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Poetry from the heart

AIDEN YEH

English Today / Volume null / Issue 01 / January 2005, pp 45 - 51DOI: 10.1017/S0266078405001100, Published online: 04 February 2005

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0266078405001100

How to cite this article:AIDEN YEH (2005). Poetry from the heart. English Today, null, pp 45-51 doi:10.1017/S0266078405001100

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DOI: 10.1017/S0266078405001100 English Today 81, Vol. 21, No. 1 (January 2005). Printed in the United Kingdom © 2005 Cambridge University Press 45

IN THIS paper, I discuss how poetry can beused as a topic of discussion and the basis for atask-based project for university students whohave had little exposure to American poetry.The use of multimedia and online video astools in the course of this project is also dis-cussed and attention is likewise given to stu-dent feedback on a questionnaire administeredonline. Students’ critical reflections and subjec-tive analyses of their performances and theirfeelings toward the project reveal positiveresults, allowing me to conclude that the inte-gration of poetry into language-teaching work,if delivered effectively, can hone students’thinking, reading, listening, writing, speakingand analytical skills. It is not only the amountof hard work that matters, but how far theimagination is stretched.

Introduction: Why poetry?

Many universities in Taiwan have been offeringliterature as a subject of foreign language [FL]study for several years. Literature is a broadsubject that covers stories, poems, and plays,especially those that are considered to havevalue as art and not just entertainment.Although literature acts as a window to under-standing the culture of the target language,many FL students are overwhelmed with thetechnical terms and linguistic expressions, notto mention lack of knowledge about the socialcontext in which many literary pieces are oftenfocused on (Finch, 2003). Will it ever be possi-ble that FL students look at poetry with inter-est, without the fear of getting lost in transla-tion, with a simple appreciation of the textsand an interpretation that requires an under-standing of their true selves? This articlereports the outcomes of initiating a classroomproject, entitled ‘Poetry from the Heart’, in

which the students had the opportunity to lookinto poetry at a personal level.

Poetry formulates a concentrated imagina-tive awareness of experience, chosen andarranged to create a specific emotionalresponse through meaning, sound and rhythm(cf. Merriam-Webster Online). It is, therefore,in the beauty of expression that makes anywritten texts likened to poetry. Since poetry isa form of literature, it is necessary to discussthe reasons for using it in a language class-room. Why use literature? The website<onestopenglish.com> (2004) offers manygood reasons, of which these are a few:

● Literature is authentic material. ● Literature encourages interaction. ● Literature expands language awareness (cf.

Widdowson 1975; Lazar 1993). ● Literature educates the whole person. ● Literature is motivating.

Carter and Long (1991) and Lazar (1993) sug-gest different models for teaching literature toESL/EFL students. The three models below aretaken from <onestopenglish.com>:

1 The cultural model views a literary text as aproduct. This means that it is treated as a

Poetry from the heartAIDEN YEH

Task-based classroom work in Taiwan that uses a mix oftraditional teaching, multimedia, and online video

AIDEN YEH is a PhD candidate at the University ofBirmingham in England. She received her MSc inEnglish Language Teaching Management (ELTM)from Surrey University and her research interestsare teacher professional development (TPD),Educational Policies and Change, ELTM, andblended learning. She is a member of the WebheadsOnline Community and of TESOL‚ Äôs ElectronicVillage Online 2004–05 Sessions coordinatingteam. She teaches at National Kaohsiung FirstUniversity of Science and Technology in Taiwan.Email aidenyeh@yahoo.com

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46 ENGLISH TODAY 81 January 2005

source of information about the target cultureand examines the social, political and histori-cal background to texts, literary movementsand genres. 2 The language model aims to be morelearner-centred. As learners proceed through atext, they pay attention to the way language isused. They come to grips with the meaning andincrease their general awareness of English.3 The personal growth model is also a process-based approach and seeks to be even morelearner-centred. It encourages learners to drawon their own opinions, feelings and personalexperiences, and aims for interaction betweenthe text and the reader in English, helpingmake the language more memorable. Thismodel recognizes the immense power that lit-erature can have to move people and attemptsto use that in the classroom.

