English Learners and Poetry Instruction
Poetry, with its rhythmic cadence and expressive language, offers a plethora of benefits for English learners. From enhancing proficiency to fostering creativity and cultural understanding, engagement with poetry can significantly contribute to the language learning process. With poetry’s combination of purposeful concise text, it offers English learners an opportunity to build essential literacy skills.
When educators use complex text with their students, English learners may show signs of frustration due to the use of academic vocabulary, unfamiliar content terms, and text length. When appropriate, what if educators shift the text medium and use a poem? By switching to a poem, students may be less overwhelmed with fewer words. Educators are helping students engage with poetry, which aids in the development of language proficiency by exposing learners to rich vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, and diverse grammatical structures (Wong, 2018). Through the exploration of poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, and symbolism, learners deepen their understanding of language nuances and usage (Heard, 2016).
English learners may also find success writing poetry instead of narrative prose. English learners can connect with others through the use of poetry and may even want to write a poem in their native language or a combination of their native language and English. Most languages do not translate perfectly into English, so allowing students to write in their native language may be appropriate for a variety of reasons. In addition, some words in other languages do not have a good synonym in the English language. Integrating two languages in a student’s poem shows that both languages are valued in the classroom and represents how many students experience life, embracing their native language while also learning a new language. By allowing students to write in their native language or a combination of the two languages, teachers are normalizing how English learners speak and creating a classroom culture where everyone is accepted. Additionally, through the study of poems from different eras and regions, learners develop empathy, cultural sensitivity, and a broader worldview (Brown, 2020).
Furthermore, reciting and performing poetry contribute to improved pronunciation, intonation, and fluency among English learners (Brown, 2020). Students can “play with rhyme and language” (Robertson, 2023, para. 13). The rhythmic patterns and rhyme schemes of poems aid in the development of oral communication skills and accent reduction (Wong, 2018).
Conclusion
In January, we attended an educational conference in Texas. At a luncheon, Kwame Alexander regaled us with stories of his life and snippets of poems that allowed him to take emotionally heavy moments in his life and turn them into smaller, more manageable parts. As educators, we can bring poetry into our students’ lives each and every day. We can give poetry as a gift, the honey, a voice to our kids to help them navigate a world that may seem overwhelming. Alexander (2024) ended by stating, “Poetry is the honey. Music is the soundtrack."
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