Poetry in Language Learning

Anna Isabel Fernández Córdoba

Why use literature in the ELT?

IT CAN BE:

• A joy to teach.

• It enhances our emotional & cultural growth .

• A way to improve our teaching practise.

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune--without the words, And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

What is literature?

A DEFINITION:

“We will take literature to mean those novels, short stories, plays and poems which are fictional and convey their message by paying considerable attention to language which is rich and multilayered” Lazar,G. (1993) Literature and language teaching, CUP.

Methodology

Carter, R & Long, M (1991) Teaching Literature, Longman.

The three models: 1. The cultural Model 2. The Language Model 3. The Personal Growth Model Using an Integrated Model: • Enhances students’ cultural awareness • Develops students’ language skills • Contributes to students’ personal development

Why should EFL students be exposed to poetry?

• It is enjoyable and engaging and creates opportunities for personal expression.

• It reinforces learners’ knowledge of lexical and grammatical structures.

• It inspires them to take risks in experimenting with the target language.

• It fosters critical thinking.

• It promotes greater cultural tolerance.

• It develops students’ literary competence.

A set of activities for two poems

• It is designed to be used with teenage and adult learners of English in

3rd level of EOI.

• There is practise for the four skills and for what John McRae calls the fifth skill: thinking.

• Students are encouraged to trust their interpretations and reading of the poems and to reflect on their own experiences in connection with the poems.

• The questions posed are aimed at different levels of understanding of the poems, and try to help students work out for themselves what the texts mean.

• There are language-based vocabulary activities to help them deal with the poems and encourage them to find the meaning of words from context.

• The two contemporary poems are “The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping” by Grace Nichols and “No Problem” by Benjamin Zephaniah.

• Both poems are multicultural and deal with racist issues in contemporary Britain.

• There are factual reading comprehension activities that focus on the factual meaning of the poem and on the other hand there are activities concerning the language of the poem which focus on the linguistic and literary qualities of the text: unusual uses of collocation, binary oppositions, figurative language, rhyme and style….

• There are activities designed to encourage inference and interpretation, to make students reflect on their own experiences in connection with the poems.

• Finally creative response activities are designed to encourage students to take risks and play with the language creatively and imaginatively (McRae, 1991) either speaking or writing.

The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping by Grace Nichols

Shopping in London winter is a real drag for the fat black

woman going from store to store in search of accommodating

clothes and de weather so cold Look at the frozen thin

mannequins fixing her with grin and de pretty face salesgals exchanging slimming glances thinking she don’t notice Lord is aggravating

Nothing soft and bright and billowing to flow like breezy sunlight when she walking The fat black woman curses in Swahili/Yoruba and nation language under her breathing all this journeying and journeying The fat black woman could only conclude that when it come to fashion the choice is lean Nothing much beyond size 14 GRACE NICHOLS

The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping by Grace Nichols

WARM UP ACTIVITY SPEAKING PRACTISE: • When was the last time you went shopping for clothes? • What did you buy? • Did you try it on? Was it the right size? • Was the shop assistant helpful? Why/not? • Do you enjoy shopping for clothes? Why/not? READING ACTIVITIES 1. Jigsaw reading. Your partner has the first half of the poem and you have

the second one. Explain to your partner in your own words what the poem is about.

STUDENT A: • Read the first stanzas of the poems and explain them to your partner in your own words. • Now ask each other questions about each other’s picture to find similarities and differences between them.

Shopping in London winter is a real drag for the fat black woman going from store to store in search of accommodating clothes and de weather so cold Look at the frozen thin mannequins fixing her with grin and de pretty face salesgals exchanging slimming glances thinking she don’t notice Lord is aggravating

STUDENT B: • Read the first stanzas of the poems and explain them to your partner in your own words. • Now ask each other questions about each other’s picture to find similarities and differences between them.

Nothing soft and bright and billowing to flow like breezy sunlight when she walking The fat black woman curses in Swahili/Yoruba and nation language under her breathing all this journeying and journeying The fat black woman could only conclude that when it come to fashion the choice is lean Nothing much beyond size 14

The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping by Grace Nichols

READING ACTIVITIES 2. In the poem there is a clear contrast between London and the black woman’s

country of origin. Link words in the poem to each of these ideas: BRITAIN BLACK WOMAN ______________________ ________________________ ______________________ ________________________ ______________________ ________________________ BRITISH WOMEN BLACK WOMAN’S COUNTRY ______________________ ________________________ ______________________ ________________________ ______________________ ________________________ 3. After reading the poem, which do you give more positive connotations to the

British shop assistants or the fat black woman? Think of two adjectives to describe each of them.

The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping by Grace Nichols

4. Do you think the poem offers a black perspective on white society or rather white perspective on black experience?

5. In the poem you will find examples of “Patwa”

a spoken variety form of language which involves a combination of English vocabulary with African structures. Can you find examples of pronunciation features of patwa suggested by spelling alterations in the poem?

_______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________

The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping by Grace Nichols

6. Does the fat black woman enjoy shopping? Find evidence in the poem that backs up your answer.

7. Now watch clip 1 and describe what you see to your partner. Then swap roles your partner watches clip 2 and describes it. Then together find the differences and similarities between both clips.

