CONFERENCEhttps://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2025.05 | 74-83 | PDF
Development of a Literature-Based Curriculum for Year 11 English as a Foreign Language Students in Latvia
Joseph Jack Horgan¹
¹Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies
Abstract
Since the implementation of the competence-based “Skola2030” reforms to the Latvian education system beginning in September of 2019, there has been an increased focus on reading authentic literature in secondary level foreign language classes. While the state-developed sample program of the “highest level” foreign language course intended for year 12 students is centred around the reading of an entire work of literature throughout the study year, no such framework has been developed for the “optimal level” course intended for year 10 and 11 students. Therefore, the goal of this research was to develop a literature-based curriculum for the optimal level “English I” course that satisfied all of the revised curriculum standards and adequately prepared students for the centralized exam at the course’s conclusion. Throughout the second semester of the 2023/2024 study year, material based on Jack London’s Call of the Wild was developed and piloted with a group of ten grade 11 students taking the English I course. Students completed three semi-structured questionnaires administered via Google Forms before, during, and after the material was used. The exam results of students were also analysed and compared with those of students who did not use the material. According to the feedback, students preferred reading the book and completing the accompanying tasks rather than doing traditional textbook tasks, reporting that they felt it prepared them well for the exam at the end of the course and developed their language skills. While the results are promising, the small sample size makes it difficult to conclude whether the material can meet the needs of students throughout the country. The piloted material is now freely available for teachers of Latvia to use in their own classrooms in order to be further approbated and developed.
Keywords: American literature, authentic texts, English as a foreign language, exam preparation, secondary education, Use of literature in EFL
In: Human, Technologies and Quality of Education, 2025. Proceedings of Scientific Papers = Cilvēks, tehnoloģijas un izglītības kvalitāte, 2025. Rakstu krājums. Ed. L. Daniela. Riga: University of Latvia, 2025. 698 p.
ISBN 978-9934-36-461-7
https://doi.org/10.22364/htqe.2025