Teaching literature to english majors at the universitiy of social sciences and humanities ho chi minh city an integrated approach

INTRODUCTION
This study aims at investigating whether an integrated approach can be a
viable teaching approach in literature classes at the Department of English
Linguistics and Literature, the University of Social Sciences and
Humanities – Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City. This
introduction presents the rationale, the aim and the significance of the
study and an overview of the rest of the thesis.
0.1RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH
Over the last few years intensive and widespread debates have taken place
concerning the nature and purpose of teaching and learning English
literature. There used to be a so high degree of uncertainty about the role of
literature in the fast moving world that Zach (1989: 11) asked a very
embarrassing, provocative yet truly fundamental question, “Are literary
scholars today in the situation of dinosaurs on the verge of extinction?” To
some people, literature reading can even be considered as a time-wasting,
dreary, and even ridiculous activity. Not only common readers but also
„expected serious readers‟ like language students usually think of literature
as something too academic, intellectual, difficult, and impractical.

The same thing happens to literature in foreign language classes nowadays.
Due to future employment prospects, the number of students who enroll
the literature course is smaller and smaller. More young Vietnamese are
joining in a fast-paced, hectic, and even frantic way of life. Their financial
concerns and practical viewpoints gradually erode their interest in
literature. Even if English literature is a compulsory subject in the whole
curriculum, students will have no choice but study literature with less
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effort than that for other subjects such as translation, business English, and
language studies. They rarely have time for the enjoyment of reading a

long novel or citing a poem in their native language, let alone in a foreign
language.
Moreover, students‟ lack of interest in English literature may also result
from the way Vietnamese literature has been being taught in schools,
usually imposing and centralized, rather than motivating and inspiring.
Pupils and high school students are not very often allowed to interpret a
literary work in their own ways or freely respond to it. They seem to copy
what their teachers have said about the work for their exam papers. In this
way, their passivity and dependency are exacerbated, but their creativity
and uniqueness are undermined, which may end up in their loss of
enjoyment for this subject.

In addition, it is acknowledged that English literature is not an easy subject
to deal with since the learning of English literature is not simply an
involvement of the four language skills. Learning literature requires not
only students‟ language skills but also their „ability to think‟ while not all
students were born to have an aptitude for literature.
Besides, it is common that students have to deal with “unfamiliar
background references” (Lewis, 1999: 200) and allusions in English
literature, which may sometimes make them „struggle‟ with the reading
and hence take away their pleasure in reading it.

Another factor that makes English literature inaccessible to some students
is the language barrier. They often complain that the language used in
2


literary works is old-fashioned, even archaic, which is too hard to
internalize or „digest‟. In fact, some students complain that they are put
under a lot of pressure when they are asked to do some challenging tasks

such as making oral presentations about the literary works or writing
literary essays.

Apart from the difficulties in learning literature, the context of the shift to
the credit system training since the school year 2007 has called for big
changes in the teaching and learning of literature at the Department of
English Linguistics and Literature (henceforth DELL) of the University of
Social Sciences and Humanities (henceforth USSH). American Literature
has no longer been a compulsory subject in the graduation exam which is
crucial to the whole curriculum for English majors of DELL. The latest
curriculum reform in the DELL permits students to choose whether or not
they take literature as a major subject after finishing the course of
Introduction to Literature. This reform to some extent has put literature in a
really challenging position, especially when the prestige of natural sciences
seems to gain the ascendancy in society.

And even with students who choose literature as their major subject, they
still find it difficult to enroll the other literature modules, namely Writing
about Literature, Selected British Literary Works, Selected American
Literary Works. There exists a gap between the first and the second stage
of the curriculum. During the first stage, students are expected to spend
time on building and developing the four major language skills which are
speaking, listening, reading and writing through compulsory subjects such
as phonetics, language studies, advanced writing, advanced grammar, etc.
Therefore, many students cannot cope with literature and the big changes
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in teaching methodology adopted for this subject during their second stage
of learning. Here appears a need to form a transitional phase to help

students prepared for the new subject and methods in order to improve
their both knowledge of and about the English language in general and
literature in particular.

