“Competence” has become a key concept in education over the last two decades. Yet, as Wolfgang Hallet writes, the combination of literature and competences is still provocative. Some argue that what learners acquire by reading and discussing literature is too complex to be mapped, standardised or tested. Others believe that the goal of obtaining knowledge, skills and attitudes that can be used in everyday situations – central to the concept of “competences” – contradicts the very nature of literature as a sphere apart, supposed to be valuable because of its distance from societal discourses and practices.
In this seminar, we are going to discuss proposals for a competence-oriented teaching of literature. Not only will we explore a recent debate in the didactics of literature but also, hopefully, gain reasonable criteria what can and should be achieved when working with literature in the EFL classroom. Furthermore, we will practise analysing and designing lesson plans as well as larger teaching units on literary texts.

Central text:
Hallet, Wolfgang, Carola Surkamp and Ulrich Krämer (eds.) (2015). Literaturkompetenzen Englisch: Modellierung – Curriculum – Unterrichtsbeispiele. Seelze: Kallmeyer.