What are the merits and demerits of using literature in ELT classroom? [N.U. 2017)

MERITS:
Authenticity - The content based on literature is claimed to provide authentic input for language learning, the necessity of which is of high criterion.

Motivation - Owing to its relevantly interesting content in i authenticity, literature is bound to be a motivational factor for learners acquiring the target language.

Cultural awareness- Being based upon matters dealing with cultures prevalent all over the universe, literature acts as an input source for booming language learners.

Intensive/Extensive reading practice - Literature is a requisite for both intensive as well as extensive reading purposes for being able undertake reading in a short amount of time.

Pragmatic knowledge - A pragmatic account of literature has it natural place in such a theory. It assumes that in literary communication we not only have a text, but that the production (and interpretation) of such a text are social actions. Owing to is authentic nature, literature tends to be socio-linguistic in the form of communicative competence models.

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) - Reading literature is proven to have nurtured EQ amongst its learners. The essence of EQ is also important while dealing with the levels of a learner's emotional maturity, as it teaches them to come in terms with their feelings,

DEMERITS:

Text selection - Literary texts which possess relevance and interest to learners are the ones that must be included in the syllabus. Although the lai guage of literature is somewhat reformed to suit the instructional purpose, some students may still find its application complex, with its foreign vocabulary and the student's lack of cultural understanding based on the text.

Text length - Shorter texts may be easier to use within the limited duration of a class. However, longer texts provide more contextual details, and development of character and plot, the execution of which requires an extended number of classes to be completed.

Linguistic difficulty - The selected texts ought to be appropriate to the level of the learner's comprehension level. Most learners may be unable to adapt with the complex, lingual structures that are required for text presentation in literature.

Cultural difficulty - The chosen texts must not be so culturally dense that outsiders feel excluded from understanding essential meaning. Also, the learners may feel offended by textual content, often being unable to decipher it in the right context.

Teacher's perspective- Teaching through literature utilizes a literature-based approach, the applications of which may be more difficult than using other, simpler approaches. First-time teachers may find it especially challenging, since literature-based approaches inherently have less structure than many other approaches. Teachers also may struggle with effectively assessing a child's progress. Because literature-based instruction is less widely used than other forms of instruction, teachers often spend hours choosing literature selections, as well as developing activities and evaluations that reflect the content.

Scope and sequence- Finding appropriate literature selections that address the skills that students need to learn can be challenging, and finding selections that actually build from one year to the next is virtually impossible. This implies that using literature-based instruction. may prevent students from building their skills in a systematic fashion, and they may miss out on some skills entirely, which can prevent them from growing as readers, writers, and thinkers.