This article is based on the premise that mandated reading in literature classrooms may be perceived as an imposition and disliked by students. Attempts to address that scenario have suggested that text selection should be given more consideration to promote reading engagement, particularly by choosing texts which are familiar to the lifeworlds of…

Shows how the reader-response approach can provide interesting and meaningful ways of teaching literature in a second language. Illustrates its use in teaching a short story in an English reading class for engineering students in Malaysia. (SR)