Ej 1239098

Advances in Language and Literary Studies
ISSN: 2203-4714
www.alls.aiac.org.au
Students’ Perception towards Literature Integration in the English Language Departments at

Duhok and Zakho Universities
Aveen Mohammed Hasan1*, Zaiton Fareeq Hasan2

1
Faculty of Humanities, Zakho University, PO box 12, Zakho, Duhok, Kurdistan region-Iraq
2
College of languages, Duhok University, Duhok, Kurdistan region-Iraq
Corresponding Author: Aveen Mohammed Hasan, E-mail: aveen.hasan@uoz.edu.krd
ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT
Article history This study investigates the students’ perceptions towards literature integration in language
Received: March 16, 2019 learning in the English Language Departments (henceforth ELD) at Duhok and Zakho
Accepted: June 27, 2019 universities. Knowledge about students’ perceptions will influence their interest and language
Published: August 31, 2019 learning development. Literature is an important part of the syllabus at most ELDs in the Kurdish
Volume: 10 Issue: 4 universities. Although studies have shown the importance of the learners’ perception, no studies
Advance access: July 2019 have examined the students’ perceptions towards their literature modules in the ELDs at the
Kurdish universities. The study is based on the responses of 268 undergraduate students to a
questionnaire consisting of close-ended, multiple choices (quantitative data) and open-ended
Conflicts of interest: None questions (qualitative data). The quantitative data is analyzed using the statistical analysis
Funding: None software (SPSS) and the qualitative using thematic analysis. The majority of the students have
positive perceptions towards literature integration in their study program. They show that it
contributes to the their language development in general and their vocabulary, speaking and
Key words: reading skills in particular and novel is selected as the most beneficial literary genre for language
Literature Integration, development. Additionally, literature contributes to develop the learners’ cultural awareness in
Perceptions Of Literature, general and helps to identify the similarities and differences between the English culture and
English Language Learning, the learners’ own culture. The study also shows the contribution of literature to the learners’
Students’ Perception, personal growth in terms of active participation in class activities, increasing their critical
Kurdish Universities thinking and analytical skills and helps them to understand theirs and other people’s experiences.
The students are satisfied with the selected literary texts and topics and to some extent with the
teaching methods which are mostly teacher led, but they suggest more students’ involvement.
However, students face some difficulties, mostly language difficulty, that need to be taken into
consideration. Thus, it is recommended that literature should be kept in the ELDs curriculum and
teachers and administrators should make students aware of the value of the literature, understand
the students needs and work to overcome the problems they encounter in literature study.
Generally, knowing the students’ perceptions towards literature classes will be helpful for the
researchers, educational policy makers and the language teachers to determine English language
learners’ genuine needs, motivation or challenges and issues in relation to the use of literary texts
as teaching materials and to develop a suitable teaching approach to use the literary texts.
INTRODUCTION the teaching and learning process (Carroli, 2008; Brown,

In Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and pedagogic 2009; Bernaus and Gardner, 2008) not only among teachers
practices, research indicated the influential role of the stu- and learners but also among administrators and educators.
dents’ beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes about the peda- Additionally, taking the learners’ perceptions seriously into
gogic strategies, learning preferences and text selections in consideration protects their self-esteem and reduces the pres-
language teaching and learning (Brown, 2009). Perception sure that is placed on them as non-native readers (Kramsch,
is a subjective process which shows how individuals ac- 1985). In other words, it reliefs the learners psychological-
quire, interpret, organize and generally make sense of the ly and gives them the impression that they are important
environment in which they live and it also measures the rate members of the learning and teaching process. Besides, the
to which such perceptions influence individual behaviors way that learners perceive a certain subject in their learn-
and attitudes depending on the individuals past experienc- ing environment plays a crucial factor in their success or
es, biological makeup, expectations, goals, and/or culture failure (Derakhshan et al., 2015; Chalak & Kassaian, 2010;
(Lavrakas, 2008). An awareness of the perceptions and at- Al-Tamimi & Shuib, 2009; cited in Othman eta al., 2015,
titudes of learners is helpful to develop an understanding of p. 106). Furthermore, learners with positive perceptions will
Published by Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.10n.4p.130
Students’ Perception towards Literature Integration in the English Language Departments at Duhok and Zakho
Universities 131
be more willing to learn the language and will develop their this way, the study can also help the educational policy mak-
own strategies to accomplish it such as ‘asking questions, ers and teachers to develop a suitable teaching approach to
volunteering information and answering questions’ (Baker, use the literary texts. Carroli (2008 cited in Wasti, 2016) stat-
1993, as cited in Ghazali, 2008). ed that learners’ choice is considered central to successful
However in the Kurdish universities, students’ percep- language learning.
tions towards their learning environment generally and the Thus, The study will answer the following research ques-
subjects they study particularly are often neglected. In the tions:
ELDs at Duhok and Zakho universities (henceforth UOD and 1. What are the perceptions of the students in the ELDs
UOZ), literature modules are studied as an important part of at selected Kurdish universities about literature and its
the language learning curriculum. The main literary modules relevance to their language learning, cultural awareness
provided at these universities are presented in table 1. These and personal development?
modules are integrated in the language curriculum and liter- 2. What are the students’ perceptions towards teaching
ature is used as an object of study, i.e. they are studied for methods and text selection?
their literary qualities. Nevertheless, students’ perceptions 3. What are the students’ perceptions towards the rele-
towards such integration has never been investigated. In oth- vance of literature to their overall education?
er words, no studies have examined the perceptions of the The paper is structured as follows: in section 2, a theoret-
learners towards their modules in general and literature in ical background and a review of previous works in the inte-
particular in the ELDs at UOD and UOZ. Besides, it is not gration of literature in EFL classes are presented. Section 3
clear whether these modules contribute to students’ language details the methodological issues used in the data collection
development, cultural awareness or personal enrichment. and analysis. In section 4, we present the main results arrived
Different studies have investigated students’ perceptions to- at throughout the data analysis. The conclusions and impli-
wards literature classes in other contexts (such as Davis et al, cations of our analysis are discussed in section 5.
1992; Halim, 2006; Carrolie, 2008; Sivapalan and Subrama-
nium, 2008; Nasharudin, 2008; Alfauzan & Hussain, 2016;
Wasti, 2016), but these studies are different for they concen- THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND
trated on the perception of literature for language learning LITERATURE REVIEW
only, while cultural awareness and personal growth are not Literature in ESL
taken into consideration.
Thus, The present investigation is the first attempt to Literature comprises genres like novels, short stories, plays
study the perceptions of students towards the integration of and poems which are fictional and the message they carry
the literature modules/classes in the ELDs at UOD and UOZ. is shown through its careful language: “language which is
It aims to investigate the students’ perceptions about litera- rich and multi-layered.” (Lazar, 1993 cited in Finsrud, 2017,
ture in terms of developing the students’ language compe- p. 4). Thus, language and literature complement each oth-
tency primarily and also in terms of developing their cultural er, to get into the imaginative world of characters, events
awareness of the target language and students’ personal de- of a short story or a poem all depend on the language that
velopment through studying literature. Additionally, it aims they are written in their different ways (Widdowson, 1990,
to identify students perception towards the teaching meth- p. 180). Literature can be used as an ‘object’ or as a ‘re-
ods, text selection and towards the relevance of literature to source’ for language learning (Maley, 1989). Literature as an
their overall education. object looks at literary texts as the object of study and ‘they
Since literature is a significant component in the curric- are studied for their literary qualities’, while literature as a
ulum of ELDs, it is worth investigating the students’ per- resource means it is primarily used ‘as just one among many
ceptions and perspectives towards the role of literature in other kinds of texts’ which can be used to teach language
developing their language proficiency, cultural awareness (Maley, 2001: 181 cited in Baba, 2008).
and developing their personal skills. Knowing the percep- The relationship between literature and English language
tions of the students will be helpful for the researchers, ed- teaching was never a smooth one. In the early 1900s when
ucational policy makers and the language teachers to deter- the grammar translation method was the dominant meth-
mine English language learners’ genuine needs, motivation od, literature was used for grammatical purposes (Carter,
or challenges and issues in relation to literature classes. In 2007; Cook, 1994; Lazar, 1993; Maley & Duff, 1990). By
Table 1. The literary modules taught at UOD and UOZ

