A Case Study of English Literature Teaching Reform for Dual‑Cultural Stance and Local Humanistic Thinking

Abstract

This case study aims to ask whether inquiry-based reading reports can cultivate English majors’ critical thinking that is simultaneously responsive to the Western literary traditions and anchored in the local Chinese cultural sensibilities. Drawing on qualitative data comprised of classroom recordings, student-generated questions, written reading reports, questionnaires, and follow-up interviews, this study traces how third-year Business English students engaged with D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers through a sequence of self-questioning, group deliberation, and evidence-based debate. The findings show that when given freedom to pose their own interpretive questions, students spontaneously invoked their native cultural frameworks, generating not neat parallels but productive dissonance that compelled them to revisit textual evidence and revise their earlier readings. The lesson also heightened their metacognitive awareness as they reported greater sensitivity to divergent perspectives and the weight of textual proof. The reform thus implies that literary teaching need not sacrifice local identity for global engagement, but when structured around authentic inquiry, it can foster readers who navigate cultural difference with critical alertness and reflective openness.