The role of a Literature-based Program in the ESL Classroom

Parvin Ghasemi 1

Recently, some researchers have renewed the discussion concerning the role of literature in
the achievement of linguistic proficiency which had been ignored in ESL programs whose
central aim is the achievement of linguistic proficiency. They maintain that literature can help
the ESL learners, especially at higher levels of education, to improve their acquisition of
linguistic skills. By using literature as a technique of teaching English, it is meant the use of
some literary texts such as short stories, poems, drama and novels to generate a series of tasks
and activities to enable the learners to function effectively in the acquisition of second
language skills. The rationale for the multidimensional benefits of using literature in the ESL
classroom can the conviction that literature can offer the learners aesthetic, moral and spiritual
values . Moreover, the learners view literature as something different from what they face
ordinarily in their classical textbooks. Literature can be appealing to them because it can
express their natural feelings.
Maley (1987) enumerates these special virtues for learning English through literature as:
Universality, Non-Triviality, personal relevance, variety, Interest, Economy and suggestive
power, and ambiguity. Michael Young (2000) also asserts that "literature is by definition
authentic text, and both verbal response and activity response are genuine language activities,
not ones contrived around a fabricated text" (58).
Thus, the advocates of a literature-based program in ESL classes justify its usefulness due to
its suitable context and contextualization, high educational potential, class-cultural awareness
and discussion-motivating and interpretative qualities.

1
- Associate professor Dept of Foreign Languages and Linguistics College of Literature and Humanities Shiraz
University
Introduction:

Recently, some researchers have renewed the discussion concerning the role of literature in
the achievement of linguistic proficiency, an important pedagogical factor which had been
ignored in ESL programs whose central aim is the achievement of linguistic proficiency.
These researchers maintain that literature can help the ESL learners, especially at higher
levels of education, to improve their acquisition of linguistic skills. By using literature as a
technique of teaching English, it is meant the use of some literary texts such as short stories,
poems, drama and novels to generate a series of tasks and activities to enable the learners to
function effectively in the acquisition of second language skills. The rationale for the
multidimensional benefits of using literature in the ESL classroom can be the conviction that
literature can offer the learners aesthetic, moral and spiritual values. Moreover, ESL learners
view literature as something different from what they face ordinarily in their classical
textbooks. Literature can be appealing to them because it can express their natural feelings.
"Because literature expresses both cultural values and universal human values, its study can
promote internal as well as international communication" (Marckwardt, cited in Spack,
1985:705). Comparing non-literary text to literary ones, McConochie (cited in Spack,
1985:705) believes, "students read such texts [non-literary] but do not become humanly
engaged in them; they do not view them as a meaningful use of language. ESL students
deserve to discover that English can be a beautiful language, not just a practical and utilitarian
one." In addition, according to Littlewood (1976), literary texts, in contrast to
“informational” texts, have a unique relationship to external reality. They depend upon it for
their own material and interpretability, and after selecting elements from it, aim to combine
these elements into a new portion of reality which exists only within the text. The literary
reader’s creative (or rather, ‘co-creative’) role, and the imaginative involvement engendered
by this role, encourage a dynamic interaction between reader, text and external world.
Consequently, the possibly static and unquestionable reality of the informational text is
replaced by a fluid, dynamic reality, creating an environment with a strong potential for a
meaningful dialogue with the text or, at group level, about the text (Cited in Brumfit and
Carter, 2000: 14-15).

Discussion:

The issue of teaching literature, classic or any artistic work written in English, as a part of
EFL/ESL curriculum has been much debated since the sixties. Today, with the
interdisciplinary outlook in the academics, there is a renewed concentration on the use of
literature in the classroom.
Maley (1987, cited in Carter, R. & Walker, R., 1989) makes a valuable distinction between
the study of literature and the use of literature as a means of language learning and asserts that
the former involves an approach to texts as cultural artifacts while the latter involves starting
from this conviction that literature is language in use and can therefore be exploited for
language learning purposes. Maley (1987) states that "in the literary critical approach, for the
first purpose, we focus on the literariness of the texts we study –on plot, characterization,
motivation, value, psychology, background, etc. This is the traditional approach familiar to
most of us from our own education" (Cited in Carter: 11). According to him, achieving this
goal requires the students to have already attained a level of competence in the language, and
familiarity with the literary conventions which would allow them access to literary texts for
this purpose.

