Bildung in the language classroom. Reading literature to stimulate young people's desire to learn English

Abstract: The power of reading literary texts to stimulate language learning, critical thinking and communicative competence is well established, yet young people are reading less literature than they did ten years ago. The aim of my research is to find out what teachers and other educational professionals can do in order to support young people to take up the habit of regular deep reading. I conducted my research in collaboration with pupils, with the explicit, interrelated aims of improving my professional competence as a teacher and increasing the pupils' motivation to engage fully in English language learning. My case study does not purport to uncover "objective knowledge" in the positivistic sense, but, rather, situated knowledge that points to how teachers and pupils can work collaboratively to bolster the desire and ability to communicate and learn from each other. The research undergirding my case study comprised a multiple-choice survey, open interviews, informal discussions with pupils as well as ethnographic observations in the EFL classroom. I found that pupils have an overwhelmingly positive attitude to reading literature. However, the lack of co-ordinated adult support, quiet places to reflect, the restricted resources and opening times of the school library, and the ubiquity of digital technology, militate against mindful reading. I propose that EFL teachers unleash the power of Bildung in their classrooms, exploiting the value of literature to tap into adolescents' motivation to cultivate self-determining, informed, moral personalities, while working systematically to make the school milieu more conducive to deep reading.