About This Paper
• An inquiry into how poetry affects
attitudes and engagement among
emerging bilinguals
• Public university in the
Southeastern United
States
• Spring 2017
• Note: pseudonyms
protect confidentiality
of participants
Research
Questions
My assumptions about how poetry
could affect adult ELs:
• Validate sense of self
• Engender pride in community
• Elevate perception of worth in
American society
• Create understanding and
expanded world view
• Uplifts
▪ What affects do writing and reading
poetry have on engagement among
adult English language learners?
▪ What types of poetry successfully
facilitate solid grounding in the
home culture, develop rich
vocabulary, foster grammatical and
communicative competence?
▪ Does poetry enhance motivation?
▪ Does it encourage growth and
experimentation (risk-taking)?
Literature review: key themes
Culturally relevant literature: crucial, time
consuming (Ahmed & Hasan, 2012; Aliagas, Fernández, & Llonch,
2016; Gulla, 2015; Hess, 2011; Khatib, 2011; Ramirez & JimenezSilva, 2015)
Grammatical competency increased by poetry
(Dilidüzgün, 2015; Özen & Mohammadzadeh, 2012; Wilfong, 2015)
Expressiveness and responsiveness (WTC)
enhanced by poetry (Aliagas, Fernández, & Llonch, 2016;
Gulla, 2015; Hanauer, 2012; Ramirez & Jimenez-Silva, 2015)
Attitudes improved by poetry (Ahmed & Hasan, 2012;
Cahnmann-Taylor, Bleyle, Hwang, and Zhang, 2017; Khatib, 2011)
Data collection
Field notes based on 3 observations
(February 14, March 16, and April 6, 2017
Interview based on
6 open-ended
questions (April 10,
2017)
Literature review of
12 peer-reviewed
journal articles less
than 5 years old, as
well as 2 course
textbooks
Data analysis: key themes
Anxiety reduced by the introduction of poetry
Willingness to share/communicate increased by
autobiographical writing and discussions of poetry
(i.e. increased verbal output)
Teacher attitudes/methods guide student
attitudes toward and ability to engage with poetry
Instructional strategies needed to boost teacher
confidence and ability to incorporate poetry into
curriculum
Why poetry?
“A tough life needs a tough language—and that is
what poetry is. That is what literature offers—a
language powerful enough to say how it is. It isn’t a
hiding place. It is a finding place” (Wilkinson as cited
in Aguilar, 2013, para. 8).
Conclusion
Poetry has the power to
improve attitudes and enhance
engagement, to positively affect
student interest, participation, and
willingness to communicate and
collaborate.
Future
Action Research
Questions
Limitations of this research:
• Uncontrolled variables (mixed
English proficiencies, multiple first
languages, variety of firstlanguage education experience,
teacher competence)
• Subjective definition of
engagement
• Literature included disparate
subjects, range of ages and
languages
▪ How might poetry be used to teach the
English academic register?
▪ How does research on poetry’s affect
on grammatical competence in other
languages relate to English learners?
▪ Is the Poetry Academy effective with
adults?
▪ How does exposure to poetry affect
engagement in each of the four
domains of language?
▪ What might a poetry seminar centered
on translanguaging include, and how
might it affect engagement?
References
Aguilar, E. (2013). Five reasons we need poetry in schools [Weblog post]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/five-reasons-poetryneeded-schools-elena-aguilar.
Ahmed, T., & Hasan, S. M. (2012). Using poems of Jibanananda Das and Rabindranath Tagore in the language classrooms of Bangladesh.
Language in India, 12(10), 37–57.
Aliagas, C., Fernández, J., & Llonch, P. (2016). Rapping in Catalan in class and the empowerment of the learner. Language, Culture and
Curriculum, 29(1), 73–92.
Cahnmann-Taylor, M., Bleyle, S., Hwang, Y., & Zhang, K. (2017). Teaching poetry in TESOL teacher education: heightened attention to
language as well as to cultural and political critique through poetry writing. TESOL Journal, 8(1), 70–101.
Dilidüzgün, S. (2015). Teaching Turkish as a foreign language through poetry: From words to worlds. Bilig, 75, 249–274.
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Gulla, A. N. (2015). Nobody knows the stories of others: High school English language learners find their poetic voices by responding to
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Hanauer, D. (2012). Meaningful literacy: Writing poetry in the language classroom. Language Teaching 45(1), 105–115.
Hess, N. (2011). How to unpack a difficult poem for language learning. The CATESOL Journal, 22(1), 203–215.
Khatib, M. (2011). A new approach to teaching English poetry to EFL students. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(1), 164–169.
Krashen, S. (n.d.). Stephen Krashen on language acquisition [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiTsduRreug.
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Ramirez, P. C., & Jimenez-Silva, M. (2015). The intersectionality of culturally responsive teaching and performance poetry: Validating
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