The nature of the project

Following the three above models, this projecthad its primary focus on answering three dis-tinct research questions:

1 How effective is the use of poetry as a themefor a task-based activity in increasing the stu-dents’ level of poetic awareness and in height-ening their understanding of inner self?2 What are the benefits of using multimediaand online video materials as tools for enhanc-ing listening skills and in setting an examplefor students to assist them in searching andpresenting their chosen material?3 What are the difficulties that studentsencounter and their ramifications in terms ofthe students’ performance?

Twenty-two fourth-year foreign-language stu-dents enrolled in the Advanced Listening andSpeaking course at National Kaohsiung FirstUniversity of Science and Technology in South-ern Taiwan, and this study was conducted as aclassroom activity during the first semester ofthe school year 2003. The activities were care-fully allocated for the 3-hour class and spreadout to two class meetings.

I chose a short and simple yet profound four-stanza poem entitled ‘We Real Cool: The PoolPlayers – Seven at the Golden Shovel’, fromThe Bean Eaters by Gwendolyn Brooks (pub-lished by Harpers in 1960):

We real cool. WeLeft school. WeLurk late. We

Strike straight. WeSing sin. WeThin gin. WeJazz June. WeDie soon.

This poem was chosen, out of the many won-derful poems available at <favoritepoem.org>, because of its message and relevance toour society today. Simms (1976) states thatthe element of bravado in the diction andrhythm has made the activities of the streetpeople seem somehow defensible, and a cer-tain pride in being outside the conventions isconveyed.

In addition, the manner in which the poem iswritten was very unusual, each line endingwith a We with a capital W, then continuing onto the next line. As Brooks puts it inContemporary Literature, 1970: ‘The We’s,you’re supposed to stop after the “We” andthink about their validity, and of course there’sno way for you to tell whether it should be saidsoftly or not, I suppose, but I say it rather softlybecause I want to represent their basic uncer-tainty, which they don’t bother to questionevery day, of course’ (Contemporary Literature,1970).

So, what is ‘We Real Cool’ about? Brooksadds: ‘The seven pool players in the poem…have no pretensions to any glamour. They aresupposedly dropouts, or at least they’re in thepoolroom when they should possibly be inschool, since they’re probably young enough,or at least those I saw were when I looked in apoolroom.’ The free form of this poem wasdetermined not by its colloquial rhythm but byher feelings towards these young men. Being ablack poet, Gwendolyn Brooks’ life is also aninteresting aspect that can be shared and dis-cussed with students. She was one of theAfrican-American authors who rose to promi-nence after World War II, winning the PulitzerPrize for poetry in 1949 (Library of Congress,2002). Her poems are also reflective of blackpoetry, which she defined as ‘poetry written byblacks, about blacks, and to blacks’.

Teaching poetry in the classroom

Before I introduced the poem to the class, Iused a 10-minute warm-up activity where stu-dent had to do a bit of running. The followingis the set of instructions on how to implementthis:

● Paste 5 copies of the poem ‘We Real Cool’ on

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POETRY FROM THE HEART 47

the wall down the hallway or in the class-room.

● Students form groups of 4–5. ● Each group assigns a member responsible

for writing [what is being dictated]. ● The other 3–4 members take turns in run-

ning or walking down the hallway to read apassage or two. Students need to memorizeas many words or lines as possible. Theyreturn to the classroom and dictate whatthey have remembered.

● The writer jots everything down: exactly theway the poem was written.

● The first group to submit the finished poemwins, and earns 100 points, the second gets95 points, the third 90, the fourth 85, andthe fifth 80 points. The points are optional,of course; you could give other kinds ofrewards.

Understanding the text: thelanguage model

As soon as a class settled down, I asked the stu-dents questions based on what they couldrecall from the running-and-dictating activityjust performed: questions such as: ‘Do youremember the title of the poem?’, ‘What is it?’;‘Can you remember the first line?’ Knowingthat the students remembered parts of the text,it was time to discuss the poem in detail.

