Literature as a teaching tool in content-based subjects delivered in English: a practical proposal for the use of the short story

Abstract

As we know, there have been many studies both for and against the use of literature in the teaching of foreign languages. However, in recent years, due to the prevalence of communicative methodology, there has been a resurgence of the idea that the use of literary texts in the language classroom has a positive influence on learning, since it encourages communication among students in the foreign language. At the same time, many schools in Spain are introducing bilingual education. This type of education is accompanied by a learning initiative known in Spanish as AICLE (Aprendizaje Integrado de Contenidos y Lenguas Extranjeras) and in English as CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning), based on the teaching in a foreign language of content-based subjects, the aim of which is to encourage the communicative use of the language by paying closer attention to fluency than to grammatical accuracy. Bearing in mind these two methodological phenomena, whose ultimate purpose is to encourage communication, the aim of this study is to propose the introduction of literary texts, specifically short stories, within the framework of non-linguistic subjects in the bilingual programme of participating primary schools. The study confirms that the use of literary texts in content-based subjects delivered in English has a considerable positive impact on the communicative elements of the AICLE initiative, and thus proposes an activity to be carried out in the subject known in Spanish as Conocimiento del Medio (Science) in the second year of primary education.