Abstract
The hesitation to use poetry in the language classroom comes from its deemed inappropriateness in language learning. The use of non-standard vocabulary and broken syntax and grammar rules begets ambivalence toward poetry. In addition, language learners cannot overcome this vacillation due to poetry’s demands on imaginative engagement. However, poetry is a content-rich reading tool which makes it an ideal, and authentic context to improve vocabulary and grammar acquisition, enhance written expression and oral discussion. The inclusion of poetry in language teaching serves as a catalyst for improvement of pronunciation, stress and rhythm. The core premise of studying poetry is its merit to spawn engagement of learners to construct meaningful interpretations and build knowledge through the identification of linguistic elements. Poetry should be embraced for its mightiness to expose learners to a great wealth of comprehensible input. Penetrating into poetry and experimenting with its creatively used style of language to infer meaning is an optimal grounding to decipher language patterns and weld this knowledge into oral production. This article supports the inclusion of poetry in language learning for creating conditions conducive to language enrichment and proposes that poetry be used at all levels of instruction to enable learners to make huge leaps in language learning.
Highlights
Owing to its reputation as esoteric, elite, or effete [1], the teaching of poetry has remained impotent in language classes
Language teachers prefer delaying the introduction of poetry for beginning and intermediate learners as it is often associated with a perilous experience ascribed to it due to its difficulty
Vardell, and Young [6] construct a convincing argument for the study of poetry in the language curriculum and point out that poetry acts as a subsidiary to the act of oral language
Summary
Owing to its reputation as esoteric, elite, or effete [1], the teaching of poetry has remained impotent in language classes. The inclusion of poetry in language teaching provides occasion at all levels for the development of language knowledge. Elster [8] touches on the value of poetry for the development of critical thinking skills, imagination, and interpretation. Kramsch and Mueller [9] accentuate the benefits of using poetry in language teaching for perfecting pronunciation and intonation of learners because language learners develop their ear for the new language by bringing sound structures and the rhythms into their focus. Poems are authentic models for the norms of language use and they appeal to the language learners’ imagination and emotions; provide stimuli for oral discussion as a result of interaction with texts [11]. The seamless relationship between teaching poetry and language acquisition is the central concern of this paper
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