‘What Do You Think?’ Let Me Tell You

Discourse about Texts and the Literature Classroom

Datos Bibliográficos

ID20502398
AutoresJessica Mason (0000-0003-3892-5941, ,, autor de correspondencia), Marcello Giovanelli (0000-0001-8470-3800, University of Nottingham)
Año2017
Volumen24
Número3
Páginas318-329
Fecha de publicación2017-07-03
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaChanging English (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1358-684X • E-ISSN: 1469-3585
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/1358684x.2016.1276397
OpenAlexW2608551094
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas18

This article examines the practice of studying texts in secondary school English lessons as a particular type of reading experience. Through a critical stylistic analysis of a popular edition of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the article explores how reading the text is framed by educational editions, and how this might present the purpose of studying fiction to students. The article draws on two cognitive linguistic concepts – figure/ground configuration and narrative schemas – in order to explore how ‘discourse about a text’ can potentially influence how students read and engage with a text. Building on a previous article, the notion of pre-figuring is developed to offer an account of how a reader’s attention can be directed to particular elements of a text, thus privileging some interpretations and downplaying others. The article then reflects more widely on the perceived purposes of studying fiction with young people, exploring in particular the recent rise of support within the profession in England for Hirsch’s ‘cultural literacy’ model, which sees knowledge about texts as more valuable than authentic reading and personal response

Common ground · Linguistics · Literacy · Narrative · Pedagogy · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Literacy, Media, and Education · Psychology · Social Psychology