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Teaching English through literature

Learn how to engage and develop your learners’ English language skills through a range of literature-focused learning activities and related teaching approaches. Teaching English through literature will open again on 1 July 2025, and will be open for enrolment soon.

Sri Lankan school children in classroom

Welcome to Teaching English through literature

How will the course help you?

Learn how to engage and develop your learners’ English language skills through a range of literature-focused learning activities and related teaching approaches.

What does the course include?

Teaching English through literature is a free self-study training course, which is divided into three hour modules. It also includes:

  • A dedicated Facebook community of course participants with up-to-date insight, resources and innovative ideas for you to try out.
  • Engaging discussions taking place in the Facebook community
  • Live events with your course tutor and language teaching experts.
  • A free workbook with extra learning content and resources.

What will you learn?

Module 1: Foundations of teaching English through literature

The aim of this module is to demonstrate how literary texts can be used to present language and develop reading, listening, writing and speaking, while keeping learners actively engaged and motivated. You will recognise the role of literature in life and in learning a language, apply criteria for selecting appropriate literary texts as well as identify how different language skills are developed through using literature in English classes.

Module 2: Developing receptive skills through literature

The aim of this module is to demonstrate how to exploit literature to develop receptive skills. In terms of language development, reading and listening are termed as receptive skills, as these processes involve the act of receiving the language. You will recognise the role of literature in developing receptive skills, evaluate how literary texts provide appropriate opportunities to develop listening skills as well as use a list of factors to select appropriate texts for your learners.

Module 3: Developing productive skills through literature

The aim of this module is to enable you to help learners develop the productive skills of speaking and writing through literary texts. The module includes a wide range of activities to help you enhance your learners' language skills. You will identify different aspects of speaking for responding to literature, use graphic organisers as a strategy for planning writing as well as structure a literature lesson that integrates reading, listening, speaking and writing skills.

When is the course?

Teaching English through literature will be open from 1 July-30 September 2025. Enrolment will open soon.

How much does the course cost?

The course is free.

How can you get a certificate?

For participants who successfully complete all modules, there will be a downloadable certificate of completion at the end of the course.

What level of English do you need?

Minimum CEFR B1

What can you do now?

If you're interested in learning more about teaching English through literature, you can:

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Workbook_for_teaching_English_through_literature.pdf305.51 KB
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Comments

Hi Man Fish

All of our free courses are only available for a limited time. Once the deadline has passed, it's not possible to reopen registration or the course content. We hope to run this course again in the future. 
To keep up to date with all our latest training, resources and events, you can sign up to our newsletter here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/subscribe-our-newsletter

Thanks,
Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Tabassum Mahza… on Tue, 09/19/2023 - 08:41

Hello there!
Greetings!
Just completed the course "Teaching English Through Literature". And I must say I have learned and relearned from this course. It was full of resources and activities. Thank you very much for launching this course which actually help to many English teachers like me.
Looking forward for the upcoming course! Thank you.

Hi Tabussum

Thanks for the feedback - we're glad you found the Literature course so useful!

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by LOIDZ on Sun, 09/17/2023 - 08:00

Reading the stories is indeed interesting. Hope to share the joy of reading literature to my GenZ students.

Submitted by Paola Carrozzo on Sat, 09/09/2023 - 08:27

I've just enrolled and I'm enthusiast, I cannot stop reading and focusing on my favourite subject matter:literature, thanks for all the insights, suggestions and inputs sofar.

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 09/11/2023 - 08:14

Hi Paola

Thanks for the feedback, and we are glad you are enjoying the course!

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Marina Karapetyan on Fri, 09/15/2023 - 05:18

I am delighted to be able to complete the course and get a tremendous amount of ideas about literature and language , its compelling influence leraners' creative minds.

Hi Lilibet

You can access your certificate by clicking on the MY PORTFOLIO - My courses tab at the top of the page. Then you can click on "My awards" and you will see the certificate on that page (under "My certificates").

Thanks,

Cath
TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by ZoilaSanchez on Wed, 09/06/2023 - 18:25

Eager to learn more about the subject.

Submitted by Somia Hammadi on Sun, 09/03/2023 - 16:35

I am so interested in this topic, still don't know how to enrol. Please help me

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Mon, 09/04/2023 - 07:56

Hi Somia

To register for the course, you need to follow the steps under "How do I register for the course?" above.

