An investigation on approaches used in teaching literature at SUH English departments and their applications

Abstract EN

In the light of literature being part of curriculum in the language classes, it was the concern of researchers to conduct researches on the most appropriate approach of teaching literature.

This paper is an attempt to report on findings of a research designed to identify approaches employed by instructors in teaching the literature component in the English departments at colleges of Languages and Education, at Salahaddin University/ Hawler (SUH)/.

The aim of this study is to gain a general overview of the approaches used to teach literature in the EFL classrooms and to find out to what extend a systematic methodology is used in teaching literature at university level.

The instruments that are used for data collection are the qualitative and quantitative questionnaire and classroom observation checklist.

The research findings show that most of the instructors follow various techniques or styles which are not approaches to teaching literature, but they can be merged to construct the elements of content-based, personal growth, and language-based (or stylistic) approaches.

They are not aware of the most appropriate approaches used in teaching literature.

Finally, in order to promote an effective teaching environment in literature classes, the researchers suggest the necessity for improving instructors’ methods and approaches of teaching literature plus a number of recommendations.