LITERATURE: IS IT A GOOD TOOL IN THE LANGUAGE TEACHING?
By Paola Andrea Torres Durán
By Paola Andrea Torres Durán
Literature is the art of expressing and creating, in an oral or written form, a literary text. In other words, all artistic creations expressed in words, even if they have not been written, but transmitted from mouth to mouth, according to Rafael Lapesa, are literatures. But all written texts are not literary texts. It is only those which are written in an artistic and aesthetic way.
But why should literature be used in language teaching? There are many reasons; for example, literature helps to increase vocabulary and stimulates cultural enrichment, which is important because it enables students to have a better understanding of life and the social context in which language is used.
According to Nazia Hussain, “the use of literature in a language classroom provides enough space for the learners to comment, justify and mirror themselves. Such a class can enhance the critical thinking abilities of the learners and at the same time maintain a learner centred environment. Thus, it gives the teacher an opportunity to open a broad context of language use for the students. By using literary texts the language class can turn out to be lively and motivating. The purpose of using literature in a language classroom is to make the class interactive and it can be stated that an interactive class can obviously improve communicative competence of the learners and keep a lasting impact on their mind.”
As is said in the last paragraph, the use of literature in the classroom does not only improve the cognitive skills, helping the students to develop their capacity to analyze, interpret and understand any text, but also to improve the communicative skills through written and oral comprehension. Moreover, innovation in materials and the way they are used is very important to create a pleasant environment where the students feel comfortable and motivated to participate in class, which breaks the monotony of traditional language classes.
Another good reason to use literature is given in the book: literature in the language classroom a resource book of ideas and activities. “In reading literary texts, students have also to cope with language intended for native speakers and thus they gain additional familiarity with many different linguistic uses, forms and conventions of written mode: with irony, exposition, argument, narration, and so on.”
Through this kind of reading it is possible to teach the grammatical and linguistic components of the language, including different registers, types of language use and ways of expression in a language, such as greeting people, expressing gratitude, making requests, and agreeing or disagreeing with someone. It is also possible to know the behavior and intonation patterns that are appropriate in the foreign community to express something, in order to learn correct oral and written expression. Collie and Slater note that literature can familiarize "many features of the written language--the formation and function of sentences, the variety of possible structures, and the different ways of connecting ideas--which broaden and enrich their own writing skills"
But what does a “foreign community” refer to? There are many places where the English language is spoken such as the United States, Britain, and Australia. Even if they have the same language, they do not always have the same ways of expression to refer to something, both orally or in a written form.
Another question that is necessary to answer is; how can we teach language through literature? In the same way that there are many reasons to use literature, there are many forms of teaching a language through it.
Some activities such as question/answer, true/false statements, multiple choices, precise writing, and letter writing, can be used to facilitate the comprehension of texts. Students can also write their comments regarding how they enjoyed the literary piece, which part of the text they liked most, which character appealed most to them and why etc. Through all these techniques the students can improve their creative and imaginative faculties as well.
Another strategy that can be used is the translation of texts as a way to reinforce the interpretative skill. Translation, according to Larson, is a craft, which consists in an attempt to “discover the meaning of the source text and to use receptor language forms which express this meaning in a natural way.” This definition implies that before translation can be attempted, the translator has first to understand the text itself. Hence, interpretation plays a crucial part in the translation process.
When the students are translating the text, they are constantly required to take on the task of examining words, grammatical structures and emotional and cultural contexts of the source text in order to discover its meaning and understand it. But the disadvantage of this method is that it basically emphasizes the writing skill and the learning of grammatical rules.
Translation also helps students to increase their vocabulary in different ways. One way could be that the teacher could help by giving the meaning of certain words from the text and encourage the students to make sentences with them. Another way is using synonyms and antonyms to replace certain words in the text without changing the meaning of the text or making sentences with them, to make a comparison between the respective synonyms and antonyms.
Bedsides all these advantages, the best thing about working with these kinds of readings is the variety of ways in which activities can be developed. Examples of activities which can be used are: interpretation questioners about the text, vocabulary games in which the students have to associate the meaning of some unusual words used in the text, ordering events in a chronological way, role plays and others.
According to Collie and Salter Short Stories for Creative Language Classrooms provide English language learners with an authentic way to learn English and it is short stories that promote creative activities that address all four skill areas: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The stories and activities are all designed, not only to educate students, but also to inspire, involve and intrigue them. Short Stories develop exercises for the practice of specific grammar or literary points, as well as offering tasks and creative activities that allow the learner to become involved in the story itself, rather than focused solely on language acquisition
To conclude, including literature in the teaching of the English language is an important factor for the Students to have a chance to learn vocabulary, analyze information individually and in group discussion, to stimulate analytical, critical and interpretative thinking and learn many grammatical aspects. But it also enables the teacher to change from traditional methodology and increase the students’ motivation. Finally, as Shanahan says, Literature indeed helps students to expand their “linguistic and cognitive skills, cultural knowledge and sensitivity”.
