Profile: Issues in Teachers' Professional Development

Literary Competence in the Preparation of EFL Teachers

Recent studies on the development of literary competence have emphasized the role of literature in English language teaching, highlighting its authenticity in enriching cultural understanding, language comprehension, and student engagement (Hall, 2015). Additionally, the significance of literary competence within EFL education has been foregrounded, due to its influence on pedagogy and teacher readiness (Calafato, 2023).

A strong command of literary elements can empower EFL educators to most effectively foster their students’ language skills, critical thinking, cultural awareness, and empathy. Integrating literary competence into teacher education can equip educators with tools to navigate the complex educational landscape, enhancing language proficiency and pedagogy by deepening their understanding of how literature can inspire creativity, intercultural dialogue, and enthusiasm for lifelong learning.

However, EFL teacher preparation often prioritizes language and pedagogical approaches, overlooking the importance of literary competence (Paran, 2008). This neglect has resulted in limited research focusing on foreign language teachers’ literary competence (Calafato, 2023). Yet, some studies (e.g., Calafato & Paran, 2019) reveal that although teachers recognize the benefits of literature in language learning, their university courses provide insufficient exposure to literature. The results of Calafato and Paran’s (2019) study led the authors to propose enriching teacher education programs with curricular activities that provide practical instruction in applying literature to language lessons, in addition to theoretical understanding. Similarly, Romero-Karlsson (2016) identified the value of literature in developing language proficiency within initial English education programs in Chile, even though its intrinsic aesthetic value is often overlooked.

The Reader-Response Approach and Literary Competence

The reader-response approach, widely embraced in foreign language teaching contexts (Paran, 2008), emphasizes the active role of the reader in interpreting and constructing meaning from a text (Rosenblatt, 1994). According to this view, the meaning of a literary work is not solely determined by the author’s intentions or the text itself; instead, it emerges collaboratively through reader-text interaction. The experience, emotions, cultural background, and personal interpretations of readers play a pivotal role in shaping their understanding of the text (Rosenblatt, 1994). This approach highlights the dynamic nature of reading, in which different readers extract different meanings from the same text. Rosenblatt’s transactional theory of reader response further explains this process as a two-way interaction in which meaning is constructed through the reader’s simultaneous engagement with the text on both an efferent level—focused on extracting information—and an aesthetic level—centered on the feelings and experiences evoked by the reading act.

Reader-response theory is essentially concerned with literature reading. Its implications for teaching literature in a foreign language center on fostering the reader-text relationship, activating exploration in the literature class, cultivating students’ literary competence (the ability to read literature aesthetically), and providing a supportive space for sharing and developing students’ responses (Nguyen, 2016; Paran, 2008).

In addition, numerous studies have integrated transactional theory with related strategies, such as role-plays, group discussions, readers’ journals, and projects. For instance, Tutaş (2006) observed a shift from teacher-centered literary analysis to a transactional approach. Similarly, Nguyen (2016) investigated a project in Vietnam that employed an interactive approach, focusing on students’ perspectives of their learning journey. The findings indicate that this pedagogy not only encouraged students to become more active, dialogic, and reflective in their interpretation of texts but also exposed them to the challenges of introducing a new learning paradigm in a traditional setting.

Literary competence involves effectively engaging with and interpreting literary texts (Culler, 2002). This includes comprehending and analyzing literary elements like narrative structures, themes, symbols, and cultural contexts. While Culler (1997, 2002) emphasizes formal textual analysis, other scholars have argued that a comprehensive understanding of literary competence should embrace both aesthetic and subjective interpretations. For instance, Spiro (1991) suggests that beyond textual skills, literary competence should entail forming personal connections between the text and the reader’s life experiences, including empathy for characters, aesthetic appreciation, and contextualization within cultural and historical backgrounds. Martinsson (2018) proposes a model of literary competence that identifies parallels between fictional and real worlds, grasps sociopolitical contexts, engages with aesthetics and style, deciphers themes and symbols, and empathizes with characters. Similarly, Alter and Ratheiser (2019) endorse this perspective, emphasizing aesthetic and subjective readings in their model and introducing categories such as empathetic competence, aesthetic and stylistic competence, cultural and discursive competence, and interpretative competence.

The reader-response approach closely aligns with the concept of literary competence by highlighting the reader’s active engagement and interpretive skills in interacting with literary texts. Therefore, literary competence is understood as not just analyzing formal textual elements, but also engaging with the text on personal and emotional levels. The reader-response approach resonates with this notion by acknowledging that readers with developed literary competence can adeptly connect the text to their own experiences, emotions, and cultural contexts, thereby enriching their understanding of it. In essence, literary competence, influenced by the reader-response approach, encompasses the reader’s ability to engage with a text meaningfully and contribute unique perspectives to its interpretation. This approach encompasses both efferent readings—such as textual reconstructions, thematic and symbolic interpretations, and causal relationships within the plot, setting, and characters—and aesthetic and subjective readings, such as emotional responses, immersion in the fictional world, and connections between the text and readers’ reality.

