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The aim of this study was to d e t er m in e whet h e r poetry e n g e n de r e d a more communi c a t i v e c la s s r o o m in teaching E n g l i s h language to students in the u ni ve r s i t y
level than traditional c la s s r o o m materials- The study
was conducted at B i l ke nt University. The stude n t s in
three upper i n t e r m ed i a te classes at BUSEL were chosen
as subjects for the study. A sample lesson using
poetry was taught in two experimental groups and the
verbal flow was o b s er v e d in these cla s s e s by means of a
checklist w h i ch d e t e rm in e d how much and what kind of
discussion poetry gene r a t e d among the students. A
post-treatment q u e s t i o n n a i r e was given to these
subjects after the cla s s time ended to get their
reactions and ideas about the lesson. In the control
group, a traditional a pp ro ac h to teaching was used and
it was obser v e d using the same c he c k l i s t to see the
discussion level in this class while they were
following their usual lesson plan within a f i f t y - m i n u t e
period of time. As a separate part of the study a
q ue s t i o n n a i r e was a d m i n i s t r a t e d to EFL teachers to get their comme n t s on the u t i li t y and value of using poetry
in the EFL c l a ssroom. The findings showed that poetry
engendered a m o r e c om mu n i c a t i v e classroom. The
classroom was c o m m u n i c a t i v e in the sense that students
students' attention and providing motivation. They
were eager to express their opinions and to d is c u s s
d i f f er e n t ideas with each other. Teachers' r es p o n s e s
to poetry were also p ositive and their p os it i v e
re s p o n s e s (especially when c o upled with the p os it i v e
stud e n t responses) are strong evidence that poetry can
be effectively utilized as teaching material to c r e at e
a more communicative c l a ss r oo m suggesting that poetry
ON THE ROLE OF POETRY AS T EA C H I N G MATERIAL IN D E V E L O PI N G C O M M UNICATIVE A B I L I T I E S
OF S T U D E N T S IN THE EFL CL A S S R O O M
A THESIS
S U B M I T TE D TO THE INSTITUTE OF E C O NO M IC S AND SOCIAL S C I E N C E S OF BILKENT U NI VE RS I TY
IN P A R T I AL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQ U I R E M E N T S FOR THE DEGREE OF MA S T E R S OF ARTS
IN THE T E A C H I NG OF ENGLISH AS A F O R E I G N LANGUAGE
BY NAZAN MUNZ U R AUGUST 1991 lu.: . > > ' , · 1 ■ -I . ...
J A î h А г э А ε ·
2GU
B I LKENT UNIVE R S I T Y
INSTITUTE OF E C O N O MI CS AND SOCIAL S C IENCES MA THESIS E XA MI N A T I O N RESULT FORM
July 31, 1991
The examining c o m mi t te e appointed by the
Institute of E c o n o m i c s and Social Sciences for the thesis e x a m i nation of the MA TEFL student
Nazan Munzur
has read the thesis of the student. The committee has d e cided that the thesis
of the s t udent is satisfactory
Thesis title : A d e s criptive study on the
role of poetry as teaching
material in developing
com m u n i c a t i v e a b i lities of st u d e n t s in the EFL classroom.
Thesis Advisor ; Dr. James C. Stalker
B i l k e n t University, Pro g r a m
MA TEFL
C o mm i t t e e Members : Dr. Lionel Kaufman
B i l k e n t University, P ro gr a m MA TEFL : Mr. William Ancker B i lkent University, Pro g r a m MA TEFL
We cert i f y that we have read this thesis and that in our c o m b i n e d opinion it is fully adequate, in scope
and in quality as a thesis for the degree of Masters of Arts. d . A James C. Stalker (A d v i s o r ) 1* 1 1 rrx /\ r-t L· ^ W il l i a m Ancker (Comm i t t e e M e m b e r )
Approved for the
Institute of Econ o m i c s and Social Sciences
Ali K ar a o s m a n o g l u D i r e c t o r
For
To .my family
TABLE OF C O N T E N T S P AG E A B S T R A C T ... TABLE OF C O N T E N T S ... i ... . LIST OF T A B L E S ... ix A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T ... . CHAP T E R 1.0 I N T R O D U C T I O N ... 1
1.1 Background and Goal of the S t u d y ... 1
1.2 S tatement of the R e s e a r c h Q u e s t i o n ... 2
1.2.1 The R e s e a r c h Q u e s t i o n ... 2
1.2.2 D e f i n i t i o n s ... 3
1.2.3 Basic L a n g ua ge I s s u e s ... 3
