1. Ubaidullah Khan
Department of English language & Applied
Linguistics
Allama Iqbal open university, Islamabad
10/30/2013
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2. 
A linguistics professor was lecturing to her
class one day.
"In English," she said, “a double negative forms
a positive. In some languages, though, such as
Russian, a double negative is still a negative.
However, there is no language wherein a
double positive can form a negative."
A voice from the back of the room piped up,
"Yeah, right."
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3. 
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What is Literature?
An umbrella term giving information on
every business. (Moody: 1971).
Eg. Literature
agriculture etc.
for
medicine,
science,
Literature is the use of language effectively
in suitable conditions (Baird: 1969).
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4. 
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Traditional Method of teaching Literature
Literary terms and difficult words introduced
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Analysis of literary text without actually
understanding it
Outcome is Memorising / rephrasing practice
Students only learn difficult words or
patterns of texts
Language learning efficiency reduces and
boredom increases.
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5. 
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Rationale for literature:
Literary texts can be used in language teaching
because the language used in these texts is
suitable for the contexts of the events.
Containing real examples of grammatical
structures and vocabulary items, the literary
texts raise learners’ awareness of the range
of the target language and advance their
competence in all language skills (Povey,
1967)
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6. 
Why Literature in EFL Classroom?
1. Cultural enrichment and awareness.
 Helps understand a culture & its ideologies
 Selection of works of best wisdom of that culture.
2. Mental training: trains mind and sensibility.
3. Memorability: Easy to remember linguistic
usage (Maley & Moulding, 1985).
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7. 
Why Literature in EFL Classroom? 2
4.
Rhythmic resource. Poems assist the
learner in
language.
assimilating
5.
Motivating
material.
the
rhythms
of
May be based
interesting material and motivational themes.
Convenience.
a
on
6.
Literature
(photocopiable) resource.
7.
Open to interpretation/ Promotes interaction.
is
a
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handy
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8. 
Why Literature in EFL Classroom? 3
8.
Linguistic
model:
9.
Extension of linguistic competence:
Best demonstration
language use and style by established writers
of
Students’ linguistic competence increases
10. Authenticity: A source of genuine &undistorted
language input
Parkinson & Thomas (2000: 9-11)
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9. 
Literature vs Conventional Discourse
Conventional discourse: use guess work to
get to information and skip lines/ passages
and still interpret.
Literature: look for evidence of the new
reality,
and
adopt
a
procedure
for
interpretation to make sense of the
discourse.
Literature provides wider room for ‘inference’
which guarantees employment of more
discoursal strategies.
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10. Some Questions
1. What to teach when we use literary texts?

(select material appropriate to level of the class)
2. What kind of text to work with?
(select according to the need of students/course
objectives)
3. What can literary text be used for?
(to teach language, not only history or themes)
4. How to make students enjoy literature?
(motivate by teaching literature of their interest)
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11. 
What is Appropriate

Readability (length and cultural apropriacy)
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Lexis: Easy (day to day) to difficult (pompous or
robust)
Grammar: Different levels of syntactic
complexity
Style: Do not start of with Francis Bacon if it is
elementary level
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12. 
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Using Short Story for Language Teaching
Teaching Grammar
Teaching pronunciation
Teaching Narration
Teaching Description
Teaching Punctuation
Comprehension questions
Vocabulary quizzes (multiple options)
Guessing contextual meanings
Prediction (what next)
Making sentences reflecting multiple
meanings of a word
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13. 
Using Short Story for Language ;;;;;;;;contd.

Writing story (based on given words/storyline)
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Comments on last line of the story
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Create a new story based on ending of story
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Creative writing as home task (response to the
story they have read)
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14. 
100 word story
Analyse the two stories in terms of their lexis,
grammar and style.
Dadatic
and
Maeve Haran
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15. Story 1
My dentist was injured today while she was
torturing me. I didn't bite her. She cut herself
with one of her instruments. While she ran to
cure her wound, I stayed there with an open
mouth, not because I was dumbfounded, but
because she had not given me permission to
close it. Fortunately she could soon resume the
operation, as her wound was not really serious.
But it's my first time of rightfully shared pain at
the dentist's. She quickly disposed of my tooth
before I could say a word. Now what am I going
to put beneath my pillow?