It is evident that many approaches are suggested to help teach English
literature more effectively and practically. Nevertheless, it can be a
challenging task, especially for young and inexperienced teachers. In order
to apply a suitable approach to the teaching of literature, which enhances
and motivates students to learn this subject, teachers need to know about
the nature and kinds of learning motivation. They also need to identify how
much students are interested in reading and studying literature as well as
what reasons lie behind their interest and efforts. In addition, an
understanding of students‟ perceptions of motivational causes can help
teachers encourage students to learn.
Another inspiration for the study is the concern over learners‟ autonomy,
cultural awareness, and personal growth. It is believed that literature can be
a great source of interesting and easily assessable materials for later selfstudy. Thanks to the authentic interactions with many cultural notions
found in the literary works, learners‟ cultural enrichment can also be
developed. And the process of their personal growth can thus be
reinforced. After graduation, students are expected to continue teaching
themselves for the sakes of not only language improvement, but also
cultural enrichment and self-fulfillment.

However, there is no substantial body of research on a certain approach
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which can be used to teach EFL literature to Vietnamese learners in this
new context. It is in such direction that this paper, an investigation of
teaching literature to English majors at USSH in the light of an integrated

approach is conducted.

0.2 AIM OF THE RESEARCH
The urgent need of conducting a new approach to teaching literature is
undeniable. However, up to the present time, there has been no study with
great focus on teaching EFL literature in the new context, especially the
one that can meet the specific needs of English majors who are enrolling
credit-based system at DELL-USSH.

Therefore, the aim of this research is to figure out how effective it can be
to teach literature in the light of an integrated approach after identifying
learners‟ difficulties in as well as expectations from the teaching and
learning of literature.

0.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH
In terms of scientific significance, this research is to provide a theoretical
framework for better understanding on an effective pedagogical method of
teaching literature via the integrated approach, the new trend of teaching
English literature to learners of other languages.

Hopefully, this research will contribute practical significance to the
application of the new approach to the teaching and learning of literature to
students at DELL - USSH in order to better both the students‟ study results
and the teachers‟ pedagogy.
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0.4 ORGANIZATION OF THE RESEARCH
Besides the introductory chapter which introduces the rationales for the
research, its aims, significance, and organization, this research covers five

main issues which are dealt with in separate chapters.

Chapter 1 provides background information to the study, consisting of (1)
the new literature curriculum for students at DELL – USSH, (2) the
Introduction to Literature module, and (3) the characteristics of English
majors at DELL – USSH.

Chapter 2 reviews the relevant literature in four major sections, including
(1) definitions of literature, (2) the knowledge about and knowledge of
literature, (3) the teaching and learning of literature in an EFL class, and
(4) approaches to the teaching of literature.

Chapter 3 sets out in details the methodology employed in this research,
regarding (1) the research questions, and (2) the research design.
Accordingly, the subjects, instruments, data collection procedures and data
analysis procedures are presented.

Chapter 4 is to (1) analyze the data collected via pre-questionnaire, postquestionnaire, as well as class observation, and (2) discuss the findings
from the analysis result.

Chapter 5 ends the thesis by (1) concluding the main points drawn out
from the research and (2) making some recommendations for later
application.

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CHAPTER 1

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

For an understanding of the study context, this chapter looks in detail at (1)
the place of literature in the curriculum for students at DELL – USSH, and
(2) the Introduction to Literature module at DELL – USSH.

