With (pre-)intermediate up to advanced students, I believe there is another way. Students take turns as scribes and write down some of the new words that the teacher (or the students) use during the courses.  When you discuss literature, a picture, or any given topic, the only thing you have to do is save a fraction of the blackboard (or OHP) for the words you want to see on the scribes' lists (I actually advise you to have two scribes at a time and to provide them with a diskette). 

After correcting the list(s), hand it (them) out to the rest of the class.  They're more likely to learn and remember these new words in this way because they are a testimony of their share in the life of the class.

1) pairwork 

2) oral interrogations in class (among the students) using structures such as: "Find out if. . ." 

3)brain maps - leading to oral and written work.
   For more information on brain maps (also known as mind maps), visit this How To MindMap)

The use of worksheets making use of lateral thinking to help them approach a literary text.

Writing activities with multiple feedback sessions from the teacher, leading to progressively finer tuning of their texts.

They also seem to appreciate being able to use the computer lab for the following activities:

• exploring new areas of grammar after having checked their grammar books.
• studying and reinforcing vocabulary.
• reading activities with the online dictionary as a "first-contact" with a literary text.
• corresponding with partners in other areas of the world via pedagogical e-mail projects.

These lists can vary in detail according to the level of reading being handled and/or the language skills of the class. 
For example, for a Shakespeare play we listen to the audiocassette, I explain difficults bits of plot, etc., and then we handle other aspects (language use, vocabulary, imagery, etc.) through the question sheets that I have prepared. 

Students write directly on the sheets, this way they also have a written record (in English!) that they can refer to in order to revise before tests, exams, etc. 

Students seem to like this method. It gives a structure and order to the material and they feel that they have done something useful (created something that might be relevant in the future) during classroom time.

This allows a choice of texts taking into account the language skills and personal interests of the students and the inclusion of works from all over the English-speaking world. 

The teaching of literature in 3rd and 4th year is bound to be restricted to the study of only a few texts that should reflect diffirent cultural backgrounds and different eras.  Seeing that some of the most fascinating recent writing has been done by authors in the former British colonies or by immigrants or descendants of immigrants in Great Britain, one term (sometimes two) out of six are spent on texts that may be labelled as "New Literatures in English" or "Emergent Literatures".