Teaching English Literature in the Digital Era

Abstract

Not many students (and teachers) like to study (andteach) literature. Reading, analysing and interpreting a literarywork may be a time-consuming and exhausting task especiallyfor those who are not bookworms. How can teachers motivatestudents to read literary works and make them develop criticalthinking? In the age of digital natives where everything startsand ends with a “click” on the swift keyboard, this seems to be afar-fetching undertaking. However, the use of audio-visualdevices and various online educational tools in teaching both –foreign language and literature – might trigger motivation andencourage the learning process. The aim of this paper is toidentify, explore and analyse innovative approaches to foreignlanguage acquisition, more precisely, the English languageteaching and learning, by using literature (prose and poetry) asan unconventional teaching tool. Apart from the works ofclassical literature, the creative works of pop culture such asfilms, TV series, video games and songs will be used as apowerful means of breaking boundaries, learning andintegrating, studying and having fun.