Kyoko Kuze, The University of Tokyo

Abstract

Since the role of literature or ‘literary’ texts in language teaching was reevaluated in the 1980s mainly in the U.K. and the U.S.A, the range of literary texts used in classrooms, the proficiency level of the students, and the way of using those materials have all expanded. The study reported in this presentation focuses on the use of modern pop song lyrics, one of those literary materials in a broad sense, in the university EFL classroom in Japan. It aims to explore how the material works in that context by examining classroom discourse of teacher and student interactions and analyzing student responses from the results of two questionnaires. This qualitative study is also affected by a growing interest in empirical studies which employ a close examination of how literature is used in a natural classroom setting. The findings suggest that the class with pop song lyrics can offer a variety of classroom activities and develop meaningful discussions especially concerning interpretation and personal connection. In addition, it reveals that the learners regard the materials and the instructions as useful and motivating for their foreign language learning.

Biographical data

Kyoko Kuze has been studying the role of literary texts in language teaching at the Graduate School, The University of Tokyo, for six years whilst teaching English at several universities in Tokyo including Waseda University and Tsuda College. She has recently focused on qualitative research on classroom usage of literature or literary materials, and her recent publications include: ‘Some Possibilities of the Use of Literary Texts in EFL Classrooms in Japan’ in Language and Information Sciences 6 (2008); ‘Bungaku Kyozai wo Mochiita Jugyou: Daigaku no Eigo-Kyoiku ni okeru Jirei Kenkyu (‘Classrooms with Literary Texts: A Study on University English Classrooms in Japan’) in Language and Information Sciences 9 (in press).