The Factors Influencing the Selection of Literature in EFL Education : A Study of Teachers’ Decision-Making

Sammanfattning

This study seeks to address a gap on how EFL teachers in Swedish middle schools select and use literature in their classrooms. While literature is a recognised component of the EFL curriculum, there is limited understanding of how teachers navigate this practice in relation to curriculum demands, language proficiency, and student engagement. To explore this, the study adopts a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews, with data analysed thematically to capture teachers’ perspectives and decision-making processes. The aim is to examine how literature selection is shaped in practice and how teachers balance factors such as language development, curricular goals, and student needs. In doing so, the study contributes an additional perspective on literature use in EFL contexts by highlighting how teachers perceive and implement literary texts as part of language learning. The findings emphasised the significance of a student-centred approach in teachers’ selection and use of literature in the EFL classroom. Across the interviews, decisions were consistently shaped by considerations of students’ language level, interests, and engagement, suggesting that literary texts are primarily selected and adapted with learners’ needs in mind.