OF LANGUAGE, LITERATURE AND LITERARY TEXTS IN THE CLASSROOM SETTING

Abstract

Literary activities are carried out within the context of language and writers are known to have been bend language to their creative will. Literature has long been acknowledged as an integral part of language teaching and learning playing a key role in the classroom setting. In the teaching and learning of French as a foreign language, however, literature and the use of literary texts in the classroom suffered a set-back due to inconsistences in the French teaching methods. The difficulties experienced by teachers and students in the teaching and learning of French through literature are primarily due to lack of methodological approaches on the part of the teachers, the linguistic incompetence on the part of the students and the use of  literary texts that are out of context. Literature teachers should organize their works methodologically, take a step back and re evaluate the texts selected in relationship to the linguistic and academic level of students. As Onyemelukwe points out, “Teaching literature does not mean an ostentatious display of one’s knowledge in complex French but choosing the right lexis and expression in French commensurate with the linguistic competence of the learners to ensure that the right goods are delivered, that the behavioural objectives set for each literature lesson is achieved by the end of the lesson”. This paper, therefore, seeks to reaffirm the relevance of literature and the use of literary texts in the classroom setting in the teaching and learning of French as a foreign language.