Teaching English Through Poetry to Adolescents

INTRODUCTION Today, teaching English language assumes many different shapes. Teaching methods vary from teacher to teacher. However, we can find one common feature these methods do share. They all are tinged with communicative competence objectives. Using poetry in the classroom may undoubtedly add to a broad spectrum of classroom activities that communicative approach offers. Poetry being a part of literature offers tremendous potential for ESL/EFL linguistically, culturally and aesthetically particularly in light of the current emphasis on teaching ”communicatively” and the need for a deeper diversion to language learning as put by Stern. For hundreds of years, the role of literature in the foreign language curriculum was unquestioned. Literature being the highest form of expression was believed to be the sole way by which the students could appreciate language. It was the only way to get acquainted with a nation’s culture and its people. Even though the literary language was often above the level of the learner, and the vocabulary load unbearable, class preserved in their laborious word-by-word translation. Literature is like the magpie of varieties of English by stealing legitimately from other Englishes in constructing its messages and undoubtedly can constitute a powerful vehicle in effective teaching English, yet it is still not fully explored and taken advantage of. ”Poetry has got a strong oral element and musical quantity, which together with its emotional and imaginative impact constitute the basis of human communication”. (Collie and Ladousse 1993:3)

In the first chapter, I will attempt to show poetry as an invaluable vehicle for teachers for whom innovation and enrichment of classroom activities do matter. Also I will show that poetry is a unique form of language used to communicate, and prove that its study as a form of language used for communication