Literature stance in developing critical thinking: A pedagogical look

Students in literature classes are expected to think critically and apply their critical and analytical skills to the texts they study. As to the writers, the factors counted by some scholars (e.g. Topping, 1968) as the demerits of the employment of literature in EFL/ESL classes including difficulty level of vocabulary, structural complexity, non-normative use of language, and even remote cultural perspectives are neither persuasive nor logical, but are exactly what can be employed to enrich language learning experiences, and enhance critical thinking. In any way, although providing students with tools of critical thinking, and more importantly, stabilize the stance of literature in its proper position is difficult, it is not far-fetched. The study was an attempt to investigate the efficacy of developing critical thinking through literature reading.