University 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year
UOD Poetry British Literature Topics in Literature
Novel American Literature Literary Criticism
Drama World literature
UOZ An Introduction to Literature Elizabethan Drama Drama Modern Poetry
Short story Victorian Novel Modern Drama
Neoclassical and romantic Poetry Modern Novel
132 ALLS 10(4):130-152
the 1960s, literature importance in English as a Second Culturally, literature raises cultural awareness in the
Language (henceforth ESL) melted away because it is learners (McLeod, 1976 cited in Jiang, 2011, p. 6). It invites
thought that literature does not offer the much-needed lin- learners to encounter universal human experiences within
guistic skills (Topping, 1968 cited in Stern, 1991, p. 329). In the context of a specific setting and the consciousness of
the mid-twentieth, the area of language learning abandoned particular people (Stern, 1991).
literature and rejected its role, and paved the way for lin- As for the motivational benefits, Adler (1972, cited in
guistic based approaches (Carter, 2007). But this rejection Wasti, 2016), Murphy (1997), Paran (2006), Ur (1991) and
of the role of literature didn’t last long as in the mid-1980s, Lazar (1993, p. 19) put heavy emphasis on the personal in-
literature in language teaching was given attention again and volvement that literature may generate in the reader. Adler
was at the heart of interest of many researchers among them says that this involvement will make learners more motivat-
Brumfit (1986); Brumfit and Carter (1986), Boyle and Hir- ed in developing their language and cultural awareness of
vela (1988) to name a few. Stern (1991, p. 344) discusses the the target community; as the learners’ “personal empathy”
wide interest that literature has gained in the last few years as creates a contact between the reader and the author from one
an integral and integrated component in the language curric- hand and between the reader, the characters and the events
ulum. The role of literature is shifted from its traditional role on the other hand. It also provides the ground for highly mo-
as the ultimate aim of English instruction to an important tivated small-group work (Long & Porter, 1985).
component of the language curriculum. He adds that today Academically, and intellectually, literature has the pow-
the role of literature is redefined and that it offers linguistic, er of educating the whole person and it stimulates learners’
cultural and aesthetic potentials to second language learning. imagination that in turns develops their critical abilities and
Likewise, Wasti (2016) and Tseng (2010) state that in recent also stimulates their emotional awareness (Lazar, 1993; Ur,
years, literature has gained a rebirth in language education 1991). Furthermore, it helps to develop critical thinking skills
in general and language learning and teaching in English as and matured judgments (Hargreaves, 1969 as cited in Stern,
a Foreign Language (henceforth EFL)/ESL contexts in par- 1991, p. 329). It also encourages learners’ oral skills (Enright
ticular. Also in most of the modern foreign language depart- & McCloskey, 1985) and develops active problem-solving
ments at universities worldwide, language and literature are ability (Gajdusek, 2004 cited in Jiang, 2011, p. 6).
divided into two different departments (Tucker, 2006 as cited Finally, Stern (1991, p. 328-329) adds that integrating
in Tseng, 2010). Thou in reality this separation is impossible teaching literature to EFL has aesthetical benefits: it means
because “no teacher of literature ignores linguistic problems teaching literature for its own sake. It is the teaching for the
and no language teacher really wants to leave his students “perceptive insight it provides into man’s existence within
speaking a sterile impoverished version of the language” the artistic and intellectual boundaries of a literary frame-
(Smith, 1972, p. 275 as cited in Tseng, 2010). work.” Whereas, Ur (1991, p. 201) states that reading litera-
Despite of its great role in language teaching and learn- ture can be so enjoyable and contributes to world knowledge.
ing, literature, up to this day, has come across much criticism
and hard talk by educationalists and researchers. One party is
The against-literature view
for and the other is against using literature in ESL contexts.
It is important to have a look at both views. On the other hand, the opponents of integrating literature in
ESL (Rivers, 1981; Littlewood, 1986, to name a few), doubt
the benefits of literature in ESL classrooms. They claim that
The for-literature view literature is “an uncertain business”. They devaluate its role
The for-literature followers value literature place in general as a source for language learning/teaching.
language teaching for the linguistic, cultural, motivation- Culturally, It is claimed that literature is imagination;
al, academic and intellectual benefits that it offers (Ghou- therefore, it does not represent the true picture of the tar-
ti, 2013: p. 11; Widdowson, 1990; Mckay, 1986; Brumfit, get community (Rivers, 1981). Additionally, because liter-
1985). ature is highly culturally charged it is found strange by the
Linguistically, literature contains a language that is used EFL learners, and for that reason it is difficult for them to
in the widest range of contexts and discourses which helps understand the conceptual notions that literature caries
the learners to develop their language proficiency and this (Savvidou, 2004).
can help them to passionately express emotions and atti- While linguistically, literature is found unsuitable model
tudes (Elliot, 1990 cited in Wasti, 2016, p. 2). Additionally, for teaching and learning the language because it contains un-
it provides a mastery of vocabulary, grammar and language familiar lexicon and syntactically complex structures which
skills (Stern, 1991; Ur, 1991). What is more, it is regarded will cause difficulty for learners to comprehend it (MaKay,
as a suitable source for in depth language learning. In other 1986). Besides, if the objective in EFL is language learning,
words, English language teaching needs what is called “Di- literature cannot serve to attain this need for its language is
mension of depth” meaning a deeper insight into language far away from the everyday language (Hall, 2005; Collie and
rather than the current focus on the communicative compe- Slater, 1987 as cited in Ainy, 2007, p. 10-12). Furthermore,
tence. The term refers to the mental involvement in what the to communicate in the target language many functions are
learner hears or says and this kind of involvement leads to a needed to be learnt like grammar, developing language skills
kind of communication that is deeper and not just a superfi- according to needs, vocabulary learning besides learning so-
cial (Stern, 1991). cial skills like turn taking, politeness strategies and interac-
Universities 133
tional awareness, to many literature hinders these processes 2015, p.15). A‘detailed analysis of the language of the liter-
to take place (McRay, 1991). ary texts will help students to make meaningful interpreta-
Finally, MaKay furthers that “The study of literature will tions… [and] at the same time, students will increase their
contribute nothing to helping our students meet their aca- general awareness and understanding of English.’ (Lazar,
demic and/or occupational goals”(1986, p.177). To educate 1993) Violetta-Irene (2015, p.75) states that teachers prefer
EFL learners through classic literature exposure usually ends to use language model for teaching literature in order to give
up with disappointing results (Akyel and Yalçin, 1990). De- students knowledge with some sense of the more subtle and
spite all, “the literary text, after all, is not specifically written varied creative uses of language. However, the approach
for instructing EFL/ESL classes.” (Jiang, 2011, p. 9) As the neglects the learners’ response to the text which may cause
result, the role of literature in language teaching has been losing the pleasure of reading literature (Mackay, 1982 cited
questioned for these reasons. Ur (1991, p. 201) summarizes in Ghouti, 2013, p. 18-19).
the major disadvantages and problems of literature teaching:
1. Learners may find language of literature difficult to
Cultural model
read.
2. To use simplified versions makes poor representation of The cultural approach or ‘literature as content’ as identified
the original ones. by Lazar (1993, p.24) is considered the most traditional one
3. Many literary texts are long and time-consuming to among others. It is more teacher-centered approach where
teach. the literary text is used as a product and a means to learn
4. The target-language culture on which the literature is about the target culture. That is why the teacher concentrates
based is alien to learners and may be difficult for them on the cultural aspects of the text such as the social, political
to relate to. and historical background of the literary texts. Furthermore,
5. By using texts as a basis for language teaching we may the approach emphasizes the history of literary movements,
spoil learners’ enjoyment and appreciation of them as the different genres, biographical facts about authors and
literature. various synopses (Ghouti, 2013, p. 16). Teaching literature
within the cultural approach raises the learners’ awareness
of other cultures and ideologies as well as their own (Carter
Approaches to Teaching Literature in EFL Contexts and Long, 1991 cited in Ghouti, 2013, p. 16-18; Yimwilia,
Different approaches to teach literature in EFL are evolved. 2015, p.15 & Ainy, 2006, p. 41). The approach connects cul-
Carter and Long (1991) suggest three approaches: (1) the tures and develops a sense of acceptance and understanding
language based approach (2) the cultural approach and (3) towards otherness in the learners. However, this method has
literature as a source for personal growth or enrichment. no systematic relation to the development of language skills
In addition to language based and personal enrichment (Carter and Long, 1991cited in Ainy, 2006, p. 41).
approaches, Lazar (1993, p23-39) introduced literature as
content approach. Most recently, Savvidou (2004 cited in
Personal growth model
Ghouti, 2013) has come out with another approach which
is referred to as the integrated approach. In this section, the The approach connects both language model and cultural
main approaches, namely, the language model, the cultural model as it stresses particular use of language in a piece of
model, the personal growth and the integrated models will literature and at the same time places it in a certain cultur-
be discussed. al context simultaneously. It is also named the enrichment
model by Lazar (1993). It paves the way for the students
to express their personal feelings and ideas. It calls for the
The language model students’ active involvement with the text and compare and
It is a student-centered approach in which linguistic goals contrast their experiences with those of the text. The ap-
are achieved through literary texts. It mainly concentrates on proach stresses the group working activities (Lazar, 1993,
language features such as grammar, vocabulary and different p.24). Generally, it aides students to develop knowledge of
discourses. In other words, linguistic knowledge is taught ideas and language, content and formal schemata, through
through literature. According to this model, the focus on the different themes and topics. Carter and Long (1991 cited in
language used in the literary text leads to fine interpretations Ghouti, 2013, p. 19) claim that students are engaged with
of the text indirectly and this is done through different activ- literature and reading literary texts which will help them to
ities such as the cloze procedure, prediction exercises, jum- grow as individuals and encourage them to make their own
bled sentences, summary writing, creative writing, and role interpretations about the text and avoid readymade ones.
play (Brumfit, 1985; Duff and Maley,1990; Carter & Long, Students, therefore, are seen as active participants both in-
1991 cited in Yimwilia, 2015, p.15). tellectually and emotionally for letting out their opinions,
Advocates of this approach (Brumfit, 1985 and Duff and thoughts, personal experiences and feelings. They also give
Maley,1990) claim that the aesthetic appreciation of a text meaning to the text by the interaction between them and
will be achieved too. The model helps students to approach the text on the basis of their own experience (Cadorath and
the text in a systematic and methodological way by studying Harris, 1998, p. 188). As for the role of the teacher, he is
linguistic features, literal and figurative language, and direct paramount in selecting the texts not just depending on their
and indirect speech (Carter & Long, 1991, cited in Yimwilia, stylistic features but also the choice has to be according to
134 ALLS 10(4):130-152
the learners’ needs and interests (Ghouti, 2013, p. 19) or positive attitude towards literature courses which is due to
according to the learners’ expectations and language lev- the learners’ social environment (family, friends, classmates,
el (Hismanoglu, 2005, p. 55). Thus, to encourage personal teachers…etc.) that significantly contributes in constructing
growth teachers have to select texts to which students can positive attitudes and enhancing their perception towards lit-
respond and to which they can use their ideas and imagina- erature as medium of learning English language. In addition,
tion creatively (Violetta-Irene, 2015, p. 76). Wasti (2016) carries on a research in a Pakistani context in
which she investigates the perceptions of 268 undergraduate
Pakistani EFL learners towards literature to identify the is-
The integrated approach
sues and challenges that students face in terms of literature.
The integrated approach combines the teaching of literature The results show that literary texts seem to motivate these
with the mastery of the language including the vocabulary, young learners for learning English; and they enjoy read-
grammar and the four language skills, and it raises the learning some literary texts and analyze the socio-cultural details
ers’ awareness and understanding of the British, American, mentioned in these texts, which my possibly contribute to
and other English speaking cultures (Stern, 1991, p. 330). their personal development. However, the study reveals that
In other words, the approach integrates the teaching of lan- participants’ lack of prior linguistic competence and inter-
guage, culture and personal skills via literature, and for that cultural awareness may challenge their ability to understand
reason it is also referred to as a multidisciplinary approach. and comprehend some references of foreign cultures and vo-
In this approach the teacher refers to a variety of teaching cabulary items used in the classical literary texts taught in
methods, techniques, and technical devices (Adeyemi, 2010 the context of the study.
cited in Yimwilia, 2015, p.14). On the other hand, in some studies, the learners have
The integrated approach helps students to make connec- negative attitudes towards literature. For instance, Sivapalan
tions, generalize, and transfer knowledge to a variety of prob- and Subramanium (2008 cited in Wasti, 2016), in their in-
lem-solving situations in the real world (Lucan, 1981, p. 59). vestigation of the perception of the young adult learners at
In addition, the learning process in this approach is more an engineering university in Malaysia towards the study of
comprehensive and interesting which makes the classroom literature in their English study, reveal that the learners have
environment more enjoyable and thought-provoking (Ad- negative attitude towards integrating literature in their pro-
eyemi, 2010, p. 12). Moreover, the integrated approach can gram because they think that it is irrelevant to their main
facilitate collaborative learning and help students to become course of study. Similarly in his study of the perceptions of
independent problem solvers (Knowles and Smith, 2001). literature, Halim (2006 cited in Othman et al., 2015, p. 106)
finds that the majority of students hate literature for its diffi-
Previous Studies on Students Perceptions towards cult indirect language, vocabulary and it needs a lot of read-
literature ing. Likewise, the learners Nasharudin’s study (2008 cited
in Othman et al., 2015, p. 106) have positive attitudes to-
Investigating the students’ attitudes towards their classes is
wards learning English language but negative attitude when
important. Many researchers have investigated students’ per-
it comes to literature learning. Furthermore, Ghouti (2013)
ceptions towards literature classes in different contexts (such
conducts a study at Tlemcen University in Algeria to inves-
as Davis et al, 1992; Halim, 2006; Carrolie, 2008; Sivapalan
tigate the attitudes of 35 tertiary learners towards literature
and Subramanium, 2008; Nasharudin, 2008; Alfauzan &
and the different strategies their teachers implement in de-
Hussain, 2016; Wasti, 2016). These studies are different for
livering literature courses. It is shown that a considerable
they concentrated on the perception of literature for lan-
number of students shows a negative stance towards literary
guage learning only, while cultural awareness and personal
studies and despite the latest reforms in the Algerian system
growth are not taken into consideration. Besides, all of them
of education which aims to shift towards more learner cen-
have been investigated outside Kurdistan, so this work is the
tered pedagogy, literature teaching is still teacher-fronted.
first attempt to reveal the students’ perceptions in the Kurd-
The study has also shown that a great number of the students
ish universities and the contribution of literature to language
have displayed their dissatisfaction with the way literature is
learning, cultural awareness and personal enrichment.
being instructed.
In some of these studies, the learners show positive at-
In most of the previous studies on literature in ESL class-
titudes towards literature classes. For, example, Davis et al
es have viewed literature as a resource and not as an object.
(1992) show that learners have positive attitudes towards the
In other words literature is used as a material not as a subject
study of the target literature and this leads to a great amount
of study, for literature sake. While, in the current context un-
of leisure in reading it and this helps to arrive at the preferred
der research literature is taught separately from other classes.
learning style. Additionally, Carroli (2008), in his study of
the students’ perceptions of Italian literature in an Australian
context, reveals that learners perceive literature positively as METHOD
a means for language learning. Likewise, Alfauzan & Hus-
sain (2016) investigate the attitude and perception of 59 Sau- The Participants
di undergraduate students towards English literature courses The participants include 268 undergraduate students at two
as a part of their BA English Program at a large public uni- selected governmental universities in Kurdistan, namely
versity in KSA. The results show that the participants have UOD and UOZ. Only students of third and fourth year at
Universities 135
ELDs were chosen because they studied literature and have The open-ended questions are mainly about how to
more experience than first and second year. The data was make literature classes more interesting in the opinion of
collected at the very beginning of the academic year (2018- the participants, the problems they face in literature class-
2019). The demographic information and the number of the es, and what literature added to their education linguisti-
participants are presented in table 2. cally, culturally and personally. The objective behind using
The participation of all the students and teachers was open-ended questions is not for statistical analysis but to ex-
voluntary and did not imply any kind of compensation. The plain (Gorard, 2006, as cited in Wasti, 2016). Furthermore,
participants were chosen according to the ‘convenience the open-ended question is a good method when elucidating
sampling method’ (Fraenkel and Wallen, 2006 cited in Baba, the perceptions of respondents because it gives them space
2008, p.8). A group of students were selected who were to write down their own perspectives on aspects being asked
available and accessible. However, in order not to affect their (Wasti, 2016). This sort of data helps the researcher to col-
responses their participation was made voluntary. lect subjective, in-depth and context–specific perceptions
and interpretations from the participants of the study (Co-
hen et al., 2007). To add more, the qualitative data obtained
The Questionnaire
from the open-ended part, assists the researcher to gather
The research instrument used in this study to collect the per- as well as generalize the perceptions of a large population
ceptions of the students toward literature classes is a ques- of participants (Morrison, 2007). All in all, the open-ended
tionnaire (attached in appendix 1). “A questionnaire is an questions help to further clarify the participants views on
instrument for the collection of data, usually in written form the subject.
consisting of open and/or closed questions and other probes
requiring a response from the subject.” (Nunan, 1992,
p. 231) A questionnaire is used because it can be analysed Questionnaire validity
with ease and it preserves the anonymity of the informants Validity is defined as “the meaning that subjects give to data
which may lead to reliability of data (Ghouti, 2013). Addi- and inferences drawn from the data that are important” and
tionally, it is one of the tools that can be used to collect data it is one of the requirements of research (Cohen et al., 2007,
from large numbers of people quickly. Because the popula- p. 136). For the purpose of validity of the questionnaire; It
tion of the current study is a large one it is best seen to collect was sent to 6 jury members (professional academic staff).
data needed through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was revised according to the jury com-
The questionnaire consists of three parts: part one ments and feedback which formed support for construct va-
(close-ended), part two (multiple choices) and part three lidity. Additionally, the study has used a questionnaire which
(open-ended) for gathering qualitative and quantitative data. give different types of data: quantitative (close-ended and
The questions are adopted from Carrolie’s (2008) orienta- multiple choices parts) and qualitative (open-ended part).
tions of perceptions and Davis et al. (1992). However, some The use of different methods also constructs validity (Cohen
items are designed by the researcher based on the purpose et al, 2007). The validity of the questionnaire is measured
and context of the study and also based on the knowledge using SPSS construct validity. The construct validity of the
developed through literature review. Before administrating items in part 1 and 2 is presented in table 3.
the questionnaire to the participants it is piloted. The construct validity of the items of the questionnaire is
The closed-ended part of the questionnaire includs 19 significant (0.000) which is less than the default level of the
items which are responded by a five point Likert scale ranging current study (0. 05). Besides, the value of the truth coeffi-
from strongly agree (number one) to strongly disagree (num- cient for all the expressions of the first part is (0.854) and for
ber 5). This part is distributed on the following themes: lit- part two is (0.767) which indicates high levels of credibility
erature classes contribution to develop language proficiency according to the standard value of this parameter, which is
(items 1-8), literature classes contribution to enrich cultural (1) meaning that the more the value of the construct valid-
awareness (items 9-10), literature classes contribution to the ity is closer to (one) the more it indicates the high levels of
overall personal development or growth (items 11-16) and the credibility of that part.
last theme text selection and teaching methods (items 17-19).
The multiple choice questions (items 20-35) have the
Table 2. The participants of the study
general theme perceptions towards the relevance of literature
to education. In this part, each question carries more than one Level UOD UOZ Total
pre-defined responses to choose from. The students are given 3 Year
rd
88 62
freedom to choose more than one choice and to write down 4 Year
th
76 42 268
their own choices if there are any based on their preferences.
The reasons behind including this part are that firstly, the
researcher get as much information as needed from the par- Table 3. Construct validity of the questionnaire
ticipants to know their perceptions more deeply. Secondly, Part 1 Part 2
in the option part of the questionnaire, the item is written Validity Coefficient 0.854 0.767
along with the choices and this gives students more chance
Sig. (2‑tailed) 0.000 0.000
to understand the matter and respond more comprehensively
to the items. N 268 268
136 ALLS 10(4):130-152
Questionnaire reliability had full schedules of classes and this affected the students
It is important to check the reliability of an instrument used and some of them didn’t answer all the questionnaire parts,
for data collection in a research. Cronbach alpha is one of especially part three.
the forms used to check the reliability of such instruments. It is worth mentioning, ahead of the data collection, all
It usually measures the internal consistency of the tool and students were informed of the purpose of the study. Besides,
calculates a coefficient of reliability that ranges from 0 to 1 they were also informed of anonymity issues too and data
collected would be just used for research purposes. Then the
(Cohen et al., 2007). It is the average correlation among all
questionnaire was administrated and was explained clearly
the items in question, and is used for multi-item scales. The
as it is consisted of three parts and the arrangement of each
reliability of the questionnaire adapted for the present study
part was different from the other. The students were also
was measured using SPSS (version 21) following Cronbach
informed to feel free to ask any questions they didn’t un-
alpha, see table 4. It is found to be (0. 869) for all items
derstand from the questionnaire. The researcher was present
which is considered highly reliable in comparison to the
during each class of the data collection and answered the
standard value of the humanitarian studies which is (0. 60);
participants’ questions.
and separately it reaches (0. 841 and 0. 632) for part one and
two respectively, noting that the value of part one is higher
than the second part. Thus, It can be concluded from the re- Data Analysis Procedures
sults of the reliability that the measurements taken for the The study employed a mixed method approach for analyzing
tests of the questionnaire parts and items meet the stability the data because of the different sets of data (qualitative and
requirement. quantitative) obtained from the participants. A mixed method
approach is a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research
Pilot study “techniques, methods, approaches, concepts or language” in
one study (Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004, p.17 as cited
The questionnaire was piloted. For this purpose 12 students
in Wasti, 2016, p. 63). The two methods are used for deeper
(6 boys and 6 girls) were chosen randomly by their teachers
investigation and finding of the area of study.
from fourth and third years at ELD, UOD. The selected stu-
The quantitative data gathered through the questionnaire
dents were asked to respond to the questionnaire and point
(namely part one and two) was analyzed using the statistical
out any difficulties too that may affect its effectiveness. Be- analysis software (SPSS). In this regard, Morrison (2007)
fore, administering the questionnaires, the instructions were mentions one of the advantages of the quantitative method
given to the participants. They were asked not to write their saying that this method assists the researcher to gather and
names on the questionnaire to maintain the anonymity of the generalize the opinions of big numbers of populations. This
participants. is called generalizability which is one of the points of main-
The participants found difficulty in understanding a cou- taining validity.
ple of terminologies and confusing structures which made The data obtained from the open-ended questions of the
the researchers to replace and edit them with simpler terms, questionnaire was analyzed using qualitative data analysis.
words and structures for comprehension purposes. Ghouti Qualitative data analysis “is a matter of interpretation es-
(2013) states that it is important to test the consistency of the pecially the researcher’s interpretation of what respondents
instrument and whether it is reliable or not for the sake of and participants say and do’ (Gibbs, 2007: p.7). In qualita-
achieving realistic results from the data gathered. tive research, a researcher commits to view the social reality
through the eyes of respondents and participants (ibid). The
Data Collection Procedures qualitative data obtained from the open-ended questions was
coded based on themes then prepared for analysis in terms
The procedures of data collection started in October and of frequency using excel. The process is called thematic
extended to November, 2018 at the start of the academic analysis. Thematic analysis is defined as the process of en-
year 2018-2019. The data was collected during classes af- coding qualitative information (Boyatzis, 1998, p. 4 as cited
ter getting permission from departments and teachers. The in Baba, 2008). In other words, the process involves codes
teachers helped the researcher with arranging time and place that are generated based on the development of themes. The
and agreed to give the participants time needed to complete Qualitative approach is used for the following reasons:
the questionnaire which was 20 to 30 minutes. The students 1. It helps gathering subjective and in-depth as well as
answered the questionnaires during their classes as it was context specific information from the respondents (Co-
impossible to reach all the students after the classes as they hen et al., 2007).
had other activities or might leave the college. The students 2. When it comes to analyzing the interpretations and
perceptions of a reality, these kinds of data give the re-
Table 4. Reliability coefficient of the questionnaire searcher a more comprehensive picture of the issue to be
Questionnaire items Items No. Cronbach’s value studied (Morrison, 2007).
Part 1 19 0.841 The exploratory nature of this approach assists the re-
searcher to explore those areas which lack existing litera-
Part 2 16 0.632
ture and research (Creswell, 2005, as cited in Wasti, 2016,
All Items 35 0.869 p. 66). Because the perceptions of students in the Kurdish
Universities 137
EFL context is left unexplored, it seems wise to adapt this Items 33, 34 and 35 from part two of the questionnaire
approach to uncover the issue of literature teaching and are also related to students’ language development through
learning in the present context. literature classes. The responses are presented in table 6.
The table indicates that a large number of informants
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION representing 55.2% agree that literature should be used in
their language learning. Besides, a significant number of
Language Development students representing 63.8% choose novel as the most ben-
This section provides students perceptions towards the rel- eficial genre in developing their overall language proficien-
evance of literature to their language learning. Items 1-8 cy. 21.3% ticked poetry; drama and literary criticism were
from the first part of the questionnaire and items 33-35 from ticked by 19.0 and 17.2 percent of the students respectively.
second part provide the answer. Table 5 shows the students Finally, the results show that speaking (61.9%) and reading
responses to items 1-8 related to the contribution of literature skills (50.4%) are mostly improved through studying liter-
to develop students’ language proficiency. ature. Other skills score lower percentages, writing 35.1%
The table shows that the majority of the responses to this and listening 27.2%.
theme fall above the midpoint of the scale (2.5) which means It is clear from the responses that literature classes are
that students perceive it positively. Vocabulary improvement perceived positively by the learners in terms of language de-
through literature classes gets the highest mean (4.31) followed velopment. This could be due to that the literary texts are full
by reading skill (4.07), understanding symbols and meaning in of words and expressions and they are rich in language ele-
literary texts (3.98), “Studying literature increases my interest ments. Also they help students to understand and be familiar
to learn English language” scored a mean of 3.88. As far as with symbols and meaning of other English texts through
the other skills are concerned, speaking reaches 3.81, writing literary ones. These findings align with those of Wasti (2016)
(3.69), grammar (3.64) and listening (3.52) respectively. which emphasize that the learners are aware of the benefits lit-
Table 5. Students’ responses to items 1‑8 related to the contribution of literature to develop students’ language
proficiency
No Item Strongly Disagree Uncertain Agree Strongly Total Mean STD
disagree agree
F % F % F % F % F % F %
1. Studying literature increases 14 5.2 28 10.4 24 9.0 113 42.2 89 33.2 268 100 3.88 1.140
my interest to learn English
language.
2. My knowledge and use of 6 2.2 30 11.2 61 22.8 129 48.1 42 15.7 268 100 3.64 0.952
grammar has improved as
a result of work done in
literature classes.
3. English literature helps me 8 3.0 11 4.1 25 9.3 71 26.5 153 57.1 268 100 4.31 1.004
to improve English language
vocabulary
4. Literature classes help me 9 3.4 14 5.2 32 11.9 132 49.3 81 30.2 268 100 3.98 0.967
to understand symbols and
meanings of English texts
easily
5. My writing skill has 7 2.65 31 11.6 57 21.3 115 42.9 58 21.6 268 100 3.69 1.018
improved as a result of
the work done in literature
classes.
6. My reading skill has 4 1.5 20 7.5 28 10.4 117 43.7 99 36.9 268 100 4.07 0.951
classes?
7. My speaking skill has 8 3.0 29 10.8 47 17.5 107 39.9 77 28.7 268 100 3.81 1.063
classes?
8. My listening skill has 17 6.3 38 14.2 66 24.6 82 30.6 65 24.3 268 100 3.52 1.185
classes?
138 ALLS 10(4):130-152
Table 6. Student’s responses to items 33‑35

