Use of literature to enhance motivation in elt classes

Foreign language teachers need to motivate their students to learn English. Literature can be a good means to achieve motivation in ELT classes. There has recently been a revival of interest in literature as a practical, motivating and an effective resource available for language learning. Therefore, we can assume that literature and authentic literary materials, especially short stories can enhance motivation of ELT students. Keeping this in mind, this study was carried out in an ELT classroom by using two homogeneous groups: an experimental group and a control group. First, for one semester, Experimental Group was provided with unabridged, authentic short stories, whereas Control Group was exposed to abridged and simplified texts and reading passages. The findings showed that the Experimental Group’s overall results of final exams and outcomes were better than that of the Control Group. Second, an attitude survey was used to understand the level of motivation of literature and to determine whether literature has a positive effect on reading and writing. The results suggested that use of short stories enhances learning and may be good motivational means in second and/or foreign language teaching settings through developing integrated reading, speaking, writing and listening skills. The results of this study may be beneficial to language practitioners in their classroom teaching.

ELT ,

motivation ,

literature ,

authentic literary materials ,