Literature helps students learn English: reading good stories, poems, and plays builds their vocabulary and grammar and teaches them the culture behind the language. This article explains why literature works in the English class and how a teacher can bring it in.
When you teach English to non-native speakers, you have to be creative and keep finding new ways to make your students active. Literature is an excellent way to build their interest in English and in the culture the texts come from. The idea is not new: literature has long had a place in language teaching, it came back into favor in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it works for children as well as adults.
Why use literature?
Students improve their English by studying some of the best writing in the language. Learning the stylistic features of selected texts does wonders for their vocabulary and grammar. Literature also helps them understand the cultural and social background it comes from.
Literature in the English class can also be a source of personal enrichment. As a teacher, you can invite personal involvement by encouraging students to draw on their own views, experiences, opinions, and feelings.
How do you bring literature into the English class?
First, start with a questionnaire. Do not take the shortcut of guessing what your students need. Let them tell you what they need and want from learning English, and go from there.
Once the needs analysis is done, pick popular literature that helps you give your students what they need. When you teach English as a second language, you do not have to look for texts that resemble your students' own culture. Most students are happy to learn about other cultures, life lessons, and new knowledge.
At first, students may be reluctant to study literature. That is understandable: many people in non-English-speaking countries learn English only to get a job. The style and vocabulary of popular literature can also seem unnecessarily difficult and cause problems when they read.
A good way to keep these two difficulties from putting students off is for you, the teacher, to step back a little and become an observer.
Arrange group discussions in which students read the texts aloud and talk about them among themselves. A group discussion is an ideal way for students to overcome their reluctance and take control of their own learning. You step in only when you are really needed.
If you can, give your students access to these six books that improve English vocabulary, so that the vocabulary causes them fewer problems. There are more ideas in ways to improve vocabulary for ESL students.
What should the teacher do?
As the teacher, keep a professional diary for your observations, reflections, and personal notes about the class. The diary is a great help for planning, enactment, and reflection, which continue throughout the learning process.
Planning, enactment, and reflection should form an ongoing cycle of development rather than a straight line. Because it is a cycle and not a fixed sequence, you can start anywhere in it: as long as a step makes sense, it is allowed.
The diary also helps you with evaluation. With your notes, you can decide how well the method worked and what you can do to improve it.