Interview Analysis

An interview tries to unfold (unveil) the interviewee’s experience, “to uncover their lived world prior to scientific explanations” (Kvale and Brinkmann, 2009, p1)[1]

How to Analyse the Interview and how to Interpret its Data

·         Read the scripts or listen carefully to the audio recording.

·         Make notes about the first impressions.

·         Re-read the transcripts line by line to unfold the different meanings and conceptions.

·         Select relevant words, phrases, sentences or sections.

·         Selection could be about opinions, tasks, activities, approaches, opinions or whatever you think is significant.

·         The data are highlighted because you are the interpreter and you consider them important.

·         Be honest, and stay close to the data, i.e. explain the phenomenon.

·         Use a neutral voice and do not interpret the results.

·         Under the heading Discussion, write down your interpretation and draw conclusions.

·         Interpret results in light of,

1-      Results are similar to (for instance, equal to/ does not equal that of the questionnaire); state why does not equal).

2-      Support your argumentation with relevant studies published in significant scientific journals.[2]

Sample

Question 1: How long have you been teaching literature?

Responding to this question, (T1) admitted that s/he is a novice in teaching literature: an experience of 2 years. As for (T2) and (T3), their experiences vary from 10 to 15 years.

Question 2: How would you qualify literature teaching in an EFL context?

            All the respondents reckoned that even though literature teaching is a wonderful journey, it is challenging and effort-demanding. This point was strongly emphasized by (T1) who went further to qualify the job as being hard.

Question 3: What are the main objectives you intend to achieve in teaching literature?

The three respondents seemed to have, to some extent, the same objectives. They thought that through reading and studying literature, their students will have the opportunity to improve their language proficiency, enrich their cultural knowledge of the target culture (British and American) and, vividly, experience the joy literature provides.

Question 4: Which literature teaching model do you adopt? Why?

Answering this question, (T1) did not hesitate to, directly, state that s/he adopts the cultural model, while (T2) and (T3) argued that sometimes they find themselves using a mixture of models. They referred to this as an integrated model. As for the second half of the question, (T1) justified the use of the cultural model on the basis that one should know about famous authors, genres and literary movements in British and American literature. The other two respondents said that an integrated model is conducive to achieving greater benefit for EFL students linguistically, culturally and even motivationally.

Discussion & Interpretation

         The interview held with the three teachers was significant in addressing the major concerns of the present study. Their responses were so informative that many issues related to the teaching of literature had been evoked and enlightened. The preliminary part of the interview was centred on teachers’ profiles as well as their training and experience in teaching literature. It was revealed that their relationship with literature varies from 3 to 20 years. Though this fact may carry a lot in terms of teaching practice and performance particularly for those who are still quite novice in the field, it is natural as long as they commit themselves to professional development. The lack of adequate preparation among novice teachers, however, is likely to put them in enormous challenges.

This is the reason why all teachers pointed to the fact that teaching literature to non-native students is all too often a painful experience. Yet, one might assert that the challenge which teachers must take up is how to bring their students closer to the study of this subject despite all the hindrances they may encounter. It is in this way that teachers are expected to show their originality, commitment, brilliance, charisma and intellectuality (Showalter, 2003).

In the second part of the interview, the focus was directed towards the practice of teaching literature aiming at uncovering how literature is being introduced to the students. In this respect, it was revealed that the objectives of teaching literature are still intertwined with an informative practice that fundamentally seeks to expose the students to the history and development of various literary movements. The emphasis on this pedagogy is likely to distance teachers from perceiving literature teaching as a process of transferring skills and competencies to their students.

The practice as reported by teachers is quasi teacher-centered which heavily relies on lecturing reflecting a traditional model of teaching which tends to over emphasize depositing knowledge to the students at the cost of what happens in their minds. Little attention is therefore directed to the students’ interaction with the text. It was overtly claimed and admitted by teachers that little is done with literature in the classroom. Unavoidably, because of the heavy reliance on lecturing as an inherent practice; teachers find little time to engage their students in varied activities.[3]