1.3 S tatement of the Methodological P r o c e d u r e ...6 1.4 Plan of O r g a n i z a t i o n ... 7 2.0 L I T E R A TU R E R E V I E W ... 8 2.1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ... 8 2.2 L i t er a t u r e in the EFL C l a s s r o o m ... 8 2.2.1 A r g u me nt s A g a i n s t the Use of L i t e r a t u r e as a Teaching A i d ... 9
2.2 . 2 A r g u m e n t s For the Use of L i te r a t u r e as a Teaching A i d ...12
2.2 . 3 C o nt r as ti n g For and Aga i n s t Arguments. ... 13
2 . 3 Poetry in the EFL c l a s s r o o m ...15
2.3.1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ... 15
2 . 3 . 2 A rguments Ag a i n s t the Use of P o e t r y ... 15
2 . 3 . 3 Arguments For the Use of P o e t r y ... 18
2.3 . 4 C ontrasting For and Against A r g u m e n t s ... 22
2.4 A c t ivities with P o e t r y . . ... 23
2.4.1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ... 23
2 . 4 . 2 Act i v i t i e s For Vocabu l a r y Bui I d i n g ... 23
2 . 4 . 3 Act i v i t i e s For Developing Speaking S k i l l s ... 24 2.5 C o n c l u s i o n ... 27 3.0 M E T H O D O L O G Y ... 28 3.1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ... 28 3.2 Subjects. ... 29 3.3 M a t e r i a l s ... 30 3.3.1 C h e c k l i s t ... 30 3 . 3 . 2 Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s ... 32 3.3.2.1 S t u d e n t - Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ... 32 3 . 3.2.2 T e a c h e r - Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ... 33 3.4 Data Collection P r o c e d u r e ... 34 3 . 5 Analytical P r o c e d u r e ... 38
4.0 A N A LY S I S OF THE D A T A ... 39 4.1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ... 39 4.2 Chec k l i s t A n a l y s i s ... 40 4.2.1 Control G r o u p ... 40 4 . 2 . 2 Experimental G r o u p - 1 ... 42 4 . 2 . 3 Experimental G r o u p - 2 ... 43
4 . 2.4 Comparison of Verbal Flow in Control and Experimental G r o u p s ... 47 4.3 S t u d e n t Questio n n a i r e A n a l y s i s ... 50 4.3.1 Experimental G r o u p - 1 ... 50 4.3 . 2 Experimental G r o u p - 2 ...53 4 . 3 . 3 Total Student R e s p o n s e s to Que s t i o n n a i r e in Experimental Groups-1 and - 2 ... 55 4.4 T e a c h e r - Qu e s ti on n ai re A n a l y s i s ... 57 4.4.1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ...57 4.4 . 2 Total Group R e s p o n s e s ... 57 4 . 4 . 3 Native Teacher R e s p o n s e s ...60 4.4.4 N o nnative Teacher R e s p o n s e s ... 62 4 . 4 . 5 Native Speakers' C o m m e n t s ... 64
4 . 4 . 6 Comparison of the Native and N o n n ative Teachers' R e s p o n s e s . ...65
5.0 C O N C L U S I O N S ... 69 5.1 I n t r o d u c t i o n ... 69 5.1.1 R e v i e w ... 69 5.1.2 C o n c l u s i o n s ... 70 5.2 Assessment of the S t u d y ... 71 5.3 Pedagogical I m p l i c a t i o n s ... 72 5.4 Future R e s e a r c h I m p l i c a t i o n s ... 73 B I B L I O G R A P H Y ... 75 A P P E N D I C E S ... 78 APPENDIX A: C h e c k l i s t ... 79 APPENDIX B: S t u d e nt Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ... 80 APPENDIX C: T e a c h e r Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ... 82 APPENDIX D: Lesson P l a n ... 85
T A B L E 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 L IST OF T AB LE S PAGE Student and T e a c h e r P a r t i cipation in
the Control G r o u p ... 42 Student and T e acher Parti c i p a t i o n in
Experimental G r o u p - 1 ... 43 Student and T e acher Parti c i p a t i o n in
Experimental G r o up - 2 (in 100 m i n s . ) ... 45
Distribution of S t u d e nt and Teacher
Participation in E x p erimental Group-2
(in 50 m i n s . ) ...46
Totals for Each of the Interactions in
Three Groups (in 50 m i n s . ) ... 48
Distribution of S t u d e nt and Teacher
Talk in Three Gr o u p s (in 50 m i n s . ) ... 50 Student R e s po ns es to the Q u estionnaire
in Experimental G r o u p - 1 ... 52
Student R e s po ns es to the Q u estionnaire
in Experimental G r o u p - 2 ... 54
Student R e s p on se s to the Q u estionnaire
in Experimental Group-1 and - 2 ... 56
Teacher R e s p o n se s to Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ... 59 Native Teachers' R es p o n s e s to
Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ... 62 N onnative Teachers' Resp o n s e s to
I would like to express my grat i t u d e to my thesis
advisor, Dr. James Stalker for his invaluable
guidance and encouraging patience throughout this
s t u d y .
I would also like to thank to Dr. Lionel Kaufman
and Mr. W i l l i a m Ancker for their helpful suggestions.
