Intertextuality as a Constructive Reading Strategy

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how three Taiwanese EFL college readers employ intertextuality as a constructive reading strategy to interpret and comprehend two literary texts. The verbal self-reports, free oral post-reading responses and an oral interview are used to gather data. Case A presents how Liu uses intertextuality to build his reading framework, whereas Case B demonstrates how Chen flexibly changes his reading stance and, in turn promotes his reading comprehension. Case C illustrates how Fun uses autobiographical responses to intertextualize with the current text. This study suggests that teachers should not only help students set up intertextual links, but also support the continuation of building such links.