Positioning approaches to teaching literature in English in Malaysian secondary schools

The Challenge of Cultivating National and Cosmopolitan Identities Through Literature: Insights From Singapore Schools

“…In terms of pedagogy, scholars, particularly from postcolonial countries, have called for a shift away from close readings of Western canonical works to broader readings of world literature, including translated works by writers from a wider diversity of cultures (Choo, 2016; Yeo, 1999). Postcolonial scholars have also proposed a cosmopolitan Literature curriculum in which texts, particularly from marginalized voices, can serve as a platform for engagement with real‐world issues of social and global justice (Choo, 2020; Poon, 2010; Too, 2018; Tope, 2018).…”

“…In Australia, the percentage of year 12 students studying Literature fell from 26% in 1998 to 11% in 2017, and teachers warned that the subject had reached a state of crisis after a 20-year decline in enrollment, with many schools no longer offering the subject (Hiatt, 2018). In Malaysia, the number of students choosing to study Literature has remained consistently small, at 743 in 2014 (Too, 2018). In Singapore, the number of students who sat for the GCE Ordinary-level (O-level) Literature in English examination, taken at the end of secondary school, fell from 16,970 students in 1992 (48% of the cohort) to 6,000 in 2012 (18% of the cohort; Heng, 2013).…”