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C H A P T E R฀ Poetry฀Writing฀and฀Language฀Learning฀ Dick฀Tibbetts฀ INTRODUCTION฀ This chapter will examine the reasons for using poetry writing in the language classroom. Example s o f poem s produce d b y student s wil l b e give n an d guidelines on choice of poems and topics for poems will be outlined. Finall y the chapter will deal with ways in which poetry writing can be integrated into the Hong Kong English Syllabus. PRE-READING฀QUESTION S฀ Consider the following questions before reading this chapter: 1. I s it possible to get Hong Kong students to write poetry in English? 2. I f it is, how do we go about it? 3. Ho w does poetry writing fit into the TOC? Poetry writing, for reasons outlined later in the chapter, is a profitable activit y for Hong Kong students. For many of the Hong Kong students I have taught, it was the first time they had written a poem in English or Chinese. I think students should be encouraged to write poetry both in their first language and in English as I believe poetry writing to be part of students' personal development. This chapter, however , concentrate s o n poetry writin g i n English an d th e wa y i n which it can be used as a language teaching tool. 94฀Dic k฀Tibbetts฀^ =^======^=========^฀ REASONS฀FO R฀USIN G฀POETR Y฀WRITIN G฀I N฀LANGUAG E฀LEARNIN G฀ Although poetr y writin g i s no t a common activit y i n Hon g Kon g languag e classrooms, there are some features of poetry that make it particularly suitabl e for language learning. Writing poetry is unlike writing essays, letters or other tasks commonl y give n t o student s in that it can be used to concentrate o n a particular language item. Students do not usually write essays or letters directly in order to learn specific language points. It is more common for them to learn essay writing or letter writing as a skill. Writing tasks tend to be open-ended and students have a free choic e of vocabulary an d structure. Attempts to use essays and similar tasks to practise a particular structure often resul t in work that is rather artificial. When I first started teaching, it was common to introduce the present progressive tense by walking to the door whilst saying 'I'm walking to the door'. This was using language in an artificial wa y in order to explain one use of the present progressive. There was no real communication since the teacher wa s statin g th e obvious. Teachers were , an d in som e case s stil l are , driven to artificiality in order to present a structure. It is even more difficult fo r students to practise a structure in a natural way as they are less aware of the circumstances in which it is used by native speakers. Poems, on the other hand, can use repetition of structures and vocabulary in a natural way. Indeed, suc h repetition may add strength to the poetry as in the extract below from 'A Minute of Prayer' by St Francis of Assisi. i Wher e there is hatred, let me sow love; i wher e there is injury, pardon; 1 wher e there is doubt, faith; ; wher e there is despair, hope; i wher e there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. This repetition can be seen as a form of highly creative and meaningful languag e drilling. It may seem strange to talk of drilling and creativity in the same breath but any parent of a young native speaker child who has just discovered question tags will be familiar with the way in which the child creatively and repetitively uses the question tag structure to force responses from adults. Finding exercises where student s practis e a structur e i s no t difficult . Findin g activitie s wher e students nee d to repeat a particular structur e is more difficult. I f the teache r can create a situation where students need and want to repeat a structure then there is a good chance that valuable language learning will take place. Poems can b e use d t o teach an d practise particula r point s o r language area s in th e same way as an...

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