No Item Not ticked Ticked Total Mean STD
F % F % F %
33. Do you think that literature should be used in language learning?
a‑ Yes 120 44.8 148 55.2 268 100 0.55 0.498
b‑ No 219 81.7 49 18.3 268 100 0.18 0.387
c‑ I don’t know 200 74.6 68 25.4 268 100 0.25 0.436
34. Which type or genre of literature do you benefit the most from when developing your language skills?
a‑ Poetry 211 78.7 57 21.3 0.21 0.410
b‑ Drama 217 81.0 51 19.0 268 100 0.19 0.393
c‑ Novel 97 36.2 171 63.8 268 100 0.64 0.481
d‑ Literary criticism 222 82.8 46 17.2 268 100 0.17 0.378
35. What language skill (s) does studying literature help improve specifically?
a‑ Speaking 102 38.1 166 61.9 268 100 0.62 0.486
b‑ Listening 195 72.8 73 27.2 268 100 0.27 0.446
c‑ Writing 174 64.9 94 35.1 268 100 0.35 0.478
d‑ Reading 133 49.6 135 50.4 268 100 0.50 0.501
erature offers them in all language areas (listening, speaking, and complex and exact syntax.” The latter argument by Pov-
reading, and writing also grammar and vocabularies) and ey is applicable and similar to the students’ perceptions of
that literature helps them to acquire language competence to literature in the current study. The findings are further justi-
a certain extent and get interested in English language. The fied by Aina (1979) who claims that language can either be
main perceived beneficiaries are reading English literature taught within itself by focusing on the four skills of listening,
leads to language learning which got the highest agreement speaking, reading, and writing or across disciplines by inte-
in that study followed by speaking and vocabulary. While in grating concepts, themes, and ideas from different subjects
this study vocabulary gets the highest agreement followed (cited in Yimwilai, 2015).
by reading and other skills. Ghouti (2013) in his study ar- Finally, the study shows that novel is the most beneficial
rives at the same findings that literature develops language genre in language development. This result contrasts those of
awareness in learners (49%) though majority (51%) shows Lazar (1990) and of Gareis, Allard & Saindon (2009). Lazar
their lack of preference towards literature due to its creative (1990, p. 204) argues that when using, for example, a novel
use of language. as a textbook, she writes “Will students be overwhelmed by
Conversely, these findings contrast those of Edmonson’s too much new vocabulary?” and “How the teaching of the
(1997) which show that students have negative attitudes novel can be successfully integrated into a syllabus?” Sim-
about the assumed role of literature in language learning. ilarly, Gareis, Allard & Saindon (2009, p. 145 as cited in
The researcher examined the impact of literature in the lan- Jiang, 2011, p. 9) stated “Novels do not present curricular
guage learning of students enrolled in applied linguistics. items in a particular sequence as textbooks.”
The researcher used a questionnaire which included items
like rock music and literature. Most of the students stated
Developing Cultural Awareness
that the rock music had a better impact on their language
learning than literature. However, Carrolie states that these This section provides students perceptions towards the rel-
findings of Edmonson cannot be generalized to other con- evance of literature to their cultural awareness. The results
texts as the researcher didn’t provide information about that show that literature contributes to develop the learners’ cul-
context’s curricula. Additionally, McKay (1985, p. 191) pre- tural awareness in general. Table 7 shows the general re-
sented arguments against using literature in EFL and states sponses of the participants.
that one of the most basic goals of teachers is to teach gram- The table indicates that the perceptions of the students of
mar of the target language but literature language contains learning culture through literature classes are highly positive
complex structures and unique use of language and thus can- with a mean of 4.41 as well as studying literature helps to
not serve the mentioned goal. However in the present study identify the similarities and differences between the English
learning grammar through literature is perceived positively culture and the learners’ own culture (4.23).
by the students. Disagreeing with McKay (1985), Povey Literature classes can function as a good source of
(1972, p. 187 as cited in McKay, p. 191 & Jiang, 2011, p. 5) knowledge for developing learners’ cultural awareness,
summarizes the advantages of teaching literature in ESL learners’ own culture and the foreign culture. In the light of
classes and claims “ literature will increase all language their responses, literature classes are further perceived as an
skills because literature will extend linguistic knowledge by opportunity for students to compare and contrast cultures
giving evidence of extensive and subtle vocabulary usage, (foreign cultures and their own). These results are support-
Universities 139
Table 7. Students’ responses to items related to the contribution of literature to develop students’ cultural awareness.
disagree agree
F % F % F % F % F % F %
9. Literature classes 6 2.2 8 3.0 14 5.2 83 31.0 157 58.6 268 100 4.41 0.892
help learners to get
knowledge about the
English culture (values,
behavior, beliefs and
basic assumptions).
10. Studying literature 7 2.6 10 3.7 28 10.4 93 34.7 130 48.5 268 100 4.23 0.962
helps to identify
the similarities and
differences between the
English culture and my
own culture.
ed by previous studies (for example Stern, 1991, Ur, 191; understand theirs and other people’s experiences (mean score
McLeod, 1976 cited in Jiang, 2011, p. 6 and Wasti, 2012). is 3.89). The majority also agree that the classes increase their
Stern (1991, p. 342-343) states that nonnative readers must personal interpretative opinions and analytical skills (with
understand the cultural assumptions, attitudes and activities mean 3.81). Finally, a great number of the students perceive
that are foreign to them for the literary appreciation and in literature as part of their personal growth (with mean 3.62).
order to form correct impressions about the target culture. The data show that learners have developed a sense of
Furthermore, Wasti (2016, p. 51) points out that “culture is awareness about their own growth through literature. The lit-
an element that elicits various interpretations in divers con- erature classes give them opportunity to discuss, comment,
texts and texts.” Additionally, Ur (1991, P. 175) claims that analyze, participate, share opinions and gain knowledge
there are many ways to teach culture through one of those about other people’s experiences and connect and contrast
ways and most importantly is the target literature. with their own. In other words, they understand themselves
However, students should be notified by their teachers through others because literature provokes their critical
that every cultural aspect in a literary work is not over gener- thinking skills. This finding is supported by an argument by
alized to the target culture. The relationship between culture Hussein (2007, p. 115, as cited in Wasti, 2016) which states
and literature tends to be a complex one in nature as it rais- that the experience of reading literature “demands a person-
es questions whether the literary texts present the ‘genuine’ al response from the learners and encourages them to draw
picture of the target society or it does not (Lazar, 1993 and on their own experiences”. Additionally, these findings are
Rivers, 1981). Lazar confirms that there is the danger of gen- similar to those of Wasti (2016) mainly about the learners’
eralizing one aspect of culture presented in the work of liter- personal responses to the literary texts. Furthermore, writers
ature to the whole culture and society of the target language such as Shanahan, 1997; Ghosn, 2002; Hall, 2003 and 2005;
by the ESL learners. and Rana, 2009 (as cited in Wasti, 2016) show that literary
texts can function as a source of knowledge to EFL learners’
personal growth (development). Thus, most of the partici-
Developing Students’ Personal Growth
pants in this study value literature classes as part of their
As for the students perceptions towards the relevance of lit- personal, emotional, and intellectual growth.
erature in developing their personal growth, there is a gen-
eral agreement that literature contributes to the development
of the learners’ personal growth. The main responses are pre- Students Perceptions Towards Text Selection
sented in table 8. This part investigates students’ perceptions of texts being
The table shows that the responses to this theme are also studied in terms of difficulty and interesting themes, in other
positive. The highest mean score is 4.04 for item 13 which words whether they match or mismatch students’ language
indicates that the majority of the students show that litera- level and interests because it affects their perceptions. The
ture helps them to participate in the class discussions, group main responses on the items related to text selection are pre-
working and presentations. The second high score is given to sented in table 9.
critical thinking skills (4.03) as the majority of the respon- The table shows that there is an agreement that the se-
dents perceived literature classes helpful in developing their lected literary texts are interesting to the students (with mean
critical thinking. Furthermore, the majority of the students 3.47) and most students agree that the literature classes are
have a positive attitude in that literature classes help them designed according to their needs, expectations and interests
to learn more about life and grow personally, intellectually (with mean 3.09).
and emotionally (the mean score is 4.00). Additionally, most Furthermore, the study also investigate the satisfaction of
students came to an agreement that literature helps them the students with the number of the literary topics and their
140 ALLS 10(4):130-152
Table 8. Students’ responses to items related to the contribution of literature to develop students’ personal growth.
disagree agree
F % F % F % F % F % F %
11. I have the ability to 5 1.9 17 6.3 55 20.5 137 51.1 54 20.1 268 100 3.81 0.892
interpret and comment
on the literary texts
according to my own
understanding of the
text.
12. Literature helps 7 2.6 12 4.5 32 11.9 130 48.5 87 32.5 268 100 4.04 0.927
students to participate
in the class discussions,
group working and
presentations.
13. Literature helps me 4 1.5 23 8.6 49 18.3 115 42.9 77 28.7 268 100 3.89 0.969
learn and understand
about people and their
experiences similar to
my own experiences.
14. Literature classes help 6 2.2 23 8.6 34 12.7 100 37.3 105 39.2 268 100 4.03 1.033
to develop my critical
thinking.
15. Literature helps me to 10 3.7 23 8.6 31 11.6 98 36.6 106 39.6 268 100 4.00 1.093
learn more about life
and grow personally,
intellectually and
emotionally.
16. Literature is an 19 7.1 34 12.7 54 20.1 85 31.7 76 28.4 268 100 3.62 1.220
important part of my
personal development.
Table 9. Students’ responses to items related to text selection

