USING LITERATURE IN AN ESL CLASSROOM: A SURVEY

Abstract

Language is a measure of conveying the ideas, facts, figures, particulars, solicitudes, compassion and love from one individual to other. Although it is roughly calculated that bisection of sphere’s inhabitant is multilingual. The accession of additional languages has been associated with cognitive benefits in all respects of life span. These days English language is contemplated as an indispensable as it is frequently manipulated throughout the sphere as a measure of communication. A good grasp of English to higher standard andragogy is to gain better professional slots and a well-respected status in society. Teachers are perhaps the most critical component of any system of education. How well they teach depends on motivation, qualification, experience, training, aptitude and the environment. The stimulus for the present study derives from the view that the teaching of language should be taught by using literary pieces and should move away from a teacher-centered approach towards a student-centered one. The present study illustrated the impact of literature teaching in an ESL context at university level. It was designed to encourage students to experience literary texts directly as a part of a process of meaning creation that develops their thought processes, imaginative faculties and interpretative skills and ultimately has a strong impact on their learning ability. Such a systematic approach to literature teaching in developing learners’ reading skills is likely to enable teachers to have a more student-centered classroom. The present study also utilizes the devised teaching activities based on prediction initiating personal growth, in an actual teaching learning context in a selected research environment and explores students' responses to the proposed approach. The obtained data of the present study was collected through questionnaires which were analyzed descriptively. The findings suggested that application of teaching approach proposed by the study notably changed the classroom dynamics in a positive way. The researchers’ conclusion with suggestions and recommendations was also summed up at the end of the study.