Enhancing students writing skills using novels: The saudi EFL learners’ perspective

Abstract

Applied linguists have divergent views on the interaction between literature and language instruction. Language through a literary lens logically validates the position of literature in the acquisition of language skills by exposing students to a variety of writing types and authoritative sources. Syllabi built around language structures cannot be adequate to ensure that students acquire language skills. In comparison, an authentic curriculum centered around novels and short stories encourages students to study the language and fosters critical reasoning and language skills. In this vein, this research seeks to ascertain undergraduates' perceptions of the function of novel teaching in improving writing abilities by the use of a survey in which students expressed their perspectives on the areas in which novel teaching aided their writing ability development. The students' answers were analyzed, and a one-sample t-test showed that they concluded that novel instruction had a beneficial impact on their sentence and paragraph writing skills. Based on these observations, the author recommended incorporating novels into undergraduate English courses through the use of successful teaching approaches and the collection of novels suitable for students' linguistic abilities.