Value of Literature in Language Teaching

Srinivasa Rao Idapalapati
2012 World Journal of English Language  
In view of the conflicting views about the traditional literature based vs. authentic materials in teaching English as a second and foreign language as well as English for academic and specific purposes, a brief survey about the benefits of the materials reveals that the literature based materials can capture the attention of the learners by connecting the content to the real time situations more impressively and artistically than authentic materials and can make the learning more meaningful.
more » ... e information required has been collected in the form of questionnaires and oral interviews and an analysis of the data has been presented in the narrative form in combination with the accounts of analyses of the review of similar literature. There is an immense need for scholarly works on the literature based communication skills, language skills, and soft skills development activities and training programs, especially for the students in the undergraduate studies. As literature can be called the treasure of human achievements and the personality traits in the finest form and so the literati can view it as a desirable source for teaching language and for developing "communicative competence" (Hymes, 1972) by continual improvisation to the ever changing needs and perceptions of younger generations.
doi:10.5430/wjel.v2n1p64 fatcat:3wbztxptnzdnnefotg7zpynzge