Literature is authentic material. Most works of literature are not created for the primary purpose of teaching a language. Many authentic samples of language in real- life contexts are included within recently developed course materials. Literature can act as a beneficial complement to such materials, particularly when the first “survival” level has been passed. In reading literary texts, because students have also to cope with language intended for native speakers, they become familiar with many different linguistic forms, communicative functions and meanings.
- Cultural Enrichment
For many language learners, the ideal way to increase their understanding of verbal / nonverbal aspects of communication in the country within which that language is spoken - a visit or an extended stay - is just not probable. For such learners, literary works, such as novels, plays, and short stories facilitate to understand how communication takes place. Though the world of a novel, play, or short story is an imaginary one, it presents a full and colorful setting in which characters from many social/regional backgrounds can be described.
- Language Enrichment
Literature provides learners with a wide range of individual lexical or syntactic items. Students become familiar with many features of the written language, reading a substantial and contextualized body of text. They learn about the syntax and discourse functions of sentences, the variety of possible structures, the different ways of connecting ideas, which develop and enrich their own writing skills.
- Personal Involvement
Literature can be useful in the language learning process owing to the personal involvement it fosters in the reader. Once the student reads a literary text; he begins to inhabit the text. He is drawn into the text. Understanding the meanings of lexical items or phrases becomes less significant than pursuing the development of the story. The student becomes enthusiastic to find out what happens as events unfold via the climax; he feels close to certain characters and shares their emotional responses. This can have beneficial effects upon the whole language learning process.
Furthermore, literature plays an important role in teaching four basic language skills like reading, writing, listening and speaking. However, when using literature in the language classroom, skills should never be taught in isolation but in an integrated way. Teachers should try to teach basic language skills as an integral part of oral and written language use, as part of the means for creating both referential and interactional meaning, not merely as an aspect of the oral and written production of words, phrases and sentences (Hismanoglu, 2005)
Literature and Reading
In relation to reading skill, there were a number of ways in providing a range of reading formats in classrooms. In this case novel is one of them.
Activities that the teacher can prepare in contribution of literature in ELT, for instance: students are encouraged to read novel and they are asked to retell and share the contents of the novel. That is to state that they share their evaluations of the work and their personal reactions to their works, i.e. to its characters, its theme(s), and the author’s point of view.
Then, students are required to understand the messages contain in the novel. Teachers can use novel to promote student’s comprehension when they involved in reading novel. In reading activity, the students receive messages out of the significant of the text. In this case reading activity required the students to conform the comprehension, where they are involved to explore information in the text.
Besides that, reading literature also deals with the development of students’ vocabulary enrichment. By reading literature, students find new words, the more they read the more they enrich their vocabulary.
Literature and Writing
