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Osman, Tamer

Is using American and English Literature in ESL /EFL Classes a Sound Idea? 

The answer to the question of the title of this article has two aspects: a positive aspect and a negative aspect. 
If we tackle the positive aspect , we will find that the ELLs(English Language Learners) get involved into the cultures of the English-speaking countries. That is a vital objective for any ELL seeking fluency in English. Being indulged into the culture of the new acquired language would definitely make the learners cover all the productive and receptive language skills. So if the ESL/EFL (English as a Second/Foreign Language) teachers /instructors introduce some English and American literature in their classes, the learners will be able to attain the required fluency in English. 
On the other hand, introducing literature in the ESL/ EFL classes could be rather confusing and discard the learners form quotidian English. ELLs should stick to the English that would enable them to communicate smoothly with the public without staggering. Therefore, utilizing the English and American literature would make some ELLs assimilate syntactic and semantic that could be inutile or rather obsolete. 
Then the questions that will pose itself at this point:will the ESL/EFL teachers/instructors introduce literature in their classes or not? 
The answer to this question is:'Yes' and 'No' at the same time. How?! 
The ESL /EFL teachers / instructors could use literature in specific classes and not in any class. For instance, the teachers/ instructors could resort to a small portion of it in general English advanced level courses. A few chunks of well-selected literary texts could add new linguistic information and general knowledge to the learners. The teachers /instructors could use poems as listening activities as well. Without any doubt that handling light literary texts in English conversation courses would boost the critical thinking of the learners and deepen their knowledge about the English-speaking cultures. Literature can also be tackled in EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses as the learners are to get exposed to different styles of English writing. 
 Undeniably, if the OER channels adopt displaying ESL /EFL materials , this will definitely assist in prevailing these materials at a larger scale for any user at no cost. These materials will serve the English language teachers in regions of the world where the educational potentials are so limited. I myself can freely submit some of TESL and ESL /EFL works to COERLL as a positive step toward this high educational purpose.
Finally,this matter depends upon demographic factors. Age categories play an important role in accepting the idea of introducing literature in the classes. The middle-aged and senior learners may accept this idea rather than young people learners. Resorting to explaining literature in ESL/EFL classes in some regions of the world can be totally unacceptable .This could be attributed to the idea of rejecting any elements that do not belong to the culture of these regions. Some would consider it as an influencing factor on the conceptual views of the learners.










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Using English and American Literature in ESL /EFL Classes

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