Teaching literature: what  What sort of literature is suitable for use with learners?  The criteria of suitability depend on group of students, their needs, interests, cultural background and language level.  If it is meaningful and enjoyable, reading is more likely to have a lasting and beneficial effect.  Language difficulty has to be considered as well.  Questionnaires on tastes and interests can be useful. Teacher can give the class a brief summary of three or four possibilities and let them choose.

Teaching literature: How Some commonly used approaches to teaching literature  Maintaining interest and involvement by using a variety of student- centered activities  Role play, improvisation, creative writing, discussions, questionnaires, visuals and many other activities that are used in language classes, can serve a similar purpose.  The availability of a variety of activities enables the teacher to concentrates on students’ weaknesses.  Supplementing the Printed Page  Learning is promoted by involving as many of the students’ faculties as possible.  The emotional dimension that is a very integral part of literature should be exploited as fully as possible.

Teaching literature: How Some commonly used approaches to teaching literature  Tapping the Resources of Knowledge and Experience with the Group.  Pair and group work can be fruitful in helping the learner to find a way into author’s universe.  Working on a group can lessen the difficulties presented by number of unknowns on a page of literary text.  With the group’s support and control, the individual has greater freedom to explore his or her own reactions and interpretations.  The group will stimulate learners to reread and ponder the text on their own.  Helping Students Explore Their Own Responses to Literature  Activities should try to help students to acquire the confidence to develop, express and value their own response.  With a range of tasks and activities on a literary text, students may come to be more personally familiar with that text.

Teaching literature: How Some commonly used approaches to teaching literature  Using the Target Language  Learners can get the maximum chance of entering the universe of any selected book, if they try to put them themselves imaginatively into the target situation.  If in the discussion following a shared activity there is a reversion to the native language, this is not a disaster, because the learners are enjoying the task and that they are bringing their knowledge and experience to bear on the new language.  Meta-language of critical discussion has to be avoided in order to achieve the aim of using target language as much as possible.  Integrating Language and Literature  The overall aim is to let the student derive the benefits of communicative and other activities for language improvement from the works of literature.  A balanced selection of activities is a spur for students to acquire the benefits.