I am also grateful to my colleagues, Ms. Zeynep
Iskenderoglu and Ms. Anne Polat for their kindness and
INT R O D U C T I O N
1-1 Background and Goal of the Stu d y
Linguists often q ue s t i o n the role of c re a t i v e
literature as class material in teaching E n g l i s h to
n on - n a t i v e speakers at the u n i v e r si ty level. However,
in recent years teachers of EFL have shown i ncreasing
interest in using literature in the c la s s r o o m with
their students. It is true that many EFL teachers in
Turkey are literature trained, not ELT trained, and
that a foreign language is often learned to en a b l e a
student to read the l i t erature of the language, not
n e c e s s ar i l y for more practical purposes. These
teachers like to use l i t e rature in the cl a s s r o o m and
for them banning l iterature from the ELT c la s s r o o m is
impossible. A c c o rding to them, literature can be
useful because it can be used to teach "additional
language and cultural concepts" required by EFL
stude n t s (Rahim, 1989). On the other hand, language
teachers who are ELT trained often do not like
literature and they argue that it is not pos s i b l e to
use literature e f f ec t i ve ly in an EFL clas s r o o m b e c a u s e
they think poetry is time c onsuming and a 'luxury'.
According to them it incr e a s e s the burden upon language
teachers because it is not so easy to teach a literary
includes library research, q uestionnaires and
o b s e r v at i o n s using a checklist. Such a study, as of
now, has not been done in Turkey and it is hoped that
it will be beneficial to Turk i s h EFL teachers.
1-2 Statement of the R e s e a r c h Quest i o n 1-2.1 The Research Q u e s t i o n
The concern of this thesis is to assess the value
of poetry as teaching material in the EFL classrooms.
The question to be answered in this study is: Can
poetry engender a more c om m u n i c a t i v e classroom in
teaching English language to students in a uni v e r s i t y
level English language c l as s ro om in Turkey than
c l a s s r o o m s using n o n - f i c t i o n a 1 prose? The assumption
behind this study is that poetry, if chosen care f u l l y
and used intelligently, can be a valuable teaching
material for developing students' communicative abil i t y
in E n g l i s h in u n i v e r s it y level EFL classrooms- A
related question exp l o r e d in this study focuses on
atti t u d e s of teachers and s tudents towards the use of
C o m m u n i c a t i v e classrooms C om mu n i c a t i v e c la s s r o o m is a
classroom where c o m m u nication is emphasized. According
to Nunan (1989) in the c om mu n i c a t i v e c lassroom ‘’the
roles of teachers and learners are in many ways
complementary. Giving the learners a different role
(such as gre a t e r initiative in the classroom) requires
the teacher to adopt a d if f e r e n t r o l e ” (p.87).
According to Breen and Candlin (1980, ctd- in Nunan,
1989) “the teacher has three main roles in the
c o m m u n icative classroom. The first is to act as
facilitator of the c o m m u n icative process, the second is
to act as a participant, and the third is to act as an
observer and l e a r n e r ” (p.87).
Traditional Class: For this particular study
traditional c l a ss r o o m is defined as being a textbook,
teacher— c e ntered classroom, with the teacher neither
actively d i s co u r a g i n g or encouraging student-talk.
Non-fictional Prose: Essays, s el ec t i o n s from text
b o o k s .
1.2.3 Basic L a n g u a g e Issues
This study is limited to the use of poetry to
teach E n g l i s h to EFL students at u ni v e r s i t y level.
A ccording to the research literature some people
d i s t i n ct i v e and problematic features of poetry is that
it d e s t r o y s the usual n o r m s of language; it often
breaks the rules for the grammatical structure of a
sentence, but on the other hand, she says that poetry
also orders and patterns the language, and she gives
rhyme as an example of this because "ordinary
c o nv er s a t i o n does not u s u a l l y proceed in rhyming
couplets, but poetic language often demands this kind
of phonological organization" (p.3). There are many
other obj e c t i o n s to using poetry in language lessons.
One of the reasons for not using poetry is that if the
learners find poetry d if f i c u l t and boring in their own
language, how can they enjoy it in another one? Many
poems are very difficult to understand, even for a
nat i v e speaker. But Toml i n s o n (1986) thinks that
universal topics such as youth, old age, marriage,
birth, love, education and frien d s h i p have a great
potential and can make poetry more attractive and
understandable.
There are some scholars who think that when the
purpose of most courses is reaching c om mu n i c a t i v e
c o m p e t e n c e — 'as fast as p o s s i b l e — poetry is not
relevant, and they think poetry is a luxury, it is time
consuming. They say "luxury" because they think there
It takes time. Instead of spending more time on exploring it, we may e nh a n c e students' c o mm u ni ca t iv e com p e t e n c e in an easier and faster way. But b e cause it
is a way of communication, poetry may improve the
students' use of language and may be useful for them in
expressing their feelings and ideas. Poetry can
provide useful o p p or tu n i t i e s to develop students'
commu n i c a t i v e competence. According to Bengi and
Kurtboke (1985), what makes poetry worth studying in
foreign language classes is its endless potential for
c l a s s r o o m discussion as a highly creative and open-
ended form of literature- And also poetry is s h orter
than prose and can be given as a piece of discourse,
both in meaning and form, in an average l es so
n-The study of poetry involves all four skills so
these skills can be given to the students in an
integrated way using poetry. So the use of poetry can
bebeneficial in many ways- More detail on the issue
will be given in the second chapter.