1.1 THE PLACE OF LITERATURE IN THE CURRICULUM FOR
STUDENTS AT DELL – USSH
English literature has been a compulsory subject in the curriculum for fulltime English majors at DELL –USSH for years. After spending their first
two years on learning and improving language skills via subjects such as
listening, speaking, reading, writing, and phonetics, students had to take
subjects on English Linguistics and Literature (including British Literature
and American Literature) in the last two years. The goals are set out as to
enable the students to improve their language skills, to enrich their
knowledge of the English people, culture, and history, to use English for
their communication and future career, as well as to bring about a love for
the target language. More importantly, since they have to sit a graduation
exam in American Literature at the end of the course, British Literature
and American Literature have always been the subjects taken seriously by
teachers and students. Therefore, the place of literature in the curriculum
for English majors is of great importance.

Since the application of credit-based system to the university education in
2007, literature has under gone a number of changes and adaptation. The
number of literature modules included in the curriculum is reduced. Except
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for the Introduction to Literature and Writing about Literature modules, the
others are no longer compulsory subjects to learn. Instead of enrolling
eight courses in British Literature and American Literature (two courses
for each semester during the two last academic years), students can choose

whether or not they continue specializing in it. Inevitably, students no
longer sit a graduation exam in literature. Since it is no longer a criterion
for university graduation but a matter of optional choice, the important
place of literature in the curriculum for English majors at DELL – USSH
has been faded.

1.2 THE INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE MODULE AT DELL
– USSH
Introduction to Literature is the compulsory module in the curriculum of
DELL - USSH. This module is made up 45 class meetings, which counts
as 3 credits in the credit-based curriculum. The teaching objectives of this
module are to provide students with a basic comprehension of elements of
fiction and to back them up with necessary skills to read, analyze and
comprehend a literary work. In order to enroll the module, students are
required to finish all Language Skills modules.

The assessment policy for this module is based on two kinds of scorings.
The first one is from the mid-term test, which makes up 30% of the final
result. The second one made up 70% of which 20% is for attendance and
participation, 30% for assignment, and 50% for the end-of-term test.
However, there are still chances for the teacher to replace the suggested
literary texts by those which are still relevant to the teaching content and
more suitable to the level and interest of the students.

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Presented below is the preliminary syllabus for an Introduction to
Literature course.
Class

meeting
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Content of Teaching
Fiction: Introduction
Understanding biographical/cultural background
Identifying the Formal Elements of Fiction
Fiction: Plot
Concepts: Conflict – Complications – Climax - Resolution
Practice: Plot in Kate Chopin‟s “The Story of an Hour”
Fiction: Character
Concepts: Protagonist/Antagonist/Round/Flat, etc.
Characterization
Practice: Passages from short stories by J. London, J. Joyce and K.

Mansfield
Fiction: Setting
Concepts: Time and Place
Practice: Setting in J. London‟s “To Build a Fire”
Fiction: Point of View
Concepts: First Person/Third Person – Narrative Voice
Practice: Two versions of a fairy tale
Fiction: Image, Symbolism and Allegory
Concepts: Sense Impressions - Universal/Cultural/Contextual
Symbols
Practice: Symbolism in Doris Lessing‟s “Flight”
Fiction: Style, Tone and Language
Concepts: Language Conventions – Voice – Attitudes
Practice: Style in Doris Lessing‟s “Flight”
Fiction: Theme
Concepts: Meaning
Practice: Two versions of a fable by Aesop
How to Read and Understand Poetry
Concepts: Sound and Sense
Practice: Analysis of “Stopping by Woods” by R. Frost

Table 1.1: Introduction to Literature syllabus

1.3 SUMMARY
This chapter has provided relevant information regarding the situation of
teaching Literature at DELL – USSH. The chapter also sketches a clear
image of the course practitioners. The description of the students‟
characteristics adds final details to the picture of teaching and learning of
Literature at DELL –USSH.
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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW
The previous chapter has presented the background information crucial to
the overall planning of the research. This chapter provides the theoretical
context of the study by reviewing the relevant literature in four major
sections, namely (1) definitions of literature, (2) the knowledge about and
knowledge of literature, (3) the teaching and learning of literature in an
EFL class, and (4) approaches to the teaching of literature. The theoretical
framework accounts for the design and implementation of the research. It
also serves as a cornerstone for the discussion in the subsequent chapters.

