Literature, a Gateway to New Worlds : Encouraging Aesthetic Reading through Transactional, Reader Response and Envisionment Theories and Metods

Abstract: The purpose of this essay has been to demonstrate that increased use of aesthetic reading inthe Swedish Upper Secondary EFL classroom would lead to several benefits to the students. To do this I have given examples of three didactical theories and methods that could be used in combination for this purpose. Each theory, and the methods that can be linked to said theory, has been analysed on how it could be used in the classroom and what benefits it could lead to. Subsequently, a combination of these theories and methods has been created and applied to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, in order to exemplify how it could be applied to the teaching of literature in the EFL classroom. The benefits from this type of reading include among others an enhanced ability for critical thinking, a greater ability to work with and understand literature, and a greater understanding for other cultures.