Literature should be taught in EFL classrooms for several reasons: 1) It provides authentic language input that exposes learners to real-world language use and helps develop their interpretive abilities. 2) Studying literature enhances critical thinking skills as learners analyze multiple meanings and perspectives. 3) Literary texts enrich culture learning by depicting society and communication across different contexts. 4) Literature encourages language acquisition by presenting language in meaningful, contextualized ways similar to first language learning.

1. Why should literature be taught in EFL classroom ?
DR. NIJOY P JOSE
Teachers often regard literature as inappropriate to the language classroom. Often the views
are reflected that historic separation between the study of language and the study of literature
has led to the limited role of literature in the language classroom. The main concern of
English teachers is to help learners acquire communicative competence, as it is more than
acquiring mastery of structure and form. It also involves acquiring the ability to interpret
discourse in its entire social and cultural context. So It is undebatable that the use of literature
in the EFL classroom can provide a powerful pedagogic tool in learner‟s linguistic
development or linguistic accuracy.
The historic divergence between language and literature remain as a border dispute over
territory between linguists and literary critics. The emergence of teaching two subjects as
„disconnected pedagogic practices‟ has been the outcome of this divergence (Carter and
McRae, 1996: xxiv). The underlying fact is that the separation of literature from language is a
false dualism since literature is language and language can indeed be literary. Carter and
Nash (1990) have also suggested to consider the variety of text types along a continuum with
some being more literary than others. It is not difficult to find instances of standard
transactional forms of discourse which make use of a whole array of literary divers.
Headlines and advertisements are common example of discourse which exports literary
language. The explicit use of stylistic devices like imagery, alliteration, register, ellipsis and
rhythm are commonly associated with literature than with standard transactional language.
Benefits of Literature in Language Classroom
In the present scenario, these is a special significance of pondering over the questions like
whether or not to use literature in language teaching and to what extent would be the choice
of the literary texts. John McRae of the University of Nottingham, listed, several reasons for
covering literature in English Language Teaching- language learning, linguistic confidence,
language description and awareness, language practice, memory, active involvement,
classroom interaction, post-lesson stimuli, production, enthusiasm, receptivity, related world
knowledge, personal satisfaction, cultural awareness, linguistic or aesthetic curiosity, critical
evaluation, grammatical, structural, or functional reinforcement information, and constructive
enjoyment. He concludes that to teach the English language, teachers should use literary
texts.

2. It cannot be denied that introducing literature early in the curriculum would offer many
benefits: classes will be more exciting and interactive. It would also stimulate their interest in
language study that will lead them to opt for literature electives.
Our main concern as teacher is not to teach about language but to develop learners‟ abilities
to make them capable of using the language for a variety of communicative purposes. There
is a difference between teaching about the language and communication in the language. In
the fact there is often a great ability gap between having information and being able to use it
spontaneously for communicative purposes. In order to bridge this gap and frame a relevant
syllabus, its contents should be made to bear a resemblance to the social contexts. This
awareness of the social context can be had from the world of literature which depicts society.
The syllabus should include verbal and non verbal communication, short narratives, short
stories, dialogues, conversation, and interviews. These short literary texts will---
●help teachers first to acquaint themselves with language use, to develop their own
competence and to understand language as a social phenomenon, and not as an exclusive
branch of learning.
●transform the classrooms as the stage in which there is real practice of communicative
language.
●help teachers to consider language as entailing social acceptability. In other words, they can
take classroom language as carrying resemblance with the outside language. As a result this
would raise communication to the level of a social responsibility.
●develop the intellectual ability of the learners and expose them to a variety of linguistic and
literary expressions and communicative functions of language.
●contextualize the language to help the learner to acquire grammar implicitly.
●incorporate linguistic competence into communicative competence by putting language into
use in different social situations.
Advantages of using Literature in the EFL Classroom
Maley (1989:12) lists some of advantages of literature as a potent resource in the language
classroom as follows:
1. Universality
2. Non-triviality
3. Personal Relevance
4. Variety

3. 5. Interest
6. Economy and Suggestive Power
7. Ambiguity
1. Universality
Because we are all human beings, the themes literature deals with are common to all cultures
despite their different way of treatment - death, love, separation, belief, nature ... the list is
familiar. These experiences all happen to human beings.
2. Non-triviality
Many of the more familiar forms of language teaching inputs tend to trivialize texts or
experience. Literature does not trivialize or talk down. It is about things which mattered to
the author when he wrote them. It may offer genuine as well as merely “authentic” inputs.
3. Personal Relevance
Since it deals with ideas, things, sensations and events which either constitute part of the
reader‟s experience or which they can enter into imaginatively, they are able to relate it to
their own lives.
4. Variety
Literature includes within it all possible varieties of subject matter. It is, in fact, a
battery of topics to use in ELT. Within literature, we can find the language of law and of
mountaineering, of medicine and of bull-fighting, of church sermons and nursery talk.
5. Interest
Literature deals with themes and topics which are intrinsically interesting, and treats them in
ways designed to engage the readers‟ attention.
6. Economy and suggestive power
One of the great strengths of literature is its suggestive power. Even in its simplest forms, it
invites us to go beyond what is said to what is implied. Since it suggests many ideas with few
words, literature is ideal for generating language discussion. Maximum output can often be
derived from minimum input.
7. Ambiguity

