ELT News Think Tank

This Month's Think Tank Panel

Marc Helgesen

Peter Viney

Curtis Kelly

Chuck Sandy

Chris Hunt

Panelists: Peter | Marc | Curtis | Chuck | Chris
Date: October 2003

Topic: "How can we use poetry in the language classroom?"

Poetry - A Nautilus Machine for the Brain

Curtis Kelly

I don't use poetry in the classroom, but recently I have been thinking about it a lot. It does things to our brains other modes of communication do not.

I remember reading a Gary Snyder book of poetry a few years ago. After a few pages, my head hurt. It was as if a whole new different section of my brain were getting exercised after years of lying dormant. It didn't seem to be the cognitive side of my brain that was working, but then again, maybe it was. Gary's metaphors, allusions and twisted meanings pierced deep into my consciousness and drew out every language processing apparatus I had. It was like listening to a visa officer explain something critically important to me in formal Japanese. Every linguistic fiber tensed and strained. I barely made meaning.

“There is evidence that forcing the brain to process deeply, whether through problem-solving or music, not only builds stronger brains, but also maximizes our language processing abilities.”

Now that we are making leaps and bounds in understanding how the brain works, this experience has led me to new speculations as to what poetry does. There is evidence that forcing the brain to process deeply, whether through problem-solving or music (see one of my previous Think Tank pieces on the "Mozart factor"), not only builds stronger brains, but also maximizes our language processing abilities. Mozart makes us think deeply to process his meaning, and thereby stimulates the parts of our brain that process meaning in language. Actually, all parts of our brains, huge banks of multiprocessors, are constantly active, but Mozart, or Snyder, or the TOEIC reading exam, make all these little thinkers face one single problem. They prime us for deep thought.

We also know that in language learning, deep processing leads to deep internalization. Kids figuring out what "cow" means on their own will retain the word longer than if it were translated for them and they repeated it a few times. It makes sense then that poetry too - intense problem-solving ala linguistica - leads to deep processing, and thus deep internalization.

Another factor related to poetry in language learning is its musicality. We know that words attached to melodies are learned more quickly, especially with children (remember how you learned the alphabet?). Since poetry is Mozart in language (rhythm, alliteration, timbre), it follows that we should internalize the text of a poem more deeply too.

The problem is, then, how to use poetry in the classroom (Jazz Chants excepted), but I imagine other members of the Think Tank can handle this problem better than I.

Panelists: Peter | Marc | Curtis | Chuck | Chris

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Curtis Kelly, Heian Jogakuin University

Author of Writing from Within

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