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16. Story 2:
He had planned his whole life on the back of an
envelope. She didn’t possess a pen let alone a
lifeplan. She was a free spirit. She went with the
flow. Love picked him like a tornado and swept
him in her wake.
After ten years she demanded a divorce. She
needed certainty in her life, the security of
knowing her future. He had learned to live from
day to day. It irritated the hell out of her. “We
always kill the thing we love,” she told him
blithely as he got out the kitchen knife.. She
hadn’t meant herself.

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17. 
Activity:
Turn over your handout.
Enlist the underlined words in the two stories
that you remember.
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18. 
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Teaching Word “Forms”
Complete the word form chart. Remember that
some words do not have all forms. (Form)
Verb
Adverb
participle
Noun
Adjective
Speak
------
Speaking
Speaker
Speakable
think
bright
bluntly
understand
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19. 
Teaching “use”
a) She (apologise) __________ for being late
for the meeting yesterday.
b) The doctor said that his great optimism
(help)____ him recover soon.
c) It is quite difficult (get)____used to
(live)___alone.
d) We often go (fish)_______along the bank.
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20. 10/30/2013
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21. Speaking skills
 The student are asked to read a story as a chain
activity. It will enhance fluency and improve
pronunciation. (primary)

 The
students recall and read the story as a
chain activity using the given connectors and
discourse markers such as “however”, “then”,
“consequently”, “regarding”, “as far as”.
(Intermediate)
 The
students play different roles based on
characters in the story (Advanced)
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22. 
Activity:
 Imagine
you are the doctor (student A) who
diagnoses that Aamir (student B) has only six
more months to live. Tell him what he is
suffering from. Make sure you are convincing.
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23. 
Listening Skills
Read the story out loud so students have the
opportunity to listen to a native speaker of
English (if at all possible); or
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Play the story if a recording is available.
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Who is the main character of the story?
Where/when does the story take place?
What is the problem (conflict) in the story?
How is the conflict resolved?
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24. http://l.georges.online.fr/tools/cloze.html
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25. I Was Never Able To Pray (By Edward Hirsch)
Wheel me (i)____(ii)______ the shore
where the lighthouse was abandoned
and the moon tolls (iii)______ the rafters.
Let me hear the wind paging (iv)_____ the trees
and see the stars flaring (v)_____ one (vi)___ one,
like the forgotten faces (vii)______the dead.
I was never able (viii)______pray,
But let me inscribe my name
(ix)______the book (ix)________waves
and then stare (xi)______the dome
(xii)_____a sky that never ends
and see my voice sail (xiii)_____the night.
by, down, in, into,of, out, through, to
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26. 
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Wheel me down to the shore
where the lighthouse was abandoned
and the moon tolls in the rafters.
Let me hear the wind paging through the trees
and see the stars flaring out, one by one,
like the forgotten faces of the dead.
I was never able to pray,
but let me inscribe my name
in the book of waves
and then stare into the dome
of a sky that never ends
and see my voice sail into the night.
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27. 
Pronunciation Teaching using Poetry
And we sit upon the rocks
Seeing the shepherd feed their flocks
By shallow river to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals
Sounds in focus: /s/, /z/
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28. Using Plays in EFL Class
 They
are short, compact and involving
 Can be used for promoting speaking and
reading skills
 Students may be asked to enact and feel a
sense of participation
 They may be asked to write a short play on an
imaginative / experienced situation
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29. Conclusion:
Literature is effective for teaching language since it
___________________________________
provides an authentic model of real life language
use.
It not only teaches language, it also encourages
one’s cultural and personal growth by means of
moral and spiritual advancement.
Literature is not an end, it is a means to develop
creative ability which helps students relate
themselves to their socio-psychological context.
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