Literature, The “Forsaken” resource of teaching EFL/ESL: An appraisal

In this paper, it is argued that the exclusion of literary texts in the teaching-learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and as Second Language (ESL) curricula has serious disadvantages and therefore literature should be included in EFL and ESL syllabi at all levels, especially the secondary and tertiary levels of education in non-Anglophone countries. Accordingly, the background against which exclusion of literary writing in EFL/ESL curricula took place (Section 1) is given, the disadvantages of such exclusion are identified (Section 2), the rationale for inclusion of literary texts in these curricula is explained (Section 3), the concept of “literary competence” and the criteria for selection of texts are discussed and illustrated (Section 4), and finally demonstrate how a sample prose narrative can be exploited in teaching English as a foreign or second language at the tertiary level (Section 5). This is followed by a few concluding remarks (Section 6). Thus, the main argument in this paper is in favour of incorporating literary texts in EFL/ESL curricula, drawn from poetry, fictional narratives, one-act plays and/or full-length plays.