Making Use of Poems to Teach English

Abstract

This study was motivated by the fact that there is a tendency to see poetry as being remote from language teaching contexts. Thinking that this is partly because of the lack of training in teaching literature given to English language teacher trainees, an experimental group of 3rd year Uludag University English Language Teaching (ELT) Department students taking the “Poetry Analysis and Teaching” course were taught about new poetry-centered techniques and activities compiled from the related literature and they were asked to design a lesson using them. The control group continued to take the course without any changes. At the end of the term, both groups were given a questionnaire on their attitudes towards the use of poetry in EFL and statistically significant differences were found between the groups showing that the experimental group favored poetry more strongly as a multi-purpose and multi-functional tool to teach a foreign language.

Keywords

• poetry, language teaching, EFL, poetry analysis, teacher training, poems

References

1. Ainy, S. (2008). Poetry in the Language Classroom to Assist in Development of Speaking Skill. ESL Journal. Available at: http://www.esljournal.org/289047413.html.
2. Akyel, A. (1995). Stylistic analysis of poetry: A perspective from an initial training course in TEFL. TESL Canada journal, 13(1), 63-73.
3. Alber-Morgan, S., Sheila R., Hessler, T. and Konrad, M. (2007). Teaching Writing for Keeps. West Virginia: West Virginia University Press.
4. Argyris, C. and Schön, D.A. (1974). Theory in Practice: Increasing professional Effectiveness. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
5. Bagherkazemi, M. and Alemi, M. (2010). Literature in the EFL/ESL classroom: Consensus and Controversy. LiBRI. Linguistics and Literary Broad Research Innovation, 1(1), 1-12.
6. Bex, T. (1994). How Much Language? How Much Culture? PALA Occasional Papers, 8.
7. Brindley, D. J. (1980). Breaking the Poetry Barrier: Towards Understanding and Enjoying Poetry. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Conference on the Teaching of English. Sydney, Australia.
8. Brinton, D. M.; Snow, M. A. and Bingham W. M. (1989). Content-Based Second Language Instruction. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

9. Bushman, J. H., & Bushman, K. P. (1994). Teaching English Creatively. Springfield, IL: Thomas Books.
10. Collins, R. (2008). Using writing activities with young EFL learners. In Proceedings from International Conference on ELT in Primary Education. Vyd. 1. Bratislava, SL: Comenius University,
11. Denman, G. (1988). When You've Made It Your Own. . . Teaching poetry to young people. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
12. Duff, A., &Maley, A. (2007). Literature. (Second edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
13. Edwards, C., & Owen, C. (2005). The impact on teachers of language variation as a course component. In N. Bartels (Ed.) Applied Linguistics and Language Teacher Education (pp.43–58). New York: Springer.
14. Finch, A. (2003). Using poems to teach English. English Language Teaching, 15(2), 29- 45.
15. Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the language Classroom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
16. Hess, N. (2003). Real language through poetry: a formula for meaning making. ELT Journal, 57(1), 1925.
17. Ho, A., Watkins, D., & Kelly, M. (2001). The conceptual change approach to improving teaching and learning: An evaluation of a Hong Kong staff development programme. Higher Education, 42, 143– 169.
18. Hobbs, V. (2007) Faking it or hating it: can reflective practice be forced? Reflective Practice, 8(3), 405417.
19. Hockly, N. (2000). Modeling and ‘cognitive apprenticeship’ in teacher education. ELT Journal, 43(2), 118–125.
20. Karacaoğlu, Ö. C. (2009). Needs Analysis and The Delphi Technique: Case of Determination of Teachers' Educational Needs. I. Uluslararası Eğitim Araştırmaları Kongresi, Çanakkale.
21. Kazemek, F.E. and Rigg, P. (1995). Enriching Our Lives: Poetry Lessons for Adult Literacy Teachers and Tutors. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
22. Lazar, G. (1993). Literature and Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
23. Lida, A. (2008). Poetry writing as expressive pedagogy in an EFL context: Identifying possible assessment tools for haiku poetry in EFL freshman college writing. Assessing Writing, 13(3), 171179.
24. Lockward, D. (1994). Poets on teaching poetry. English Journal, 83, 65 -70.
25. Maley, A. & Moulding, S. (1985). Poem into Poem: Reading and writing poems with students of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
26. Maley, A., & Duff, A. (1989). The Inward Ear: Poetry in the Language Classroom: Cambridge Handbooks for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27. McKay, S. (1987). Literature in the ESL Classroom. In C. Brumfit and R. Carter (Eds.) Literature and Language Teaching (pp. 191-198). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
28. McKay, S. L. (2006). Researching Second Language Classrooms. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
29. Moore, J. N. (2002). Practicing Poetry: Teaching to Learn and Learning to Teach. English Journal, 91(3), 44-50.
30. Moore, A., & Ash, A. (2002). Reflective practice in beginning teachers: helps, hindrances and the role of the critical other. Available online at: www.leedsacuk/educol/documents/00002531htm (accessed 26 June 2006).
31. Moran, A., & Dallat, J. (1995). Promoting reflective practice in initial teacher training. International Journal of Educational Management, 9(5), 20–26.
32. Moulton, M. R., & Holmes, V. L. (1997). Pattern poems: creative writing for language acquisition. Journal of the Imagination in Language Learning, 4, 84-90.
33. Nasr, N. (2001). The Use of poetry in TEFL: Literature in the new Lebanese curriculum. CAUCE: A Journal of Philology and Pedagogy, 24, 345 -363.
34. Povey, J. (1972). Literature in TESL programs: The language and the culture. In H. Allen and R. Campbell (Eds.) Teaching English as a second language. New York: McGraw-Hill.
35. Riverol, J. E. (1991). Literature in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, 4, 65-69.
36. Rogers, W. C. (1985). Teaching for poetic thought. The Reading Teacher, 39, 296-300.
37. Samuelowicz, K. and Bain, J.D. (1992). Conceptions of teaching held by academic teachers. Higher Education, 24, 93–111.
38. Štulajterová, A. (2010). Using Creative Writing in Developing Language Proficiency. Humanising Language Teaching, 5. Available at: http://www.hltmag.co.uk/oct10/sart02.htm.
39. Ur, P. (1992). Teacher learning. ELT Journal, 46(1), 56-61.
40. Williams, W. C. (1951). The Collected Earlier Poems. New York: New Directions.
41. Zelenkova, A. (2004). Creative Approaches to Developing Cultural Awareness in ELT. In Is creativity the key to success in an EFL Classroom? Conference proceedings (pp.93-97). Banska Bystrica: Matej Bel University.