Conceiving Literature-Inclusive EFL Curriculum Development in the Mainland Chinese Context

DOI: 10.5176/2251-3566_L313.117

Authors: Richard J. Sjoquist

Abstract: 
A quarter century of praxis has demonstrated that well-designed literature-inclusive curricula can provide the impetus for a stronger CLT approach to EFL teaching and learning. In mainland China, recently revised curricular standards for secondary level EFL instruction have encouraged government and university presses to include excerpted and otherwise adapted literary works in several new series of textbooks and graded readers. This paper presents an overview of the core pedagogical and socio-cultural issues which foreign curriculum developers need to negotiate to become more effective participants in this nascent national reform effort.

Keywords: 
curriculum development, literature teaching, EFL approaches, Chinese education