In the context of literary competence research in EFL preservice teacher education, only a limited number of studies have shed light on the development of this skill among EFL preservice teachers. For instance, Prasasti et al. (2022) examined the literary competence of 32 students at a private Indonesian university. Participants wrote essays on Aesop’s The Fox and the Crow and their responses were analyzed using Spiro’s (1991) literary competence model. The results suggested that participants demonstrated literary competence by connecting the text to personal experiences, empathizing with it, and placing it within a broader sociocultural context. Afifuddin (2017) examined English major students in Indonesia, focusing on critical readings of English poems. However, only a minority of participants (12%) displayed elevated critical responses indicative of literary competence. Expanding on this understanding, Qutub (2018) conducted research in Saudi Arabia with EFL preservice teachers, comparing intelligence-theory-based teaching methods with traditional ones. The results demonstrated a significant improvement in literary competence in the experimental group, underscoring the potential of innovative pedagogical approaches.

Further, Gómez-Rodríguez (2018) explored the development of literary competence in Colombian EFL preservice teachers through critical reading activities. This study highlighted the role of authentic texts and critical-thinking tasks not only in enhancing foreign-language proficiency but also in fostering literary competence. Importantly, the study underscored the critical function of teachers in shaping these outcomes by selecting appropriate texts and designing effective activities.

Within the Chilean EFL context, Romero-Karlsson and Barahona (2024) explored the types of literary competences that were fostered by a group of EFL preservice teachers in their post-reading activities on picturebooks. The results of this study showed that the preservice teachers primarily fostered text-oriented literary competences, such as the ability to carry out plot and character analysis, whereas reader-oriented literary competences were less common.

The Potential of Picturebooks to Develop Literary Competence

A growing body of literature has demonstrated that picturebooks, employing dual codes of text and imagery, emerge as potent catalysts for fostering literary competence and cultivating dialogues around cultural awareness (Nikolajeva & Scott, 2001; Pantaleo, 2015; Valencia Leguizamón & Real, 2019). This inherent potential renders picturebooks as effective tools in the EFL classroom for encouraging the authentic use of the language (Mourão, 2016). Their visually engaging content can entice readers, encouraging contemplation of social dimensions like racial, ethnic, and social diversity (Wu, 2017). Furthermore, the analysis of picturebooks can be a means of introducing intricate literary concepts that might seem abstract, challenging, and technical when presented in the novel format (Jönsson, 2019). Post-modern picturebooks emerge as prime tools for enhancing students’ grasp of complex literary devices, including intertextuality, genre fusion, ambiguity, and irony, facilitating the intricate interplay between text and imagery (Serafini, 2015).

A growing number of studies, including the work of Valencia Leguizamón and Real (2019), have highlighted the effectiveness of incorporating picturebooks as a robust strategy to foster holistic literary competence among learners. This pedagogical approach goes beyond mere literal reading, as picturebooks can foster multifaceted engagement, prompting readers to delve into the intricate interplay of nuances, complexities, and layered meanings woven into the narrative. By immersing themselves in these visual and textual intricacies, individuals are encouraged to embark on a journey of critical involvement with literary works. This journey entails not only recognizing diverse perspectives embedded within a story but also articulating insightful interpretations that harmonize with readers’ individual experiences and worldviews (Sipe, 2000). Consequently, the integration of picturebooks serves as a conduit for nurturing comprehensive literary competence, allowing readers to explore more deeply, engage in more sophisticated forms of analysis, and ultimately cultivate a heightened comprehension of literature’s impact on their lives. However, despite this clear potential, empirical research documenting how preservice teachers cultivate literary competence through picturebook reading remains limited.

Participants and Context of the Study

The study’s participants were 12 preservice teachers (11 women and one man). Although 16 were enrolled in the course, only 12 consented to participate in this research. The participants were preparing to become certified elementary and high school English teachers in Chile and possessed B1-level English proficiency (intermediate, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages). To ensure anonymity, pseudonyms are used when reporting outcomes.

A 12-week literature reading course was part of the fourth semester of an EFL teacher education program at a private university in Santiago, Chile. The pedagogy of the course included weekly seminars, where participants engaged in guided reading sessions using picturebooks. These seminars focused on various literary elements within picturebooks, including paratext, plot, characters, setting, narrator/narratee, interplay between pictures and text, intertextuality, and style. Each week, a new literary element was introduced to enhance participants’ literary competence. From Weeks 2 to 10, the program focused on individual picturebooks through classroom discussions and guided post-reading activities designed to help participants approach texts from multiple perspectives. These guided post-reading tasks supported the development of interpretive and analytical skills, encouraging responses to style, form, and content, as well as emotional engagement and personal connections. Beyond reading picturebooks, participants also studied texts on the analysis of literary elements to encourage more comprehensive and intricate responses to picturebooks (Nikolajeva & Scott, 2001; Valencia Leguizamón & Real, 2019). Table 1 lists the picturebooks that were studied throughout the reading course.

