It was, moreover, difficult to justify the use of literary texts in a world where the grading of vocabulary and structures was given so much emphasis. For a time the new functional-notional communicative movement also ignored literature. 

The emphasis was on pragmatic, efficient communication with no frills. Literature seemed like an irrelevance. Yet in the last five years or so there has been a remarkable revival of interest in literature as one of the resources available for language learning.This book is an attempt to explore further the use of literary texts as a language teaching resource rather than as an object of literary study as such.

For, if indeed literature is back, it is back wearing different clothing. The twin aims of the activities proposed in this book are to encourage the student to give close and repeated attention to the text and, at the same time, to interact with others about it. Literature should prove of value to teacher trainers, practising teachers, and teachers in training who are interested in regaining access to the rich resource which literary texts offer.