disagree agree
F % F % F % F % F % F %
17. I find the literary 15 5.6 25 9.3 84 31.3 106 39.6 38 14.2 268 100 3.47 1.029
texts selected
by the teacher
interesting
18. The literature 21 7.8 51 19.0 95 35.4 86 32.1 15 5.6 268 100 3.09 1.022
classes are designed
according to my
expectations, needs
and interests.
perceptions towards the difficulty of the selected texts. The (17.5%) claimed that the language of the texts is very diffi-
main responses are presented in table 10. cult. Only 16.4% of students find it easy.
The table indicates that the students are sometimes sat- The literary text selection is highly important in EFL con-
isfied with the number of literary topics covered in the aca- texts as it affects learners’ way of viewing and perceiving
demic year (63.1%); only 11.2% are always happy. Whereas, literature. The findings come out mostly positive in terms of
19.0% add that they are rarely satisfied, and 6.7% of students interesting literary texts, satisfactions of the learners’ needs,
think that there are a lot of topics to be covered and that expectations and interests and in terms of the number of the
hinders their learning. Besides, the majority of the students topics covered. Also in her study, Wasti (2016) figure out that
(64.9%) admit that literary texts they study are fairly diffi- learners interests are greatly influenced by texts and that it
cult in terms of language; also another group of respondents affects their reading habits too. Though, the study shows that
Universities 141
Table 10. Students’ responses to items related to the difficulty of the selected texts
F % F % F %
22. Are you satisfied with the number of literary topics covered during the academic year?
a‑ Always 238 88.8 30 11.2 268 100 0.11 0.316
b‑ Sometimes 99 36.9 169 63.1 268 100 0.63 0.484
c‑ Rarely 217 81.0 51 19.0 268 100 0.19 0.393
d‑ Never 250 93.3 18 6.7 268 100 0.07 0.251
26. How do you find the texts you are dealing with in terms of language?
a‑ Very difficult. 221 82.5 47 17.5 268 100 0.18 0.381
b‑ Fairly difficult 94 35.1 174 64.9 268 100 0.65 0.478
c‑ Easy 224 83.6 44 16.4 268 100 0.16 0.371
the language of texts is viewed difficult by the majority and 53.7% of students said that their teachers usually correct
this is something normal to have such a view as the language wrong interpretations while 35.8% said that s/he usually
is a foreign language and when it comes to its literature it is accepts wrong interpretations. Only 17.9% of students state
even more difficult for EFL learners because the language that their teachers reject their interpretations and provide
is figurative and contains lots of difficult vocabulary. The them with their own literary judgments.
learners who find no difficulty with language may have a The responses to this part are mixed. The students are
good language background or simply they love literature or mostly satisfied with the model adopted because it focuses
it could be due to the simplifications that teachers make for on literature, culture and language which makes the class
students to make texts’ comprehension easier for students. topics diverse and avoids causing boredom. Additionally,
the responses indicated that the classes are mostly teacher
led, although a group claimed their classes are mostly dis-
Students’ Perceptions to Literature Teaching Methods
cussions which mean students are involved. The mixed opin-
Generally, the students perceive the teaching methods be- ions concerning teacher- or student-centered method could
ing employed positively with a mean reached 3.49 which is be due to the following reasons: the teacher use different
above the midpoint of the scale meaning that there is a gen- methods based on the need of the lecture, or depending on
eral agreement. the stage. As the participants are from third and fourth stages
Furthermore, the questionnaire includes some other items and they are told by different teachers, it is expected that the
(items 25, 27-30) which further investigate the students’ per- methods will be different.
ceptions towards the teaching methods. Table 11 presents the Background information ahead of the real discussion of
main responses for each of these items. the topics is important in literature classes and it is revealed
For item 25, the table shows that none of the options is that teachers sometimes provide it. What is meant by back-
ticked by the majority: 48.5% of the responses indicated that ground is the author’s biography, political setting and other
literature classes are led by the teacher followed by note tak- socio-cultural facts (Ghouti, 2013). Using group work also
ing, 39.6% described them as a sort of class discussion and exists in this context in spite of the big number of students
26.1% described them as a sort of small group discussions. the majority claimed that they are put in groups though not
Thus it is difficult to decide that the classes are teacher- or always but sometimes. I think group work is a technique used
student-centered. Similarly, for item 27 regarding whether by the teacher to deal with the big number of the students.
teachers provide background information useful to compre- That is why it is got a majority of responses. Wasti (2016)
hend the text, none of the options is ticked by the majority: finds that small group work is practiced in teaching litera-
49.3% ticked sometimes, 33.6% said always but 9.7% chose ture. Again the big number of students is not a big barrier to
rarely (9.7%) and 7.1% never. As for item 28 about whether neglect students’ opinion as most students claimed that they
teachers involve students in group working in their litera- are sometimes asked about their opinions. Teachers reaction
ture classes, the option sometimes is ticked by the majority to students’ opinions is also investigated to see to what ex-
(50.7%) while 21.3% of the students are rarely involved in tend students opinions are taken into consideration, in this
the activity. Yet, 16.4% are never put in groups; only 11.2% respect, the majority’s opinions are corrected and often their
ticked always. Furthermore, the study also investigates opinions are accepted. It is also found that some teachers use
whether the students are given chance to express their per- spoon feeding and provide their own interpretations.
sonal interpretations and opinions and also to figure out their Finally, as indicated above it can’t be generalized that
teachers’ reactions (item 29). None of the options scored the whether the literature classes are teacher-centered or stu-
majority of the responses: 48.9% of the respondents ticked dent-centered in this study because it seems that the teach-
sometimes 28.4% chose always. While 17.5% ticked rarely er use a mixture of both. However, Ainy (2006) claims that
and 3.7% never. Additionally, how teachers react to students teacher-centeredness is a dominant method and traditional
opinions is also examined in item 30 of the questionnaire. way of literature teaching (the teacher analyzing and ex-
142 ALLS 10(4):130-152
Table 11. Students’ responses to items (25, 27‑30) related to students perception towards teaching method
F % F % F %
25. What do the literature courses you are taking look like?
a‑ Lectures led by the teacher 138 51.5 130 48.5 268 100 0.49 0.501
followed by note taking
b‑ A sort of small group 198 73.9 70 26.1 268 100 0.26 0.440
discussions
c‑ A sort of class discussion 162 60.4 106 39.6 268 100 0.40 0.490
27. Does your teacher provide background information useful to comprehend the text?
a‑ Always 178 66.4 90 33.6 268 100 0.34 0.473
b‑ Sometimes 136 50.7 132 49.3 268 100 0.49 0.501
c‑ Rarely 242 90.3 26 9.7 268 100 0.10 0.297
d‑ Never 249 92.9 19 7.1 268 100 0.07 0.257
28. Do you do group working in literature classes?
a‑ Always 238 88.8 30 11.2 268 100 0.11 0.316
b‑ Sometimes 132 49.3 136 50.7 268 100 0.51 0.501
c‑ Rarely 211 78.7 57 21.3 268 100 0.21 0.410
d‑ Never 224 83.6 44 16.4 268 100 0.16 0.371
29. How often are you asked to express your opinion and your personal interpretation of the text?
a‑ Always 192 71.6 76 28.4 268 100 0.28 0.452
b‑ Sometimes 137 51.1 131 48.9 268 100 0.49 0.501
c‑ Rarely 221 82.5 47 17.5 268 100 0.21 0.660
d‑ Never 258 96.3 10 3.7 268 100 0.07 0.579
30. What is your teacher’s reaction to your opinion and interpretation?
a‑ S/he usually accepts wrong 172 64.2 96 35.8 268 100 0.36 0.480
interpretations.
b‑ S/he usually rejects wrong 220 82.1 48 17.9 268 100 0.18 0.384
interpretations.
c‑ S/he corrects wrong 124 46.3 144 53.7 268 100 0.54 0.500
interpretations
plaining the text, students listen, take notes and memorize sake course. Concerning item 24 about students’ opinions
to pass examination). Students memorize what teachers or about learning literature, the table shows that the majority of
other critics have said and their own interpretations are ne- the students ticked literature is a good source for developing
glected. their language proficiency (60.1%) and increases their cul-
tural awareness of different cultures (55.2%). All the other
options are chosen by only a small number of the students.
The Integration of Literature in the Language Learning
Despite these different opinions about learning literature,
The study analyzes the motive behind students’ choice of item 31 indicated that the majority of the students (57.8%)
ELD and whether literature is part of that motive and how like literature as part of their education. yet, 19.4% say that
they perceive it. The main responses are presented in table 12. they don’t like literature. Although, 14.6% of them stay neu-
For item 20, the table shows that ‘to learn English lan- tral and didn’t show their interest about literature being part
guage’ is ticked by the majority of the respondents (70.9%), of their study program or not. 11.9% of students want liter-
while the options of the pleasure of reading and studying ature to be replaced by other topics. Furthermore, item 32
literature and that to learn about English literature are ticked about whether literature helps students to achieve their aca-
by a very small number of respondents 16.4% and 14.9% demic goals, none of the options scored the majority score:
respectively. As for item 21, none of the options got the ma- 42.2% believe that literature fulfills their academic goals,
jority score. The highest score is that students prefer to learn 33.2% stand in neutral position and 24.3% of the participants
about English language (43.7%); though 39.9% of them do not view literature achieving their academic goals.
prefer practical language skills. However, 28.7% of the re- It can be seen from the findings that our students’ reason
spondents show their preferences to the current situation, a behind joining ELD is to learn English language and surpris-
mixture of language and literature course. Yet only 10.4% ingly literature got the least appreciation. We can conclude
show their desire to be involved in literature for literature that students have more tendencies to learn and know about
Universities 143
Table 12. Students’ responses to items (20, 21, 24, 31, 32) related to students’ perception towards the integration of literature in
their study
F % F % F %
20. Why you have joined English Language Department?
a‑ To get a degree. 209 78.0 59 22.0 268 100 0.22 0.415
b‑ To learn about English language. 78 29.1 190 70.9 268 100 0.71 0.455
c‑ To learn about English literature 228 85.1 40 14.9 268 100 0.15 0.357
d‑ A qualification in English will help you get a job? 160 59.7 108 40.3 268 100 0.40 0.491
e‑ To learn about the culture and traditions of 215 80.2 53 19.8 268 100 0.20 0.399
English‑speaking people
f‑ You are interested in reading and studying 224 83.6 44 16.4 268 100 0.16 0.371
literature (e.g. novels, poetry, drama)
21. What kind of university English course would best serve your needs or wants? One that consisted of:
a‑ Literature only 240 89.6 28 10.4 268 100 0.10 0.306
b‑ Practical language skills 161 60.1 107 39.9 268 100 0.40 0.491
c‑ Knowledge about language 151 56.3 117 43.7 268 100 0.44 0.497
d‑ A combination of the above 191 71.3 77 28.7 268 100 0.29 0.453
24. What do you think about learning literature?
a‑ It helps me improve my proficiency in the English 107 39.9 161 60.1 268 100 0.60 0.491
language.
b‑ It helps increase cultural awareness between 120 44.8 148 55.2 268 100 0.55 0.498
different cultures
c‑ It provides fun 206 76.9 62 23.1 268 100 0.23 0.422
d‑ It is motivating 216 80.6 52 19.4 268 100 0.19 0.396
e‑ It is rewarding outside the classroom 253 94.4 15 5.6 268 100 0.06 0.230
f‑ It is boring and waste of time. 250 93.3 18 6.7 268 100 0.07 0.251
g‑ It is difficult because literary texts are difficult to 243 90.7 25 9.3 268 100 0.09 0.291
comprehend
h‑ It is not important to me because it contributes 240 89.6 28 10.4 268 100 0.10 0.306
nothing to my future professional career.
i‑ It helps me to grow personally, intellectually and 188 70.1 80 29.9 268 100 0.30 0.458
emotionally
31. Do you like literature as part of your study (education) at university?
a‑ I do like it 113 42.2 155 57.8 268 100 0.58 0.495
b‑ I don’t like it 216 80.6 52 19.4 268 100 0.19 0.396
c‑ I want other topics 236 88.1 32 11.9 268 100 0.12 0.325
d‑ I don’t mind 229 85.4 39 14.6 268 100 0.15 0.353
32. Do you think literature helps you to achieve your academic goals?
a‑ Yes 155 57.8 113 42.2 268 100 0.42 0.495
b‑ No 203 75.7 65 24.3 268 100 0.24 0.429
c‑ Neutral 179 66.8 89 33.2 268 100 0.33 0.472
English language more than about its literature, although when it comes to literature learning (cited in Othman et al.,
they like it as part of their study as indicated in item 31. 2015, p. 106). The students’ negative attitude towards liter-
The main reason behind this could be that students join the ature is further supported by item 21 about kind of courses
department to secure their future careers as knowing English students’ prefer; the majority prefers language learning and
in this context is a privilege to have better jobs and income practical language skills over literature.
for English is a main requirement to be accepted in an insti- Also students’ perceptions about learning literature are
tution. These results are partly similar to those of Nasharudin varied thou the majority likes it as part of their education. Yet
(2008) which show that some students hold positive attitudes language learning is the main reason behind liking literature
towards learning English language but negative attitude and knowing about cultures comes the second. Wasti (2016)
144 ALLS 10(4):130-152
in her study achieved the same finding that students value in Ghouti’s findings students’ negative attitudes centere on
literature more for language learning than cultural compe- that students do not want to embrace literature studies; lit-
tence. erature does not contribute much to their careers. For that
Furthermore, a number of learners perceived it positively reason the researcher claims that teachers and administrators
in terms of achieving their academic goals namely language should make students aware of literature value profession-
learning, although not the majority. On the other hand, the ally, academically and most importantly in educating the
negative perceptions are circled around perceiving literature whole individual (Ghouti, 2013).
as not important for contributing nothing to learners’ careers
and academic goals, also it is difficult and devaluing litera-
Students’ Responses To Open-ended Questions
ture as being boring and nothing but waste of time that some
students called for replacing it with other subjects. Similarly, In the final part of the questionnaire, the students are giv-
McKay (1985, p. 191) in discussing the arguments against en three open-ended questions about how to make literature
using literature in EFL, indicated that literature cannot serve classes more interesting, the major problems they face, and
the students’ academic or/and occupational needs which are lastly what literature added to their education, personally,
at the heart of any today’s ESL course. Furthermore, those culturally and linguistically. The reason behind this part is to
who value literature for learning language may want to pur- give the students more opportunity to pen their own percep-
sue language studies not literature. Ghouti (2013) arrived tions about literature classes. It is worth noting that only 150
at the same finding in his context of study. Carroli ‘s study students out of 268 responded to this part.
(2008, p. 54) also revealed that learners perceived literature
as a means for language learning.
Suggestions for making literature classes interesting
To conclude, the findings of the current study show that
most of the students do appreciate literature as part of their The first item is seeking students’ responses regarding how
education unless it is for developing their language profi- to make literature classes more interesting. In their respons-
ciency in the first place, cultural awareness, secondly and es, students suggest different strategies. Table 13 presents the
personal development thirdly. In this respect, students need major responses together with their frequency and percent-
more understanding of the value of literature generally. As it age ranging from highest to lowest.
is indicated by Chambers and Gregory (2006) that there is al- The table shows that the majority of the students (26.6 %)
ways a common question asked by students to their teachers ask for more participation and discussion to make the class-
about the relevance of literature to their study or education es more interesting, while two students only state that pre-
‘why do we have to read this stuff?’ If the teachers answer sentations should not be given as they are boring. It can be
is no more that ‘Because it is required’ then we know noth- observed that a number of students (7.3%) ask for removing
ing about literature and we contribute a lot to the world of literature claiming that it adds nothing to their learning.
those who view literature study as nothing but “mere trifle.” This part gives the learners a chance to pen their percep-
The main concern of the teachers should be teaching their tions and preferences of interesting literature classes. Some
students how to connect with those humanity universals that learners provided good suggestions while others showed
students will face through studying literature. Furthermore, their dislike of these classes as they contribute nothing to
Table 13. Students’ responses to how to make literature classes more interesting
Question No of students: 150
Q1. Students’ responses F W %
How to make literature classes Participation and discussion 40 26.6
more interesting? Students’ opinions 36 24
Text selection 28 18.6
Group work 28 18.6
Body language, fun and acting 17 11.3
Provide background 14 9.3
information
technology 13 8.6
Remove literature 11 7.3
teacher 9 6
More time 7 4.6
presentations 6 4
Less material and busy schedule 4 2.6
Easy language 4 2.6
No presentations 2 1.3
Universities 145
their education, they claimed. Using a variety of activities novel class and let say 7 poems and 8 dramas and even they
inside literature classes will get the students actively in- have more literature classes is a demanding work and it may
volved in the learning process and most surprisingly students not be rewarding. We can say that this might be one of the
show their preferences for such a thing which means they are reasons for those who reject literature.
ready to take charge and be the center of their learning. Wasti Ainy (2006) arrives at similar motivational factors which
(2016) finds that in order for learners to participate in class- make literature classes more interesting from students’ per-
room involvements, it depends on the learners’ own confi- spectives. They include: a suitable methodology in dealing
dence, interesting lessons and teachers’ role in raising their with literature, a call for more student centeredness classes,
interest. Also students want their opinions to be of value. learner-autonomy and respecting and understanding their
This is a good sign that our learners have the ability to par- opinions. Also they need friendly supportive and tolerant
ticipate in literature discussions though it is hard. It means teachers with their mistakes.
that they themselves can make the classes interesting if giv-
en opportunity and encouragement instead of being passive
Major problems students encounter in literature classes
audience. Lazar (1993, p23) supports this idea by stating that
a ‘detailed analysis of the language of the literary texts will Concerning difficulties and problems students encounter in
help students to make meaningful interpretations… [and] at literature classes, in response to item 23 in the multiple choic-
the same time, students will increase their general aware- es part, a number of the students (44.8%) finds difficulty in
ness and understanding of English.’ Lazar continues that the understanding the language of the texts. 41.8% complains
learners approach the text linguistically as the learners ana- about lack of time to read the texts. 26.1% finds difficulty
lyze the language of the text to make meaningful interpreta- with unfamiliar ideas, experiences and cultural differences
tions and evaluations of the literature they work on (Lazar, contained in texts. Table 14 presents the main responses.
1993, p. 23, cited in Finsrud, 2017, p. 4 & Ainy, 2007, p. 41- The table shows that none of the items scored the major-
42). In other words, the in depth analysis of the language of a ity. Language difficulty gets the highest score. Wasti (2016)
piece of literature leads to unconscious interpretations of the comes across the same finding about difficult language
content of that literature. namely, vocabulary difficulty and Ghouti (2013) states that
Teacher’s role in literature classes is important as students students find literature difficult in terms of its creative fic-
need constant guidance and information to comprehend the tional language. The second problem is that literature is time
difficult texts, using body language, and creating a friendly consuming and learners lack time. Likewise, in Halim’s
atmosphere lay within teachers’ roles. In Wasti’s (2016) study study (2006) the majority of the participants hates literature
the findings show that learners highlighted the teachers’ role for its difficult indirect language, vocabulary and it needs a
in language learning through literature which will affect their lot of reading (cited in Othman et al, 2015, p. 106). While
perceptions to a great extent. In this respect Khattak et al. unfamiliar cultural ideas is the third problem. Also McKay
(2011) conduct a study addressing the anxiety among univer- (1985) argues that the particular culture that literature pres-
sity students, they find that when learners are unable to un- ents; as she puts ‘on a conceptual level’ it may cause diffi-
derstand the teacher there is a danger of building nervousness culty for students.
and gap of understanding (as cited in Wasti, 2016) In item 2 in the open-ended questions, we further inves-
On the other hand, literature classes need more time and tigated the major problems students encounter in literature
efforts for explanation and reading texts. A call for simple classes. Other problems students encounter are presented in
texts that suit students’ language level and modern language table 15.
rather than old are preferred more by students because in The table shows that the major problem students encoun-
the modern world students need the up to date language to ter is difficult texts as it is mentioned by a number of the
communicate with. The other last point to be discussed here students (26%) and it gets the highest score. The difficulty
is the amount of material covered. Based on students’ per- lies in language and vocabulary difficulty (usually reading
ceptions less material will make these classes more inter- old English not modern), difficult ideas and the students lack
esting. In other words, it should be a matter of quality and of language. 20.6% of the students stated another problem
not quantity, for students to cover more than 10 novels in a which is the big amount of material that has to be covered.
Table 14. Students responses to items (23) related to students difficulties in literature classes
F % F % F %
23. What difficulty do you face in literature classes?
a‑ I find difficulty in understanding 148 55.2 120 44.8 268 100 0.45 0.498
the language of the text
b‑ Unfamiliar ideas, experiences, or 198 73.9 70 26.1 268 100 0.26 0.440
culture in the text
c‑ Not enough time to read and study 156 58.2 112 41.8 268 100 0.42 0.494
the text carefully
146 ALLS 10(4):130-152
Table 15. Students’ major problems in literature classes

