Teaching Literature Using Critical Thinking and Communicative Approaches

Teaching literature in Algeria encounters many difficulties in how it should be taught. The Algerian government and Ministry of Higher Education both have attempted to develop the way of teaching Literature to solve the main problems. Both have asserted that due to the lack of training in previous years of instructors and students. Therefore, teaching Literature is one of the most challenging tasks for lecturers. However, there are clear differences between teaching literature in the first language (L1) contexts and in the second language (L2) contexts (Durant, 1995). This research involves Masters Students of Literature at the University of Ouargla, Algeria. The study examines the combination of the Communicative Approach, which aims to improve linguistic skills, and the Critical Thinking Approach which seeks to increase and develop engagement with reading and intellectual thinking in the field of literature (Scriven, 1996). This project aims to explore and develop a deeper insight into teaching literature in the Algerian university context. I discuss how the combination of these approaches might be incorporated into the student`s perception of literature and examining how they are and how students perceive and experience the learning process. The present paper is an exploratory investigation which uses qualitative methods based on constructing open-ended questions survey. This study uses four innovative methods such as using the Title and Cover Design of a Book, Using Themes, Sealing a Time Capsule and Guiding student comprehension with four Arabic novels translated into English. The selected novels are classified as postcolonial literature, and concern recent Arabic events. The choice of the novels is almost based on considering the effectiveness of the Communicative, and Critical Thinking Approaches which both depend on the implication of materials which the students will find of contemporary relevance and be keen to share and discuss.