PowerPoint and online video materials werethen presented using a computer with Internetaccess hooked up to a data projector andspeakers. The poem written by Brooks in itsoriginal style was shown on the first slide. Iasked the students to read it based on how itwas written, reading the We’s softly and stress-ing the first two words of each line. Then weanalyzed the message, looking at the wordsand giving them meanings.

I introduced the author, Gwendolyn Brooks,showing them a photo available on the Web, at<http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/brooks.htm> and projected slidesusing excerpts from various authors who com-mented on Brooks’ ‘We Real Cool’, as well as aninterview with Brooks where she critically laidout her point of view. After presenting thesematerials, the students had a better under-standing of why the poem was written in suchan unconventional way.

The power of words: the culturalmodel

To give students the opportunity to understandvarious interpretations of ‘We Real Cool’ I usedJohn Ulrich’s video available at <favoritepoem.org.>, a website that offers a cornucopia of lit-erary pieces. It also provides video materials ofordinary people reading poetry, and how

Illustration 1 http://www.favoritepoem.org/thevideos/ulrich.html

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48 ENGLISH TODAY 81 January 2005

a chosen poem has affected their lives and theway they view the environment around them.

In one video, Ulrich, a white American stu-dent from South Boston, Massachusetts wasfeatured rendering his own interpretation of‘We Real Cool’. Although he did not follow thepoetic form based on Brooks’ suggestion, hisexpressions were still very much felt. He citesillegal drugs as one of the causes of deaths inhis neighborhood. He mentions that drugshave taken a toll of his friends, and that manyof them had died. At the end of his video, hetakes a positive approach on life and toucheson hope and a brighter future for the youngpeople in his community by expressing theirfeelings and emotions through art.

I then made a short statement about thematerial, emphasizing the need to look at themanner of delivery and on the content ofUlrich’s interpretation. The video was playedfor the second time, when a set of questionswere provided and students had to listen fordetails and write their answers on a sheet ofpaper. After understanding the details, a shortdiscussion was conducted where we comparedBrooks’ writings and Ulrich’s video. In the lastanalysis, I pointed out that Ulrich’s interpreta-tion was based on how he found a connectionbetween the words from the poem and theenvironment and situation that he was in.

Interpreting poetry from the heart:the personal growth model andtask-based activity

At this stage, I asked the students to choose orwrite their own poem, in which they share withthe class their reasons for choosing it and howit affects them. This was an assignment, givingthem ample time to prepare their presentationmaterials. Such materials can be in the form ofa PowerPoint presentation, web pages, video,or simply by reading a chosen literary piece inclass. In addition, the students were asked tosubmit an audio recording of their interpreta-tions, to be saved on CDs. Marks were based onan oral-presentation rubric which included cri-teria for content, analysis of the poem, and theamount of time and effort spent on their mate-rial (see Featured URLs, p.56).

The students’ presentations andresults

Four students out of 22 wrote their own poems

and 18 or 81.8% made use of poems fromalready existing materials.

A 9-item questionnaire was electronically dis-tributed to students a day after the presenta-tion. The students’ feedback provided personalreflections and insights on the process and out-comes of the activity as a whole. The responseswere posted to the class’s Yahoogroups discus-sion list, <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lis-tening2003/>. Out of the 22 students that par-ticipated, 21 sent their feedback and one didnot, and this was treated as a missing item in mySPSS analysis.

The data retrieved was qualitative in natureand the answers required descriptive analysisof the activity. There are three major phases inthis process: data reduction, data display, andconclusion drawing and verification.

According to Miles and Huberman (1994),the term data reduction refers to the process ofselecting, focusing, simplifying, abstracting,and transforming written data. In doing this,aspects of the collected data were emphasized,minimized, or set aside for the purposes of cat-egorizing and assimilating relevant informa-tion. The next step was to display the collecteddata in a diagram or matrix that allows anorderly method of drawing conclusions. Forthe data matrix, I used Microsoft Excel for XPwhich allowed me to conveniently add itemsto, or delete them from, tables, rows, orcolumns.