Maley counts a number of special virtues for learning English through literature, the most
important of which are:
 1. Universality

No known language is without literature (oral or written). The themes literature deals
with are common to all cultures though the treatment of them may be different --
Death, Love, Separation, Beliefs, Nature…. The list is familiar. Even the genre,
conventions, and devices employed by literature are common across cultures (though
of course there is no one-to-one correspondence.)

2. Non-triviality

Many of the more familiar forms of language teaching inputs tend to trivialize texts or
experiences. Literature does not trivialize or talk down. Literature is a about things
that mattered to the author when he wrote them. It offers genuine as well as merely
"authentic" inputs.

3. Personal relevance

Because it deals with ideas, things, sensations and events which either form part of the
readers' 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 conceivable varieties of the language, and all possible
varieties of subject matter. Within literature, we shall find the language of law and of
mountaineering, of medicine and of bullfighting, of church sermons and nursery talk.
Students may be exposed to as much as or as little of this as desirable but they never
lack for variety.

5. Interest

Literature deals with themes and topics which are intrinsically interesting because they
are part of the vast domain of human experience 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. Because 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

Because it is highly suggestive and associative, literature speaks subtly and delivers
different meanings to different people. It is rare for two readers to react identically to
any given text.

Using literature as a language learning tool has two benefits in this respect. On one hand,
we may say that each learner's interpretation has validity. On the other hand, since each
person's perception is different, an almost infinite fund of interactive discussion is guaranteed.
The very fact that no two readers will have a totally convergent interpretation creates the
tension necessary for a genuine exchange of ideas in class discussions.

However, some linguists do not agree with using literature in language classes and ignore
the important role of literary texts and material as means of language improvement. Linguists
such as Topping (1968) argue that literature should be excluded from the ESL curriculum
because it has a complex structure, does not confirm to standard grammatical rules, and
includes remote cultural perspectives. In other words, these linguists believe that literature
does not contribute to ESL students' practical goal of achieving linguistic proficiency.

Other linguists do not reject the role of literature in enhancing learners' proficiency
completely. However, they question the efficiency of a literature-based program for different
levels of proficiency, particularly the lower levels. For instance, Leech (1973: cited in Lazar
1994) believes that many literary texts, whether prose or poetry, are written in a language
which includes vocabulary, grammatical structure, and syntax considered too complicated to
be included in the syllabus for learners at lower levels. There may be rhetorical or literary
devices in the text (such as complex metaphors and other figures of speech) which might
present difficulty for the students to unravel.

Culler (1975 cited in Lazar 1994) also objects to using literature at lower levels and relates
this objection to the literary competence of the students, and hence their ability or rather
inability to generate valid interpretations of a text. But as Lazar (1990) states, "the last decade
has seen renewed interest in using literature in the language learning classroom" (207) and
many linguists and language teachers approve the significant role of literature as a language
input, among which one can cite the followings: Ruth K.A. Delvin (1996) in "Developing
Language Skills in Second Language learners through Literature discussions" has concluded
that the inclusion of literature in a one-year ESL program, an experiment which she has
conducted, can greatly improve the students' overall language skills. Ginal Deblase (2005) in
"Teaching Literature and language through Guided Discovery and Informal Classroom
Drama" has also utilized drama to generate a productive learning process. Hyun-Soo Hur in
(2005) "Literature-based Activities and Language Socialization in an elementary ESL
classroom," Kemhard Harry Hess(1999) in "Poetry as an Intercultural Peace Bridge for
teachin ESL," and Susan Louis Stern in "Teaching Literature in ES/EFL: an Integrative
Approach" have all elaborated on the multidimensional advantages of teaching literature to
improve ESL skills.

Lazar (1993: 1-14) in Literature and Language Teaching emphasizes the efficiency of using
literature and gives some reasons for the productive use of literature used in the language
classroom. He outlines these advantages as the following:

a. It is very motivating.

b. It is authentic material.

c. It has general educational value.

d. It is found in many syllabuses.

e. It helps students to understand another culture.

f. It is a stimulus for language acquisition.

g. It develops students' interpretative abilities.

h. Students enjoy it and it is fun.

i. It is highly valued and has a high status.

j. It expands students' language awareness.

k. It encourages students to talk about their opinions and feelings.

Gajdusek (1988: 227-254) in an article entitled "Towards Wider Use of Literature in ESL:
Why and How" advocates the use of literature especially for "a wide range of mature ESL
students." In her article, Gajdusek examines literature "in terms of current ESL theory
(discourse analysis, context and contextualization, schema theory, and class-cultural
awareness)."

