Literature in the EFL Classroom : Teachers’ attitudes on the use of literature in the EFL classroom for grades 4-6.

Abstract: English is an important language since the world is becoming more interconnected and it is central to motivate Swedish pupils to study language. The Swedish Agency for Education states that motivation and learning increase when pupils access a living language and that teacher therefore should use authentic material. Yet, teachers of the English subject still rely a lot on textbooks. The aim of this study is to highlight the use of literature in the EFL classroom for grades 4-6, and to investigate teachers’ attitudes to the use of literature and also examine how they use literature and what they want to achieve by that use. To answer those questions an empirical study was conducted through interviews and a questionnaire. The main findings of this study are that teachers have a positive attitude towards using literature with their pupils and wants to use it more than they currently do. The main reason teachers use literature is to increase the pupils’ vocabulary and help them learn grammatical patterns as well as increasing their motivation. The most commonly used method is reading aloud. However, there are some hindrances for using literature such as the poor availability of English literature in schools.