THE DIDACTICS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF STUDENT-CENTERED STRATEGIES

Abstract

One of the responsibilities of English teachers is to change students’ perceptions about literature and the value of literary texts. One of the most difficult tasks of teachers is to raise the students’ interest in reading literature and by ‘reading’ we refer to that process which is generally called interpretation and which is meant to help readers decode all types of information hidden behind the aesthetic beauty of a work of art. The student-centered approach to teaching and learning differs from the teacher-centered approach in terms of theoretical foundations, the teacher’s and the students’ role, planning tasks, learning environment and assessment procedures: instead of being objective and fixed, knowledge becomes personal, social and cultural as it is constructed by the learner. Hence, we consider that student-centeredness is the best approach to enhance students’ motivation in reading literary texts with a view to building skills characteristic of literature classes such as critical thinking or analytical reading, the ultimate goal being that of supporting students in understanding the motivation of learning and constructing their own learning style which may also enhance life-long learning.

Key words: student-centered strategies, didactics, literature

JIPED_16_1_2012_3