TEACHING PRINCIPLES OF USING LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

CLASSROOM
Submitted to fulfill the assignment of Literature for ELT

PAPER

Arranged By

Group 3

Refiana Putri 2130104056

Sintia Pratiwi 2130104067
Sonia Fitri 2130104070

Lecturer:
Yuliana Kasuma, S.S., M.Pd

ENGLISH TEACHING DEPARTMENT TARBIYAH AND

TEACHER TRAINING FACULTY
UIN MAHMUD YUNUS BATUSANGKAR
2024
 PREFACE

The author's gratitude to God Almighty who has bestowed his grace and mercy so
that the author can complete the paper with the title Students’ Need of English.
The writing of this paper aims to fulfill the assignment of the Literature for ELT
course. The paper prepared by group 3 of TBI class 6 C UIN Mahmud Yunus
Batusangkar is based on various relevant sources.
The author would like to thank both parents who always provide support to
the author. I would also like to thank Mrs. Yuliana Kasuma, S.S., M.Pd, as the
lecturer of the Introduction to English Literature course, and all those who have
provided assistance and motivation to the author who cannot be mentioned one by
one. May God always give his grace to them.
By writing this paper, the author hopes that it can be useful for the author
and readers. Hopefully, writers and readers can apply principle of teaching
literature . The author fully realizes that there are still many shortcomings that the
author has in writing this paper. For this reason, the author asks for suggestions
and criticism so that in the future he can write better.
Batusangkar, March 2024

Writers

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 CONTENT
PREFACE.............................................................................................. i
CONTENT............................................................................................. ii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Paper ................................................. 1
B. Purpose of the Paper........................................................ 1
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION
A. Literature as Teaching Material.................................................. 2
B. Literrary Teaching Problems................................................. 3
C. Teaching Principles of Using Literature in English
Classroom.......................................................................................4
CHAPTER III CONCLUSION
A. Conclusion................................................................................ 9
REFERENCES

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 1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Paper

Literature has great potential as a pedagogical tool in the English classroom,
offering a multitude of narratives, characters, and themes to engage and inspire students.
In this paper the author explores the basic principles that guide the effective integration
of literature learning into English language teaching. By utilizing educational theories
and practices that are relevant to previous theories, this paper explains teaching
principles aimed at maximizing teachers' use of education obtained from literature.
This paper with title " Teaching Principles Of Using Literature In English
Classroom " explains literature as teaching material, and continues with the problems
teachers face in teaching literature, therefore this paper is here to explain the principles
that teachers must pay attention to when teaching literature in class, in this paper we
have created several sources from relevant theories.
The principles explained in this paper emphasize the importance of selecting texts
that suit students' interests, language abilities, and cultural background. This paper
explains how literature functions as a link to learning in the classroom with literature as
a learning tool.
So this paper aims to provide practical guidance for educators in designing and
implementing literature-based learning. By outlining relevant principles and effective
strategies, this paper enables educators to improve the quality of their teaching and
increase student engagement and understanding of course material.

