The process of Reading Across Cultures: Teaching Literature in a Diverse Society does not occur without struggle and resistance, and there are no operating instructions for teachers. Instead, these stories and insights from a range of students, teachers and classrooms are offered to continue the conversation about literature, culture and teaching. The book should be an important resource in graduate courses in literacy and children's/YA literature and courses in teaching of literature, as well as for teachers of English.

In an increasingly multicultural global community, teachers are striving to bring more culturally responsive materials to their classrooms. In this trailblazing text, Joan Parker Webster provides instructors with the basic tools to teach young adults Hispanic literature using selected texts and tailored methods for implementation in classes made up of culturally diverse students. She has chosen exemplary narrative works from some of the most respected authors of Latino literature. Teaching through Culture introduces teachers to key texts while providing ancillary information and methods to make teaching and reading experiences effective. A culturally responsive teacher builds on students' prior knowledge and employs appropriate styles of communication and interaction to engage students in learning. Parker Webster affirms that the use of texts that provide cultural connections is the most successful way to actively engage diverse learners and improve their comprehension. When students can see themselves in the stories they read, they encounter familiar ideas and situations, which lessen an often overwhelming and intimidating school environment. In each chapter, Joan Parker Webster provides the historical and cultural context for each text and applies strategies for understanding and teaching the text in the classroom. Each chapter is divided into the following sections: Synopsis of the Story, Background before You Read, Reading and Responding to the Story, Working with Words and Connecting across the Curriculum. Webster presents the works of such authors as Anilú Bernardo, Diane Gonzales Bertrand, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Ofelia Dumas Lachtman, Floyd Martínez, and Tomàs Rivera.

Text as Culture: Teaching through Literature is a professional development text that trains language teachers and prospectiver language teachers how to teach with literature. This book proposes concrete ways to place literary studies solidly in the second language curriculum. The reaffirmation of literature in the clasroom demands the introduction of innovative steps: writing by students from the very beginning of their instruction and the encouragement of imagination. The book demonstrates precise methods to teach students to write before they speak, to read as they learn to absorb vocabulary, and to use their imaginations as they learn grammar rules. Above all, the book proposes that through literature students can learn to think critically, to analyze, and to draw conclusions not only about literary texts, but about cultural signs that surround them.

As multicultural education is becoming integral to the core curriculum, teachers often implement this aspect into their courses through literature. However, standards and criteria to teach and promote active discussion about this literature are sparse. Cultural Journeys introduces pre-service and experienced teachers to the use of literature to promote active discussions that lead students to think about racial diversity. More than just an annotated list of books for children, Pamela S. Gates and Dianne L. Hall Mark provide systematic guidelines that teachers can use throughout their careers to evaluate multicultural literature for students in grades K-8. At the same time, the text leads the reader to a deeper understanding of how to use multicultural literature throughout the entire curriculum and not just during specially designated months or time periods. With the example unit plans and extensive annotated bibliography, this book is a valuable resource that pre-service teachers will utilize when they begin teaching and in-service teachers will reference repeatedly during their planning periods.

Teaching and Learning About Multicultural Literature will help teachers and students, particularly students from a dominant culture, read multicultural literature with greater understanding

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,7, University of Kassel (Literature: Language and Cultural Awareness), course: Department of English & Romance Languages, language: English, abstract: This term paper will take several questions into account by starting off with a general definition of the terms 'Literature, Language and Cultural Awareness' as they are the basis for talking about literature and literary texts. Afterwards, a precise definition of the terms will follow before the consequences for the EFL classroom will be mentioned which lead to a text example that shows how one can teach the aspects that have been mentioned before and why it is important to teach students literature at all. The text shows that students need to understand other cultural backgrounds in order to understand the whole text since we do not have the expression 'hills like white elephants' in Germany. As a result, this text is a good example for showing how important language and cultural awareness are in order to understand literary texts in the EFL classroom. When we talk about literature in the EFL classroom, we should first of all ask ourselves what we need to take into consideration in general when we want to deal with literary texts in the EFL classroom. Some questions arise like why one should teach literature in the EFL classroom and what kind of literature needs to be taught. It is important to read literary texts in the EFL classroom because the curriculum says that teachers should deal with different countries and cultures by presenting people in real life situations. Therefore, they should mostly use authentic material in order to build a connection to the student's world. The teacher should be careful in choosing texts for the EFL classroom because the texts need to be suitable for the class in order to let the students work with them.