LITERATURE IN EFL/ESL CLASSROOM: A MULTIFACETED PRACTICE IN ELT (Pages 52-62) by Mr. Gaurav Thakarar in THE ENGLISH INDIA / ISSN: 2321-1172 (Online); 2347-2634 (Print)

Teaching of English to non native speakers of English has been a challenge for the teachers as far as methods and techniques are concerned. Teachers have been compelled to find the new and innovative methods and techniques time and again. Understanding the fact and the challenge, the researchers and publishers have started to encourage and find new techniques in the form of literature to eliminate the boredom of monotonous and boring activities that we use in so called “Communicative Language Teaching”.Teaching of English to non native speakers of English has been a challenge for the teachers as far as methods and techniques are concerned. Teachers have been compelled to find the new and innovative methods and techniques time and again. Understanding the fact and the challenge, the researchers and publishers have started to encourage and find new techniques in the form of literature to eliminate the boredom of monotonous and boring activities that we use in so called “Communicative Language Teaching”.The researcher will try to emphasize the use of literature as a technique for teaching both basic language skills (i.e. reading, writing, listening and speaking) and language areas (i.e. vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation). In recent years, the role of literature as a basic element and source of authentic texts of the language curriculum rather than an ultimate aim of English instruction has been gaining momentum. Among language educators, there has been a continuous debate as to how, when, where, and why literature should be incorporated in ESL / EFL curriculum. Vital discussion of how literature and ESL / EFL instruction can work together and interact for the benefit of students and teachers has lead to the emergence of interesting ideas, learning, and improved instruction for all.In the nutshell, the researcher would aim to discuss why a language teacher should use literary texts in the language classroom, what sort of literature language teachers should use with language learners, literature and the teaching of language skills, and benefits of different genres of literature to language teaching will be taken into account.Thus, the place of literature as a tool in teaching English as a second or foreign language will be unearthed.