Ибрашова Айгерим Талгатовна

Региональный соционально-инновационный университет

Poetry as one of the techniques of English language teaching.

As poetry is part and parcel of a nation’s spiritual heritage, there is no doubt that it should also be taught to pupils who study English as their second language. Naturally there are great differences of opinion over how much and what type of poetry should be studied. This depends to a large extent on the particular teacher, as well as on the teacher’s personal preferences and judgment. However, because of the linguistic difficulties inherent in most poems, they are generally only taught in the upper forms, when the pupils are older and their English more advanced. Then their response is usually poor, if not altogether negative [1, p. 125]. This is very disappointing to the teacher who wants to communicate what is so dear to his heart. We have of course to face the question: Where have we gone wrong?

One reason, and certainly a very important one, is that a taste for poetry has to be cultivated; Robert Frost maintained “Poetry begins in delight and ends in wisdom”. This spontaneous delight cannot emerge suddenly, and definitely not at an age when the pupils’ approach is predominantly, it should be introduced when intuition has a dominant position in the child’s mental make-up. Furthermore, it is a relief to the young pupil whose analytical abilities are being developed in most other subjects if a different ability of his can be made use of.

Another reason for the negative response is that when poetry is approached from a purely analytical point of view, the pupil is burdened with far too many technical literary terms, without which, it has to be admitted, no adequate appreciation of poetry can be expressed. This in itself suffices to bar the reader from experiencing what is beautiful, let alone from enjoying a poem. A vocabulary of literary terms should be built up very gradually. In English language teaching, many literary texts were used as additional passages. The use of literature in language teaching has given many contributions to increase students’ achievement such as creative thinking, motivation, enjoyment, etc. Literature as content subject has given several functions to the students in the learning process. Literary texts have a powerful function in raising moral and ethical concerns in the classroom. Teachers of literature are always on the lookout for effective techniques and approaches to teach the subject. Various techniques needed in the English language literature classroom, especially poetry because they will help teaching-learning process reach the objectives. The literature classroom should be a place where dissimilar ideas confront, conflict, and at times converge with each other, for students will gain maximum profit only when they are active and highly-involved in the learning process. If you are good in reciting poetry with passion, then you should give your students a taste of what English poems are. If your students show great talents in appropriate recitation with passion, then have several poetry reading sessions. Poems also help teaching language [2, p. 103]. Students need to make decisions about the correct order of the lines, decipher the metaphor and other poetic devices used by the poet, and convert them to the ordinary language syntax. Comprehension of meaning of a poem is more intricate than the comprehension of an ordinary text, either in story form or in business correspondence. Poems are marked by unusual syntax, rich in words coined by the poet, reinforcing the students’ knowledge of the norms of language use, and the manner in which they can be adapted to achieve different communicative purposes. Integrating poetry into the syllabus provides for an enjoyable way of reinforcing and revisiting contents, enabling students to make confident interpretations, understand figurative meanings, and nuances of creative literature in English. Poems may have only a limited role to play in teaching language in a classroom. If you love the art of poetry, then this article will help you know more about the poetry techniques used to enhance the feel of the words [3, p. 96].

Most of us have come across at least one poetry that has touched our heart deep within. For people who are just confined to reading and admiring the mixture of words and the in-depth meaning that they bring out, which touches the soul from within, they have a belief that it's the natural talent of the poets that lead to these wonderful masterpieces in writing! Undoubtedly, poetry is an art, but with certain poetry techniques, anyone who has the flair for expression, can learn this art and master the art of writing different kinds of poetry.

Usage of Simile. A simile is a technique of comparing two things or more. You might have come across many poems which have sentences with words like, "as" or "like". An example would be the classic poem by William Wordsworth; "I wandered lonely as a cloud." The poet has used "as", which is a simile comparing the wandering of the poet with the cloud.

Usage of Metaphor. Most of the people get confused between a simile and a metaphor. While a simile is represented using words like "as" and "like", in metaphors the lines are just said without using these words so as to be perceived by the readers. For example, if "I wandered lonely as a cloud" is a simile, then the metaphor is something like "I am a cloud wandering in loneliness." So, a metaphor is an implied comparison which the reader needs to perceive in the right manner.

Usage of Personification. The poetry technique of personification is used to personify or portray an object or a mere quality as if it were a living being, a person. This type of poetry technique example would be the classic poem by Emily Dickinson, The Train wherein she has used personified the train so beautifully. Just go through the lines below:

"I like to see it lap the miles,

And lick the valleys up,

And stop to feed itself at tanks;

And then, prodigious, step."[4, p. 35].

A non living object like a train can't do things like lap, lick, and feed. But the usage of the personification techniques has just brought a human feel to this poetry style.

Usage of Alliteration. Alliteration is when the poetry has usage of repetitive consonant sounds at the beginning of the words or when two or more than two words begin with the same sound or letters with the same sound in a poem. An example of this poetry technique would be;

"I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street."

Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost [5, p. 67].

The above article on poetry techniques and the examples given, helped teachers understand the various techniques in poetry in teaching English. These basic elements of poetry enhance the feel and enable the students to understand the poetry the same way as the poet wishes to convey it so that there is no room for misinterpretation.

