Year 8 students’ interpretations of short stories in the Danish L1 literature classroom

Distinct ways of writing and knowing

Abstract

Lower secondary students’ written responses to literature in the first-language (L1) classroom have received only limited scholarly attention in Denmark. To develop a greater understanding of this form of text participation, this article examines how year 8 students (age 13–14) use literary terms and construct evaluative stances in interpretations of contemporary short stories. The article introduces a functional linguistic and sociological framework which enables the identification of fine-grained meaning-making patterns and their subsequent translation into broader knowledge tendencies. The principal finding is the presence of three distinct and, to a certain extent, contending knowledge tendencies reflected and co-created in the students’ written language use. The detected differences in ways of writing and knowing render visible challenges associated with using literary terms and expressing the appropriate degree of subjectivity at the lower secondary level. Additionally, the identified differences also render visible the transitional nature of the L1 literature classroom at this educational level in Denmark. Taken together, the findings indicate the need for intensified discussions among teachers and researchers regarding what is important, and why, when students are required to engage in interpretive writing tasks in the L1 literature classroom.