4. As it is highly suggestive and associative, literature speaks subtly different meanings to
different people. It is rare for two readers to react identically to any given text. In teaching,
this has two advantages. The first advantage is that each learner‟s interpretation has validity
within limits. The second advantage is that an almost infinite fund of interactive discussion is
guaranteed since each person‟s perception is different. That no two readers will have a
completely convergent interpretation establishes the tension that is necessary for a genuine
exchange of ideas.
Reasons for Using Literary Texts in Foreign Language Classes
According to Collie and Slater (1990:3), there are four main reasons which lead a
language teacher to use literature in the classroom- valuable authentic material, cultural
enrichment, language enrichment and personal involvement.
1. Valuable Authentic Material
Literature is authentic material. Most works of literature are not created for the
primary purpose of teaching a language. Many authentic samples of language in real-life
contexts (i.e. travel timetables, city plans, forms, pamphlets, cartoons, advertisements,
newspaper or magazine articles) are included within recently developed course materials.
Thus, in a classroom context, learners are exposed to actual language samples of real life or
to real life like settings. Literature can act as a beneficial complement to such materials,
particularly when the first survival level has been passed. In reading literary texts, students
become familiar with many different linguistic forms, communicative functions and
meanings. It is good to expose learners to this source of unmodified language in the
classroom because the skills they acquire in dealing with difficult or unknown language can
be used outside the class.
2. Cultural Enrichment
For many language learners, the ideal way to increase their understanding of verbal /
nonverbal aspects of communication in the country within which that language is spoken - a
visit or an extended stay - is just not possible. For such learners, literary works such as
novels, plays, short stories etc. facilitate understanding how communication takes place in
that country. Though the world of a novel, play, or short story is an imaginary one, it presents
a full and colourful setting in which characters from many social / regional backgrounds can

5. be described. A reader can discover the way the characters in such literary works see the
world outside (i.e. their thoughts, feelings, customs, traditions, possessions; what they buy,
believe in, fear, enjoy; how they speak and behave in different settings. This colourful created
world can quickly help the foreign learner to feel for the codes and preoccupations that shape
a real society through visual literacy of semiotics. Literature is perhaps best regarded as a
complement to other materials used to develop the foreign learner‟s understanding into the
country whose language is being learned. Also, literature adds a lot to the cultural grammar
of the learners.
Lazar (1993) also asserts this function. Although reading Shakespeare does not always
guarantee students‟ understanding of British culture, at least it gives students ideas on how
people live at certain period of time in England. Even when students read the Harry Potter
series, they can have glimpse of the government system in England because the stories
involve some incidents where the main characters need to contact their government.
3. Language Enrichment
One of the debates centred around literature teaching in the language classroom is whether
literature language is somehow different from other forms of discourse in that it breaks the
more usual rules of syntax, collocation and even cohesion.
Using literature with students can help them to become more sensitive to some of the overall
features of English. Some examples of different uses of English in literature are:

6. Who died, Daddy?"/"Nothing, Lisa," Jane told the child. "It's just big people's talk.
Now eat your egg up, sweetie." (An Answer from Limbo, by Brian Moore).
Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend/Upon thyself they beauty's legacy?
(„Sonnet 4‟, by William Shakespeare)
Literature provides learners with a wide range of individual lexical or syntactic items.
Students become familiar with many features of the written language, reading a substantial
and contextualized body of text. They learn about the syntax and discourse functions of
sentences, the variety of possible structures, the different ways of connecting ideas, which
develop and enrich their own writing skills. Students also become more productive and
adventurous when they begin to perceive the richness and diversity of the language they are
trying to learn and begin to make use of some of that potential themselves. Thus, they
improve their communicative and cultural competence in the authentic richness, naturalness
of the authentic texts.
4. Personal Involvement
Literature can be useful in the language learning process owing to the personal involvement it
fosters in the reader. Once the student reads a literary text, he begins to inhabit the text. He is
drawn into the text. Understanding the meanings of lexical items or phrases becomes less
significant than pursuing the development of the story. The student becomes enthusiastic to
find out what happens as events unfold via the climax; he feels close to certain characters and
shares their emotional responses. This can have beneficial effects upon the whole language
learning process. Here, the prominence of the selection of a literary text in relation to the
needs, expectations, interests and language level of the students is evident. In this process, he
can remove the identity crisis and develop into an extrovert. The students enjoy having
poetry, prose, and play in their language classroom. Enacting play encourages students to
experience the language kinaesthetically. On the other hand, with the right material and
preparation, storytelling can be a joyful activity, especially for the lower age students.
We cannot stop with Collie and Slater while talking about the importance of literature in
language classroom. There are many other reasons to support the role of literature in EFL
classrooms.
Literature encourages language acquisition:

