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of the text. Carter and Long 1991:4 argue that ‘The potential disadvantage of literature for study is that it can hinder the use of literature as a resource’, because
literature for study contributes less to language teaching. One participant,
T9
indicated to use literature both as a resource and as a subject. Some responses of the teachers are provided below:
“I use literature as a resource in teaching my English Skills classes”
T1
“I used to teach literature as a subject but it’s quite a long time ago”. Because the courses I teach, sometimes I use literature as a valuable material in my
Skills classes”T3 “I have to use literature or literary text as a resource in teaching my students.
Especially in prose related, particularly I use novel, and probably a short story”T7
“I teach literature as a subject. Of course, I major in literature.” T4 In the responses, it can be inferred that the teachers who teach the language skills
reading, writing, listening, speaking or component grammar, pronunciation, structures and creative writing tend to use literature more as a resource. For example
T1, T2, T3, and T9
showed they teach at least a language skill or components.
3. ValuesAdvantages of literature
The third issue that emerged from the research is about the values and advantages of literature. Based on the data, the teachers believed literature is valuable
for teaching a language. They believed that literature offers linguistic, cultural and social values. The participants showed positive attitudes towards the use of literature
for language development. They believed literature enriches students’ vocabulary
development, in internalizing the structure and grammar of the language and getting feelings of the language.
T2
stated that through literature we can learn about creative
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messages while
T7
said students can imitate good works by reading literature. The following responses
explain the teachers’ perspectives on the values and advantages of literature:
“Literature is valuable in vocabulary development, knowing about the diction- beautiful words that are not used in everyday expressions. Literature provides
ways to enrich the students’ vocabulary. It is hard to understand literature, but we can learn something about li
fe, maybe about adventures”.
T1
“Literature has linguistic, cultural and social values. Different words diction can be learned from a different context such as slang and idioms. There is a
creative message in literature.
T2
“Literature is valuable in the teaching of foreign language because through engagement with the language, students could internalize the structure and
grammar of the language, get the feelings of the language and enrich their
vocabularies and its usages.” T9 Students can also acquire cultural and social contexts by reading literature. This
means that students can learn about the culture of others through literature. In terms of social values,
T5
contended that literature is fun, while
P7
stated that literature should be beneficial for giving moral lesson and for entertainment.
“I still believe in Horace principles that literature should be beneficial for giving moral lesson and also for entertainment. It must be able to entertain the
students. If literature can satisfy these t wo main issues, am ok”T7.
T9
reported that: “Teaching literature helps students learn about values embodied or expressed
through the works , helps to cultivate students’ sensibilities and understanding of human experiences from different walks of
life” As can be seen, the majority of the teachers believed literature
enriches students’ vocabulary development, provides cultural and social contexts in which the students
can learn about values and understand about human experiences. Students can
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internalize the structure and grammar of the language and enjoy the reading of literature for fun or entertainment.
4. Preference for Prose