This controversy a t t r acted my attention because I
am a literature trained teacher and interested in
poetry in particular- A review of the professional
literature showed that there is a need for empirical
studies on whether or not to use specific pieces of
students?" and "how can st u d e n t s best benefit from it?" are d i s c ussed in the literature, there is a scarcity of r e s e a r c h that supports the o p i n io ns of writers on this t o p i c .
1-3 S t a t e m e n t of the M e t h o d ol og ic a l Procedure
This is a d e s criptive study and the intention is
to e v a l u at e the utility of literature, poetry in
particular, for teaching E ng l i s h to university level
EFL students. Based on the f indings of the literature
review and original data c ol le c t i o n instruments, (a
c h e c kl i st and two di f f e r e n t sets of questionnaires) the place and utility of poetry at the university level for stude n t s of EFL in the E n g l i sh P r e p - p r o g r a m at Bilkent
u n iv e rs i t y in Ankara, Turk e y was examined. This
res e a r c h has been cond u c t e d in six steps:
1. Literature has been reviewed to find what
s c h o l a r s say about the place of literature, and poetry
in particular, in the EFL classroom. Some views whi c h
s u pport or refute the uti l i t y of literature in the EFL
situ a t i o n were assessed.
2. A sample lesson using poetry was planned and
taught in two EFL classrooms.
3. The checklist was used to observe the verbal
Discussion is d e s i r ab le in EFL classrooms. The
checklist d e t e r m i n es how much and what kind of
discussion poetry generates.
4. The q u e st i o n n a i r e s were conducted to g a ther EFL students' and teachers' c o mments on using poetry as a language teaching aid in the EFL
classroom-5. The data were analyzed and compared with what
the review of literature said to see if the data and
what the scholars say mat c h with each other.
6. Based on the results of the study, suggestions
for teaching E n g li s h through poetry were proposed, and
some guidelines for s election and for using poems in
the classroom were offered.
1.4 Plan of O r g a n i za t i on
Chapter 2 presents the review of professional
literature. It provides various views on the role of
literature and poetry in particular in the advanced EFL s i t u a t i o n ·
Chapter 3 d e s cr i b es how the data were c o l l ected and what kind of inst r u m e n t s are used in the study.
Chapter 4 presents and analyzes the data.
Finally, C h a p t e r 5 o f fers a summary of the study, conclusions and d i s c u s si on of general implications.
L I T E R A T U R E R E V IE W
2.1 Introduction
This chapter is divided into three sections.
First, the place of c re at iv e literature in the EFL
c l as s r o o m is discussed. Second, discussions of the
particular role of poetry are reviewed, and third,
a ctivities using poetry w hich will develop language
skills are reviewed.
2.2 L iterature in the E FL C la s s r o o m
There are many p ub li c a t i o n s on modern m et h o d o l o g y
for language classes, new audiovisual aids, and new
teaching activities. Choos i n g one technique or
another, preferring one kind of material to another, is
up to the teachers because they think it will be the
most effective for a specific class. C re at iv e
literature is one of these teaching m aterials and
teachers are beginning to c on s i d e r seriously the role
of literature in language teaching. The re s e a r c h
literature has been reviewed to find what scholars say
about the place of c r ea ti v e literature in the language
classrooms. The r e are not many research s tu d i e s on
the rationale for using c re at iv e literature in the
classroom. Most of them are d is c u s s i o n s of how to use
views which accept the utility of creative l i t erature
as a teaching aid in the EFL situation and some views
which refute the idea. These pro and con ar g u m e n t s are
reviewed in the following sections.
2.2.1 A r g u ments Against the U se of L it er at u re as a Teaching Aid
There are many d i s c u s si on s on using c re at i v e
literature in EFL classes- The major arguments against
using literature as a teaching aid will be summarized
here. First, there is an emphatic reaction to the
place of literature in the EFL/ESL courses from
Blatchford (1972). His conclu s i o n is that "the study
of English literature is a luxury that cannot be
indulged during the limited amount of time allocated to English" (p.6). Qu e s t i o n i n g the teaching of literature
as a vital concern of the EFL program, B l a tchford
argues that "teachers are ill-trained to teach
literature". P reparing teachers to be able to teach
literature is an e x t r av a ga nc e when the demand is not
high and when the obj’e c tives do not call for its
teaching (Rahim, 1989).
The second argument against using literature is
again from Blatchford- He thinks that second language
c o mm u n i c a t i v e skills, “the c l a ss r oo m emphasis should be
on the functional use of language, not on literature"
(p.6). He notes that ex c e p t in a very few countries,
the study of literature in the schools is s ub or d i n a t e d
to a primary empha s i s upon functional command of the
language and the a b i l i t i e s of the students to handle
simple language s i t u a t i o n s involving the four basic
skills (Rahim, 1989, p. 115). Topping (1968, in Rahim,
1989) agrees with this idea and says:
Literature has no legitimate place in a
second language p r ogram w hose purpose is to
teach language skills to a cross section of
students who are preparing for studies or
work in a variety of disciplines. (p.ll3)
Another argument is that reading literary works
will have no pedagogical effect, especially on one's
speaking, listening, and writing skills. According to
Topping (1968), the idea that literature will
"represent the style that can properly stand as a model for the students" is u nr ea l i s t i c and erroneous (p.97).
