The literary text and the search for meaning: an interface between language learning and literary awareness

Abstract

The study aims at reflecting upon the outcome of a Master s course research at the Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras e Linguística, at Universidade Federal de Alagoas, when an authentic literary work was used in the foreign language teaching/learning setting instead of simplified graded Readers aiming at fostering a creative response and an active responsive attitude. By establishing a dialogue between Literature and Applied Linguistics, and having as its main theoretical grounds the principles and methods of the latter, the study shows that literary, linguistic as well as cultural aims can be reached in an interactive and engaging environment. The theoretical grounds are based on the works by Brumfit (1991), Carter & Long (1991), Bakhtin (1992), Lazar (1993), Kramsch (1993), Lajolo (1993), Certeau (1996), Freire (1996), Brandão (1999), and Zozzoli (2006) amongst others. The field research consisted of using an authentic literary work in a private language institution, in Maceió-AL, with two groups of English learners who had different linguistic level competence. The research object was the novel Dear Nobody (1991) by contemporary British novelist Berlie Doherty. Data was obtained by means of VHS and MP3 recording, diaries, compositions as well as the researcher s diary. The results suggest that learners react positively to a literary work and that teachers have a major role in the whole reading.