Question No. of students: 150
Q2. Students’ responses F %
What are the major problems you Difficult texts 39 26
encounter in literature classes? Too much material to cover 31 20.6
No problems 28 18.6
Literature teaching 20 13.3
Remove literature 16 10.6
Not interesting topics or texts 15 10
Students’ opinions are not asked 7 4.6
Feeling shy 3 2
Difficult exam questions 2 1.3
They said that literature needs more time for reading and demotivate interest in literature. Ahmad and Aziz (2009,
discussion as they study a lot of themes, long texts and sym- p. 24) comment on the importance of teachers’ role to “create
bols. Less material will help them overcome this problem. an appropriate classroom environment and learning mood
13.3% of the students complain about the way literature for the students to feel comfortable with language learning
is taught, they ask for more background knowledge about and not feel sacred and intimidated’ (as cited in Wasti).
writers, the literary work and culture ahead of teaching the Feeling shy is another problem students encounter. The
other elements, and also some of them are against presen- reason behind this could be lack of language or that those
tations which they consider boring. Another point is that in students lack confidence or fear to be subject of fun by their
their opinions some teachers are not motivated enough and fellow students. This finding is in line with a finding found
lack literature teaching experience, beside that they don’t use by Ahmad and Sajjad (2011 as cited in Wasti, 2016) in which
technology inside the class which makes the class boring. students valued various kinds of activities (debates, discus-
Another important point raised by 10% of students about the sions, language games) but felt reluctant to take part of.
topics chosen; they are not interesting enough because of Wasti (2016) relate this to that students are aware of their
unfamiliar ideas culturally, for example one of the students poor language competence and they feel shy when making
wrote that works that tackles Islamic traditions should also mistakes in front of the class because others will make fun
be chosen as its related to our own traditions, and repetitive of them. Wasti says “the consciousness of the presence of
themes are boring. Not taking their opinions into account others around seemed to leave participants confused and
(4.6%) and feeling shy to express them (2%) along with dif- less confident of their English language competence”. This
ficult exam questions (1.3%) were among other problems will lead to forming gaps between students and teachers as
students encounter. Despite these problems, 18.6% of the they lack confidence to communicate their problems with the
participants claimed that they have no problems and they teachers.
like literature classes. While another group (10.6%) asked It can be found that most of the students’ suggestions of
for removing literature. interesting classes (asking for their opinions, difficult texts,
The problem of low language proficiency is the major choosing interesting texts, teaching literature, too much ma-
one. Students have ideas but have no language to express. terial) are translated to problems if not taken with impor-
This might be due to the poor language background students tance. Since most of the learners’ responses to each question
have in their earlier stages of study, for example high school. are echoed in the other.
Therefore, the majority find literature difficult. Ainy (2006)
refers to the same reason: weak language foundation in pre-
Literature contribution to education: personally,
vious stages demotivates learners. To avoid such complica-
tions, Paran (2006, p. 5, as cited in Wasti, 2016) suggests culturally and linguistically
‘unlearn their previous attitudes towards language and re-en- The final item in the open-ended questions is targeted to
gage them in the texts’. In other words, it is the teacher who know the extent literature affect the students’ education in
can help the students to clear their misconceptions of lack of terms of personality, culture and language.
language and help them built new attitudes. This can be done Personally, the majority of the students (66%) perceive
as mentioned elsewhere in this chapter, through text selec- literature as having a positive impact on their personalities.
tion and teaching methods. Ainy (2006) in her study points They claim that literature has broadened their perspectives
out that motivation rises with proper teaching methodology. on themselves and life in general in a way that they become
Also taking their needs into consideration ahead of teaching more aware, motivated, open-minded. In addition, it helps
to avoid or lessen the problems mentioned. them to understand and accept others ideas and think more
Students also complain about teachers’ lack of teaching critically and deeply. While, 8% of the students point out that
experience in literature. In this respect Ainy (2006) states through literature they become familiar with books, writers
that untrained and unskillful teachers are among factors that and literary language. Furthermore, love and appreciation
Universities 147
Table 16. the role of literature in developing language proficiency