If it were to be so, "we could all become Joyces or
Hemingways, or F a u 1k n e r s ...The fact remains that
literary genius is not acqui r e d by reading the w o r k s of
the masters" and imitating those who practice artful
violation of syntactic rules. Many language teachers
who disagree with using literature as a teaching aid
argue that students are required to study the cla s s i c s
and they argue that the writing is too difficult, the
language too speci a l i z e d and the subject of no
practical r e l e v a nc e
-The final ar g u m e n t which is advanced by Rahim
(1989) is that it is ineffective to impose foreign
literature upon s tudents who may not have been
introduced even to their own literature, whose formal
education may be brief and whose background in cultural
understanding of the setting of literature may be
deficient- Rees (1970, in Rahim, 1989) says that
teachers of literature often claim that the reading of
the best e x a m p l es of the literature of the foreign
language is v a l ua b l e for its cultural insights- Rees
does not agree w i t h this statement and says "this is
doubtful"- He thinks it may not represent the culture
of the country- P o v e y 's statement (1962, in Rahim,
1989) that "American literature will open up the
culture of this c o u n t r y to a foreign student in a
manner a n a l o go u s to the extension of the native
speaker's own a w a re n e s s of his culture" (p-42)
indirectly implies that American literature reflects
the culture of the country. This, according to Topping
(1968, in Rahim, 1989), reflects a past tradition in
the evolution of American literature, and a student
need not to dig up the "fossils of past eras" to learn American c u l t u r e (p.99).
Arguments For the Use of Literature as a T e aching Aid
Povey (1979, ctd. in Rahim, 1989) sums up nicely
the major arguments for the utility of using literature
in the classroom- His first argument is that
"literature can be useful because it can be used to
teach additional language" (p-110). According to him,
literature will e n hance the basic skills by e xtending
linguistic k nowledge in the areas of vocabulary,
syntax, and style. In stating this idea, Povey
d isagrees with Blatchford (see 2-1.1). Elliott (1990)
agrees with Povey and sees literature as a rich source
of authentic material- He says:
Literature provides students with an
incomparably rich source of authentic
material over a wide range of register. If
students can gain access to this material by
developing literary competence, then they
should e f f e c t i v e ly internalize the language
at a very high level, (p. 198)
Elliot (1990) also thinks that it is difficult to see
what other material could be offered to an advanced
student to give him or her such varied and w or th w h i l e
language
input-As a second argument Povey (1979, ctd- in Rahim,
1989) says that "literature can be useful because it
can be used to teach the cultural concepts required by
the students" (p.llO). He thinks that literature can
e n hances the learner's u n derstanding of the cultural
values of English-speaking people, which is part of
gaining true fluency in language.
There is an argument from Marckwardt (1975) that
reading literature aids language skill development
p a rticularly in reading and he sees creative literature
as useful reading material and says;
L iterature is being used primarily to improve the student's effecti v e n e s s as a reader, both
in English and in his own language. So
viewed, it could be called language-learning
m a t e r i a l . (p-75)
2 - 2 - 3 Contrasting For and A g ai n st Arguments
In summary, Blatchford (1972) thinks that studying
literature is a luxury' and it cannot be indulged
during the limited amount of time allocated to English.
On the other hand, Widdowson (1975) believes in the
u t i l i t y of poetry and sees it as a rich resource for
d e v eloping learners' ability to use language- Another
d i sa g r e e m e n t is seen between Blatchford and Povey.
A c c o rding to Blatchford, c la s s r o o m emphasis should be
on the functional use of language, not on literature.
He thinks that second language learners need to learn
c om m u ni c a t i v e skills and literature cannot do that.
Topping (1960) also agrees with him. But Povey thinks
that literature will e n hance the basic skills by
vocabulary, syntax and style. Another a r gument against the use of literature in the classroom is that literary
works have no pedagogical effect, e specially on basic
skills. But Mar c k w a r d t (1975) sees literature as a
language learning material and thinks that literature
improves the students' effectiveness as a
reader-Widdowson (1975), in his book S tylistics a nd the
Teaching of Literature, summarizes both sides of the
issue and says:
There are many people who question the
relevance of literature to the practical
concerns of language teaching, many who
regard it as an unnecessary indulgence, there are others of less practical bent who wish to dissociate it from language study in order to
preserve it like a sacred relic possessing
mysterious potency. It seems to me that we
urgently need an attitude to literature and a teaching appro a c h based upon it, which, while
acknowledging that literature is strange and
mysterious and an object of reverence also
recognizes that it is a use of language and
so c o m p a r ab l e with other uses of language;
and that it is only one of the strange and
mysterious ways in which human beings manage
to c o m m u n i c at e with each other. (p.l24)
He thinks that if one can accept that literature can
provide a resource for developing learners' ability to
use a knowledge of language for the interpretation of
discourse, then it ought to be one element of the
language course. A ccording to him, the level of the
students, their interests, their purposes in learning
are also important in choosing literature as one of the elements of language courses.
