Including literature in the language classroom

The inclusion of literary texts in the language classroom is a practice framed in controversy. Opponents of such tasks base their position in the inherent complexity of this type of texts. Conversely, advocates of the inclusion of literature maintain that, despite its characteristic intricacy, literary texts, when appropriately used, are likely to bring forth several benefits in terms of communicative competence. This paper, therefore, addresses this issue through a brief description of the difficulties and benefits of the inclusion of literature in the language classroom. This account is complemented by an assessment of the most important approaches to literary analysis and their implications in EFL contexts.