Firstly, you need to create a TeachingEnglish account (or log in if you already have one) - you can do that here: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/user/login

Then you can click on this link:  https://open.teachingenglish.org.uk/Home/ExploreProgrammes This will take you to the course platform where you can see all our available courses. Then you just need to click to enrol.

Hope that helps,

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

 

Submitted by Tabassum Mahza… on Thu, 08/31/2023 - 10:45

Respected Concern,

I would like to attend the Teaching English through Literature online course but I have not found the enroll option. I opened an account 1 week before. What should I do now? How to enroll in this course? Please help me out. Thank you.

Dear Tabassum

Please follow the instruction on the page, where it says 'How to enrol on this course'

Best wishes

Paul (TeachingEnglish team)

Submitted by Enrique Alejan… on Thu, 08/31/2023 - 10:24

Hi! Sorry about this but I can't find the date for the live event on September 7th. Could you please let me know what time it is scheduled? Thank you. Q.

Submitted by SONA B SAJEEV on Thu, 08/31/2023 - 05:36

Dear [Recipient's Name/Title],

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to inform you of a scheduling conflict I am facing. I am based in India and at 10 AM GMT, I have a pre-scheduled class at my college which I cannot miss. Given this, I am unable to attend the Teaching English through Literature online course scheduled for that time.

I am very keen on participating and would like to request if there might be an alternative arrangement or if the class could be recorded for me to review later. I genuinely value the content and would deeply appreciate any accommodation made.

Thank you for understanding and considering my situation. I look forward to a possible resolution.

Warm regards,

Submitted by carolinesklstyn on Sun, 08/27/2023 - 15:52

Hello,
I have enrolled to the course but the dates and time for the modules are during my teaching hours at school. How can I catch up with if I miss the webinars, etc.?

Hi, there are no fixed times to complete the modules. Any live webinars or Facebook Live events will be recorded so you can watch them in your own time. 

Thanks,

Paul (TeachingEnglish team)

Submitted by Cinzia Masia on Sat, 08/26/2023 - 09:29

Hi everyone! I am really happy to attend this course. I have been teaching Literature, and I hope to get more ideas so to involve my students.

Submitted by Alaa.. on Fri, 08/25/2023 - 16:43

My school started a new program Teaching English through Literature, and I think this course will equip me with all things I need

Submitted by Yuliia Hladenko on Fri, 08/25/2023 - 15:24

Good morning! Can you please tell me how many hours does the course last?
Thank you for your help!
Kind regards,
Yuliia Hladenko

Submitted by Paul Braddock on Mon, 08/28/2023 - 10:27

Dear Yuliia,

Each module is designed to provide around 3 hours of input. There are also live Facebook events that you can attend and the forums in Facebook where you can contribute as much or as little as you are able to.

Best wishes

Paul (TeachingEnglish team)

Submitted by NataliaMoroz on Fri, 08/25/2023 - 11:39

I am looking forward to start learning this course. I am very grateful to the opportunity of being in the world of literature tips.

Submitted by Irseth on Wed, 05/31/2023 - 07:55

Hello! I'm very interested in this course. Are there any tentative dates for when it will available? TIA!

Submitted by Eman217 on Thu, 05/04/2023 - 20:54

Hello! Can you please notify me when you run this course agajn later this year? Thank you so much!

Submitted by Sandra Méndez on Mon, 04/17/2023 - 12:34

Hello! I'm Sandra. I'm a Language Teacher Educator. I'd like to know about texts and teaching practices arround chatbots uses in classroom, if It IS posible.
Sincerly,
Sandra.

Submitted by Cath McLellan on Wed, 04/19/2023 - 07:26

Hi Sandra

Thanks for your comment - this is definitely an important (and growing!) area which we can try to investigate more.

Best wishes,

Cath

TeachingEnglish team

Submitted by Englishlearner on Tue, 02/21/2023 - 18:15

Very interesting topic, Literature can be a good way for learning a language, by diving in it's culture and traveling without moving through historical, social and cultural journey.

Submitted by Asmaamontaser on Wed, 08/02/2023 - 19:46

I hope to learn more how to teach literature

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