2-3 P o e t r y in the EFL ClasBroofn
2-3-1 Introduction
In this section, a r g uments for and against the use
of poetry in particular as o p posed to prose in the EFL
c l as s r o o m s will be reviewed because poetry is di f f e r e n t
from prose in both its style and form. It is a
d i f f e r e n t literary genre than o t her kinds of literary
works. T h rough the review of professional literature,
only one empirical study by Akyel and Yalcin was found. Others were only the o pinions of some professionals who are interested in the issue.
2 - 3 - 2 A r g u m e n t s Agai n s t the U se of Poetry
There are many ar g u m e n t s against the use of
poetry. In this section some of the major arguments
will be summarized. One major argum e n t against the use
of poetry in the EFL/ESL c l a s s r o o m is that the language
is too difficult. Maher (1982) points out that:
Few teachers will g r u dg e the place accorded
the novel or short story in expanding
vocabulary, reinforcing structure, or
breathing life into the body of language.
The poem, however, w ith its obscurities and
sometimes archaic e x p r e s si on and spelling,
has a harder time d ef e n d i n g itself as valid
instructional material rather than mere
decoration, (p.327)
When talking about the archaic e xp re s s i o n and spelling, Maher is most probably talking about such poems as:
A fiery soul, vghich, working out its way, Fretted the pigmy body to decay;
And o 'e r ~ in f o r m e d the tenement of clay.
(Apsalom and Achitophel, D r y d e n , qtd. in Maher, 1982)
But if Dryden had a reader in mind when writing that
poem, it was most c ertainly not EFL students. Maher
(1982) also adds that among language teachers today the
specific ch a r g e lies in the area of relevance to
immediate needs, and he mentions a remark made by a
teacher ” I am not against poetry. Don't get me wrong.
It is just that when the purpose of most courses is
c o m m u nicative c o m p e t en ce — as fast as p os si bl e — poetry
is just not relevant" (1982, p.327). The teaching of
poetry as Moody (1971, ctd. in Maher, 1982) complains
"presents difficulties, and many teachers are inclined
to avoid it as long as they can" (p.327). In addition
to these mechanical diffic u l t i e s Denman (1988) presents content d i f f i c u l t i e s and points out as well that poetry is often not a p referred reading;
Given the choice, I suspect most children
(and as well as adults) would prefer an ice
cream cone to a plate of raw vegetables,...
Likewise, I suspect that many kids would
rather w a t c h a television m i n iseries version
of a novel than devote long s olitary hours to
reading the novel. In the same vein, if they
were up to reading, I suspect they would
prefer an a c t io n - p a c k e d popular book to
some more serious, perhaps inspirational,
poetry. It is the nature of the human
critter to want initially the quickest, most
immediately s a t i sfying experience rather than a deeper, m ore demanding experience, (p.55)
As he mentions, poetry is d e m a n d in g for both teachers
and the students. They need to unders t a n d its s u rface
and deep meaning. They a l s o need to understand
d en o ta t i ve and c onnotative m e an i ng s of words. It is
not s o metimes as clear and u n d e r s t a n d a b l e as a prose.
Akyel and Yalcin's survey r e sults (1990) support
Denman. Their survey is impo r t a n t because it is the
only empirical study a v ai l ab le that explores the
u t i l i t y of literature teaching in the E n glish
d e p a r t m e nt s of five selected p ri v a t e higher schools in
Istanbul, through an analysis of s tu d e n t s and teachers
r esponses to questionnaires. Their goal was to
d e t e r m in e and evaluate the pres e n t state of literature
teaching in the English d e p a r t m e n t s of private high
schools. According to their study poetry is cited by
stu d e n t s as not having much e f f e c t on language skill
development. Students find it boring. Only in the
rare case where teachers d e m o n s t ra te d their own
interest in poetry and were able to communicate their
e n t h us i as m to their students wa s poetry accepted by
stude n t s as useful. But, on the other hand, they come
to the conclusion that c ar ef ul l y selected poetry could
e nc o u r a g e the students to read and enjoy more modern
poetry. But they didn't have a ny t h i n g to say about its
2 - 3 - 3 A r g um e n t s For the Use of P o etry
There are some advant a g e s of studying poems in
E ng l i sh language classes. A poem can do many things-
First of all, as Scharer (1985) suggests, a poem says a
lot in a few words. Curry (1984) also agrees with this
view and says that poetry is "condensed language"
(p.65). In a few words, perhaps only one or two, the
poet can communicate feelings, ideas or images for
e x a m p l e ;
The Eels I don't mind eels Except as meals.
