ERIC Number: ED439626
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1999-Dec
Reference Count: N/A
Poetry in the Adult ESL Classroom. ERIC Digest.
Peyton, Joy Kreeft; Rigg, Pat
Poetry can be used in the adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom with all learners, even those with limited literacy and proficiency in English. Learners can read, discuss, and write about poems and how they speak to their lives. They can create poems of their own to express their feelings, thoughts, or beliefs. This digest suggests ways to select and use poetry in adult language and literacy classes and provides information about poetry collections and resources for further reading. Choosing poems related to a single theme can build knowledge and vocabulary focused on a specific topic. Teachers may want to consider trying to publish the poems of their students, too. As with any writing about personal experiences, poems can become part of a larger exploration of a theme as a class considers, reads, and writes about related cultural, social, economic, and political issues. Poetry provides adults with rich learning opportunities in language, content, and community building. Repetition of words and structures typifies poetry, and poetry encourages language play with rhythmic and rhyming devices. Poetic themes are often universal. When teachers and learners write and read poetry together, they connect with texts and with one another in powerful ways. (Contains 24 references.) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) (KFT)
Descriptors: Adult Education, Classroom Techniques, Creative Writing, Culturally Relevant Education, English (Second Language), Language Rhythm, Limited English Speaking, Literacy Education, Poetry, Reading Writing Relationship, Second Language Instruction, Second Language Learning, Writing (Composition)
National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education, Center for Applied Linguistics, 4646 40th St., NW, Washington, DC 20016-1859. Tel: 202-362-0700. For full text: http://www.cal.org/ncle/digests/Poetry.htm.
Publication Type: ERIC Publications; ERIC Digests in Full Text
Education Level: N/A
Sponsor: Office of Vocational and Adult Education (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: National Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education, Washington, DC.