Literature Review

Whether and how to include literature in second-language education has been discussed and debated since the 1990s in North America.Sylvie Henning laments the problematic fact that foreign language textbooks usually focus on basic personal and social communication，often in a frankly touristic context and she defends her French Language Department against what some see as an old fashioned and high-cultural focus on literature.Henning argues that teaching for touristic skills may sometimes be appropriate but she warns that it also fosters a narrowly pragmatic attitude toward the language and a patronizingly folkloric conception of foreign culture.She suggests that including more written content that deals with values，attitudes，and beliefs in a less elementary fashion would compel students to think more about the culture they are encountering through the language.She goes on to say that through literature，students can develop a full range of linguistic and cognitive skills，cultural knowledge and sensitivity.In other words，her article suggests that one can offer a curriculum that satisfies the practical concerns held by some while serving more culturally attuned purposes at the same time.

Daniel Shanahan endorses Henning’s arguments and goes further in urging language teachers to consider the question of“how can Foreign Language Departments justify offering literature courses when our students can’t speak the language well enough”(Shanahan，1997:164).Shanahan believes that literature can be seen as an“added value”beyond the level of language acquisition(Shanahan，1997:165).Like Henning and Shanahan，who recognize the humanistic properties of literature that will contribute to language learning，Heidi Byrnes also argues that the teaching of literature and language needs to be merged.Byrnes questions the Western philosophical tradition which considers that knowledge is“discovered”and she demonstrates that knowledge is“humanly constructed through language”(Byrnes，2001:39).Byrnes therefore suggests taking“knowledge to be intricately linked to the language patterns of situated language use，where the use of language is a way of knowing and a way of being that is historical in origin and directly related to social action”(Byrnes，2001:40).For Byrnes，language cannot be separate from literature because of the intricate connections between language and knowledge.And literature，as Henning informs us，is an ideal way to obtain cultural knowledge.

Among commentators for and against the inclusion of literature in secondlanguage education，some voice sceptical，if not negative opinions.Gillian Lazar surveys reasons for and against the use of literature and an example she presents of the argument against its use is worth citing at length here:

The relationship between a culture and its literature is not at all simple，since few novels or poems could claim to be a purely factual documentation of their society....There is a danger that students will fall into the fallacy of assuming that a novel...represents the totality of a society，when in fact it is a highly atypical account of one particular milieu during a specific historical period(Lazar，1993:16).

This argument questions the relationship between literature and reality and warns that some literary works do not reflect social reality and that they may transmit false knowledge to students who consider everything from these books as pure facts.Consider also that Lazar is referring to English(ESL)teaching.In this case it seems relevant that there may be a more diverse range of international English versions as well as Anglophone cultures than is the case with Chinese culture.However，there is broad agreement among literary scholars that no matter how“fictional”a poem or a novel is，it harbours a truth or truths which can deepen the reader’s understanding of human nature，different social settings，and the world in general.Moreover，Lazar offers a broad examination of both sides of the debate and also lists a number of potentially valid reasons for the approach recommended in this study，noting that the use of literature“helps students to understand another culture”(Lazar，1993:15).As this chapter is not solely a literary study，there will be no significant investigation of connections between literature and society.However，in response to the warnings Lazar presents，some insights into the relation between literature and reality will be provided.

The possibility that readers will consider what is written in novels to be true should not be an issue，especially in the Chinese context.This is because“to be able to reflect reality”has been a constant concern（or requirement）among Chinese intellectuals and writers throughout Chinese history.As Confucius says in Analects（Lun Yu），one should not talk about supernatural powers and evil spirits（“zǐbùyǔguài lìluàn shén”，子不语怪力乱神）.Cao Pi（187-226），one of the most famous emperors in Chinese history，stated clearly that literature is for imparting the moralities，the rules，the wisdom（“wényǐzàidào”，文以载道）.Liu Xie（465？-522），author of The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons（Wen Xin Diao Long），completed 501-502，affirmed that“great literature is for the virtues！”（“wén zhīweídéyědàyǐ！”，文之为德也大矣）.In Chinese tradition，literature，especially great literature which also includes the written records of China，needs to replicate the reality and help the policy-makers to run the state as well as to transmit principles and moral guidelines.This tradition was inherited or even consolidated by Mao Zedong（1893-1976）.In Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art，Mao Zedong delivered a speech on how to develop proletarian literature which should analyse“the objective reality”.

While Lazar presents the case for the“fictionality”of literary works possibly impeding second-language learners’understanding of the target culture，Willis Edmondson disagrees with the literary approach because he observes that the educators tend to base their arguments for the inclusion or exclusion of literature mostly on assumptions.Calling himself a non-essentialist，Edmondson argues that“literary texts have no special status as regards their relevance to and utility for the business of achieving proficiency or general competence in an L2”(Edmondson，1997:45).He disagrees with the assertion that literature gives insights into the culture.All of Edmondson’s concerns and doubts originate from his primary enquiry into whether literature helps to enhance learners’language proficiencies and indeed it seems demonstrable that it is impossible to tell empirically if literary texts would improve learners’language skills.However，as many previous studies have shown，literary texts do provide second-language learners with a social context or an environment which are otherwise alien to them.Sharing Edmondson’s concern，Russell Berman also prompts us to ask“why we think language，literature，and culture ought to be taught at all and whether they belong together for other than merely conventional reasons(Berman，2002:11)”.

Berman’s question is answered by scholars from both literary studies(Henning，Shanahan)and education(Byrnes)，who have made substantial studies justifying the importance and plausibility of including literature in second-language education.Piera Carroli，the noted scholar of Italian literature and Italian second-language education from Australian National University，writes enthusiastically that it is necessary to develop a pedagogy based on three elements:“the learners’reflections on and analysis of the texts;their development of a critical awareness of their individual reading strategies and interpretations of the texts;comparison and discussion of these in class with other learners and，subsequently，with the teacher”(Carroli，2002:122).Although the debate over whether to include literature in second-language learning curricula was and is still significant，studies on the inclusion of Chinese literature into Chinese second-language education are quite scant in the Englishspeaking world.Research contributing to the present study has so far uncovered no systematic work in this field yet.While Chinese second-language education outside China is growing rapidly，the author argues that Chinese literature should be extensively included in the Chinese second-language curriculum.