高等学校英語教育におけるリーディングの指導 : オスカー・ワイルド作The Selfish Giantを題材として

Using The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde as an example, this paper aims to show how a story could be read in senior high schools in Japan. This paper suggests that there are at least two steps in the procedure of reading a story: in the first step, a focus on grasping the literal meaning is emphasized; and in the second step, students are encouraged to interpret the story. An overview of English textbooks authorized by MEXT shows us that the first step is taken as more important than the second one. This paper maintains that both steps are equally important, and that the difference between literary texts, in which stories are included, and other text types such as expository texts lies in the fact that the former texts are more open to interpretation. When interpreting a text, it is essential to understand crucial messages the text tries to convey. A key message and example in The Selfish Giant is that we should not be hostile to each other, and this message was found by analyzing “parallelism” described in the text.