Categories Language Speaking Writing Reading Listening Vocabulary Grammar Other
in general skill language
areas
Students F % F % F % F % F % F % F % F %
41 27.3 25 16.6 18 12 18 12 3 2 46 30.6 7 4.6 11 7.3
of literature are evolved in them. Only 21% of the students The students identified novel as the most beneficial genre in
react negatively to the question. language development. Additionally, they show that speak-
Culturally, students perceptions towards learning about ing and reading skills are mostly improved through studying
culture through literature are mostly positive. (80%) of the literature. The contribution of literature to language devel-
students think that through literature they develop awareness opment is supported by other studies (such as Wasti, 2016;
of other cultures, their traditions, life style, behavior, their Ghouti, 2013 and others). Culturally, literature helps to learn
writings, and history. In addition to that their awareness of about the English culture and to identify the similarities and
their own culture is also developed through differences and differences between the English culture and the learners’ own
similarities between cultures which lead to accepting other culture. This is supported by previous studies such as Stern
cultures. However, 16.6% of them respond negatively to the (1991), Wasti (2016) and Ur (1991). Personally, literature
question. helps to develop learners’ participation in different classroom
Linguistically, the students emphasize the role of litera- activities (such as class discussions, group working and pre-
ture in developing their language, language areas and speak- sentations) and it is helpful in developing their critical think-
ing skills. However their responses according to these area ing, personal interpretative opinions and analytical skills.
differ as presented in table 16. Besides, it is beneficial to the learners to learn more about
Table 16 shows that literature contribute positively to de- life, grow personally, intellectually and emotionally and un-
velop the students’ vocabulary (30%) and language in gen- derstand theirs and other people’s experiences. The role of
eral (27.3%), language skills (speaking 16.6%, reading and literature in personal enrichment is supported by other studies
writing, 12%, listening 2%), and language areas (grammar (such as Hussein, 2007; Shanahan, 1997; Ghosn, 2002; Hall,
4.6%) as well. Also 7.3% students mentioned other language 2003 and 2005; and Rana, 2009 as all cited in Wasti, 2016).
areas like pronunciation, spelling, word formation as well as The students also have positive perceptions towards the
new ways of expressions. Finally, one of the students men- selected literary texts and the teaching methods. The major-
tions that he knows more even about his native language ity point out that the selected literary texts are interesting
through literature. While only 28 (18.6%) students perceive and that the literature classes are designed according to their
the question negatively. needs, expectations and interests. The students are some-
Learners’ perceptions towards this question and its sub times satisfied with the number of literary topics covered in
parts are positive. They value literature classes as a place the academic year, however they find that the language of the
where they develop language skills, cultural awareness literary texts is fairly difficult. Wasti (2016) emphasizes the
about foreign cultures and their owns, and most important- importance of text selection because it will affect their inter-
ly, they are educated personally through the classes which ests and reading habits. Finding the language of the literary
is overwhelmingly a great finding as the major goal of any texts difficult is normal as it is a foreign language, figurative
university department should be building personalities and and contains lots of difficult vocabulary. As for the teaching
broad minded educated individuals. methods, it is not clear whether a teacher- or student-cen-
The findings of this part and that of Likert scale about lan- tered method is used in the literature classes. Sometimes, the
guage learning through literature classes are highly positive. classes are described as teacher-centered, i.e. led by teach-
This can be related to that our learners at English Language er followed by note taking and the teacher is responsible to
Departments perceive literature more as texts for language provide the background information useful to comprehend
learning than literature teaching. the text. However, sometimes students are also involved in
group working activities, given the chance to express their
personal interpretations and opinions, but the teacher usually
CONCLUSIONS
are involved to accept the correct interpretations and correct
This study analyzed the integration of literature in the lan- the wrong ones. The mixed opinions concerning the teaching
guage learning at the ELDs at the Kurdish universities es- method could be due to the fact that the teacher use different
pecially in terms of the learners perceptions towards this methods based on the need of the lecture, or depending on
integration. The results indicate that students have positive the stage. Ainy (2007) claimed that teacher-centeredness is a
perceptions towards literature integration and it contributes dominant method and traditional way of literature teaching
to the learners’ language development, their cultural aware- (the teacher analyzing and explaining the text, students lis-
ness and personal growth in general. Linguistically, litera- ten, take notes and memorize to pass examination).
ture helps to improve vocabulary, language skills, grammar As for the integration of the literature in the language
and understanding symbols and meaning in literary texts. learning at ELDs at Kurdish universities, the majority of the
148 ALLS 10(4):130-152
students like literature as part of their education because it is REFERENCES

