Integration of Literature in English Language Teaching: Learners’ Attitudes and Opinions
Sami Hussein Hakeem Barzani1, Reman Sabah Meena2, Hewa Foad Ali3, & Awdal Shukur4
123English Language Teaching Department, Faculty of Education, Tishk International University, Kurdistan Region-Iraq
4 Cyprus International University
1[email protected] 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
Speaking of the role and position of literature in language teaching platforms, generally, two opposite views are in action, namely essentialist and non-essentialist. However, numerous studies have stressed the effective role of literature. This study investigated the opinions and preferences of EFL university students on the integration of Literature in English language learning. To do so, a mixed-method research design was utilized in which data were collected quantitively through a 12 items questionnaire and qualitatively using five open-ended questions. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS whereas descriptions were used for the analysis of the qualitative data. For the quantitative part 30 EFL students and for the qualitative phase 10 EFL students participated. The findings indicated that students consider short stories as a tool for enhancing reading comprehension skills through grammar and vocabulary. It was also discovered that students find short story reading as a means for the development and awareness of cultural knowledge. It was further unearthed that students strongly agreed that short stories help them to recognize different sentence types. In a nutshell, the findings discovered that students showed positive attitudes toward the use of short stories in developing reading comprehension.
Keywords: Literature, Literary texts, Attitudes, and Opinions
doi:10.23918/vesal2021v15