Mediating Literature and Culture: In Search for an Appropriate Methodology in EFL Classroom

Abstract

The implementation of culturally-oriented teaching materials is one of the fundamental premises
underlying our approach to foreign language teaching. This endeavour can be completed with
the introduction of the literary component as a source for culture teaching. Worth noting is that
literature was for more than a century one of the main avenues to the target culture. Regrettably,
this was one of the arguments made in the 1950s against the abuses of the Grammar-Translation
Method at the expense of Communicative Language Teaching. Today, many teachers still
convincingly believe that language cannot be separated from culture. This belief indicates the
extent to which culture teaching is viewed as a fifth skill. To this day, there are those who still
question the rationale for including literature in foreign language instruction, and those who
view literature as a source of developing cultural insights, therefore, insisting on its integration
in foreign language classrooms, not least English Language Education.