Reading of literature and its use to teach language

Literature is an umbrella term covering a wide range of activities. However, when it is treated as a subject of study, it is seen as an activity involving and using language. Literature is an important component of a total language arts programme at all grade levels because of the many benefits it offers.  "The study of literature is fundamentally a study of language in operation" (Widdowson: 1971). Thus, studying the language of literary texts as language in operation is seen as enhancing the learner's appreciation of aspects of the different systems of language organisation. Literature  is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination, including works of poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction.
Literature represents a language or a people: culture and tradition. But, literature is more important than just a historical or cultural artefact. Literature introduces us to new worlds of experience. We learn about books and literature; we enjoy the comedies and the tragedies of poems, stories, and plays; and we may even grow and evolve through our literary journey with books.
Literature is authentic material that makes students travel to foreign countries and fantastic worlds without visiting them physically.  This keeps our students motivated and promotes favourable attitude toward learning. Most of the time literature is mainly related to reading and writing, but it may play the same meaningful role in teaching, speaking and listening if we design creative activities. Using literature in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom can be viewed from three different perspectives: literature as genuine and authentic material, as a good language source and as a bridge to get the learner interested and also, we can mention poetry as a strong option to develop students' skills.
Poems, novels, and stories can bring powerful emotional responses to the classroom. Furthermore, students can relate their own real lives to the stories they read. Poems, plays and novels make use of the same basic language system but have different  functions from non-literary discourses in the communicative function. The result is that poets, novelists and playwrights produce linguistic messages, which by their very nature, stand out prominently against the reader's background awareness of what is both communicatively conventional and linguistically appropriate to the social purpose. Literary texts help EFL students to improve language learning. However, literature by itself is not enough; teachers need to use imaginative techniques for integrating literature work with language teaching.
Language is the most prominent feature of literature. Through literature students learn about syntax and discourse, different structures, functions, and the different ways of connecting ideas, all these help students to develop their writing, listening, reading and speaking skills. As they use literature they learn about language structure without even noticing, this helps to develop their communicative competence, what as we know, is the ultimate aim of English learning. So, we can say teaching language using literature offers these  benefits---  (i) literature is motivating material (ii) it helps students to understand the target culture (iii) encourages language acquisition (iv) expands the language awareness (v) represents valuable authentic material (vi) develops the students' interpretative abilities, critical and creative thinking (vii) involves emotions as well as intellect, which adds to motivation and contributes to personal development (viii) encourages students to talk about their opinions and feelings, being a good starting point for discussion or creative writing (ix) develops students' interest in reading in general, and reading in the target language in particular.
So, we have reasons to integrate literature into our curriculum---(a) Literature is a relaxing escape from daily problems, and it fills leisure moments of the readers.  Making time for recreational reading and using high-quality literature helps to develop enthusiastic readers and improve achievement (Block & Mangieri, 2002). According to Rosenblatt (1995, p. 175), "The power of literature to offer entertainment and recreation is still its prime reason for survival." Developing a love of literature as a recreational activity is possibly the most important outcome of a literature programme.
(b) Children expand their horizons through vicarious experiences by reading literature. They visit new places, gain new experiences, and meet new people. They learn about the past as well as the present and learn about a variety of cultures, including their own. They discover the common goals and similar emotions found in people of all times and places. Literature provides a language model for those who hear and read it. Good literature exposes children to correct sentence patterns, standard story structures, and varied word usage. Children for whom English is a second language can improve their English with the interesting context, and all children benefit from new vocabulary that is woven into the stories.
(c) Discussions of literature bring out reasoning related to sequence, cause and effect, character motivation, predictions, visualisation of actions, characters, and settings,  critical analysis of the story and creative responses. Listening to stories provides opportunities for honing listening skills, and discussion allows children to express their thoughts, feelings, and reactions. When students read literature, they are practicing their comprehension strategies in meaningful situations.  By finding out about the problems of others through books, children receive insights into dealing with their own problems.
(d) The carefully crafted, creative illustrations in picture books develop children's awareness of line, colour, space, shape, and design. Some illustrations complement or reinforce the story, whereas others enhance or extend the text. Pictures convey meaning and open new opportunities for interpretation (Giorgis et al., 1999).
(e) Excellent, well-illustrated books are available for many cultural groups. Children from such populations gain self-esteem by seeing themselves represented in books, and mainstream children begin to appreciate others from culturally diverse backgrounds.
In the classroom the use of literature encourages learners to get involved with the stories they read or hear; the understanding of the words becomes less important as they get involved in trying to figure out what is happening with a character or the end of a story. Students may also like using literature if the activities are oriented towards enjoyment and creativity instead of memorising or following grammatical rules. Literature can be seen as the bridge between the learner and the culture of the people whose language they are studying. Of course, literary texts should carefully be chosen to retain the interest of the learners in that case.
