Meaning and Learning in the English Language Classroom

The aim of the study is to find a rationale for the use of literature in English language teaching, and a theoretical basis for it in terms both of language, and language teaching practice. The potential of literature to render the linguistic content of a lesson more meaningful and more memorable is to be explored, with the hope that artefacts from felt life can contribute new voices to the sometimes sterile world of functional language. The idea of using literature in language lessons is partly based on the conviction that the type of English students are usually exposed to in current textbooks is excessively limited: very often it is chosen (or created) to illustrate a particular “grammar point”, and divorced from real meaning. It is suggested that a clear tension exists, as grammar requires meaning in order to be well understood and assimilated, and not be mere form. The question of culture and its connection with meaningful language arises here, and it is the intention to explore the importance of this within the study. It is also taken as fundamental that it is a part of language teaching to instil in students an increased awareness of rhetoric and an increased capacity to evaluate language in various contexts. It is well recognised that language can often be an instrument of power and should be understood as such, and students are often exposed to an excess of linguistic material (e.g. from the internet) with little idea of how to go about analysing it. Another advantage of literature used as material in language lessons might thus be to help equip students as more effective users of language in various contexts. Indeed, it is aimed to suggest that the importance of, on the one hand rhetorical skills, and on the other socio-linguistic awareness has been greatly undervalued up to now, both in theory and in teaching practice. This might leave us as English teachers running the risk of ‘producing’ students who are thoroughly prepared in certain transactional language skills while utterly lacking in the sort of intercultural, personal and persuasive abilities which are a sine qua non of successful communication today.