The picturebooks were selected for their potential to develop preservice teachers’ literary competence (i.e., the ability to engage meaningfully with a text and contribute unique perspectives to its interpretation). In this sense, reading these picturebooks allowed participants to undertake textual reconstructions, thematic and symbolic interpretations, and causal relationships within the plot, setting, and characters; as well as aesthetic and subjective readings, such as emotional response, immersion in the fictional world, and connections between the text and the participants’ reality.

Methodological Approach

We adopted a case study methodology given its potential to provide a potent basis for the analysis of complex issues within a situated educational context (Yin, 2009). The case study design enabled an in-depth, contextualized understanding of how participants expressed and developed literary competence in response to guided picturebook readings. Author 1 was also the reading course instructor, a common arrangement in case study designs (Cohen et al., 2018).

The research questions that guided the study were:

1. What types of literary competence did preservice teachers develop during the reading course?

2. To what extent were picturebooks effective tools to develop literary competence?

Data Collection

Data sources included students’ written reading journals produced throughout the semester, which were later analyzed through inductive content analysis. Each participant wrote weekly responses in their journals, producing a total of nine responses corresponding to the nine selected picturebooks. The responses were prompted by questions prepared by the teacher and focused on literary elements such as plot, theme, character, setting, metaphors, the interplay between image and text, and narration. The questions also prompted the participants to undertake aesthetic and subjective readings of the selected picturebooks. The writing instructions are included in Appendix A.

Data Analysis

We employed content analysis to systematically examine participants’ reading response journals. The journals were scrutinized to identify meaning units, defined as words, sentences, or paragraphs with related content and context (Cohen et al., 2018). Inductive coding was applied to these meaning units. After coding all units, they were grouped into categories according to the type of literary competence they represented. These categories were adapted from established models of literary competence (Alter & Ratheiser, 2019; Culler, 1997, 2002; Martinsson, 2018; Spiro, 1991). The resulting categories were then used as the analytical framework for interpreting patterns in the data and are presented in the Results section.

Plot and Character Analysis Competence

This category was the largest in terms of the number of meaning units (see Appendix B). This competence involves understanding plot and character elements in the text and illustrations, summarizing events, recognizing character development, and interpreting how the setting affects characters. Participants frequently demonstrated the ability to summarize the plot, describe significant events, analyze characters’ responses to events, and infer character development from both the text and illustrations.

An example of this competence can be seen in Natalia’s answer on Rose Blanche, in which she describes the scene in detail:

After [Rose] sees the little boy being grabbed by the collar, she decided to follow the route where the truck went and when she was behind it, getting closer to the concentration camp, she says that the sky was gray and everything was frozen. We can relate this to the fact she was getting closer and closer to the concentration camp, where the Jewish people were, starving, frozen, and full of fear.

In addition to describing the scene, Natalia creatively explains how the mood grows more dramatic as the colors shift toward colder tones when Rose approaches the concentration camp. Natalia then demonstrates that she is conscious of the details provided by the illustrations and Rose’s narrative, and how these help create the atmosphere of the event.

Setting/events affect characters was the second most common response, demonstrating that most participants possessed the analytical skills to infer how the plot, setting, situation, and characters interrelated. This is exemplified in Juan’s response to The Cat Man of Aleppo:

In the beginning, [Alaa] was seen as a happy worker, who enjoyed small details, who enjoyed helping others and living a full life. However, when the war breaks out, the changes begin. First, it is understood that he goes through terrible pain for his town and his people, for all that fear and pain that they go through every day.

Juan’s observation shows that he understood the cause-and-effect relationship between the civil war’s breakout in the story and the protagonist’s emotional response to it, which leads him to actively help the abandoned pets in his community.

Another common type of response concerned character description. The participants used evidence from the text or illustrations to describe the characters, as can be seen in Claudia’s response to A Place Inside of Me:

The protagonist communicates a broad amount of feelings that were hidden, and we can infer that he has taken the courage to start a self-discovery journey to heal those emotions, and transform his sorrow, his rage, and fears into something powerful that makes him connect to his roots and people. He puts aside the shame that society expected him to have, but instead, he develops indestructible loving bonds with his people that allow him to be proud of who he is and where he belongs.

Claudia’s response demonstrates that she can synthesize the protagonist’s emotional development from frustration to empowerment. This character description is complex because it requires the ability to infer character development from events depicted in both the illustrations and the text.