a good source for developing their language proficiency and Ahmad, F., & Aziz, J. (2009). Students’ perception of the teach-
increases their cultural awareness of different cultures. How- ers’ teaching of literature communicating and understand-
ever, their main motive to join the ELDs is to learn English ing through the eyes of the audience. European Journal of
language not to learn about literature because literature does Social Sciences, 7(3), pp. 17-26. Retrieved from https://
not help the students to achieve their academic goals. Thus, ukm.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/students-percep-
the main reason behind joining the department is to secure tion-of-the-teachers-teaching-of-literature-commun.
their future careers as knowing English in this context is a Ainy, S. (2006). Use of literature in developing learner’s
privilege to have better jobs and income for English is a main speaking skills in Bangladeshi EFL contexts. PhD the-
requirement to be accepted in an institution. Literature can- sis. University of Nottingham. UK. Retrieved from
not serve the students’ academic or/and occupational needs http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14033/.
which are at the heart of any today’s ESL course (McKay, Alfauzan, A. H. & Hussain, A. G. (2016). Attitude towards
1985). These results are partly similar to those of Nasharudin and Perception of Literature in EFL Setting: A Case
(2008) which show that some students hold positive attitudes Study on QU Male Undergraduate Students. English
towards learning English language but negative attitude when Language Teaching; Vol. 10, No. 1. http://dx.doi.
it came to literature learning (cited in Othman et al., 2015, org/10.5539/elt.v10n1p1.
p. 106). Students value literature more for language learning Baba, W. K. (2008). An investigation into teachers’ and
than cultural competence (Wasti, 2016 and Ghouti, 2013). In students’ attitudes towards literature and its use in
this respect, students need more understanding of the value of ESL classrooms: A case study at the matriculation
literature generally. Teachers and administrators should make center in Malysia. PhD thesis, University of Leices-
students aware of literature value professionally, academical- ter, UK. Retrieved from https://lra.le.ac.uk/bit-
ly and most importantly in educating the whole individual stream/2381/4232/1/2008babawkphd.pdf.
(Chambers and Gregory, 2006; Ghouti, 2013). Bernaus, M. and Gardner, R. (2008). Teacher Motivation
Finally, the study identified some problems that students Strategies, Student Perceptions, Student Motivation,
face in literature classes such as difficult texts in terms of and English Achievement. The Modern Language
language, big amount of material that has to be covered, Journal, 92, iii, (2008) 0026-7902/08/387–401, DOI:
teaching methodology, unfamiliar ideas, experiences and 10.1111/j.1540-4781.2008.00753.x.
cultural differences contained in texts, feeling shy and diffi- Boyle, J. and Hirvela, A. (1988). Literature courses and stu-
cult exam questions. These problems needs to be taken into dent attitudes. ELT Journal, Vol. 42, No. 3. pp. 179–184,
consideration and teachers should identify them and find https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/42.3.179.
solutions for them because they will affect their perceptions. Brown, M. W. (2009). The teacher-tool relationship: Theo-
Generally, the study identifies the students perception rizing the design and use of curriculum materials. In J.
which is very helpful to develop an understanding of the T. Remillard, B. A. Herbel-Eisenmann, & G. M. Lloyd
teaching and learning process (Carroli, 2008; Brown, 2009; (Eds.), Mathematics teachers at work: Connecting cur-
Bernaus and Gardner, 2008). It is recommended that liter- riculum materials and classroom instruction (pp. 17–
ature should be kept in the ELDs’ curriculum and be giv- 36). New York: Routledge.
en more attention. Literature classes turned quite helpful in Brumfit, C. (1985). Language and Literature Teaching: From
developing those individual students thus they should be Practice to Principle. Oxford: Pergamon Press. John
encouraged to be incorporated in other levels of study too Higgins, Reviews, ELT Journal, Vol. 40, Issue 4, April
because to get developed, building personalities and broad 1986, pp: 331–332, https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/40.4.331.
minded educated individuals through a class is a privilege Brumfit, C. and Carter, R. (eds.) (1986): Literature and Lan-
and that is the main goal of any educational program, the guage Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
researcher believes. Additionally, knowing the students’ Cadorath, J., & Harris, S. (1998). Unplanned classroom lan-
perceptions towards literature classes will be helpful for the guage and teacher training. ELT Journal, 52(3), pp. 188-
researchers, educational policy makers and the language 196. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/elt/52.3.188.
teachers to determine English language learners’ genuine Carroli, P. (2008). Literature in second language education.
needs, motivation or challenges and issues in relation to the London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
use of literary texts as teaching materials and to develop a Chambers, E. and Gregory, M. (2006). Teaching and Learn-
suitable teaching approach to use the literary texts. ing English Literature: Teaching and Learning the
Humanities in Higher Education. London: Sage Publi-
cations. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/york-eb-
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ooks/detail.action?docID=334555.
A special thank is due to the jury members for their useful Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007). Research
feedback on the questionnaire including: Dr. Asma Ameen Methods in Education (6th Ed.). London: Routledge.
Bamarny, Dr. Parween Saadi Abdulaziz, Dr. Haveen M. Ab- Cook, G. (1994). Discourse and Literature. New York: Ox-
dulmajeed, Dr. Lazgin Barany, Dr. Saeed Idris Saeed from ford University Press.
UOD and Dr. Hussein Algargari from Newroz University. Davis, J. N. et al (1992). Readers and foreign languages: a
We would also like to thank all the students who participated survey of undergraduates‟ attitudes towards the study of
in the study. literature. Modern Language Journal, 76(3): 320-332.
Universities 149
Finsrud, A. (2017). Literature and teaching methods: a study Nunan, D. (1992). Research methods in language learning.
of students’ attitudes and textbooks. Master thesis. Re- Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
trieved from https://hiof.brage.unit.no/hiof-xmlui/han- Othman, N. I., Shah, P. M., Karim, A. A., Yusof, A., Din, R.,
dle/11250/2448881. Ramli, N. A., & Salleh, N.S. (2015). Personalizing learn-
Ghouti, K. M. (2013). Investigating EFL Learners’ Attitudes ing of English literature: Perceptions and challenges.
towards Literature Teaching Methods: Case of 2nd Year Journal of Personalized Learning, 1(1): 104-112.
LMD Students at the University of Tlemcen. Master the- Paran, A. (2006). Literature in Language Teaching and Learn-
sis, University of Tlemcen, Algeria. ing. Washington: Teachers of English to Speakers of other
Gibbs, G. R. (2007). Analysing Qualitative Data. London: languages Inc. Virginia: TESOL, Inc. Retrieved from http://
Sage Publications. nflrc.hawaii.edu/rfl/October2007/reviews/sadeghi.pdf.
Hismanoglou, M. (2005). Teaching English through Litera- Rivers, W. M. (1981). Teaching Foreign-Language Skills.
ture. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies. Vol.1, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
No.1. https://www.jlls.org/index.php/jlls/article/view/6 Sivapalan, S. & Subramanium, G. (2008). The Incorpora-
Jiang, J. (2011). Using literature for integrated language in- tion of Literature in the English Language Program for
structions at the college level in China. Master thesis, Engineering Students: Learner Interest and Perception.
University of Oregon. Retrieved from https://eall.uore- 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature.14:45-73. https://
gon.edu/courses/chinese www.researchgate.net/publication/237459189_The_In-
Lavrakas, P. J. (2008). Encyclopedia of survey research corporation.
methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. doi: Stern, S. L. (1991). An integrated approach to literature in
10.4135/9781412963947). ESL/EFL. In M. Celce-Mercia (Ed.). Teaching English
Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and Language Teaching: guide as a second or foreign language (Second edition). Bos-
for teachers and trainers. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- ton: Heinle & Heinle, 328-346.
versity Press. Tseng, F.P. (2010). Introducing literature to an EFL class-
Littlewood, W.T. (1986). Literature in the School Foreign room: teacher’s presentations and students’ perceptions.
Language Course. In Burmfit, C. and Carter, R.A.(eds) Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol.1,
Literature and Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford No.1, pp.53-65. DOI: 10.4304/jltr.1.1.53-65.
University Press. Ur, P. (1991). A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge:
Maley, A. (1989). Down from the pedestal: literature as re- Cambridge University Press.
source. In R. Carter, R. Walker and C. Brumfit (eds.) Violetta-Irene, K. (2015). The Use of Literature in the Lan-
Literature and the learner: methodological approaches. guage Classroom: Methods and Aims. International
Hong Kong: Modern English Publications/The British Journal of Information and Education Technology,
Council. Vol. 5, No. 1. DOI: 10.7763/IJIET.2015.V5.479.
Maley, A. and Duff, A. (1990). Literature. Oxford: Oxford Wasti, A. T. (2016). The role of literary texts in Pakistani
University Press. EFL classrooms: Issues and Challenge. PhD thesis, Uni-
McKay, S. L. (1986). Literature in the ESL classroom. In versity of Essex, UK. Retrieved from https://www.goo-
Burmfit, C.J and Carter, R.A. (Eds). Literature and Lan- gle.iq/search?dcr=0&source=hp&ei=iEm-.
guage Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Widdowson, H. G. (1990). Aspects of Language Teaching.
Murphy, M. (1997). Making Textbook Language More Lit- New York: Oxford University Press.
erary. In Falvey, P. and Kennedy, P. (Eds). Learning Yimwilai, S. (2015). An Integrated Approach to Teaching
Language Through Literature: A Sourcebook for Teach- Literature in an EFL classroom. English Language
ers of English in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Teaching, Vol. 8, No. 2. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.
University Press. v8n2p14.
150 ALLS 10(4):130-152
APPENDIX
Appendix 1. The questionnaire

