Unit 4

Using literature in the

English Classroom

Didáctica Inglés
2023-2024
 What is literature?
There is literature with a capital L - the classical texts such as

Shakespeare

and Dickens
and literature with a small l, which refers to fables,
popular fiction,

and song lyrics.

 Why use literature in the English classroom?
Literary texts provide:

· rich linguistic input and can help

learners to practice the four skills –
speaking, listening, reading and
writing, as well as exemplifying
grammatical structures and
presenting new vocabulary

· effective stimuli
· a potential source of learner motivation.

How do you think the use of literature might motivate learners?

Literary texts can be studied in their original
forms or in simplified or abridged versions.

· Have you/would you use ‘readers’ in class?

· What are the advantages and disadvantages of using ‘readers’?
Types of literary texts that can be used include:
1 Short stories
2 Novels
3 Poems
4 Plays
5 Song Lyrics
Literary texts can be used together with audio-texts, podcasts,

music CDs…

and films

to increase sensory input and to

appeal to learners with different learning styles.

The language of literary texts engages learners’
emotions, as well as their cognitive faculties.
It helps learners to use their imagination
and to develop their own creativity.

Literature encourages students’ creative production – painting and

drawing,

poems, songs, stories,

performances of plays… ‘You’re doing a ‘Yes, it’s a remake

play at school?’ of Cinderella’
 Challenges for the teacher in using literature:
Text selection - texts need to be of relevance and interest to learners.
Linguistic - texts need to be appropriate to the level of students’
difficulty comprehension.

Length - shorter texts may be easier to use in class time, but longer texts
allow for development of character and plot.

Cultural - learners should not be offended by textual content.

appropriacy
 How can we use literary texts in the classroom?
Teachers can exploit literary texts in a large number of ways in the classroom
with pre-reading tasks, tasks during reading and follow up activities.

- Introduce the topic of the text, pre-teach essential vocabulary items and
use prediction tasks to arouse students’ interest and curiosity.
- Invite learners to modify or extend a story or to think of an alternative
outcome.
- Provide frameworks for creative response.
- Draw attention to style and the way writers use language to achieve
particular effects.
One of the simplest but most important linguistic features of
children’s storybooks is repetition …yes repetition!
Repetition makes a text accessible, helping children to feel like they
are part of the story. Repetition helps children to internalize the
structure of stories and gives them a starting point for their own
creative use of language.
The clever use of adjectives, alliteration,
and assonance, for example, encourages
children to experiment with words.
References

Duff, A & Maley, A (2007) Literature (Resource Books for Teachers),

Oxford University Press.
Maley, A (2001) ‘Literature in the language classroom' in The
Cambridge Guide to Teaching ESOL, Cambridge University Press.
McRae, J (1994) Literature with a small 'l', Macmillan Education.
Pulverness, A ( 2003) ‘Literature' in English Teaching Professional,
October, Issue 29, Modern English Publishing

Useful ideas for using literature in the ELT classroom:

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/resources/secondary/stories-poems