The perceptions of undergraduate students toward reading contemporary fiction in English: a case study of content-based ESL instruction at a self-financed tertiary institution in Hong Kong

Introduction: The study explores the effectiveness of teaching English literature to Hong Kong undergraduate students, particularly in a general education course titled “Fiction and Life: Understanding Human Development.” This course marked the first exposure for students to book-length fiction in English and critical response written in English, revealing the efficacy of using fictional works as content-based ESL instruction at the tertiary level in Hong Kong.

Methods: Employing a mixed-methods approach, the study included questionnaires distributed to 310 students and thematic analysis of semi-structured interview data.

Results: Findings indicate a largely positive attitude toward the reading and writing experience, suggesting benefits for ESL teaching and learning in Asia.

Discussion: The study advocates for incorporating English literature into the general education curriculum to foster a more organic and contextualized language acquisition process. This research uniquely contributes to the field by examining student perceptions in a self-financed tertiary institution context, offering new insights that have not been explored before in Hong Kong’s ESL landscape.