(Ogden Nash, 1959, qtd. in Bouchard, 1988) It can tell a story:
Twas the night before C h r i s t m a s ...
(Moore, 1971, qtd. in S a n d e l , 1990)
or a poem can say how we feel when we are sad or happy,
things that we like or wonder about. For example the
following poem "Magic" makes us wonder. To some
listeners it tells a story: Magic
Did you ever see snow go As your finger felt it?
That's because your hands are warm And as you touch, you melt it.
(Sandel, 1990)
Second, a poem is usua l l y short and this can be a
great pedagogical advantage because it can be given as
a whole in meaning and form in an average lesson. For
feeling of loneliness effectively: Lone Tree
There's this tree, see, All by itself,
Like it doesn't have any friends. And I thought that s om et i m e s
I feel like that tree feels. Lonely, you know,
All alone~not even one friend in the world.
So, I said to the tree: "Hey, tree, let's you and
me be f r i e n d s \ "
(Curry, 1984)
T h i r d , as Sandel (1990) suggests, a poem can sing
with its own music of rhythm and rhyme , and can sing
with sounds and words that are used over and over
a g a i n :
or
Bananas and cream. Bananas and cream: All we could say was Bananas and c r e a m . ..
(McCord, 1977, qtd- in S a n d e l , 1990)
The merry-go-round goes around and round And up and down;
around and round And up and down...
(Baruch, 1959, qtd. in S a n d e l ,1990) or
One, two, button my shoe...
Curry (1984) also agrees w i t h Sandel (1990) and says
that since it has rhythm and sound effects, poetry has
language, poets choose their words c ar ef u l l y to help
create emotional impact. The sounds of the words
themselves help to c o mm u n i c a t e feelings by their being ’’hard", "soft", "gentle", or "strong".
Fourth, a poem can paint a picture with words: The snow fell softly all the night.
It made a blanket soft and white
(Wilkins, 1959, qtd. in S a n d e l , 1990) As Denman (1988) says:
poetry is by its nature, a type of writing
different from prose. It looks d i f f erent on
the page. It sounds different to the ears.
It uses words in d i f f erent ways and
ultimately gives us a diff e r e n t kind of
reading experience, (p.73)
Leki (1986) agrees when she says "poetry has the
advantage of being short and often appealing to the
senses by attempting a re-creation of auditory and
visual images" (p.3).
Poetry can be a refreshingly diff e r e n t c l a s sroom
activity. Bouchard (1988) supports this view and says
"Poetry can expose students to the cr e a t i v e use of
syntactic and lexical items, as well as the unique ways of thinking in the new language" (p.53).
As Rahim (1989, p.ll3) indicates there are some
defenders of poetry such as Arna and Allan Harris
(1967), Donen (1974), hcC o n o c h i e (1981) and Ramsaran
(1983) who a d vocate the teaching of poetry as an
effective device in language learning by following four p r i n c i p l e s :
Select poems that would enhance self-
understanding, start with the dramatic
content of the poem, cl a r i f y the poem's
underlying values, and help the student see
how the poet treats formal linguistic
resources- (Rahim, 1989)
They believe that the practice of these principles and
techniques in the classroom will c er t a i n l y enrich the
lives of students. Lazar (1989) also supports them and
claims that;
By using poetry to focus on particular
features of English, we can encourage
students to think about how these features
operate in non-poetical contexts, (p-4)
She explains this with examples and says that if a poem
ingeniously invents its own v oc ab u l a r y then perhaps we
can use it to e n c o urage our s tu d e n t s to think about
word-building in general. Or if a poem is webbed
tightly together, then it may provide students with an
extreme exam p l e of cohesion in discourse. Poetry can
be used in the classroom to expand our students'
overall language awareness. We should involve our
students in making their own i nt e r p r e t a t i o n s of its m e a n i n g .
Ramsaran (1983) d e m onstrates how poetry may be
used in language classes to d ev e l o p the students'
knowledge of English. She s ug g e s t s that teachers
choosing poems for classroom study should bear in mind
the specific language points that may be illustrated
matters of p r o n u n c i a t i o n , rhythm and intonation; vocabulary; grammar; and meaning).
2-3.4 C o n trasting For and A ga i n s t Arguments
In summary, there is an argument that the language
of poetry is too difficult- Maher (1982) finds poetry
s o m etimes obscure and its words archaic whereas Scharer
(1985) thinks a poem can say a lot in a few words.
Leki (1986) m e n t i o n s both the advantage and the
d i s a d v a n t a g e of poetry. She says poetry has the
adva n t a g e of being short and appealing to the senses by attempting a re-creation of audit o r y and visual images, but the d i s a d vantage is its c o n c i seness and the lack of
linguistic r e d undancies that aid comprehension- Akyel
and Yalqiin's survey showed that the students found
poetry boring and it had no effect on their skill
development, but they also come to the conclusion that
c a r efully selected poetry can encourage the students to read and enjoy poetry.