To determine the frequency distribution andcross-tabulation analyses, the collected infor-mation displayed in the data matrix were con-verted into quantitative data by assigningnumbers to each category, e.g. Yes/No/Notsure or I don’t know. SPSS statistical softwarewas used for the quantitative analysis. Since allthe sections contained the questions ‘Why orWhy not?’, the students had to provide a briefexplanation for their answers.

The first question – ‘In what ways do youthink this activity proved to be beneficial toyour language (listening, reading, speakingand writing) skills?’ – garnered a positiveresponse from all or 95.5% and 4.5% for themissing item. As one student observed: ‘Ourown explanation of our chosen poem is themost natural and wonderful way to express ourthinking, and sometimes by paying more atten-tion to other’s [students] interpretation gaveme ideas to explicitly express myself.’ Manystudents considered that this activity hadimproved their comprehensive ability because

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POETRY FROM THE HEART 49

they had to understand the deep meaning ofthe poem. Moreover, many felt that expressingtheir own thoughts could also enhance theirspeaking skills. One noted: ‘I never had thechance to read a poem aloud; this is a goodexperience for me.’ Some expressed the needto understand the true meaning of the poem,and it is at this stage that they feel it was bene-ficial to their thinking skills.

Those who wrote their own poems explainedthe benefits in terms of learning different writ-ing styles. In addition, because the studentshad to look carefully at the poem from theirown perspective, it was imperative to read sev-eral poems before writing or choosing one thatbest suited their own feelings and situations.

The second item in the questionnaire wasabout whether the pre-student presentationactivities (the ‘running dictation’ and the lec-ture on ‘We Real Cool’) helped them in prepar-ing and doing their own project. Again, 95.5%said that these in-class activities had giventhem ideas on how to do their own presenta-tions. For example:● ‘…gave me the pattern for my own

presentation’● ‘…gave me an example to prepare for my

presentation’● ‘I didn’t know that a simple poem can be so

interesting. So, I decided to find somethingsimilar’

In general, the running dictation and the multi-media-enhanced lecture were successfulbecause the students perceived the activity theway it was supposed to be: a good example ofinterpreting poetry. It also gave the studentsthe opportunity to experience the power ofwords.

In the third question, ‘Did you find any diffi-culty in choosing/writing a poem or poems? Ifyes, what did you find most difficult, andwhy?’, 54.5% said that choosing a poem rele-vant to their personal experiences was noteasy. Some expressed concerns about misinter-preting a poem, 27.3% did not find this stagedifficult at all, while 3 individuals (13.6%)admitted that, although they didn’t find it diffi-cult to choose their poems, understandingthem was quite a challenge.

The individual frequency distribution in thiscategory shows that: 3 students (13.6%)encountered difficulty during the preparationpresentation materials, while 45.5% said thatthey didn’t experience any difficulty; 8 stu-dents (36.4%) said that they experienced a lit-

tle difficulty, mostly in the technical aspectduring the audio recording process. As one student put it, ‘The only difficulty that Iencountered is the technological problem inrecording my voice. I don’t have the necessaryequipment, nor did my friends. So, I had to askmy friend’s friends to help. That wasted a lot oftime.’

Despite the fact that some of the studentsencountered difficulty in preparing their pre-sentation materials, 45.5% felt that they didtheir best in doing this project, which includestheir performance in the class presentation. ‘Itwas easy for me. I merely shared my feelings toothers,’ says one student. Another studentwrites, ‘I don’t think there were any difficultiesthat I’ve encountered but I could have done abetter job if given the time…’

Eight students (36.4%) feels that they didn’tdo well enough due to nervousness and stagefright. This, however, does not mean that theydid not prepare for their presentation. Theywere simply nervous about talking in front ofthe class. Some comments:

● ‘I had no problem in preparing my materials.The most difficult part was to express myemotions in front of so many people. It was sodifferent with the information-sharingpresentations we usually do.’