2.1 DEFINITIONS OF LITERATURE
Commenting on the efforts in defining literature, Meyer (1997: 4) writes,
“Understanding exactly what literature is has always been a challenge.”
Critics and scholars have given numerous definitions of literature.

According to Murdoch (1978), literature is a sort of disciplined technique
for arousing certain emotions.
As Selden (1989: 9-10) points out, literature is “a special use of language
which achieves its distinctness by deviating from and distorting practical
language.”

Rosenblatt (1995) supports the idea that literature treats the whole range of
choices and aspirations and values out of which the individual must weave
his own personal philosophy. The literary works that learners are urged to
read offer not only literary values, to use a currently favored abstraction,
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but also some approaches to life, some images of people working out a
common fate or some assertion that certain kinds of experiences, certain
moods of feeling, are valuable. In other words, the literary work is not
primarily a document in the history of language or society. It is not simply
a mirror of, or a report on, life. It is not a homily setting forth moral or
philosophic or religious precepts.

As a work of art, it offers a special kind of experience. And as the language
level, literature “is not qualitatively different from any other linguistic
performance. It is “an instance of the productive use of a limited number of
linguistic structures in order to achieve communication” (Brumfit &
Carter, 1997: 178).

And Barnet & Cain (2006: 87) clarify the term by regarding literature as
“human experiences”, but “the experiences embodied in literature are not
simply the shapeless experiences – the chaotic passing scene – captured by
a mindless, unselective camcorder.”

More importantly, Davies (2000) believes that true literature is not just
there to entertain but it is there to help us understand ourselves and the
world in which we live that little bit better.

2.2 KNOWLEDGE ABOUT AND KNOWLEDGE OF LITERATURE
Knowledge about literature refers to the comprehension of facts about
literary contexts, dates, authors, titles of texts, name of conventions, and
literary terms. It is knowledge for its own sake and does not automatically
lead to a more responsive reading or to a fuller interpretation of a text. As
Carter & Long (1991: 4) point out, “there is little concern with how to use

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such information to read literature for oneself and to learn how to make
one‟s own meanings.”
Knowledge of literature; on the contrary, is expressed “in terms of pleasure
and enjoyment rather than in terms of the accumulation of facts” (Carter &
Long, 1991: 4). Thanks to the emotional as well as experiential
involvements gained from personal interactions with the literary texts, such
kind of knowledge is constituted and developed. And in turn, it helps to
lead to a high level of literature enrichment and appreciation in readers. As
mentioned by Carter & Long (1991: 4), there has always been “a focus on
exploring ways of fostering this kind of knowledge of literature.”

2.3 THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF LITERATURE
According to Rezaei & Derakhshan (2011: 201), “literature was the main
source of input for teaching in language classes in the era of Grammar
Translation Method but since then it has been dropped down from the
pedestal.” In line with the advent of Structuralism and Audiolingual
method, literature was downplayed and ergo discarded to the periphery
(Collie & Slater, 1987: 2).

Regardless of these disfavors, in the middle of the 1980s, language
scholars and educators resurrected literature as a language learning
material after a long period of being rejected. This resurrection was
confirmed by series of publications heralding the coming back of literature
(Maley, 1989).

Until relatively recent times the learning of literature in foreign language
classes is considered as “the study of certain classic pieces of English

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literature, a sine qua non for truly educated person” (Carter & Long, 1991:
1). Moreover, literature, as viewed by Rezaei & Derakhshan (2011), is a
“promising tool” for language learning purposes.

