Educational issues, Vol. 6 No. 1, 2023.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.53577/oot.6.1.3
Challenges in selecting authentic multicultural children's literature in EFL teaching
Matea Butković
; Medicinski fakultet Sveučilišta u Rijeci
Abstract
In EFL settings, increasing importance is attached to the use of authentic literature in order to enrich students’ skills for critically examining the world around them. Authentic multicultural literature as an important component of intercultural education advocates on behalf of historically underrepresented groups and has the potential to encourage acceptance, respect, and appreciation of cultural diversity. Considering that teachers have a key role in fostering a positive attitude towards cultural diversity, it is necessary to support and empower them so that they more confidently reach for works of authentic multicultural literature.
Using literary examples, this paper highlights some of the challenges teachers may face when navigating the complex world of multicultural children’s literature: what is meant by multicultural literature, what makes multicultural literature culturally authentic, the danger of using only one (authentic) literary source to portray the lives of members of a certain marginalized group, relying on lists of award-winning and best-selling children’s books as a guarantee of an authentic representation of cultural diversity, and the challenge of using multicultural literature in foreign language teaching, starting from a more demanding lexicon to the age appropriateness of certain multicultural topics.
Keywords
authentic multicultural literature; children's literature; English as a foreign language; teachers
Hrčak ID:
306869
URI
Publication date:
28.7.2023.
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