B. Purpose of the Paper

The purpose of this paper is to find out:
1. Literature as teaching material.
2. Literarry Teaching Problems
3. Teaching Principles of Using Literature in English Classroom.
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CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Literature as Teaching Material
The idea of using literary works in language teaching has been around since the
era of Grammar Translation Method (GTM); however, the popularity goes up and down
as people's orientations keep changing, so do the trends in language teaching. Literature
in language teaching has experienced being adored and then ignored, then adored again.
Some people agree to put literature as the source of learning, but at the same time some
others are against the idea. Controversies remain undeniable; however, there is
stillbelieve that values of bringing literature into language teaching and learning are
worth considering. Activities in using literature in language teaching and learning might
be one point need to be considered wisely so literature will be able to be aptly employed
in the language classrooms.
In relation to English language teaching and learning, literary works are very
useful source of language teaching and learning activities. Can call it literary works can
expand language awareness, encourages interaction and discussions, and educates the
whole learner's personality. According to Ellis (2002) cited in (Nuswantara et al., 2018)
argues that foreign language teachers should use non-defensive approaches in classes,
because English language teaching has linguistic, psychological, cognitive, social and
cultural objectives, and literature meets them.
Meanwhile according to (Ihejirika, 2014) cited some experts Collie and Slater
(1987) support the inclusion of Literature in the language classroom because it provides
valuable authentic material, develops personal involvement and help contribute to
readers’ cultural as well as language enrichment. Still on the utilities of Literature, Lazar
(1993, pp. 15-19) provides five reasons for using literature in ELT to include:
1. Motivating materials
2. Encouraging language acquisition
3. Expanding students’ language awareness
4. Developing students’ interpretative abilities
5. Educating the whole person.
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B. Literarry Teaching Problems
Based on (Permanaludin, 2017) a lot of literary teaching problems, especially
teaching of English literature, emerge up because teaching methods practiced by
teachers cannot bring about change of thinking patterns, either of the teachers or of their
students. Some literary teachers, by seeing empirical evidence, still apply the
conventional teaching in classrooms; meanwhile a few have begun practicing
electronic-learning or modern teaching in classrooms. Ideally, teaching of English
literature needs to be able to harvest convincing results in the shape of creative-writings,
especially literary works.
In addition, the real problem, in terms of literary teaching, is that an English
literature teacher explores less how to develop productive methods of teaching English
literature in classrooms. This reality becomes visible indication for some educational
institutions in Indonesia. It is necessary to understand and at the same time develop
methodology of literary teaching, especially that of English literature, since it is still
considered being problematic. Accordingly, significant efforts, in teaching English
literature, should be conducted to get convincing outcomes for educational
development.
From (A. Aziz & Nasharudin, 2020) observation Most of the students do not know
how to appreciate the culture in the poem or short story and interpret the social, political,
literary and historical perspective of a specific text. They only see literature as an
ordinary reading text and do not really discover the underlying principle of learning
literature. The teachers’ teaching might be one of the reasons why students do not have
any interest in learning literature. Teachers only focus on the language part of the
literature i.e. grammar, vocabulary and skills while neglecting the other aspect of it
which is the appreciation of the literature works.
Other than that, not all teachers are aware of the importance of literature in the
teaching and learning process. Many of them teach literature for the purpose of
examination, not understanding or appreciating. Their main concern is only to make
sure the students know how to answer the exam questions. This is so misleading because
those teachers tend to speed their lessons causing them to become tedious, stereotype
and confusing for the students. Moreover, some teachers also are having problems with
the approach to teach literature in ESL classrooms. They do not know what is the best
approach to teach literature in order for students to gain both language and appreciation
of the literature itself.
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C. Teaching Principles of Using Literature in English Classroom.
Faced of the problems above writers have assumption that teacher not pay
attention what the principle in teaching literature, teaching English could be fun if
literature is taught as a part of the English subject whilst making learning exciting and
exploratory. Unfortunately, most teachers claim that teaching literature is the most
