The Use of Poetry to Raise Intercultural Awareness of EFL Students

Year 2018, Volume: 8 Issue: 1, 39 - 52, 02.01.2018

Nazlı Civelekoğlu Fatma Özlem Saka

Abstract

Learning a new language does not involve learning only the four skills - reading,
writing, speaking and listening - grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation of the target
language. It is not possible to consider a target language without understanding and
appreciation of its culture. CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference)
highlights the importance of raising intercultural awareness among language
learners in order to appreciate and respect the differences between home and target
cultures. Literary works are invaluable resources to convey the culture of the target
language to students. In this study, poetry was used in language classrooms to foster
students’ intercultural awareness. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether
the use of poetry in EFL classrooms can raise intercultural awareness of the students
or not. In this quantitative research, an intercultural awareness instrument was
formed and it was applied to the experimental and control groups as pre- and post-
test. The results showed teaching poetry in language classrooms improved the
intercultural awareness of the students 

Keywords

Literature, Poetry, Culture, Intercultural Awareness, CEFR

References

• Appel, J. (1995). Diary of a language teacher:[a personal account of survival and professional development]. Heinemann.