Learners’ attitude towards approaches used in the teaching and learning of literature in the ESL Classroom / Syahaizad Salleh

Literature has been an important component of language courses in the Malaysian English Second Language (ESL) context. The introduction of the literature in the Malaysian ESL context has brought much discussion on the significance of teaching the subject as part of the English language syllabus in Malaysian primary, secondary and tertiary educational levels. Even though research on the teaching and learning of literature in Malaysian schools is raised, not much research has been done to investigate its effectiveness in Malaysian higher educational institutions. This research discussed the findings of a study undertaken to investigate adult learners’ attitude towards approaches used in teaching and learning literature in the tertiary ESL classroom. The focus of this paper is on attitudes, reactions and the strengths and weaknesses of adult learners towards the approaches used in teaching and learning of literature in English programs. The findings of the study are obtained via quantitative and qualitative approaches. The data was gathered through questionnaire from 30 respondents and interview sessions with ten selected learners from PLK or part time TESL (Teaching English as Second Language) program from UiTM Dungun Campus. The data was analyzed using the SPSS Statistics version 17.0 software. From the data analysis, it is indicated that the learners enjoy learning literature in the ESL classroom and hope to have a variety activities and ways in learning and teaching literature.