2.3.1 Literature teaching and the use of literature as a resource
From the context of the above review, it is worth noticing that there is a
distinction between the literature teaching and the use of literature as a
resource.
The literature teaching involves exploring literary works within an
academic, institutionalized setting for purposes of obtaining literature
competence and qualifications in literary studies. Such way of teaching
literature provides learners with a considerable baggage of critical concepts
as well as literary conventions, and the ability to employ such knowledge
in talking and writing about literature. As shown by Carter & Long (1991:
3), this conception emphasizes “a compendious store of information about
the history of the target literature, its traditions and conventions, its
particular heritage, and the nature of the influences and relationships
between the author, texts and contexts which make up that literary
culture.”

Since the early 1980s, there has been a strong theoretical undercurrent
advocating the use of literature as a resource in language teaching.
Widdowson (1975; 1984) raised the fundamental issues and these have
been developed, examined, and amplified, most significantly in Brumfit
and Carter (1986), Carter and Long (1991), Duff and Maley (1991),
MaRae (1991) and Widdowson (1992). The use of literature as a resource
is less academic but closer to the practical needs of learners. This

perception treats literature as an abundant resource for teaching language
13


skills, widening learners‟ understanding of the world in which they live,
and educating them to be good individuals in their community.

In summary, scholars in the field have proposed various arguments on the
use of literature in teaching and learning. What follows is a review of the
objections to and approvals for such proposals.

2.3.2 Argument against the teaching and learning of literature
There used to be a general perception that literature is detrimental to the
process of language learning for its linguistic and cultural complexities. To
what follows is the look at the reasons that literature was rejected in a EFL
class.

2.3.2.1 Syntax
Syntactic difficulty inherent in the literary text makes reading a
troublesome task. This is one of the main criticisms proposed against
adopting literature in a language program. McKay (1982) notes that some
literary texts, especially classics are far from the standard English, which
may cause lots of difficulties in comprehension and discouragements in
learning.

However, he also points out that these complexities can turn out to be a
source for language practice and improvement if the teacher adopts a good
method in teaching and the learners are willing to carry them out.

2.3.2.2 Lexis

Robson (1989: 25) contends that due to its lexical difficulty, literature is
said to do “little or nothing to help students to become competent users of
14


the target language.” He continues his assumption with the example of
“thee and thou” in Shakespeare‟s plays, insisting that literature with its
outdated vocabulary provides learners with the vocabulary they cannot use
in their daily communication.

Nevertheless, there is a counterargument that such phenomenon works in
classical literature such as that of Shakespeare. Since teachers are not
forced to teach old literature only but they are allowed to integrate many
modern literary works and literature with “small l” into the syllabus, the
argument against literature due to its lexical difficulty is not applausive.

2.3.2.3 Cultural barrier
Literature is saturated with certain cultural concepts that may be strange to
people who do not practice such culture. McKay (1982) maintains that
cultural knowledge embedded in literature makes the teaching and learning
of a foreign literature frustrating. This kind of cultural barrier is believed to
prevent learners from understanding the characters as well as their
thoughts and acts and thus, impeding their appreciation for or objection
against literary characters in particular and literature in general.

Nonetheless, McKay (1982) suggests two ways to wipe this cultural
complexity out including using simple texts which do not treat cultural
themes seriously and offering some culture notions related to the literary
texts before teaching.

2.3.3 Argument for the teaching and learning of literature
Despite the fact that there is a general perception that literature is
detrimental to the process of language learning for its bewildering
15


complexity, literature is still being taught widely in many foreign language
classes. Carter & Long (1991: 3) summarize the rational for literature
teaching and learning as following:
Literature can be a special resource for personal
development and growth, an aim being to encourage
greater sensitivity and self-awareness and greater
understanding of the world around us. It can also supply
many linguistic opportunities to the language teacher and
allow many of the most valuable exercises of language
learning to be based on material capable of stimulating
greater interest and involvement than can be the case with
many language texts. Literature is a legitimate and
valuable resource of language teaching.