7. As a matter of fact, literature serves the principles of language acquisition and language
learning. Hadaway, Vardell and Young (2002) propose at least three benefits of using
literature in EFL classroom that contributed to language acquisition. First, as second language
learning is similar to first language learning, literature provides „more meaningful
contextualized language than the skill-oriented material‟. By reading a piece of literature,
learners can see and feel how the language is used in context. Second, literature offers „social
and affective factors‟ as it comes with different formats –picture books, short stories,
newspaper to name a few- which suit different students and ask for discussions in various
sizes –individual, pair work, or group work. Third, through illustration and descriptive
language, literature gives input to model how the language is used naturally and
meaningfully.
Krashen (1993) mentions the difference between acquiring and learning language. While
learning is consciously undertaken, acquiring is subconsciously done. Reading literature
encourages learners to adopt the language subconsciously because it doesn‟t focus on forms
intentionally. In case of nursery rhymes and children literature, predictable and repetitive
patterns allow children to feel and link the language to their own lives (Ghosn, 1997). As the
authentic material, literature imparts the diverse forms and functions of written language
(Hadaway, et.al., 2002). Without having to memorize it, skillful readers will be aware that
telling a story requires the use of past tense, for instance, or that writing a letter follows
certain formats and conventions. Literature presents the registered language for different
contexts. It is in literature, learners can find the natural communication between doctor and
patient, or the king and his subjects.
Obviously, at lower levels, students may be unable to cope on their own with an authentic
novel or short story in English. Any extensive reading we encourage them to do outside the
classroom would probably need to be of graded material, such as graded readers. But at
higher levels, students may be so absorbed in the plot and characters of an authentic novel or
short story, that they acquire a great deal of new language almost in passing. If recorded
literary material is available (audio-books), then students can practice their listening skills.
The primary assumption is that teaching literature or literary texts make language acquisition
more use-focused instead of form-focused. Learning literature creates many positive attitudes
in learning and acquisition of English as FL or SL.
Literature develops students’ interpretative abilities:

8. Literary texts are often rich in multiple levels of meaning, and demand that the reader/learner
is actively involved in „teasing out‟ the unstated implications and assumptions of the text.
Thus, by encouraging our students to grapple with the multiple ambiguities of the literary
text, we are helping to develop their overall capacity to infer the meaning, and this can be
applied in real life.
Literature educates the whole person:
Apart from all the linguistic benefits, we cannot forget the wider educational function of
literature. It can help to stimulate the imagination of our students, to develop their critical
abilities and to increase their emotional awareness. If we ask the students to respond
personally to the texts we give them, they will become increasingly confident about
expressing their own ideas and emotions in English.
Literature enhances critical thinking

9. Furthermore, both Lazar (2005) and Hadaway et.al. (2002) (quoted in Kaur Bedi Kiranjeet
Dr.,) agree that literature enhance students‟ critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skill is
the ability to make a careful and conscious judgment based on multiple perspective before
accepting or rejecting a certain claim. As literary texts are often rich in multiple levels of
meanings, the EFL learners, should be able to uncover the implied meanings of a particular
text. For example, in a poem, a word may have figurative meanings that should be interpreted
by the readers. The attempt to disclose the real meaning of the word gives the students the
opportunity to see the meaning from different angles. This activity helps students to develop
their critical thinking skills because they have to be able to produce sound argument on their
choice of interpretation. Ultimately, unlike textbook readers, literature readers are able to
choose and judge any reading materials to function them better, allow them vicarious
experiences.
Literature plays a vital role in developing language learning abilities by training learners to
infer meaning through different language. Literary discourse offers perspective, which
inspires learners to think and use language in a sensible and effective way. Literature offers a
wide range of language structures which can enhance our understanding of the range of
language usages. This undertaking has a direct impact on the learners‟ ability to learn and use
language for the expression and response of those thoughts and ideas. Literary work, in such
a situation, becomes a vehicle for language learning. So there seems little doubt of using
literature in English language teaching classroom.
Works Cited
Carter, R and McRae, J (Eds) 1996, Language, Literature and the learner Harlow: Addison
Wesley Longman.
Carter, R. & Nash, W. (1990) Seeing through language, Oxford: Blackwell.
Collie, J. and S. Slater. 1990. Literature in the Language Classroom: A Resource Book of
Ideas and Activities. Cambridge: CUP.
Ghosn, I. 1997. „ESL with children‟s literature: The way whole language worked in one
kindergarten class‟. The English Teaching FORUM 35/3: 14–19 (29).
Hadaway, N.L.,Vardel, S.M., and Young T.A(2002).Literature based instruction with
English Language Learners .K-12.Boston:Allyn and Bacon.
Kaur Bedi Kiranjeet Dr. “Language Acquisition Through Literature Promotes Creativity and
Thinking Skill" The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol.II. 2011.

10. Krashen, S. (1993).The input hypothesis: issues and implications. Longman Publications,
London, UK.
Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and language teaching: a guide for teachers and trainers.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Maley, A. 1989. “Down from the Pedestal: Literature as Resource” in Literature and the
Learner: Methodological Approaches. Cambridge: Modern English Publications.