Pedagogy and Persuasion. Teaching gender with Jane Austen’s Persuasion in the EFL classroom

Abstract

Abstract: The aim of the essay is to argue why and how Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion can be used in an English as a Foreign Language classroom when discussing gender issues in upper secondary school. By using literature in the language classroom a teacher can help foster personal involvement in the students. The classroom activities in this project will help the students develop their language skills in different ways: to watch and listen to a film adaption of the movie, to read the book, and to debate and discuss the themes of this essay. This essay uses gender theories for the literary analysis as well as the Education Act (2010:800) and the Swedish curriculum to discuss the pedagogical implications. By using Persuasion a teacher can illustrate and question stereotypes to promote equality between men and women as stipulated in the curriculum and help students achieve the goals set for English 6 in upper secondary school. The analysis shows that Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth both break the gender stereotypes of the time in which the book was written. Further, these results can be used to discuss gender performativity as well as the norms behind masculinity and femininity.