There has also been a consensus of opinions on integrating literature to the
language program regarding its values to the teaching and learning of a
foreign language which are as follows:

2.3.3.1 Literature in terms of language learning
The first rationale which merits the teaching and learning of literature is its
function in the process of language learning. Since literature is inherently
authentic, it is believed to provide authentic input for language learning.
Literature can play its significant role by having different aspects of
language constituted in itself, including not only syntax and lexis but also

pragmatic and cultural points that cannot be easily found in non-literary
texts.
As Carter and McRae (1996: xxi) state, “literature is always more than
language and that appreciation and enjoyment of literature transcend the
development of linguistic capacities.”
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Stern (1991) emphasizes the significance of literature in a language
program. He reasons that literature can enhance cognitive and aesthetic
maturation as well as a feeling and appreciation for the language.

Van (2009) states literature is full of instances of real-life language in
various

situations.

Consequently,

it

can

provide

unprecedented

opportunities to ameliorate syntactic, pragmatic, cultural, and discoursal
awareness among learners.

Regarding to the writing skill, Stern (1991) figures out that literature with
its variety of writing styles, scopes of vocabulary, and arrays of
grammatical points can be a rich and provocative source for writing tasks.
By having learners to complete a poem or short story in cloze form, or to
write a new end in their own words, or to narrate the story from the point
of view of another character, or to interpret the elements of fiction, the
writing skill can be taught effectively and enjoyably (Rezaei &
Derakhshan, 2011)

Considering the reading skill, Stern (1991) also argues for employing
literature by reasoning that reading literary works offers learners many
opportunities to master difficult sentence structures, unfamiliar vocabulary
items in terms of denotative as well as connotative meanings, idiomatic
expressions, proverbs, slang, and colloquialism. He believes that reading
literary works enables learners to apply all the reading strategies they
learnt in reading class into practice and maintain a long-life reading habit
in the target language both in and outside the class. McKay (2001)
supports Stern‟s point by asserting that since certain syntactic patterns and
17


certain stylistic word order inversions occur more frequently in literary
works, they can provide ideal contents for reading practice. Rezaei &
Derakhshan (2011: 203) point out that literary works can “provide good
opportunities for extensive and intensive reading” and “it is good for
practicing reading sub-skills including skimming, scanning, and finding
the main ideas.”

Since literature deals with universal concepts such as love and hatred, life
and death, happiness and sorrow, nature and mankind, etc. it offers learners

a great source of topics for discussion, presentation and many other oral
activities. By orally responding to questions or taking part in the arguments
on certain issues related to a literary work, learners‟ listening and speaking
skills can be improved amazingly.

Rezaei & Derakhshan (2011: 203) summarize their points as follows:
For speaking purposes, the events in a poem, novel or short
story can be associated with the learners‟ own experience in
real life. Such a practice paves the way for hot topics for
discussion in language classes. Having the students freely
reflect on the events and having them critically comment is
also facilitative for advance speaking proficiency.

For

listening purposes, the learners can be exposed to the audio
versions of the poem, short story or novel.

Last but not least, Stern (1991) emphasizes the significance of literature in
teaching communication by reasoning that literature leads learners to a
deeper level of communication in which they are fully and truly involved
in what is said or heard in a more-than-superficial communication context.
2.3.3.2 Literature in terms of cultural awareness
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The other benefit that literature brings about is cultural awareness. Brown
(2000) claims that culture cannot be separated from language, and when a
piece of language is learned, a notion of culture is acquired.

Van (2009) believes that literature promotes cultural awareness, especially
in the era of globalization. It can also help to promote learners‟
understanding and appreciation of many different cultures.
Collie & Slater (1994: 26) point out that, “Literature – as the active mirror
to reflect what happens around us – can be an indispensable resource in
teaching a second language to increase the foreign learners‟ insight into the
country whose language is being learned.” In other words, literature can
widen learners‟ knowledge of culture by offering them a chance to
understand those who live in another country or at a different period of
time.
As viewed by Allen (1975: 111), “Literature is a facet of a culture.”
Therefore, the teaching of culture and literature should be inextricably
bound together so that learners come to understand cultural differences
thanks to the diverse literary texts and adapt themselves to the diverse
world of cultures.