difficult thing to do. (Muthusamy et al., 2017) Teaching literature could be done in
various ways but some of the teachers might not concern themselves with the best ways
of teaching literature. According to ( Duff and Maley, 2007) suggest to consider four
essential points prior to bringing literature to the ELT classrooms in text selections there
are
1. selecting the most appropriate text based on learners‟ needs and interests
2. linguistic difficulties (selecting the most relevant text that suits learners‟ level of
language proficiency)
3. length (selecting text based on the time allotment)
4. cultural difficulty (selecting text that shares culture to urge learner‟s self-
involvement as cultural beings)
5. cultural appropriateness (selecting text that facilitate learners‟ language
development).
Teaching English using literature can be given to both beginner and advanced
students by adjusting the level of difficulty, the subject matter familiarity of the selected
text, and other aspects of the learning activity. For example (Arafah et al., 2021) cited
some expert there are in general, Mourao (2009) suggests the use of picture books and
traditional tales to teach children by considering the themes, language structure and
vocabulary, visual support availability, and familiarity of the story, while Ho (2000) is
of the opinion that children‟s literature can also be used to teach teenage and adult
learners, signifying that picture book is not exclusive only for children. For instance, the
Norwegian picture book Sinna Mann (Angry Man) can be used to teach both children
and adults (Bjorvand, 2010).
Then writers read the other source of steps proposed to be taken into account for
using literature in ELT according to (Arafah, 2018) :
1. Making decision about a needs analysis
In this first step, the teachers are required to analyse three things regarding the
literary works i.e. The first, the teachers need to know the types of literary works that
the learners want to learn. This will help the teachers to identify the learners’
interests, preferences, and motivation. When the learners reveal their needs,
prefernces, and interests in learning a type of literary work, it will rise their personal
involvement and positive reactions to learning the literary work. The result of this
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analysis should be taken into account for the inclusion of a certain literary work in
the course of ELT. The second; the teachers need to analyse the difficulty level of
the selected literary works in terms of grammar, lexical items and text patterns. The
results of the analysis must be related to the learners’ levels of proficiency in English.
If the language of the literary work is simple and relevant to the learners’ proficiency
level, this may facilitate the comprehensibility of the literary text. The third; the
teachers need to analyse and ensure that a literary work brings pleasure and
enjoyment to the learners.
2. Formulating learning objectives.
Analyzing the three items as specified above will result in the identification of
three things i.e. the types of literary works mostly preferred by the learners, the
difficulty level of the literary works which is suitable for the level of learners’ English
proficiency, as well as delightful literary works. Another crucial thing to do is to
determine the learning objectives. Stating objectives of using literature in ELT helps
to bring into focus the teachers’ vision and targets for the course. Richards (2001) is
of the opinion that objectives have four main purposes i.e. to provide a reason for a
program, to provide guidelines for teachers and learners, to provide a focus for
learning, to describe important and realizable in learning. In short, the learning
objectives describe the learners will be able to do after completing a lesson. However,
it is important for the teachers to know that the learning objectives should be
formulated based on the results of the needs analysis.
3. Selecting teaching techniques.
Once the learning objectives have been formulated, the teachers may start
selecting the special technique used to implement the selected literary works in ELT.
Technique in this context refers to basic procedures of the application of literature in
Englisn language classrooms. Related to this, the author proposes some useful
techniques to apply literature in the language classrooms among other things:
a. Analyzing Technique: the centre of attention is the lingustic expressions of the
text such as lexical items and phrases.
b. Memorizing and Producing Technique: students have to memoririze some lexical
items and retell the story by using the words. the students may retell the story in
spoken or written discourse.
c. Completing Technique: students are required to complete a story in which some
liexical items of the story have been omitted.
d. Constructing Technique: The students are required to construct a story based on
key sentences given by teachers.
e. Transforming Technique: In this techniques, the students are asked to transform a
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certain literary work from its original form to another form. For example; from
song lyrics to short stories. This type of technique has ever been applied in the
author’s own teaching English experiences.

