Language Teaching Research Quarterly

This paper explored the role of the narrator's gender in teaching literary texts that Ahlam Mosteghanemi’s makes use of gender in her literary work. This quantitative-qualitative study includes only one novel “Memory in the Flesh” (2008) first published in 1985 as its main sample. This paper argues that the shift in the gender of the narrator in “Memory in the Flesh” employs the aesthetic elements of the narrative to stimulate the thinking skills of the language’s learner in similar situations as assumed by the Gestalt shift concept. The Gestalt theory as the theoretical framework enhances EFL learners to analyse the real identities of the narrators in relation to gender. In doing so, the research constructs a theoretical framework out of two main standpoints: One of the male narrator and the other of the female narrator which are linked to the gender roles in the narration. These learning strategies are used in teaching literary texts for postgraduate students in EFL contexts. This research used two instruments: semi-structured interviews and textual analysis. This mixed-method (quantitative – qualitative) study used only one novel "Memory in the Flesh" (2008) first published in 1985 as its main date.  The findings of the study showed that the use of the Gestalt pattern in reading the literary text "Memory in Flesh" as a case, with concern to the role of the narrator's gender improves the thinking skills of the EFL learner and interpretation abilities. This research recommends that further future research be conducted to investigate gender aspect in relevant literary works.