Literature from a critical intercultural lens: toward a decolonial perspective in the English language classroom
Rosa Ascención Espinoza Cid
Escuela Normal Superior plantel Hermosillo, MÉXICO; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1327-5364
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36534/erlj.2026.04.03
Bibliographic citation: (ISSN 2657-9774) Educational Role of Language Journal. Special Volume 2026-2(3). DECOLONIAL AND SITUATED APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, pp. 33-44.
Abstract
This study examines the pedagogical potential of a literary corpus selected for a Literature course in an undergraduate English Language Teaching program at a public university in northwest Mexico. Adopting a qualitative research design, the study employed close reading informed by a critical intercultural lens to analyze the texts’ potential to contribute to a decolonial perspective in English language education. The literary texts were purposively selected according to criteria addressing linguistic and pedagogical suitability, critical intercultural potential, decolonial relevance, and connections with students’ social realities and broader contexts. This analysis focused on three dimensions: cultural representations, social tensions, and symbolic elements. Findings revealed recurring issues related to identity, inequality, social class, racialization, migration, historical memory, and power across the corpus. Collectively, the selected works diversify cultural representation, destabilize hegemonic interpretations of literature, and provide a basis for moving beyond linguistic decoding toward critical interpretation and reflection. These findings subsequently informed the design of a didactic sequence for the intended educational context. However, the present study is limited to corpus selection and textual analysis and does not evaluate classroom implementation or its effects on students. The study highlights the pedagogical and political significance of deliberate literary selection and the potential of examining literature through a critical intercultural lens as a means of contributing to a decolonial perspective in English Language Teaching.
Keywords: critical interculturality, decolonial perspective, literature, English Language Teaching (ELT), close reading
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