Teaching Foreign Language with Using Cultural Aspects of Literature

Abstract

In this study, we shall examine the portfolio studies of the third grade student teachers of the English Language Teaching Department in Yildiz Technical University, as part of the requirements of the Language and Literature course offered. They include the worksheets designed by student teachers, mainly targeting teaching grammar, vocabulary, translation, textual cohesion and coherence. The research shall mainly focuses on the following points of (i) how student teachers approached literary texts, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages they encountered while coping with literary texts; (ii) which literary texts were chosen as teaching materials and how were these texts internalized and interpreted to target cultural enrichment; (iii) which language samples of real life settings were demonstrated. This paper aims to show that teaching language through literature initiates the student teachers' pragmatic input in progress, and helps them to prepare authentic teaching materials in terms of developing teaching competencies.