● ‘… my brain can’t function well that day, mypresentation didn’t go very smoothly. However,I think the content of my presentation is O.K.’

● ‘I was not sure, but I have made lots of effortpreparing for this presentation.’

● ‘Yes, I think I did my best because I spent somuch time preparing and rehearsing mypresentation at home.’

The correlation analysis of the responses forquestions 5 and 6 is quite interesting. As regardsthe three students who said they encountereddifficulty during the preparation of their mate-rials, I think that they did their best during theclass presentation, while one student states thatshe did not do her best. Looking at the cross-tab-ulation data, we can gather that this poor per-formance can be attributed to the fact that sheexperienced some difficulty in preparing hermaterials. In other words, lack of preparationcan result to poor performance.

Ironically, half of the 45.5% who did notencounter difficulty expressed dissatisfactionin their oral presentation:

● ‘No, I didn’t do my best. If I’ve had morecourage, I could have talked more about howBuddhism or meditation influences me…. I’m

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50 ENGLISH TODAY 81 January 2005

afraid of what others might think, so I didn’tspeak out all my feelings about this poem.’

● ‘I think that my presentation needsimprovement, like I should have put morefeelings in reading this poem and talked moreabout it, so… I think I didn’t do best in thisactivity.’

● ‘In this activity, I think I tried my best but it’snot a perfect one.’

The statements above demonstrate the differ-ent learning styles and personalities of thesestudents. It is common for Taiwanese studentsto demand too much from themselves and theyhave a tendency to belittle their own efforts.Being open and courageous are characteristicsthat are rare among many students in Taiwan.Inhibitions tend to take over during studentpresentations and greatly influencing their per-formance. In retrospect, this project has giventhem the chance to look at their presentationskills, realize their mistakes, and this shouldeventually help them to figure out ways toimprove these skills.

However, 77.3% feel positive about usingthis activity [poetry] in the EFL classroom andreckon they have reasons to believe that EFLlearners can gain something valuable frompoetry. Some comments:

● ‘Poetry in the classroom is a fresh thing for EFLlearners like us; they will learn how tounderstand the meaning of the poem.’

● ‘If we want to learn foreign poems well, weneed more practice.’

● ‘I think it’s a good idea to talk about poetry inour class. I learned that different poems arousedifferent feelings for different people.’

● ‘I like the poem the teacher has showed us inclass, particularly the Ulrich video, because ithas touched our hearts…’

● ‘EFL learners will definitely learn how to makea creative presentation.’

One student, however, thinks that it is all a lit-tle difficult for EFL students. She wrote, and Iquote: ‘Even native speakers sometimes cannotunderstand the inside meaning of the poem, letalone EFL learners; appreciating poems wouldbe a torture for them.’

13.6% of the respondents expressed appre-hensions in using poetry in the classroom, stat-ing that, although it may be interesting, it couldstill be a challenging task for EFL learners.

In the cross tabulation of questions 6 (‘Didyou do your best in this activity?’) and 8 (‘Willyou recommend this activity to other EFL stu-dents?’), we see that out of the 10 students(45.5%) who were pleased with their perfor-mance, 9 will recommend this activity, whileone wasn’t sure because poetry may prove to betoo difficult. Out of the 8 students who feel thatthey didn’t do their best, 6 state that they willstill recommend this activity to other learners.Some comments:

● ‘Students cannot only practice their listeningand speaking skills but also be inspired to writetheir own poems. If they can write their ownpoems, that means, they already have attainedgood writing skills.’

● ‘I do recommend this activity because I think itallows us to exchange personal feelings.’

● ‘I would like to recommend it to others for it isan interesting activity. A little pressure willmake students learn.’

● ‘Why not? Though it’s difficult, it’s also fun!Being EFL learners, we should learn differenttopics about the western culture and language.’

The optional item was for comments and sug-gestions, and here are some of them:

Table: Cross-tabulation count

Did you encounter difficulty during the preparation

of material? Total

yes no a little, not sure

Did you do your best yes 2 4 4 10in this project?

no 1 3 4 8

not sure 3 3

Total 3 10 8 21

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POETRY FROM THE HEART 51

● ‘Sharing experiences and feeling to class isgood.’

