ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how students’ religious beliefs and views impact their reading of literature in the secondary English classroom. It combines insights from different disciplines, including cognitive linguistics, education, and English. The case study reports on a Text World Theory analysis to examine how a student’s religious affiliation influenced his reading experience and the articulation of this in a classroom discussion on Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth. The data discussed is part of a small-scale linguistic ethnographic study with a top year 10 English group in an ethnically diverse inner-city secondary school in the East Midlands region, UK. The case study reports on the group’s study of Shakespeare’s tragedy and in particular, a British-Pakistani Muslim student’s evolving understanding of the concepts such as philosophy and comprehending the protagonist’s challenge of God’s order to become King. Text World Theory is used to explore a student’s use of figurative language to articulate discomfort in reading and understanding the notion of questioning one’s existence in relation to Macbeth’s defiance in the play within the classroom context. The case study is discussed in light of broader recommendations for religion and education in secondary classroom contexts.
