Bridging the Gap: Language, Culture and Literature, (2011) An Evaluation of Literature Teaching and Testing Tasks

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Date

2017

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Volume Title

Publisher

university Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou

Abstract

The attempt along this research was to identify the relation between literature teaching and testing in three English departments. In order to evaluate the pedagogical approaches and practices of the literature curriculum, we have analyzed the educational objectives of the literature tasks and tests. Bloom’s Taxonomy of the Educational Objectives has served as a theoretical basis for the analysis. The study examines the content and the type of the cognitive skills introduced in the literature textbook, Bridging the Gap: Language, Culture and Literature. In addition, the cognitive objectives that are assessed in the literature tests are classified according to Bloom’s Taxonomy. A comparative analysis between the objectives of the literature tasks and tests reveals that there is a significant divergence between the teaching approaches and the testing habits. The literature course emphasizes the understanding skills. The comprehension of the literary text and developing reading skills is the major objective of the literature course. However, the investigation on the testing habits reveals that higher cognitive performance is often required. The evaluative and analytical skills are the targets in the literature test. Accordingly, the results obtained from the research confirm the suggested hypothesis. The research shows that literature teaching and testing pose a didactic challenge in the EFL context, and in some Algerian English departments, there is a detachment between the course objectives and the testing expectations. The research also gives insight into some pedagogical procedures that bridge the teaching/testing gap.

Description

131p.:ill: graph,tabl.,bibliogr.;30cm.(+cd)

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Citation

Didactics of Literary and Civilization Texts