The role of narrative input in the New Headway ESL course books 1

摘要

Literature, while perceived as beneficial, is not widely used in the ESL arena. This article discusses a study which set out to investigate proven benefits of using literature in ESL through a review of the current research, at the same time establishing a link between literature and narrative based on'story grammar', which biological determinism claims the human brain is hardwired to use as a language learning tool. Hypothesising that there would be no correlation between theory regarding the presence and application of literature in ESL (as presented in the current research) and the practice (as found in the prominent ESL course, New Headway), the study set out to identify narrative input in New Headway's Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced Levels and to analyse the way in which narrative is used to teach language skills and communicative competence. Contrary to expectations a surprisingly high level of narrative was found and the narrative was exploited in full accordance with current research. The findings indicate that the incorporation of narrative in New Headway is a pedagogically informed decision by the authors to exploit the benefits of literature while at the same time catering to a very heterogeneous audience of international ESL learners.