The Use of Literary Works in EFL Classroom

^1,2 English Language Education Department, Faculty of Language Education, Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, Indonesia
³ Department of English Language Education, Faculty of Tarbiyah, University of Darussalam Gontor, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: arifahmardiningrum@umy.ac.id

Abstract

Literary works have been used in language classrooms for many years. The idea stems from the tight relationship between literature and language, which makes educators believe that using literature benefits language learning. The current study investigates students’ attitudes toward the use of literary works in English classes and their perception of the benefits. This mixed-method study was conducted in an English Teacher Training Program in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Seventy-nine students were chosen by convenient sampling in the quantitative data collection and 6 for the qualitative data. Questionnaires were used to see the students’ attitudes, and interviews were used to understand students’ perceptions. Using a Likert scale of 1-5 to indicate a very strong agreement to a strong disagreement, the study found a mean score of 2.39, which means that the tendency is closer to scale 1. The number means that students favor using literary works in English classes. The study also found that the students perceived that literary works can make learning enjoyable, help improve language aspects, and hone student’s imagination. The students’ positive acceptance of the use of literary works implies that language educators should consider them as part of all language classrooms and figure out an effective way to make them into effective language learning tools.