The use of literary texts in ukrainian language textbooks for french- and german-speaking learners: a historical perspective

Abstract

Learning a foreign language usually involves reading a large number of texts. Works of fiction can be used not only to reinforce reading comprehension and analysis skills while enriching vocabulary, but also for a better grasp of the ideas and cultural contexts of the society whose language is being learned. In this article, we examine how works of classical and contemporary Ukrainian literature are used for pedagogical purposes in Ukrainian-language textbooks for native speakers of French and German. The textbooks are analyzed from a historical perspective, which also enables us to trace the evolution and ways in which literary texts are used for language acquisition.