A Task-Based Approach to Teaching Literary Texts in Advanced Language Classes

Many scholars have repeatedly argued that the goals of achieving advanced language skills and understanding literary texts are not to be seen as mutually exclusive and cannot be considered separately. Nevertheless, no general consensus on the approach or how to go about it exists. What is still missing are principled and comprehensive ways of linking language learning with literary-cultural content. This article argues that a task-based approach has such a potential. It demonstrates how task-based principles such as the meaningful principle, goal-orientedness, and language use for authentic communicative purposes can be effectively applied to the teaching of literary texts in order to gain access to literary-cultural content and at the same time foster the development of advanced linguistic skills. Based on Judith Hermann's short story “Sonja” (1998), a variety of different task types and designs are presented demonstrating these principles in action.