Abstract:
Using poetry in the ESL context. Teachers don’t use poetry to teach English. The role of poetry in today’s language studies has diminished due to the lack of interest of teachers and students in learning and teaching poetry in the ESL classroom. The main objective of this study was to investigate attitudes among ordinary level English teachers regarding the usage of poetry as a tool to improve English Language in the ESL classroom in the Galle district. Previous research points out that poetry was primarily based on interpretations of teachers and failed to develop creative analysis of the students. Randomly selected 5 ordinary level English teachers from Galle district were interviewed who consensually shared their teaching experiences. The interviews were semi structured and recorded. Based on the results of this study, teachers have adapted “information based approach” neglecting “Language based approach” and “Personal Response based approach”. The main findings of this study reveals that teachers’ inexperience in teaching poetry, priority not being given to teaching poetry, lack of awareness in teaching poetry has led to negligence of teaching poetry in the ESL classroom. Findings of this study has been used to develop practical recommendations in using poetry as a tool in Ordinary Level ESL classroom.
