Implementing Poetry in the Language Class: A Poetry-Teaching Framework for Prospective English Language Teachers

Abstract

Poetry has often been neglected as a favorable tool for language teaching. What is more, its role to expand human experience and create language awareness has not been fully realized. As a reaction to often-underestimated value of including literature in the language class, this article proposes a poetry-teaching (POT) framework for language practitioners to bridge the gap between literature and language teaching methodology.Step-by-step procedure followed in the framework aimed at helping prospective teachers incorporate poetry into language teaching, while at the same time offering various materials and activities to be used in their future teaching practices. The proposed framework was presented to 21 student teachers at an English Language Teaching (ELT) department of a state university in Turkey to help them integrate the ideas of using poetry in a micro-teaching context. Prospective teachers acted both as learners and teachers while following the steps of the suggested framework, and reflected on this experience through reflective diaries and stimulated recalls of their teaching performances. They also took part in semi-structured interviews at the end of the study. Qualitative analyses revealed that poetry can have a place in language teaching by using a systematic and guided framework tailored to the features of a language classroom. With the help of the proposed framework, implementing poetry in the language class helped to promote motivation, creativity and self-expression along with multi-skill development and interaction among learners. However, incorporating poetry into the language class was challenging in terms of time and effort required and difficulties in material selection and design. This study suggests that poetry can become part of language teacher education. In this regard, this article proposes implications for teachers and teacher educators for the implementation of poetry in language teaching practice.

Mathematics education for relevance, responsiveness, and viability in Africa within the Fourth Industrial Revolution era

“…Despite this short list of adaptive and interesting drama-based activities, teachers often marginalise using poetry as a promotional tool to increase learners' 'linguistic and cultural knowledge' (Gönen 2018) and teach it the same way they were taught: line-by-line analysis (Gönen 2018). Pushpa and Seyed (2014) emphasise how unfortunate this is, as poetry can increase learners' motivation to communicate in the target language when discussing, for example, the poem's theme.…”

Minalabac Poetry: A Springboard For Vocabulary Enhancement

“…In his study, Gonen (2018) highlighted that Poetry has frequently been overlooked as a useful instrument for teaching languages. Moreover, its role in expanding human experience and creating language awareness has yet to be fully realized.…”

Examining the Effect of Teaching English Language through Literature

“…Furthermore, literature can facilitate language learners to increase their lexicon by reading new phrases and words. Gönen (2018) asserts that through literature, language learners can learn various ways of improving literacy, accessing language reading, sharing culture and learning writing, developing independence and autonomy, guessing unfamiliar words and making hypotheses, and using authentic literary texts to connect to real-world issues and learn values for their lives.…”

“…Similarly, in a qualitative study involving 21 students in a university in Turkey, Gönen (2018) tested the effectiveness of a poetry-teaching (POT) framework in the English Language Teaching department. Results supported the value of teaching foreign language using poetry as the author found that poetry can be implemented in foreign language classrooms to promote self-expression, creativity, and motivation as well as foster interaction and multi-skill development.…”