It can be c o n cl u d e d that the question of whet h e r
poetry should be included in the EFL clas s r o o m will
remain unresolved u n l e s s empirical evidence on both
2-4 A c t i v i ti e s with Poet r y
2-4-1 Introduction
In this section some of the activities suggested
to d e v e l o p language skills through poetry are reviewed
and the question of how poetry will serve these ends is a n s w e r e d .
2 - 4 - 2 A c t i v it i e s For V o c ab u la ry B ui l d i n g
fiaher (1982) suggests many a ctivities which may
help the students develop their k nowledge of English.
His first suggestion is 'Building a poem'- In this
activ i t y the teacher gives a word and the class must
think of as many words as possible associated with that
word. These are immediately put on the blackboard.
Then the students must c om p o s e their own poems using
the listed words- This e x e rc i se produces a useful
chart of c o n t extualized vocabulary. With the help of
this exercise, the students b ra in s t o r m and have the
o p p o r t u ni t y to learn d ifferent wor d s that they do not
know from their friends. They use them in context
w hile building their own poem and improve the chances
that they will learn them. His second suggestion is a
'Discrimination exercise'. In this exercise, the
teacher presents the poem with certain words blocked
out. U n d e r n e a t h each missing word there are two
again, brainstorm in choosing the a p p ropriate word, but they also focus on syntax and learn to distinguish, for example, p r e p o sitions or verb tenses.
Hayhoe (1988) a p p roaches the poem in a diff e r e n t
way. He s u ggests using the 'cloze procedure' and
applies the p rocedure in an e n j o yable way. For
example:
The poet W i l l i a m Blake has had a lot of
trouble finding the right adjectives for the
poem overleaf, and he has sent us a copy with
blanks in it. He would like us to suggest
which words might fit in best with the
meaning of the poem. William has a complete
version of the poem at home and he will send
it along later for us to compare with ours.
(p.l43)
Applied to poetry, the value of the technique is to
get pairs and groups of students talking about the
creative p o s s i bilities of language as they grapple with
the text and co m p a r e the likely effects of the words
they suggest. On a more practical level, this e xe r c i s e
also develops students' vocabulary.
2 . 4 . 3 A c t ivities for Devel o p i n g Speak i n g Skills
Maher (1982) s u ggests a good activity which gives
the opportunity for the students to co m m u n i c a t e and
exchange ideas. His suggestion is 'Poem Cartoons'. In
this activity a game situation is provided. Each
student divides a large piece of paper into cartoon
picture or simply selected objects that illustrate in
some way one line or phrasal image from the p o e m -
Papers are then exchanged, and each person tries to
repeat orally the gist of the poem using their friends'
pictorial version- This exerc i s e is particularly
suitable for poems because each line of a poem can be
illustrated in some way. Later on, looking at the
pictures, students retell the poem and associate the
words or sentences with the help of these illustrations
This helps the students to practice their oral skills-
They learn to explain a picture in a different 'poetic'
way. They also learn certain phrases or words with the
help of this exercise.
Tomlinson (1986) suggests turning a poem into a
short story- This activity is also useful to encourage
students to communicate. Sente n c e structures are
irregular in most of the poems. Narrating a poem and
turning it into a short story help them to build up
regular sentences and to use their imaginations and
organize their thoughts. Through this exercise, they
produce their own sentences in order to turn the poem
into a story so that they improve their oral skills-
Dramatizing a poem, as Tomlinson (1906) and Denman
(1988) suggest, can also be a useful activity for
developing speaking skills. Denman says "give them
own-Shakespeare style'.“ (p.l74).
Tomlinson (1986) suggests pre- and post-reading
activities. A c c o rding to him, learners can be prepared
■for their e x p e r i e n ce of a poem through activities such
as: discussing c o n t r o v e r s i a 1 topics related to the
theme of the poem; predicting the poem's content from
drawings, photographs, realia, sounds, scenes from
plays, etc.; p r e - t eaching difficult vocabulary items;
and practicing s t r u ctures featured in the poem- He
suggests p o s t-reading activities to give the students a
chance to use their interpretation of the poem and
stimulate communication- Such activities include
painting group interp r e t a t i o n s of the poem, continuing
the poem, re-writing the poem from a different
viewpoint, and discus s i n g controversial statements
about the poem. The s e pre- and post-reading activities
are also useful for developing oral skills- Students
talk to each other and to the teacher and express their ideas and thoughts and learn to make
judgements-Lazar (1989) presents a different activity. She
suggests that the teacher can give the students a poem
which is cut up into strips. In groups or pair, they
put it together again. After they are finished, the
teacher asks them to justify why they put it together
in the way they did. This exercise also improves the
explain the whys of something.
These activities can be adapted to almost all
levels of students.
2.5 Conclusion
In this chapter the professional literature was
reviewed and some arguments for and against the use of
literature were presented. But as stated before, those
were only the opinions of some professionals who are
interested in the issue. A l t h o u gh there may be other
empirical studies, in the s o urces available to the
researcher only one empirical study was found. This led
to the research conducted here which was designed to
answer the question whether or not poetry engenders a
more c o mmunicative classroom. Does it work? and how