Then the other expert argue that According to (Kumar, 2023) have some ideas
how to include literature in english classroom :
1. Selection of Appropriate Literary Texts
Teachers should select literary texts that are appropriate for their students’
linguistic and cognitive levels. The texts should be engaging, relevant, and culturally
appropriate. The teachers should also consider the students’ interests and preferences
when selecting the texts. Duff and Maley (2007) emphasise that teachers can deal
with several challenges that texts of literature present if they ask the following
questions to evaluate the appropriateness of selected texts for any certain group of
students:
a. Is the subject matter likely to interest the learners?
b. Is the language level appropriate?
c. Is it the right length for the time available?
d. Does it require much cultural or literary background knowledge?
e. Is it culturally offensive in any way?
f. Can it be easily exploited for language learning purposes?
2. Use of Various Literary Genres Teachers.
Should use various literary genres, such as poetry, drama, short story, and
novel, to expose students to the different styles and structures of writing. Each genre
offers a unique opportunity to develop different language skills, such as reading
comprehension, vocabulary development, and writing proficiency.
3. Infusing Technology and Media
Teachers should infuse technology and multimedia resources in their lesson
plans to enhance the teaching and learning of literature. They can use online literary
resources, such as e-books, audio books, and videos, to expose students to authentic
language use and cultural context.
The other example in the way teaching literature in English classroom integrated
skill :
1. Literature to Improve Speaking and Listening skills.
They have to ask students to prepare their individual or group presentations on
diverse topics and help them improve their proficiency levels of the target language
by providing them with constant practice. Literary texts can serve as useful sources
for free panel discussions or debates in the classroom, and this will not only develop
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students’ speaking skills but also their listening, reading, and writing skills.
The teacher can give any literary piece – a short story, novel, drama, poetry,
etc. – to the students as homework and ask them to read it comprehensively and write
the summary of it. Later, all students are asked to read their respective summaries in
the classroom and remove one or two salient parts of the summarised story.
Afterwards, the teacher asks a few students to read out their summaries with the
eliminated parts. Then, the students will try to identify the eliminated parts of the
story while their peers are reading out their own stories. This activity can prove to be
a very important listening activity. Having identified which main parts of the story
have been eliminated, the other students will try to deliberateor explain why those
eliminated parts of the story are very important for the overall understanding of the
story. In this regard, the teacher is supposed to play the role of a facilitator by
supporting arguments of the students.
2. Literature to Improve Reading Skills.
The students are divided into different groups and an easy poem suitable to the
students’ proficiency level in English. Having underlined a few words of the poem,
the teacher asks the students read them aloud at their homes with appropriate
pronunciation, word stress, intonation, and rhythm. The teacher also asks the students
to write synonyms of the underlined words as homework with the help of any
standard dictionary or web source. The next day, the teacher asks the groups to read
their part within their respective groups and select the one who recites the poem most
appropriately. Then the teacher picks the groups at random and asks the reciter of
every group to read their portion.
The next activity is a reading comprehension activity, and the teacher asks the
students to put the stanzas of the poem in the correct order. Then, the teacher reads
out the whole poem paying particular attention to pronunciation, word stress,
intonation, and rhythm.Or else, the teacherasks the students to listen to the original
recording of the entire poem. After a great deal of practice on recitation, the teacher
asks any student of a group to read out the underlined words to the other groups. The
group that finds the synonyms firstly gets a point. If no group finds the synonyms of
the asked word within the stipulated time, the group that has asked synonym of the
underlined word gets a point. The group that gets the highest points is declared as the
winner.
3. Literature for Improving Writing Skills.
Writing a Letter This activity can help the students enhance their reading and
writing skills. A short story with a few number of characters is given as homework
to the students to read and comprehend it. The next day, the students will be warmed
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up by summarising the plot construction and also asked to paytheir particular
attention to some of the selected sentences to make them enjoy the beauty of the
literary stuff. Later,the learners are divided into various groups in the classroomin
accordance with the number of the characters portrayed in the short story. The teacher
gives a character of the story to each group of the students.Each group, as an
individual,composes a letter to another group recounting their circumstances and they
may ask for help, make a deal, offer help, etc. Thus, each group of
studentsembodying the assigned character from the short story composes and
receives a letter and each group, in response, has to reply the received letter. A
member of each group reads his or her letter in the classroom and a member from the
addressed group reads his or her answer.With the teacher’s help, all the students will
be able to learn their mistakes in writing a letter. This activity helps the students how
they can learn to write a letter collaboratively.
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CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION

