The Importance of the Role of Literature in the EFL Teaching Context

Abstract. Since the early 17th century literature has been the important approach in English Language Teaching(ELT). It has been successfully the essential technique of ELT all over the British Empire. The study of Englishliterature has resulted in the creation of fluent English-speaking generations of the British colonies, which helpedgreatly in bridging the gap between the colonizers and the original inhabitants of such territories. As a result, wemay say that English has been significantly and effectively playing an indispensable role in ELT. Although severalapproaches in foreign language teaching have come up, literature is still vitally significant in ELT through literarytexts that foster learners’ motivation (Mackay, 1982). We believe that all approaches remain inadequate if the roleof literature in modern language teaching is exempted. In this paper, we try to focus on the effective ways offostering the role of literature in ELT in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular.