Rehumanizing the Language Curriculum ed. by Megan M Echevarría (review)

Reviewed by: Rehumanizing the Language Curriculum ed. by Megan M Echevarría Emily Spinelli Echevarría, Megan M., editor. Rehumanizing the Language Curriculum. Peter Lang, 2023. Pp. 199. ISBN 978-1-4331-8236-5. For many years university-level language programs have been characterized by the use of a language-focused curriculum in the beginning and intermediate courses and a literature-focused curriculum in upper-level courses. This curricular focus caused what is known as the language-literature divide which affected both faculty and students and possibly contributed to a decline in enrollments. While changes have been made to expand the literature focus by including culture, film, and other humanities-related courses in the upper-level language curriculum and to emphasize functional communication skills in language courses, nonetheless, the divide remains. Rehumanizing the Language Curriculum hopes to eliminate the language-literature divide by promoting the creation of a curriculum that integrates the teaching of language, cultural studies, and literature in courses at all levels. The book contains articles by well-known researchers from the United States, England, and other countries who teach various languages and who are specialists in the fields of language education, applied linguistics, and literacy. Each article provides an extensive overview of the research on the topics discussed and offers clear pathways to creating new programs and curricular innovations. The book consists of ten chapters beginning with an introduction which is followed by three sections each containing three articles. Part I, "Literature and 21st-century Language Education," begins with a notable article by Claire Kramsch on the importance of the study of literature within language programs. She explains her concept of symbolic competence which can be gained through the study of literary texts. She then demonstrates that symbolic competence is as important as communicative competence as a goal for language education and recommends including symbolic competence in End Page 183 course design. The remaining two articles in part I support the idea of symbolic competence by recommending the recitation of poetry in language programs and using the study of literature as a means of addressing diversity within the curriculum. The second section of the book, entitled "Beyond Comprehension of Input: Literary Reading and Learning," provides the most compelling information regarding the fusion of language and literary study. In a thought-provoking chapter, Per Urlaub explains that the fields of applied linguistics and literary theory have more in common than previously thought and that faculty members in the two fields can readily blend or merge their viewpoints in order to create an integrated language program that emphasizes both language and literary study. He stresses the idea that an integrated language program could be the basis for a curriculum that is more engaging and attractive to students than a program divided between language and literature. Chapter six is devoted to the concept of deep reading and how it leads to deep learning. The author uses an example of a verse novel that can be used at the high school level to promote learning outcomes such as interculturality and critical thinking. Elizabeth Bernhardt's excellent article "Understanding Literary Texts in a Second Language: Instances of Advanced and Superior Comprehension" distinguishes literary reading and expository reading or reading for technical purposes. Bernhardt maintains that literary reading leads to expanded language proficiency and if students are not exposed to literary reading, they will not gain advanced high or superior language proficiency. She further stresses that language departments should shift their priorities from treating the reading of literature as the goal in language programs to utilizing literature as the means for students to obtain higher-level language proficiency. While parts I and II provide the background information and research for advocating for the inclusion of literature to enhance the teaching of language, part III focuses on the creation of materials and classroom activities that use literature for language teaching. Chapter eight, "Scaffolding Literature Education in Communicative and Intercultural Context," is written by Megan M. Echevarría, the editor of this volume. She examines the problem of expecting advanced high-to superior-level responses for assignments in literature classes when the students' proficiency levels are actually much lower. She provides a sampling of scaffolding...