The Use of Literature in Teaching English as a Foreign...

The Use of Literature in Teaching English as a Foreign Language By: Amr Alhemiary Abstract This research aims at emphasizing the use of literature as a popular technique for teaching both basic language skills (i.e. reading, writing, speaking and listening)and language areas(i.e. vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation) in our times. Reasons for using literary text in a foreign language classroom, suitable situations for teaching literature and main criteria for selecting suitable literary texts in foreign language classes are stressed so as to be familiar with the underlying reasons, situations and criteria for language teachers using and selecting a literary text. Furthermore, literature and the teaching of language skill, the use†¦show more content†¦Such texts help students develop strategies and create conditions for successful learning of all language skills. Not only that, they can facilitate in perceptive students the acquisition of sense-making procedures and sensitize them to all kinds of lexical, structural, formal, stylistic, symbolic, pragmatic, semioti c and conventional aspects which are in a dynamic interplay to form a literary text. This will naturally lead them to learn how a text is formed. Also as a metalinguistic discourse, a literary text illustrates textual skills like cohesion, coherence, reference, inference and provides examples of deixis, implicature, presupppositon and speech acts. Collie and Slater (1987: 3-6) support the inclusion of literature in the language classroom as it provides valuable authentic material, develops personal involvement and help contribute to readers’ cultural as well as language enrichment. These advantages, they move on to assert, can be achieved provided teachers use relevant and appealing material to learners through the use of activities that promote involvement, reader response and a solid integration between language and literature. Practitioners, that is, teachers indicate that they use Literature in their English teaching practices a. to broaden students horizons by giving themShow MoreRelatedWorld Englishes : Approaches, Issues, And Resources1596 Words   |  7 Pagesmany people view English as a global language. With more and more people speak English as a second and foreign language. English speakers play an important role in international business and economics. The data shows that there are over 350 million people speak English as their first language around the world. It also shows that more than 430 million people use English as their second language. 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