The responses in this category suggest that the participants had developed the competence to identify information in the illustrations and the text describing important events in the story, understand the characters’ perspectives, and appreciate cause-and-effect relationships among the plot, setting, and characters.

Aesthetic and Stylistic Competence

This competence focuses on participants’ evaluations of the aesthetic and stylistic aspects of picturebooks. They evaluated the visual elements (colors, light, shadows, proportions, shapes) in the illustrations and occasionally commented on the text’s visual aspects (font and layout). For instance, Juan’s response to We Are Water Protectors demonstrates the ability to make an overall judgment of the story by identifying its most prominent features, in addition to evaluating its strengths and weaknesses and describing the effect this has on their overall impression:

The story is sublime, spiritual, and awareness [sic], with very adequate visual support and a reduced range of characters but that manages to capture the essence of the feeling that the story tries to give, such as the harmonious love between water and people, the depth of vitality, among other things.

However, attention to stylistic features in the text and the interplay between text and illustrations was limited. One of the exceptions was Isabel’s response to Fox:

The author uses a lot of warm and dark colours, plus his illustrations are gloomy, enigmatic to the point of leaving the reader with a sense of dread and fear. This author uses very well the frames of each image to create dynamism between the drawings, [which] helps very well to support the text.

Isabel’s observations demonstrated that she was conscious of the effects of the visual features on the readers’ appreciation and comprehension of the story.

Claudia describes the interplay between text and illustrations, as evident in her response to The Cat Man of Aleppo:

The relationship between the illustrations and the text is very important because the text gives us emotions and feelings; on the other hand, the images show us the reality and the context of what is being talked about.

In Claudia’s view, the illustrations and the text play complementary roles in the story: the text conveys emotions and feelings, while the illustrations convey the “reality and the context.”

Although the participants demonstrated their ability to appreciate and evaluate the aesthetic and stylistic features of the illustrations in the picturebooks (Alter & Ratheiser, 2019; Martinsson, 2018), little attention was paid to the written text and its interplay with the illustrations. Participants’ responses lacked more sophisticated analyses of the illustrations, such as shape, proportion, and movement (Nikolajeva & Scott, 2001; Pantaleo, 2015).

Subjective and Emotional Competence

This competence relates to how readers connect with and express emotions towards the text, characters, and events. Participants demonstrated this competence by drawing parallels between the story and their personal experiences, showing empathy for characters and expressing their personal appreciation or preferences for the picturebooks. For instance, Sofia’s response to Fox shows how she relates the story to her life experiences and proposes potential solutions for the situations seen in the stories:

The bird still goes out in search of the dog, which shows that many times these experiences occur in real life, where people are separated by the envy of other people or perhaps because life wants it, but it is the work of one to be persevering and trying to return to where one was happy . . . even if it hurts and it seems difficult.

However, participants showed little empathy toward the characters of the stories. An exception was found in Cristina’s response to Fox:

My first impression of Fox was that he looks [sic] like someone who was hurt. His gaze reflects fatigue and conveys sadness. However, it also generated mistrust in me. Maybe it was because of the drawing, since in some parts it seemed that the fox crossed his eyes with mine.

Although Cristina’s response differed from that of the other participants, it demonstrates the potential of picturebooks to develop readers’ empathy towards the characters. Cristina’s example also demonstrates that the diegetic barriers between the reader and the characters momentarily seemed to be broken when Fox’s eyes cross hers.

Cultural Competence

This category involves situating the story within a broader sociocultural context and making intertextual connections. Some participants linked the story to real-world political, social, or historical events, showing an awareness of the sociopolitical context. Several of the participants produced ecocritical comments on We Are Water Protectors, as seen in Claudia’s response:

Currently, there is a tremendous scarcity of water at a global level, and no one is aware of this. It is for this reason that at the beginning of the book is illustrated [sic] an old woman with some young girls taking care [sic] and appreciating the water, because from it, life is born.

However, intertextual comparisons with other literary texts or cultural references were less common and appeared in only a few responses. One of the few examples was found in Paulina’s response to Rose Blanche:

The illustrations in which you can appreciate the flags and patches of some people lead the reader directly to the setting of the story. This happens because they are popular elements whether the reader recognizes them from history or from famous movies such as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Book Thief.

In this example, Paulina demonstrated her ability to compare cultural productions that depict World War II. Examples of this kind, however, were too few to argue that the participants in general possessed the competence to make intertextual comparisons. Overall, there is less evidence of the development of cultural and intertextual competence in participants.

In summary, preservice teachers developed varying levels of competence in analyzing and interpreting picturebooks during the course. While they generally excelled in plot and character analysis, as well as in thematic and symbolic interpretation, there were limited demonstrations of aesthetic, emotional, and cultural competencies. Improvement was observed in some areas as the course progressed, indicating a positive learning trajectory.