Denaturalising Language Standardization: The Poetry of John Agard

Year 2022, Volume: 17 Issue: 1, 54 - 60, 30.06.2022

Züleyha Ünlü Okaycan Dürükoğlu

https://doi.org/10.48145/gopsbad.1005222

Abstract

This study discusses the use of poetry in language teaching by focusing on John Agard’s poems. The paper analyzes John Agard’s poems to enact resistant plurilingual pedagogies suggested by Flores (2013) across language classrooms. In this analysis, the study discusses that Agard’s poetry reacts to the emphasis on the standardized English used in those countries where English is spoken as the first language. Agard refuses to speak and write in a traditional structure of the English language, and his poems lay bare how the immigrants are marginalized and depicted as insufficient in terms of using proper English. Having experienced racism and discrimination in linguistic and social contexts, Agard deconstructs neoliberal and particularly Eurocentric ideas about language and culture. Hence, this study shows how the use of unconventional English in Agard’s poetry is exemplified and paves the way for language learners to creatively use English without being restricted by standard English ideologies. Additionally, the study shows how Agard’s poems could be used to enact resistant plurilingual pedagogies.

Keywords

John Agard, resistant plurilingual pedagogy, Poetry Teaching

Dilde Standartlaşmanın Reddi: John Agard Şiiri Örneği

Abstract

Bu çalışma, John Agard'ın şiirlerine odaklanarak dil öğretimi sürecinde şiirin kullanımını tartışmaktadır. Çalışma, Flores (2013) tarafından önerilen eleştirel çok dillilik pedagojisinin bir uzantısı olarak John Agard şiirlerini incelemiştir. Bu incelemede, Agard'ın şiirlerinin, İngilizce’nin ana dil olarak konuşulduğu ülkeleri merkeze alan standart İngilizce kullanımı fikrine bir tepki olarak kabul edilebileceği öne sürülmüştür. Agard, İngiliz dilinin geleneksel yapısı içinde konuşmayı ve yazmayı reddetmekte ve şiirlerinde göçmenlerin doğru İngilizce kullanma konusunda yetersiz olarak algılanıp marjinalleştirildiklerini göstermektedir. Hem dilsel hem de sosyal bağlamlarda kendisi de ırkçılık ve ayrımcılığa maruz kalan Agard, dil ve kültürle ilgili neoliberal ve özellikle Avrupa merkezli fikirleri çözümlemekte ve eleştirmektedir. Dolayısıyla, bu çalışma, Agard'ın şiirlerinde, geleneksel olmayan İngilizce kullanımının nasıl örneklendiğini ortaya koymuş ve bu şiirlerin, İngilizce’yi yabancı dil olarak öğrenen öğrencilerin standart İngilizce ideolojileri ile kısıtlanmadan yaratıcı bir şekilde kullanabilmeleri için yeni fırsatların önünü açtığını göstermiştir. Aynı zamanda, bu şiirlerin kritik çok dillilik pedagojisinin temel unsurlarını gerçekleştirmede de yol gösterici olarak kullanılabileceği ortaya konmuştur.

Keywords

John Agard, kritik çok dillilik pedagojisi, şiir öğretimi

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