A Cognitive Poetic Schema Interpretation of Selected Poems by EFL University Students

Abstract

College students have problems in studying literature in general and poetry in particular. They depend fully on the lectures of their instructors and the internet notes and Wikipedia sources that are widely spread via internet. Hence, the present study is an unprecedented one that seeks to find some solutions to this problem that faced both the instructors and the students. Its aims are as follows: identifying the cognitive poetic schema (henceforth, CPS) used in the interpretation of the poems involved in the study ; finding whether there are any differences among the three selected poems in students' CPS; Finding whether there are any differences among the four levels of the college students in the six components of the CPS rubric. To fulfill the aims of the study, the following procedures are carried out: first, a thorough and comprehensive survey of old and modern related literature to both fields of study, schema and cognitive poetics. Second, a model of CPS management is pinpointed and adopted from Stockwell’s well-known book Cognitive Poetics (2002). Third, three poems are selected from the poems of Liverpool poets by a jury of experts. Fourth, questions and their rubric are exposed to a jury of specialists. Fifth, a pilot study and later a final application of the test to the four levels of college students at the Department of English, College of Education for Women, are carried out. Results show that there are significant differences among college students in the four levels of the college. In the light of these findings, the study ended with some conclusions and recommendations.