Foreign language and aesthetic reading: study of the current situation in primary classrooms of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain

Abstract

This work is a mixed study (quantitative and qualitative) on the state of aesthetic reading in English as a foreign language in the primary classrooms of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. The population sample reaches to 252 classes. Fifteen interviews were conducted with teachers of English as a foreign language in 42 primary schools. The beginning of the research is a pilot study. The research design has used the survey and semistructured interview as the main instruments. The results obtained in both quantitative and qualitative variables show very atomized data and reflect a situation of a great heterogeneity in the selection of aesthetic readings. There are two clear conclusions: 1) the persistent belief that reading in a foreign language is based on decoding and obtaining information as what it remains after reading; 2) it is confirmed that there is a Strategic Plan for the Development of Languages in Andalusia (Plan estratégico de desarrollo de las lenguas en Andalucía. Horizonte 2020), where the first steps are taken towards a new and relevant look at aesthetic reading, both in the mother tongue and in foreign languages, with the mandatory introduction into the class schedules of an integrated language curriculum.