USING LITERARY TEXTS IN NORWEGIAN LANGUAGE TEACHING

Abstract

The use of literary texts in teaching language has varied from the strict focus on translation and essential grammar and vocabulary lists derived from the text to the more creative uses like acting, writing and debating. Nowadays, communicative language approach prevails in most classrooms and insists on immersing students into both the target language and culture. In this paper, the author argues that to accomplish this, one can use literary texts in a number of ways and help the students learn, practice and master various language skills, while at the same time relating the texts to the students' interests, goals and lived experiences and help them relate to the society whose language they are learning. Literature is presented as a great source of authentic material that can contribute to students' language enrichment and cultural awareness. According to the data obtained from the research conducted for the purpose of this paper, students learning the Norwegian language by extensive use of literature reported better understanding of the target culture, raised awareness of the different cultural patterns and improved language skills. The pedagogical implications of the research are that more authentic literary texts should be used in language classroom to boost successful language acquisition.