Why include literature in English language learning? Part I

The first issue I’d like to talk about is why use literature when teaching English language learners. Some teachers and many learners think it’s unnecessary or even impossible due to their limited knowledge of the language. It’s important for both to remember or realize that literature fulfills an irreplaceable role in classrooms. The first researcher who identified the value of integrating the teaching of English literature to language learners was Henry Widdowson In his pioneering text, Stylistics and the Teaching of Literature (1975), he proposed a combination of linguistics and literary study which enables teachers and educators to explore literature in the language class. Sandra McKay opened the debate in her article Literature in the EFL Classroom in Tesol Quarterly (December 1982)in which she concluded that “For many students, literature can provide a key to motivating them to read in English. For all students, literature is an ideal vehicle for illustrating language use and for introducing cultural assumptions.” The following years and decades witnessed many more books proposing reasons and methods for using literature in communicative classrooms. Carter and Long (1991) discussed three main approaches to the teaching of literature: language learning, culture and personal growth. They identify the linguistic model as the most common approach to literature in English classrooms. The text is dissected mainly as a combination of grammar and vocabulary, with some attention to denotation and connotation and symbolism in language use. The cultural model views literature as a more interdisciplinary field. A way for learners to develop their artistic sensitivity and awareness of cultural representations such as values, and cultural background including contemporary as well as historical literary movements, figures and works. The personal growth model emphasises the treatment of universal themes such as love, trauma, loss, which will encourage learners to express their opinions and feelings in order to make connections between their own personal and cultural experiences and those expressed in the text. Most authors also propose that an integration of the three approaches would be more beneficial for language learning. It seems more appropriate to combine the three aspects when including literature in the curriculum in order to provide more enjoyable and enriching learning situation for students. For more information on this first wave of books on the subject look into: Brumfit and Carter in Literature and Language Teaching (OUP 1986); Carter & Long, Teaching Literature (Longman 1991); Collie, J., & Slater, S. Literature in the Language Classroom (CUP 1987); Maley and Duff, in Literature (OUP 1990); and Carter & McRae, editors of Language, Literature and the Learner (Longman 1996); Gillian Lazar:'Literature and Language Teaching: A guide for teachers and trainers' (1993), 'A Window on Literature' (1999).