2.3.3.3 Literature in terms of motivation
Motivation is considered as the key element that pushes learners ahead in
their learning. It can be achieved only when learners are exposed to what
they are interested in.

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Since literature deals with interesting things and diverse concepts, it can be
a great source for motivating learners to learn. McKay (1982) points out
that to the extent learners enjoy reading literature, it can enhance their
motivation to interact with the text and thus, inevitably increase their
reading proficiency. Similarly, Ghosn (2002) and Van (2009) put forth that
literary texts are very motivating due to their authenticity and the

meaningful contexts they provide.

Inevitably, motivation in literature teaching and learning shares some
similar characteristics with motivation in language teaching and learning.
Learners become intrinsically motivated to literature when they are aware
of its multiple values, and internal rewards such as language proficiency,
literature competence, culture knowledge, and self-fulfillment. They are
also extrinsically motivated with an anticipation of grades and some types
of positive feedback from the teacher and classmates. Factors such as
living experience, intellectualization and job orientation are also counted
as motivation toward the teaching and learning of literature (Jerome
Bruner, 1962; Kohn, 1990; Williams & Burden, 1997).

2.3.3.4 Literature in terms of personal growth
Another merit of conducting literature in EFL classes is the benefit of
personal growth that literature can foster in language learners.

Schomberg (1993) agrees with this perception by claiming that teachers
can empower learners to change themselves and the world in which they
live by helping them to identify and resolve the conflicts that can be found
in many literary works.

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Plastina (2000) notes that a wide range of the experiences depicted in the
literary works can reach learners‟ self-awareness and identification. With
its multiple interpretations, literature provides learners with several readymade opinion gaps to be bridged by real interactions.

In addition, Ghosn (2002) believes that literature with its diverse themes

has the potentiality to change attitude as well as perception, and to
diminish prejudices as well as negative conducts. With its themes, learners
can generalize the situations, behaviors, thoughts and emotions of literary
characters to the real-world contexts, which enable them to involve in
problem-solving tasks and get their personal growth.

To argue for this belief, Guth & Rico (2003) remark that literature helps
learners to enrich their living experiences, reinforce their moral beliefs,
expand their imagination, and nourish their personal growth.

2.3.3.5 Literature in terms of critical thinking
Nowadays, critical thinking is the essence of education. It ensures learners
not to take things for granted and to attempt to unravel the hidden
meanings of the text. According to Langer (1997: 607), literature allows
learners to reflect their life, learning and language. It opens “horizons of
possibility, allowing students to question, interpret, connect, and explore.”

Rezaei & Derakhshan (2011) maintains that literature, among other text
types is fertile with ideas to critically look at.

Ghosn (2002) even puts it forth with his beliefs that reading literary texts
foster emotional intelligence and that literature is a good source for
21


nurturing our emotional intelligence quotient (EQ), which plays an
important role in the process of critical thinking.

In summary, there are many benefits to integrating literature in a language
syllabus. Apart from its capacities to widen learners‟ understanding of their

own and other cultures, literature can offer opportunities for personal
expressions as well as reinforce learners‟ knowledge of lexical and
grammatical structures. Furthermore, it helps to foster learners‟ critical
thinking and motivation. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt new
approaches and methods of literature teaching to help learners obtain
acquired information about the writers, the texts, the historical background,
the canon, the message it conveys, the elements that make up a wellwritten and enjoyable literary work, and to draw out some personal
responses in a way that can simultaneously enhance learners‟ competence
and performance.

2.4 APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING OF LITERATURE
Moody (1983: 23) defines the term „approach to teaching literature‟ as “the
framework, or sequence of operations to be used for the purpose of coming
to actualities in teaching.”