A.Conclusion
Using literary works in English language teaching and learning is highly
beneficial. They help expand language awareness, foster interaction and discussions,
and contribute to the holistic development of learners. Ellis (2002) suggests that teachers
should adopt non-defensive approaches, as literature fulfills linguistic, psychological,
cognitive, social, and cultural objectives in language teaching. Collie and Slater (1987),
supported by Ihejirika (2014), emphasize that literature offers authentic material,
promotes personal involvement, and enriches both cultural understanding and language
skills. Additionally, Lazar (1993) outlines five reasons for incorporating literature in
English Language Teaching (ELT): motivating materials, facilitating language
acquisition, enhancing language awareness, developing interpretative skills, and
nurturing the overall growth of learners.
Many educators face challenges in teaching literature effectively within English
language classrooms. They assume that teachers often overlook the principles of
teaching literature, resulting in a perception that teaching English through literature is
daunting. However, there are strategies proposed by scholars to make literature
instruction engaging and fruitful. Duff and Maley (2007) suggest four crucial
considerations when incorporating literature into English Language Teaching (ELT):
selecting appropriate texts based on learners' needs, linguistic proficiency, length,
cultural relevance, and appropriateness. Literature can be adapted for both beginner and
advanced students by adjusting difficulty levels and subject matter familiarity. Arafah
et al. (2021) highlight various expert recommendations, such as using picture books and
traditional tales to teach language structure and vocabulary to children, while also noting
their applicability to teenage and adult learners. For example, the Norwegian picture
book "Sinna Mann" (Angry Man) can be effectively utilized across age groups. Overall,
effective teaching of English through literature involves thoughtful selection of texts
tailored to learners' needs and interests, making learning enjoyable and culturally
enriching.
And other research steps proposed to be taken into account for using literature in ELT
according to (Arafah, 2018) first, Needs Analysis Teachers must analyze three key aspects of
literary works. Firstly, they should identify the types of literary works preferred by learners to
understand their interests and motivations. Secondly, they should assess the difficulty level of
the selected literary works in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and text patterns, aligning them
with learners' proficiency levels. Lastly, teachers need to ensure that the selected literary works
bring pleasure and enjoyment to the learners, third Formulating Learning Objectives: Based on
 10
the results of the needs analysis, teachers should define clear learning objectives for using
literature in ELT. These objectives provide direction for the course and describe what learners
should be able to accomplish after completing a lesson. Second, Learning objectives should be
realistic and tailored to learners' needs and interests. Selecting Teaching Techniques: Once
learning objectives are established, teachers can choose appropriate teaching techniques to
implement the selected literary works in the classroom.
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REFERENCES
A. Aziz, M., & Nasharudin, S. N. B. S. (2020). An Investigation On Approaches Used To
Teach Literature In The ESL Classroom: A Case Study Of Sekolah Menengah
Kebangsaan Taman Desa Skudai, Johor Bahru. CORE, 5(December), 118–138.
Arafah, B. (2018). Incorporating the Use of Literature as an Innovative Technique for
Teaching English. KnE Social Sciences, 3(4), 24.
https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v3i4.1914
Arafah, B., Kaharuddin, Mulyanto, Arifin, M. B., Rofikah, U., & Arafah, A. B. (2021). The
Idol: An Innovative Model for Designing Literature-Based Elt Materials. Linguistica
Antverpiensia, 1, 2075–2090. www.hivt.be
Duff, A. And Maley, A. (2007). Literature (Resource Books forTeachers). Oxford
University Press
Ihejirika, R. C. (2014). Literature and English language teaching and learning: A symbiotic
relationship. English Language Teaching, 7(3), 85–90.
https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v7n3p85
Kumar, A. P. (2023). The Use of Literature in ELT Classroom : An Effective Approach.
28(12), 53–58. https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-2812075358
Muthusamy, C., Michael, A. S., & Thayalan, X. (2017). Methods Used in Teaching and
Learning of Literature in the ESL Classroom and Adult Learners ’ Attitude. 4(2), 17–
25.
Nuswantara, K., Hermanto, H., Ratnasari, V., & Susilowati, E. (2018). Literature in the
classroom. 102–113.
Permanaludin, U. (2017). Strategies of English Literature Teaching at English Literature
Undergraduate Program at Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University. Al-Tsaqafa:
Jurnal Ilmiah Peradaban Islam, 14(1), 175–186. https://doi.org/10.15575/al-
tsaqafa.v14i1.1799
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