POETS IN THE CLASSROOM: CREATIVE, COMMUNICATIVE DRILLS AND MEANINGFUL REPETITION

Abstract

This paper examines the use of poetry in language teaching; in particular the way in which poems can be used to assist in the acquisition of structures, vocabulary and stress and intonation patterns.

The paper looks at children's rhymes and their possible value in both first and second language acquisition. It identifies rhymes and their possible value in both first and second language acquisition. It identifies rhymes that aid in vocabulary retention, and which repeat common structures and intonation patterns. It then shows how similar features in poems other than nursery rhymes can be utilised as creative or communicative meaningful drills in second language teaching and learning. Poetry can be used in two ways, as a vehicle for students to receive and practice new language patterns and as an active process whereby students create their own poems using a particular pattern.

The paper explores the concepts of creative communicative drilling and their link with poetry, where repetition and patterns are a natural feature. It shows how poetry can be used for creative drilling, where students make their own dills as a natural consequence of writing a poem, and for communicative drilling where students use a repeated pattern for a dramatic communicative purpose. It then examines the effectiveness of this approach, comparing it with other more traditional ways of practising language. The results of a small survey comparing retention of items taught in different ways will be given.