Child Soldiers

6.4.9?Summary

6.5?Lukas

6.5.1?Case Description

6.5.2?Reading Background

6.5.3?Prior Knowledge

6.5.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.5.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.5.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.5.7?Gender Issues

6.5.8?Summary

6.6?Leyla

6.6.1?Case Description

6.6.2?Reading Background

6.6.3?Prior Knoweldge

6.6.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.6.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.6.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.6.7?Gender Issues

6.6.8?Summary

6.7?Benjamin

6.7.1?Case Description

6.7.2?Reading Background

6.7.3?Prior Knowledge

6.7.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.7.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.7.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.7.7?Gender Issues

6.7.8?Summary

6.8?Charlotte

6.8.1?Case Description

6.8.2?Reading Background

6.8.3?Prior Knowledge

6.8.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.8.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.8.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.8.7?Gender Issues

6.8.8?Summary

6.9?Philipp

6.9.1?Case Description

6.9.2?Reading Background

6.9.3?Prior Knowledge

6.9.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.9.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.9.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.9.7?Summary

6.10?Anna

6.10.1?Case Description

6.10.2?Reading Background

6.10.3?Prior Knowledge

6.10.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.10.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.10.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.10.7?Summary

6.11?Rebecca

6.11.1?Case Description

6.11.2?Reading Background

6.11.3?Prior Knowledge

6.11.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.11.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.11.6?HIV???/???AIDS

6.11.7?Gender Issues

6.11.8?War Involving Child Soldiers

6.11.9?Summary

6.12?Hannes

6.12.1?Case Description

6.12.2?Reading Background

6.12.3?Prior Knowledge

6.12.4?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

6.12.5?(De)Construction and Reflection

6.12.6?Summary

6.13?Overview of Cases

7?Research Findings: Thematic Structure

7.1?Contexts

7.1.1?Prior Knowledge

Associations with Uganda

Sources of their Knowledge

Interest in Uganda

Expectations Concerning Ugandan Children’s Fiction

Interest in Student Exchange

Summary and Interpretation

7.1.2?Reading Background

Degree of Reading Appeal

Frequency of Reading Literary Texts

Reading Interest

Text Selection Criteria

Emotions to the Texts in the Reading Project

Writing Style

Plot

Characters

Moral???/???Theme

Length of the Text

Level of Linguistic Difficulty

Text Comprehension

Reactions to Individual Texts in the Project

Summary and Interpretation

7.1.3?Biography

Sex???/???Gender

Age

Nationality???/???Cultural Background

Languages and Cultures

Religion

Family

School

Disability

Hobbies

Summary and Interpretation

7.2?Mental Processes

7.2.1?Construction and Deconstruction

Reproduction

Projection

Perturbation

Generalisations

Summary and Interpretation

7.2.2?Comparisons and Encounters with Foreignness

Own = Norm

Similarities

Differences

Culture???/???Nationality

Gender

Family Structure

Religion

Character Traits

Fantastic Elements

Evaluation of ‘Different’

Differences as Inferior

Differences as Difficult to Understand

Differences as Interesting???/???Impressive

Different Evaluations of Differences

Summary and Interpretation

7.2.3?Strategies and Reflections

Strategies for Dealing with Differences

Accepting Strategy

Privilege-Reflecting Strategy

Helping-the-Other Strategy

Legitimating Strategy

Reflection

Reflection upon Prior Knowledge

Reflection upon Norms

Reflection upon Generalisations, Stereotypes and Prejudices

Reflection upon the Language They Used

Reflections upon Fictionality

Summary and Interpretation

7.3?Global Topics

7.3.1?HIV???/???AIDS

Prior Knowledge

Knowledge Gained

HIV and Encounters of Foreignness

Comparisons

Reflection

Students’ Reactions

7.3.2?Gender Issues

Prior Knowledge

Knowledge Gained

Gender Issues and Encounters of Foreignness and Differences

Students’ Reactions

7.3.3?War Involving Child Soldiers

Prior Knowledge

Knowledge Gained

Child Soldiers and Encounters of Foreignness and Differences

Reflections

Students’ Reactions

7.3.4?Summary and Interpretation

7.4?Evaluation of the Extensive Reading Project

Evaluation of the Reading Project as a Whole

Evaluation of the Reading Diary

Evaluation of the Introductory Lessons

Students’ Reading Behaviour in the Extensive Reading Project

Summary and Interpretation

8?Discussion of Research Findings and Implications Arising for TEFL

8.1?Implications for Learning and Teaching about Cultural Aspects and Global Topics in the EFL Classroom

8.1.1?Knowledges Instead of Knowledge

Deconstructing Metanarratives

Providing More Room for ‘Africa’ in the EFL Classroom

Providing Students with a Counter-Discourse

Providing Students With a Multitude of Perspectives

Providing Students With Backgrounds

8.1.2?Recognising Inconsistencies and Limits

Discovering Inconsistencies

Allowing Uncertainties

Preserving the Foreign

Fictionality of Literary Texts

8.1.3?Reflecting upon Self

Prior Knowledge

Norms

Privileges

Reflecting Upon Language

8.2?Global Education Differently

8.2.1?Focus on ‘Self’ Rather Than ‘the Other’

8.2.2?‘Learning from’ Rather Than ‘Learning about’

8.2.3?Becoming Reflective, Not Active in the First Place

8.3?Implications for Learning and Teaching with Literary Texts and Extensive Reading

8.3.1?Literary Texts

8.3.2?Extensive Reading Projects

Benefits

Opportunity to Read

Improving Students’ Skills in (Reading in) the Foreign Language

Subjectivist Approach

Multiple Perspectives

Drawbacks

Overloading

Lack of Input and Contextualisation

Lack of Impulses and Feedback

Lack of Reading Strategies

Lack of Control

Principles

Text Selection

Introductory Lessons

Reading Lessons

Final Lessons

Reading Diaries

Role of the Teacher

9?Retrospective Reflections upon Research Design and Methodology

Inter-Subject Comprehensibility

Indication of the Research Project

Empirical Foundation

Limitation

Coherence

Relevance

Reflected Subjectivity

Openness and Flexibility

Research Ethics

10?Conclusion and Outlook

11?References

Appendices

List of Figures

List of Tables