ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AND POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURE HOW AND WHY JAMAICA KINCAID’S A SMALL PLACE CAN BE USED IN THE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM IN SWEDEN

Abstract

This essay deals with why and how postcolonial literature, such as Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place, could be incorporated in English Language Teaching at the upper secondary level in Sweden. The curriculum and syllabus for English are used to support the argument that postcolonial literature is a valuable and necessary part of the language classroom because it provides a perspective that is seldom represented in the Western Canon. With the aid of postcolonial theory and sociocultural theory, I argue that both teachers and students need to be critical of how the construction of knowledge is produced and be aware of Eurocentric tendencies and that students will be able to better comprehend the content of A Small Place through collaborative learning. In conclusion, postcolonial literature such as A Small Place provides an opportunity to look at issues such as colonization, globalization and the tourist industry from a non-Western perspective and help broaden the students’ horizons regarding such issues.