CLIP 1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed7C3gAXQNA&feature=related

CLIP 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTtVVHg41kU&feature=related

8. Discuss in small groups whether you think the woman’s shopping experience in London would have been different if she were:

1) A slim and pretty woman 2) A black man

3) A rich black woman 4) A White woman

The Fat Black Woman Goes Shopping by Grace Nichols

9. Now write your own poem starting “A woman goes shopping” and post it on twiHaiku: Twitter Poetry, is a free Twitter application that lets you share your thoughts, feelings, views or ideas about anything in a poetic manner. Express genuine thoughts and feelings, in accordance with the particular object, event or phenomenon. A woman goes shopping: she is a slow walker, a slow talker. Strong and yet sweet her smile opens doors and that she adores, on a breezy summer morning.

http://www.makeliterature.com/twihaiku/twitter-poetry

No problem by Benjamin Zephaniah

PRE-READING ACTIVITY

1. These are the first four lines of the poem, what do you think it is going

to be about?

I am not de problem

But I bear the brunt

Of silly playground taunts

An racist stunts

WATCHING DUB POETRY

This is a dub poem, dub poetry is a political writing genre closely linked to Reggae music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhaXDfIGGzA

No Problem by Benjamin Zephaniah

I am not de problem But I bear de brunt Of silly playground taunts An racist stunts, I am not de problem I am born academic But dey got me on de run Now I am branded athletic, I am not de problem If yu give I a chance I can teach yu of Timbuktu I can do more dan dance, I am not de problem I greet yu wid a smile Yu put me in a pigeon hole But I am versatile.

These conditions may affect me As I get older, An I am positively sure I have no chips on me shoulders, Black is not de problem Mother country get it right, An juss fe de record, Sum of me best friends are white.

Benjamin Zephaniah

No Problem by Benjamin Zephaniah

WHILE READING 2. Listen to the poem again and fill in

the gaps with one of the words in the box :

I am not de problem But I bear de brunt Of silly playground taunts An racist stunts, I am not de problem I am born ___________ But dey got me on de run Now I am branded ________, I am not de problem If yu give I a chance I can teach yu of Timbuktu I can do more dan _______, I am not de problem I greet yu wid a ________ Yu put me in a pigeon hole But I am _________.

These conditions may affect me As I get older, An I am positively sure I have no chips on me shoulders, ________ is not de problem Mother country get it right, An juss fe de record, Sum of me best friends are _______. Benjamin Zephaniah

white /dance/ black/ academic/ smile/ athletic

GLOSSARY 1. To bear the brunt:

Put up with the worst of some bad circumstance, as in It was the secretary who had to bear the brunt of the doctor's anger .

2. A stunt: A feat displaying unusual strength, skill, or daring. 3. A taunt: To reproach in a mocking, insulting, or contemptuous manner. 4. To have no chip upon my shoulder: to blame other people for something

bad which has happened to you and to continue to be angry about it so that it affects the way you behave.

No Problem by Benjamin Zephaniah

AFTER READING

1. In this poem, Benjamin Zephaniah uses “non-standard” English . This is often used as a technique to say challenging or radical things or to emphasise that they are not part of the ‘establishment’. Can you find examples of it in the text? What region is the poet from?

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

No Problem by Benjamin Zephaniah

AFTER READING

2. Whose voice can you hear in this poem? What experiences are described by the poetic voice? Who do you think is 'yu' and 'dey‘ in the poem?

3. In the first stanza we find a contrast between external perceptions of the poetic

“I” and the poetic “I’s” self-perception, can you list them below? External Perceptions Self-perceptions ______________________ ________________________ ______________________ ________________________ ______________________ ________________________ 4. In the first stanza the line “I am not the problem” is repeated four times and

finally in the second stanza it changes into “Black is not the problem”. What do you think is the main idea in the second stanza? What is the poet’s dilemma?

No Problem by Benjamin Zephaniah

5. How do you think the last two lines change the poem? If we take them away, does the poem’s tone change? What do you think is the tone of the poem? Serious, reflective, ironic, satirical?

Discuss

I. What do you think about people’s attitude to the poet? II. Do you think these attitudes have changed? Or can you find examples of

similar attitudes in your daily life? III. Make a list of examples of prejudice you have witnessed. IV. Can you avoid being prejudiced?

º CREATIVE WRITING Your task is to write your own ‘poem’, ‘e-mail’, “song”, “blog post”, expressing a similar conflict involving prejudice and stereotype and its consequences.

Wrapping it up

REFLECTION TIME

1. After working with both poems what do you think they have in common?

2. What are their differences?

3. Do you agree that both poems challenge the reader to think outside the box?

4. Fill in the box below with information about both poems:

Poet Grace Nichols Benjamin Zephaniah

Title ‘The Fat Black Woman’ ‘No problem’

Themes The poem tackles the sensitive subject of racism in a light-hearted way.

Standard English?

No- the poet often uses Patwa words’. Many standard spellings are incorrect and the poet’s dialect is used.

Imagery Many images are used. Comparisons between ‘frozen thin mannequins’ and the soft and warm black woman.

Feelings?

Fill in the gaps in this table based on your knowledge of the two poems.