Literature In English Language Teaching

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This paper deals with experimenting the use of Literature in English Language teaching in Engineering colleges. Literature sets out the potential of language and serves as a means of enhancing one’s competence through confidence. It can also help one hone one’s language skills by extending linguistic knowledge through evidence of extensive and subtle vocabulary usage and a complex and exact syntax. It is rightly said that Literature is a “valuable transitional material”. While language focuses on phonemes, morphemes, words, clauses, structures etc., literature lays emphasis on context and on how language is used for communication. A literary piece brought to the attention of students is not an end in itself but a means of beginning a creative …show more content…

Just a few centuries ago English was spoken by just five to seven million people on one, relatively small island, and the language consisted of dialects spoken by monolinguals. Today there are more non-native than native users of English, and English has become the linguistic key used for opening borders: it is a global medium with local identities and messages. English has become a world language, spoken by at least 750 million of the whole population today. It is more widely spoken and written than any other language, even Latin, has ever been. It can indeed, be said to be the first truly global language. Cheshire points out that although the spread of English has often been associated with the death of indigenous languages in those countries to which it has been transplanted, in India this was not the case. The role of English in India has not been replacive: It has not driven out any of the indigenous languages. Rather, he claims, English has enriched Indian languages(6). The role of literature in the making of English is highly noteworthy. The importance of Literature and how it can be used effectively in English language teaching in Engineering Colleges is what the paper all …show more content…

The students of Engineering colleges need not read the history of literature or novels or poems. But they should atleast read prose and short stories if not novels because they not only help them learn communication skills but mainly values. This will help them use their language in correct form and also improve their vocabulary to a wider