Part One
Each of these below statements is followed by a 5‑point scale. Please encircle your choice among the items given,
Strongly Agree (1), Agree (2), disagree (3), Strongly disagree (4), Uncertain (5).
Your perceptions towards literature classes in developing your language proficiency or development:
Item Strongly Agree (2) Disagree (3) Strongly Uncertain (5)
agree (1) Disagree (4)
1. S
tudying literature increases my interest to learn
English language.
2. M
y knowledge and use of grammar has improved
as a result of work done in literature classes.
3. E
nglish literature helps me to improve English
language vocabulary.
4. L
iterature classes help me to understand symbols
and meanings of English texts easily.
5. M
y writing skill has improved as a result of the
work done in literature classes.
6. M
y reading skill has improved as a result of the
work done in literature classes?
7. M
y speaking skill has improved as a result of the
8. M
y listening skill has improved as a result of the
Your perceptions towards literature in enriching your cultural competence and awareness:
Items Strongly Agree (2) Disagree (3) Strongly Uncertain (5)
9. L
iterature classes help learners to get knowledge
about the English culture (values, behavior,
beliefs and basic assumptions).
10. S
tudying literature helps to identify the
similarities and differences between the English
culture and my own culture.
Your perceptions towards literature as a tool for enriching your personal growth:
11. I have the ability to interpret and comment
on the literary texts according to my own
understanding of the text.
12. L
iterature helps students to participate in
the class discussions, group working and
presentations.
13. L
iterature helps me learn and understand about
people and their experiences similar to my own
experiences.
14. L
iterature classes help to develop my critical
thinking.
15. L
iterature helps me to learn more about life and
grow personally, intellectually and emotionally.
16. L
iterature is an important part of my personal
development.
Your perceptions towards explanation, text selection and teaching methods:
17. I find the literary texts selected by the teacher
interesting
Universities 151
18. T
he literature classes are designed according to
my expectations, needs and interests.
19. The teaching method (model) used by the
teacher is interesting.
Part Two
Please encircle the appropriate choice (you can choose more than one item)
Your perceptions towards the relevance of literature to your education:
20. W
hy you have joined English Language a. To get a degree.
Department? b. To learn about English language.
c. To learn about English literature?
d. A qualification in English will help you get a job?
e. To learn about the culture and traditions of English‑speaking people?
f. You are interested in reading and studying literature (e.g. novels, poetry, drama)
g. Please add any other reasons that you can think of:
21. W
hat kind of university English course would a. Literature only
best serve your needs or wants? One that b. Practical language skills
consisted of: c. Knowledge about language
d. A combination of the above
e. None of the above options (please give details if you chose the last option)
22. A
re you satisfied with the number of literary a. Always
topics covered during the academic year? b. Sometimes
c. Rarely
d. Never
23. What difficulty do you face in literature classes? a. I find difficulty in understanding the language of the text
b. Unfamiliar ideas, experiences, or culture in the text
c. Not enough time to read and study the text carefully
d. Other reasons (please mention below)
24. W
hat do you think about learning literature? a. It helps me improve my proficiency in the English language.
You can tick more than one item b. It helps increase cultural awareness between different cultures.
c. It provides fun.
d. It is motivating.
e. It is rewarding outside the classroom.
f. It is boring and waste of time.
g. It is difficult because literary texts are difficult to comprehend.
h. It is not important to me because it contributes nothing to my future
professional career.
i. It helps me to grow personally, intellectually and emotionally
j. Other reasons:
25. W
hat do the literature courses you are taking a. Lectures led by the teacher followed by note taking.
look like? b. A sort of small group discussions.
c. A sort of class discussion.
d. Others:
26. H
ow do you find the texts you are dealing with a. Very difficult.
in terms of language? b. Fairly difficult.
c. Easy
27. D
oes your teacher provide background a. Always
information useful to comprehend the text? b. Sometimes
c. Rarely
d. Never
28. Do you do group working in literature classes? a. Always
b. Sometimes
c. Rarely
d. Never
29. H
ow often are you asked to express your a. Always
opinion and your personal interpretation of the b. Sometimes
text? c. Rarely
d. Never
30. What is your teacher’s reaction to your opinion a. S/he usually accepts wrong interpretations.
and interpretation? b. S/he usually rejects wrong interpretations.
c. S/he corrects wrong interpretations.
152 ALLS 10(4):130-152
31. D
o you like literature as part of your a. I do like it.
study (education) at university? b. I don’t like it.
c. I want other topics.
d. I don’t mind
32. D
o you think literature helps you to achieve a. Yes
your academic goals? b. No
33. D
o you think that literature should be used in a. Yes
language learning? b. No
c. I do not mind
34. W
hich type or genre of literature do you benefit a. Poetry
the most from when developing your language b. Drama
skills? c. Novel
d. Literary criticism
35. What language skill (s) does studying literature a. Speaking
help improve specifically? b. Listening
c. Writing
d. Reading
Part Three: Open-ended questions

Please write down your answers to the following questions (you can write your answers in the form of bullet notes)
1. In your opinion how to make literature classes more interesting?
2. Any comments you may wish to add about problems you experience when studying literature?
3. Throughout your experience of studying literature, what did it add to your education personally, culturally and
linguistically?

Ej 1239098

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ej 1239098

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ej 1239098

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Advances in Language and Literary Studies

Students’ Perception towards Literature Integration in the English Language Departments at

Aveen Mohammed Hasan1*, Zaiton Fareeq Hasan2

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION the teaching and learning process (Carroli, 2008; Brown,

Published by Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

Table 1. The literary modules taught at UOD and UOZ

Table 6. Student’s responses to items 33‑35

Table 9. Students’ responses to items related to text selection

Table 15. Students’ major problems in literature classes

Table 16. the role of literature in developing language proficiency

students like literature as part of their education because it is REFERENCES

Appendix 1. The questionnaire

Part Three: Open-ended questions

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.