Tropes-Based Difficulties Encountering EFL Students when Interpreting Literary Text: towards Promoting Communicative Competence

Souad Benguega, Université Kasdi Merbah, Algeria;          Abstract: It is proved that literature can develop EFL students’ communicative competence. However, Algerian EFL students lack enthusiasm toward learning literature because of inability to understand and interpret figurative language which is based on the use of tropes. On the other hand, EFL teachers view teaching literature a difficult and demanding task. This study aims at investigating tropes- based difficulties that Algerian EFL students encountered when interpreting the meaning of literary text. To achieve this goal, a questionnaire is distributed to 30 students studying English Language at Kasdi Merbah University. The findings of this research showed that tropes-based difficulties affect negatively on EFL learners’ performance when approaching literary text inside and outside of the classroom. These encouraging results provide us with a viable starting-point for teaching EFL students tropes in order to increase their interpretation of literary text so that to develop their competence when using English language for communicative purposes.

Key Words: EFL students, Communicative Competence, Interpreting Literary Text, Tropes-Based-Difficulties.