AbstractIn this chapter, I propose a connection between hermeneutics and foreign language education.
This connection generates insights into the process of literary reading in the second
language, guides curriculum development, supports the articulation of educational goals,
and provides a pedagogical framework for the effective use of cultural materials in the
language classroom. Language program directors face many challenges in the context of
the implementation of contemporary undergraduate curricula. To achieve effective curricular
modifications, language program directors have to engage an entire department,
often composed of literary scholars, linguists, and applied linguists. However, this multidisciplinary
structure results often in a cacophony of methodological approaches and
jargons. A framework to conceive and articulate culture-centered undergraduate curricula
that relies not entirely on applied linguistics may therefore contribute the collaborative
process of reforming a language program. The chapter introduces insights from both applied
linguistics and hermeneutics and shows that fundamental concepts from both fields are
congruent. These insights challenge intuitive assumptions of literary reading in the second
language, provide the vocabulary to articulate educational goals in an integrated
undergraduate curriculum, and reject the traditional two-tier curriculum. Further, I argue
that hermeneutics can be of practical value to implement literature and cultural artifacts
in the advanced language classroom. I illustrate this claim and demonstrate how hermeneutic
theory can guide the didactization of foreign films in relation to their Hollywood
remakes.
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