Literature

1. Рогова Г.В. Методика обучения английскому языку. – М.: Просвещение,1983. – 351 с.

2. Hill J. Using Literature in Language Teaching. - London: Macmillan, 1986. – 168 p.

3. Plastina A. Teaching Culture and Literature in the English language Classroom. – 2000. – 213 p.

4. Widdowson H. Teaching Language as Communication. - England: Oxford University Press, 1978. – 269 p.

5. McNeal, R. Extracurricular Activities and High School Dropouts. - Sociology of Education, 1995. – 189 c.

Bibliography

1 Қазақстан Республикасының "Тіл туралы заңы" 11.07.1997ж. №151 Астана 2007ж.

2 Қазақстан Республикасының Президенті Н.Ә.Назарбаевтың "Болашақтың іргесін бірге қалайық" атты Қазақстан халқына жолдауы 28.01.2011ж.

3 Қазақстан Республикасының "Білім туралы заңы" 27.07.2007ж. №319-3 Астана.

4 2005-2015 ж. аралығындағы Қазақстан Республикасының білім беруді дамыту концепциясы.- Астана, 2004

5 Carney-Dalton P. In the Fall I’ll Return as a Poet. - Quarterly of the National Writing Project and the Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy, 1993. – 109 p.

6 Somers Albert. Teaching Poetry in High School. - Urbana: Illinois: NCTE,

1999. – 297 p.

7 Рогова Г.В. Методика обучения английскому языку. – М.: Просвещение,1983. – 351 с.

8 Collie J., Slater S. Literature in the Language Classroom. – Cambridge

University Press, 2006. – 356 p.

9 Brumfit C. J. Language and Literature Teaching: from Practice to Principle. - Oxford:Pergamon Press, 1985. – 283 p.

10 Hill J. Using Literature in Language Teaching. - London: Macmillan, 1986. – 168 p.

11 Ляховицкий М.В. Методика преподавания иностранных языков. – М.:

Высшая школа, 2001. – 365 с.

12 Мильруд Р.П. Методика преподавания английского языка. – М.: Дрофа, 2005. – 254с.

13 Widdowson H. Teaching Language as Communication. - England: Oxford University Press, 1978. – 269 p.

14 Maley A., Mouldíng S. Poem into Poem. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. – 180 p.

15 Plastina A. Teaching Culture and Literature in the English language Classroom. – 2000. – 213 p.

16 Valdes J. Culture Bound: Bridging the Culture gap in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 1986. – 394 p.

17 Pavey J. Literature in TESL Programs: The Language and the Culture. - 1912. – 408 p.

18 Зимняя И.А. Психологические аспекты обучения говорению на иностранном языке. – М.: Просвещение, 2002. – 357 с.

19 Панов Е.М. Основы методики обучения иностранным языкам. – М.: Просвещение, 1997. – 324 с.

20 Павлова Е. А. Стихи и рифмовки на уроках иностранного языка – эффективное средство усвоения языкового материала. - Иностранные языки в школе, 2009. – 86 с.

21 Pudewa A. Linguistic development through poetry memorization. The institute for excellence in writing. - The old schoolhouse magazine, LLC, December, 2005. – 375 p.

22 Рогова Г.В., Верещагина И.Н. Методика обучения английскому языку на начальном этапе в средней школе. – М.: Просвещение, 1998. – 322 с.

23 Marckwardt, Albert H. What Literature to Teach: Principles of Selcetian and Class Treatment. - English Teaching Forum, 1981. – 102 p.

24 Гальскова Н.Д., Гез Н.И. Теория обучения иностранным языкам. Лингводидактика и методика. Учебное пособие. - М.: Дрофа, 2004. -324 с.

25 Rabunsky E.S. Individual approach in the course of training of pupils. Pedagogics, - 2000. – 367 p.

26 Moody, H. L. B. Approaches to the Study of Literature. - Oxford: Pergamon Press,1989. – 359 p.

27 Ариян М.А. Ситуативная роль как фактор повышения эффективности обучения устной речи на иностранном языке в средней школе. - Автореф. канд. дис. Москва,1982, -55 с.

28 Бим И. Л. Обучение иностранному языку. Поиск новых путей. - ИЯШ. - 2002. – 239 c.

29 Mishneva G. About one of development ways of school abilities of pupils in a course of mastering a foreign language at an average grade level. - Foreign languages at school. - 2005. – 106 p.

30 Bruce Lansky. Funny Little Poems for Funny Little People, - Meadowbrook Press. 2002. – 279 p.

31 Абалкина П.И. Совершенствование методики преподавания английского языка. - М.: ВЛАДОС, 2002.- 345 с.

32 Лебединская Б.Я. Английская грамматика в стихах. – М.: Астрель, 2000. – 221 с.

33 Mack N. Teaching Grammar with perfect poem for Middle school. – 2008. – 217 p.

34 Числова А.С. Английский язык для гуманитарных факультетов. –Ростов-на-Дону, Феникс, 2005. – 282 с.

35 McNeal, R. Extracurricular Activities and High School Dropouts. - Sociology of Education, 1995. – 189 c.