Literary competence and rhetorical tropes Within efl context

Abstract

In the context of foreign language teaching, literature has become an essential subject as long as it provides considerable opportunities to foreign language learners to deal with authentic materials and hence exposes them plainly to literary discourse. The tendency of imparting literary discourse into foreign language classes actually comes as a reaction against the artificiality and superficiality noted in texts that have been simplified or specifically written for language learners. Moreover, simplified language as noticed by several educationists does not allow learners to use language appropriately as it is hoped to be used by native speakers. Thus, incorporating literary discourse in English language teaching programmes aims primary to enhance learners’ pragmatic competence, i.e., providing learners with literary insights to help them grasp as well as assimilate fictional and artistic components within literary texts and then use them appropriately in due contexts. Zafeiriadon (2004, 3-4) asserts that “In reading literary texts, students have also to cope with language intended for native speakers and thus they gain additional familiarity with many different linguistic uses”. This shows that the more learners are exposed to artistic texts the better socially and culturally, and eventually pragmatic competent will be in the target language and culture