Richards & Rodgers (1986) refer to anything that is designed to increase
learners‟ motivation, participation in the learning process and the
interactions between teacher and learners and the texts.

Whitehead (1968) mentions that one of the factors that paves the way for
learners‟ lifelong learning is how the teacher approaches the teaching of
literature. The writer believes that employing a suitable approach is the
22


most important principle of a successful teacher of literature. The teacher;
accordingly, must be acquainted with a variety of activities and techniques
that make up a good approach to be used so as to stimulate and develop
learners‟ interest and literature competence.

There have been various approaches that can be employed in the teaching
of literature. Presented below are some prevalent approaches that have
been widely practiced in many language classes to teach literature.

2.4.1 Critical literary approach
This approach is named by Marley (1989) to refer to the teaching of
literature via elements for literary criticism. For him, critical literary
approach centers around background, psychology, literary canon, and
literary concepts; namely plot, characterization, theme, setting, point of
view etc. In so doing, the teacher must focus on identifying and
interpreting elements of fictions, poetry or drama and learners must
advance in their language skills as well as be familiar with literary
conventions.

Lessons conducted in the light of critical literary approach are said to offer
knowledge about literature which easily turns out to be boring and unreal
to most of learners though it may be useful to those who aim at becoming
scholars in the field. In addition, the knowledge about literature in the form
of facts, dates, or an ability to name literary tropes gained from learning
literature through critical literary approaches cannot foster long-term payoff for learners in the form of personal engagement with literature and a
lasting enjoyment in reading and interpreting for oneself.

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2.4.2 Structural approach
The rationale for implementing structural approach in teaching literature is
supported by the belief that, “The goal of foreign language study is to learn
a language in order to read its literature or in order to benefit from the
mental discipline and intellectual development that results from language

study” (Jack, & Theodore, 1998: 5).

As Long (1991) points out, structural approach to literature teaching
emphasizes much on discrete-point teaching, correctness in grammatical
form, and repetition of a range of graded structures, restricted lexis.
Field (2000: 38) also notes that structural approach views literature as “a
means to extend students‟ productive language repertoire through valuable
exercises of language learning.”

Teaching literature under the light of this approach is usually conducted in
a reading class where a literary work is used as a means to enrich
vocabulary and advance grammar or to better learners‟ reading speed with
a new reading resource. According to Rezaei & Derakhshan (2011: 203),
“reading in literature is a combination of reading for enjoyment and
reading for information. Therefore, it bridges the lack in non-literary
texts.”

With structural approach; however, literary text is simply an object which
contains one or more language items to be learnt. Though the literary text
is presented with great enthusiasm, learners are too busy writing in
translation of unfamiliar words and structures so that they can respond to
the text adequately. What teacher and learners care about in applying this
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approach to their own teaching and learning is that the meaning of selected
literary work must be figured out basing on a set of questions designed to
test learners‟ competence of the content and language of the work. The
main elements of fiction such as theme, plot, characterization, point of
view, etc. are not taken into consideration. The figurative language may be

considered; however, such consideration aims at improving learner
language skills only.

Since the changes in literature teaching throughout history have reflected
recognition of changes in the kind of proficiency learners need, moving
toward performance rather than reading comprehension as the goal of
literature reading helps end the implementation of structural approach in
teaching literature.

2.4.3 Grammar-translation approach
According to Brown (2011), grammar - translation approach was widely
practiced in many literature classes in the past because people used to learn
literature for the sake of being scholarly in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Grammar - translation approach views literature as an academic
subject in which literary texts are studied and analyzed in the light of
literary criticism and learners are expected to demonstrate their ability to
read, talk, and write about literature. Literary canon, literary criticism,
classical works and writers‟ style are mainly focused in the class that
grammar - translation approach is practiced. This requires a great deal of
reading about canonical context, background and related information,
which may help to understand the literary work better but cannot replace
the main content of the text.

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