Literary awareness in the foreign language classroom

Abstract

As a result of the widespread implementation of the communicative method in the early 80s, using literature in foreign language classes at school was generally shyed away from. However, in the last decade some secondary school teachers have once again fallen back on literature in the belief that it may be a very useful tool in improving their students' command of the foreign language. After explaining the rationale behind why the use of literary texts could prove beneficial, this paper proposes a practical example with a view to demonstrating its usefulness in improving the students' proficiency in the foreign language (English), while at the same time widening their knowledge of the foreign culture and making students aware of the literary effect aimed at by the author. Our main aim is to beef up not only their language awareness but also, and above all, their literary awareness.