She also presents "an orderly, four-step approach to any literary text, an approach that obliges
students to take responsibility for building their own successively more complex schemata,
which allow them to explore a text on successively more demanding levels." These
classroom techniques are:

1.Rereading activities: essential background information and vocabulary

2.Factual in-class work: who, where, when, and what

3.Analysis: aspects of structure, theme and style

4.Extending activities: in-class activities that extend the ideas or situations encountered in the
text: written response (227-254).

Describing a BA language development course in a TESL program, Elliott (1990: 191-198)

also believes that literature can be beneficial in the language classroom. In this program, the
course integrates language and drama activities with literature in a mutually supportive way,
in the belief that literature provides advanced language learners with highly motivational
material of an incomparably rich nature. In the concluding part of his article, Elliot discusses
the rationale for integrating language, literature, and drama. He asserts that advanced
language learners need material of a high motivational value in order to make significant
progress. The second assumption is that literature provides students with an "incomparably
rich source of authentic material" over a wide range of registers. If students can gain access
to this material by developing literary competence, then they should effectively internalize the
language at a very high level. Elliot further asserts that the multidimensional quality of
literature offers advanced students a unique and worldwide input, especially when students
"can genuinely engage within its thoughts and emotions and appropriate the importance of
developing student-response and literary competence" (197).

Indeed, literary texts provide natural and rewarding opportunities for group work and / or
open-ended exploration by the individual student. It is significant to notice that the
contribution of literature to language study and teaching is mutual. Thus, an awareness of the
paradigms surrounding the interaction and integration of literature and linguistics on the part
of the teacher can facilitate the process of teaching literature for language purposes.
According to Brumfit and Carter (2000: 20):
Teachers need to contextualize such ‘integration’: (a) by recognizing the importance
or linguistic and non-linguistic criteria in text selection; (b) by using ‘language-based
approaches’ as prior to stylistic analysis where the needs of the learners require this;
(c) by recognizing that some areas of language organization can create greater
problems than others, especially in the case of foreign students (e.g. lexis with the
many social and cultural associations it can convey); (d) by according a due
contextualization to social, historical, biographical, and political background to text
study, where appropriate, while at the same time recognizing the contrasting
methodological problems this can produce….[since] background studies often involve
transmissive teacher-centred exposition.
They further maintain," however, teachers will recognize that the kinds of competence thus
developed have to be located within a framework which incorporates culture –specific
assumption, relations between literature and ideology, notions of a ‘canon’ of texts, and the
linguistic and other issues provoked by the existence of literatures in English alongside
English literature – a framework, in other words, with direct implications for syllabus design
and methodology in language and literature” (21). As Trengove argues, “the development of
awareness of varieties of English in use is crucial to an adequate teaching of literature in a
foreign language, and that literature study should also enhance awareness of language
functions" (Cited in Brumfit and Carter: 38). Trengove further asserts that teaching activities
based on literary texts can provide for ESL students "both a clue for investigation of, and a
focus for application of aspects of the linguistic competence which teachers seek to develop in
their students" (68). In addition to learner / text relationship, the teacher-learner/learner-
learner relationship should also be explored. It is very imperative for the teacher to know how
to set up the procedures, where and when to make to a direct input, and when to rely on a
learner-centered activity. The teacher’s role can be compared to a writer who should be able
“to exploit the capacities of a literary text to express shifts in social context, role relationships,
attitude to subject matter, emotional associations and so on” (Long 38).
Conclusion:
Thus, the rationale for using literature in language teaching can be stated as the following:

1. Teaching literature contributes to the EFL/ESL students' intellectual, social and moral
development.
2. Reading a genuine, imaginative work assists the students' internalization of the linguistic
points already learned.
3. Literature increases the level of motivation and interest in students' linguistic acquisition.
4. Employment of a genuine text contributes to the students' efforts at natural communication
and enhances their degree of linguistic competence.
5. Finally, constant exposure and re-reading of literary texts provide the students with the
necessary intuitive awareness about language in use and can promote relevant oral and written
responses.
This study, therefore, proposes that there is a strong case for using literature as a part of
language teaching syllabus. It, further, attempts to point to some approaches and strategies
which can facilitate the use of literary texts in language classroom. These approaches concern
text selection, text organization, directives for presenting material in class, and finally the
assessment process.
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