Learning a language is like constructing a building. Step by step, as the building blocks are cemented together, it gains height. Similarly, the building blocks of language (grammar, prose, poetry) gradually develop a person’s level of proficiency in it. It is very unfortunate though that poetry is the material, which is not used adequately while raising the structure of language in our schools.

The second language learning process starts with the phonics and the basic grammatical concepts in our pre-schools. Following a set pattern, grammar is taught throughout the school years, while prose plays a pivotal role in language building at every level in schools. For some reasons, however, the third building block of language (poetry) is ignored throughout. Consequently, the genre remains alien to students even after years of language study at school.

It is not that poetry is not included in the English syllabus but it is the way we use it for teaching language to students. Most of the textbooks (till grade 8) use poems for comprehension only. Questions are set to check the understanding of students - just like prose texts. Though it is good practice in the early years of education, but as language skills of students develop, they need to know that poetry is a different genre of literature with its own elements of language. Prose passages are used for teaching ‘parts of speech’ thus poems should be selected for teaching ‘figures of speech’. This will simplify and clarify the terms and techniques used in both prose and poetry.

Those who have ever taken a poetry-teaching class with students of junior or middle schools would agree that it is a very productive practice. Poetry lessons are more lively and engaging than any other lesson of language learning. Poetry-reading lessons can easily lead to poetry writing; reading and singing other’s poems facilitate children in writing their own poems. They love to play with language as soon as they are encouraged.

Rhyme is a poetic device that quickly grasps children’s attention and they readily come up with a number of words that rhyme together. It can also be used for increasing word power instead of giving a random list of vocabulary words to be rote-learnt by students without any context. In the same way, onomatopoeia seems to be a very heavy-sounding word but if taught in a fun way turns out to be very easy even for students of late primary level. Students at this age love to imitate sounds of different objects and, therefore, quickly recognise the sound words used in a poem. At this stage, there is only one key that unlocks the rich imagination of students – admiration.

Poetry can also be used for developing oral language skills as learning a rhythmical poem and then reading it aloud develops confidence and fluency in children.

In the present scenario, there is a dearth of good poetry books (rather any books of poems) for students and schools (if any of them is interested) have to compile their own booklets that are usually a random selection of poems obtained from the internet. This, definitely, does not serve the purpose of a systematic approach towards the development of poetic skills in students. Teachers also don’t find enough resources for teaching poems but those who put in some extra effort do find some desired and relevant material.

Due to the absence of any defined syllabus for poetry and weak teaching methodologies, our students never get to explore this wonderful world of expression. If we want to nurture the love for poetry in young minds and don’t want poetry to remain a dull and boring subject for our students, a clear pathway needs to be discovered by educationists and ELT experts in this area of learning.

(The writer teaches at a Lahore school)