Poetry is a short piece of imaginative writing, of a personal nature and laid out in lines. In this sense, poetry is a product of the language and a tool to teach it, a tool to teach grammatical clues and a product when students make a composition of any topic. Most of the poems include metaphors. Students can use cognitive skills by making comparisons between two different things and finding their similarities. The figures of speech used in poetry such as metaphors, similes and personifications help students to have a better understanding of the use of language in an unconscious way. Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; poetry is the first and last of all knowledge - it is as immortal as the heart of man. (Wordsworth: 1805). Poetry is a way for teaching and learning basic skills. It can be used as an enjoyable and a rewarding tool with the properties of rhyming and rhythm. It helps students to easily learn with the supra-segmental aspect of the target language, such as stress, pitch, intonation. Poetry encourages creative writing, helps students appreciate sounds, words and patterns. It develops phonic skills, makes students express feelings and opinions, provides a great opportunity to play with language, reinforces the ability to think and experiment with students' understanding of the world, helps acquire vocabulary, creativity and imagination, reveals, restates, reinforces and  affirms those things which we think are true, it gives the chance to discover and explore the use of the language and generates collaborative activities. Also, poems help to develop oral and mental capacities. They should be read aloud to reinforce the student's phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, and vocabulary as well as to sharpen their receptive language skills by learning rhyming, sounds, stresses, pauses, alliteration and syllables. Teachers can describe the theme of a poem and write out personal experiences related to the theme, can deduce meanings from the context, rewrite part of a poem in one's own words and ideas to offer different messages.
In the sixties and seventies of the last century, there was a distinct reaction against the use of any literary English before the pendulum swung again in support of literature teaching. The opposition towards literature may well have been due to the impact of the approaches that were practiced in the decades prior to the sixties and seventies and prevailing ideas in language teaching and methodology. Literature was seen as a body of knowledge which ought to be learned for its own sake. The process of creativity and the entire body of literature were given an honoured and elevated status that sustained the elitist nature which the study of literature had already acquired. Literature is beginning to be viewed as an appropriate vehicle for language learning and development since the focus is now on authentic language and authentic situations.
R. Carter (1986) insists that a natural resolution would be to take an approach in which language and literature teaching are more closely integrated and harmonised than is commonly the case at the present time so that literature would not be isolated, possibly rejected, on account of the "literariness" of its language. If literature begins to be taught and examined at lower secondary levels in these ways, it will foster enjoyment of the text alongside a deeper and more meaningful understanding of the language. Students will then be ready to explore some of the literary features of the poems and stories, having become fully involved with the writers and characters in the process of language consolidation and imaginative recreation. Still, to assess or to examine literature in a communicative or interactive way demands teaching strategies that also integrate language and literature, allowing activities which require language involving  students in experiencing language, playing with language, analysing language, responding to language and enjoying language. These elements can only be achieved if the student is allowed to engage a process of discovery.
Using literature in the language classroom is a concept that has its focal point in language development. Literature generates creativity in language and imagination and should feature in any education system that regards discovery and enjoyment as essential components of the learning process. To write we have to read, and to really read, we have to think, criticise, doubt, wonder, and stand amased by words on the page. The joy of studying literature is always a new reality to discover.  Literature in all forms is everywhere in today's society, and with this idea, it is clear just how important it is.  Whether it is studied in the classroom, read for pleasure or purpose, literature is a central part of many lives and language teaching.   It offers not only a chance to enlighten a person, but it also gives the chance to broaden one's horizons and perspectives.  
English skills are helpful in every area of life.  Reading, writing, comprehension, analysis, and interpretation increase efficiency in multiple ways including communication, documentation in other areas of study, and reflection of personal values. It can be said that there is no area of study that English and communication skills do not influence. English is a good lens through which we can view the world, both present and past, can learn about the culture in which the author lived, the history surrounding the country of his origin, and the various intellectual, political, and artistic movements of the time.  Thus the window to humanity that lies at the heart of all literature can act as a sort of connecting portal to the culture surrounding each individual author. Literature is a way in which we can capture and interpret what has happened and is happening to us personally and to the world as a whole.  An entire culture exists in the written word, documenting the collective thoughts of everyone who cared to share them with the world.   Literature serves as a way to enrich our minds, and presents a way to improve the world not only through the beauty of its presence but through the ideas and tangible possibilities it possesses.
 Literature teaches us about laughter and love, about remembering and forgetting. It can create emotion and warn us against our many human faults.  Not only is the uncovering of these truths significant in and of itself, but the revelation process also provides a common experience through which the reader can relate to every person who has discovered that same truth before him/her. One way that literature communicates the human condition to readers is that it brings the truths it contains to life. Literature is human's exploration of human by artificial light which is better than natural light because we can direct there we want. When a reader is able to identify with a character  his/her conflict or problem in a story and see life through the eyes of this character that reader has begun to share an author's insight and has thus begun to read with appreciation. Reading in this way is to respond both emotionally and intellectually.  While reading we must be able to see relationships, perceive the development of character, theme, symbols, and be able to detect multiple meanings. We can reject or accept, like or dislike the literary work, depending on the effect it has on us. Still, we read literature to discover and to learn about ideas and we write it to discover and to cultivate our own ideas.
The writer is Programme Manager at BRAC Education Programme,
email: [email protected]