● ‘Although, it’s difficult to prepare for thepresentation, the sense of achievement we gotwas well worth it.’

● ‘In the process, I’ve read more than 100 poemsand now I am interested in reading poems.’

● ‘I like it although oral presentations alwaysmake me nervous and stressful; it provides mea good chance to practice how to expressmyself in English. So I won’t reject this kind ofpressure and challenge.’

● ‘I enjoy sharing my feelings to others andlistening to other’s stories.’

Conclusion

In this paper, I have explored the potential forusing poetry as a topic of discussion in an EFLspeaking and listening course, indicating thattask-based activities can also be explored as ameans of making the learning process mean-ingful for students. Such activity can bothincrease the students’ level of poetic awarenessand boost their motivation towards the use andlearning of English – and, most important ofall, it can provide a venue for understandingthemselves and expressing their inner voice.The application of multimedia and onlinevideo tools provides students with theresources and also a vehicle for creating theirown projects. In effect, the integration ofpoetry, if delivered effectively, can hone stu-dents’ thinking, reading, listening, writing,speaking and analytical skills.

In this project, it is evident that there are cer-tain implications for the use of poetry in theEFL classroom. Some students feel that it is dif-ficult, but also that this difficulty could be theresult of lack of preparation. This in turn leadsto poor performance, which can mostly beattributed to nervousness and inhibitionsabout expressing themselves in public. How-ever, those who had prepared well benefitedfrom the project because they felt good abouttheir presentation and were pleased with theoutcome. These students understand thedegree of difficulty required in enhancing theirlanguage skills, and are not afraid to take upthe challenge. This could be the first step inovercoming their fears.

The type of literary material that will be pre-sented in class is also an important issue. Itsselection requires care and a whole lot of inter-est. Adequate length, simplicity in approach

and a style that does not require an interpreta-tion in highfalutin language should provide agood basis for material selection. However, thelevel of difficulty will of course depend on stu-dents’ level of English proficiency. In a nut-shell, in great presentations – in both the class-room and the wider world – it is not only theamount of hard work that students put in thatmatters but how far their imagination can go.As Gwendolyn Brooks once said, ‘If you letyour imagination go, you’ll see we’re in forsome very lively poetry.’ �

ReferencesBrooks, G. 1960. The Bean Eaters. US: Harpers.Carter, R., & M. Long, 1991. Teaching Literature,

Harlow: Longman.Finch, A. 2003. ‘Using Poems to Teach English.’ In

English Language Teaching 15/2, pp. 29–45.Lazar, Gillian. 1993. Literature and Language Teaching.

Cambridge: University Press.Miles, M. B. & A. M. Huberman. 1994. Qualitative Data

Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks,CA: Sage.

Widdowson, H. 1975. Stylistics and the Teaching ofLiterature. Harlow: Longman.

Websites consulted

Contemporary Literature. 1970. ‘An Interview withGwendolyn Brooks’, 11:1, Winter. At:<http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/werealcool.htm>

The Library of Congress, 2002. We Real Cool. At:<http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/timeline/postwar/artenter/realcool.html>

Merriam-Webster Online. At:<http://www.m-w.com/cgi-

bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=poetry>Onestopenglish.com. 2004. Using Literature in teaching

English as a foreign/second language. At: <http://www.onestopenglish.com/News/Magazine/A

rchive/tefl_literature.htm>Simms, Barbara B. ‘Brooks’s “We Real Cool.”.’ In

Explicator 34 (1976): 58. At:<http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/a_f/brooks/werealcool.htm>

Featured URLS

My Favorite Poems available at<http://www.favoritepoem.org/thevideos/ulrich.html>

Advanced Listening class’s Yahoogroups at<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/listening2003/>

Students’ presentations are available on the Internet at<http://dcyeh.com/sy0304/poem/>

Further information: National Kaoshiung FirstUniversity of Science and Technology, Taiwan<aidenyeh@yahoo.com>