In this article the Viking motif in children's literature is explored--from its roots in (adult) nationalist and antiquarian discourse, over pedagogical and historical texts for children, to the eventual diversification (or dissolution) of the motif into different genres and forms. The focus is on Swedish Viking narratives, but points of…

Despite the historical purposes of World Literature and the inclusion of 'global citizenship' in many school mission statements, World Literature, in many high schools, remain reviews of British and American literature. The dominance of English language texts in World Literature reflects and perpetuates British and American political hegemony and…

In this piece I explore the concept of 'growth' in English teaching. Starting with John Dixon's 'growth' model, I argue that, by re-imagining his ideas in current contexts, practitioners might re-focus and re-invigorate the priorities of English teaching. Dominant conceptions of 'growth' are explored, along with their influence on teacher working…

The current Kenyan secondary English curriculum (2002) has adopted an integrated approach not only to teaching, but also to the assessment of English language and Literature. This re-organisation is meant to improve the standards of teaching and performance in English. However, national performance in integrated English has remained consistently…

This study focuses on a secondary English classroom in an East London school, and the multimodal nature of the students' construction of the literary heritage text Macbeth, specifically in their dramatic reinterpretation of Act 1, Scene 7, where Lady Macbeth persuades "Macbeth" to pursue his ambitions and kill the current king, Duncan.…

This article presents the findings of a linguistic ethnographic pilot study, conducted as part of an ongoing research study, to examine how students utilise their knowledge and experience in understanding literary texts being studied from different cultural and temporal spaces. The analysis of this development in the students' comprehension of new…

This paper explores the treatment of London by two authors who are profoundly influenced by the concept of the power of place and the nature of urban space. The works of Peter Ackroyd, whose writings embody, according to Onega (1997, p. 208) "[a] yearning for mythical closure" where London is "a mystic centre of…

How should educators go about selecting appropriate editions of Shakespeare's plays for use in political science courses? Shakespeare is turning up on many politics syllabi, but, at times, the editions chosen seem to reflect primarily a concern for price or publisher reputation over pedagogical and scholarly considerations. This article offers an…

The style of Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows" arises from an alternative vision and choice of values characteristic of romance. Romance seeks fulfillment beyond the consequences of everyday relationships and the constrictions of ordinary life. Causal relationships give way to lists of independent items, unmotivated outcomes, and…

The 21st century educational platform clamors for the affordance of learner autonomy and empowerment more than control and coercion. This study, therefore considers the reading preferences, motivations, issues, and other factors that govern the choice of literary texts from the perspectives of students towards designing a relevant literature…

This paper reports on findings from a classroom study on the introduction and effectiveness of new methods of instruction using English literature in a Japanese high school setting. It is based on data compiled during a two-year research project. In this paper, we will detail the investigation and findings from an analysis of student questionnaire…

Feedback plays a fundamental role in writing development. The present study seeks to investigate the impact of teacher's written feedback on the writing performance of Iranian undergraduates. The subjects were 400 students majoring in the fields of English language translation and English language literature in four universities, namely Shahaid…

The issue of plurilingual approach usage to the study of foreign languages has been made actual on case study of Swiss universities. Basic concepts of English philologists' formation at Swiss universities have been determined. These components have been analyzed with relation to their relevance to the prospective philologist in English Linguistics…

We compared the performance of Hispanic students from California, Texas, and Arizona on the two Advanced Placement (AP) English exams (i.e., English Language and Composition and English Literature and Composition) using archival data from the College Board from 1997 through 2012. Pearson chi-square tests yielded statistically significant…

This article takes as its focus Lefebvre's trialectic of conceived, perceived and lived spaces as a lens through which to scrutinise the 2013 English Literature Curriculum, and to explore the extent to which creative spaces might exist within that curriculum. The article analyses how the curriculum is envisaged by policymakers and how it might be…