Although many researchers have advocated the benefits of teaching literature both to native speakers and non-native speakers for the purpose of language acquisition, many ESL/EFL instructors still exclude literature from their curriculum. The main reason lies in the underestimation of ESL/EFZ students' need and ability to read literature, and the insfficiency of methodology and teacher training.This article proposed that reader-response approach, with its learner-centered nature, helps to initiate students in an enjoyable literary experience and successfully build up their confidence on their English competence and their interest in reading and writing. In this article, a study was designed and carried on in multi-cultural ESL classroom. The result showed that, even without the direct instruction, most of the ESLJEFL students in the intermediate-high level can comprehend and enjoy the selected literary works and use English to express their feelings and ideas aroused by the literary works. 很多學者曾主張，不管是對以英文為外語或以英文為母語的學生而言，在英文課上教授文學，可以有效地提升他們的英文能力。然而，大多數針對以英文為外語的學生所設計的英文課程裡，都將文學作品排除於外。部分原因乃在於英文教師或課程編寫者認為學生沒有足夠的能力來閱讀文學作品，也不需要學文學，部分原因是英文老師尚未找到有效的教學法來向學生介紹以英文寫成的文學作品。本篇論文即是主張---讀者反應理論教學法能幫助教師克服障礙，有效地在英文課裡教文學。此教學法乃是以學習者為中心，非傳統〝演講式〞的教學法。教師無須講解文學作品的內容、涵義、以及時代背景等〝重點〞，供學生〝欣賞〞，。反之，學生直接透過文字來了解文章內容，自己決定作品的意義，並寫出任何在閱讀中所引發的感想。老師並不直接裁示對錯，而是從旁輔助、支持、並引導。學生經由老師的鼓勵與支持，慢慢建立信心興趣來閱讀文學作品，並且嘗試以英文寫出感想。最終目的是讓學生不再視英文課為枯燥的文法翻譯課。使他們有機會閱讀有趣的文學作品，並以英文為工具來討論自己有興趣的主題，或寫下內心的迴響。
