English literature has not been considered a useful teaching tool in the EFL classrooms of many non-English speaking countries. This is because teaching L2 largely has been regarded as a matter of linguistics. However, Arthur (2006, p.200) points out, "Through the use of literature, a language learning experience might become at the same time a source of immediate pleasure and satisfaction for the student. This possibility makes literature an appealing teaching device for ESL teachers".

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... y, today's English teaching can have an intimate connection to literary works. Reading literature has a vital role to play in teaching foreign language readers that English is a rich, living language, and that literary works such as poems, short stories, novels, and plays are full of feelings and emotions, imagination and creativity. Nonetheless, while literature usage may motivate and encourage language acquisition, teachers should know how to utilize it. This paper provides a review of ideas and research regarding the role of literature in the EFL classroom. To this end, utilizing literature in the EFL classroom and the variety of approaches which can be employed are presented. Index Terms-literary works, EFL learners, literature Minoo Alemi was born in Iran. She has been a Ph.D. candidate of TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) at Allameh Tabataba"i University in Tehran, Iran since September 2009. She graduated B.A. in English literature and M.A. in TEFL at Allameh University and Khatam University in Tehran. As for her professional background, she has taught English over a decade at different universities in Iran. Moreover, she has been faculty member and vice-Dean of Education at Languages and Linguistics Department at Sharif University of Technology since 2008. Her main areas of interest are (1) second language acquisition, (2) ESP, (3) vocabulary, and (4) syllabus design. Alemi has published about twelve textbooks in General English and ESP, a large number of papers in different areas in international journals, and given presentations on TEFL at many international conferences. Ms. Alemi is a member of scientific board of LiBRI,