







































Education, Society and Human Studies 
ISSN 2690-3679 (Print) ISSN 2690-3687 (Online) 

Vol. 3, No. 1, 2022 
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1 

Original Paper 

Developing Poetic Writing Skills: A Teaching Technique for 

Advanced ESL/EFL Learners 
Mamadou Dieng (Ph.D.)1* 

1 Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal 
* MamadouDieng, Gaston Berger University, Saint-Louis, Senegal 

 

Received: November 30, 2021   Accepted: December 7, 2021   Online Published: December 13, 2021 

doi:10.22158/eshs.v3n1p1                         URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/eshs.v3n1p1 

 

Abstract 
This article attempts to showcase a number of techniques to teach poetic writing skills in EFL settings. 

First and foremost, we have tried to identify and propose corrective attitudes to work out the 

psychological obstacles that impede the practice of poetry in many EFL classrooms. Then, we have 

selected some basic characteristics of poetic discourse through lyric songs to increase learners’ 

awareness of the specificities of poetry. The mastery of the structure and functioning of figurative 

language has been the essential skill to develop. Furthermore, the technique privileges the 

process-oriented approach which is based on well-structured, harmonious and interrelated phases to 

help learners start composing simple verses and poems. 

Keywords 

poem, verse, discourse, figurative, process 

 

1. Introduction 

A review of literature on poetry in language learning reveals a unilateral orientation from the part of 

educationalists and researchers in general. Almost all of them agree upon the crucial role poetry and 

songs play in language learning in general and ESL/EFL learning in particular. According to Caroline 

Linse, poems and songs are part and parcel of early childhood education in the United States which 

families and teachers systemically integrate as essential tools in the linguistic behaviour and 

development of kids. She goes on to contend that the genre is extremely resourceful and effective in 

second and foreign language acquisition. Other researchers are rather obsessed with the principles or 

mechanisms of poetic perception which requires a profound knowledge of poetic language, rhythm and 

structural patterns. 

 



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The historicity related to the traditional value of poetry has captured the interest of researchers. The 

genre is, in this perspective, described as one of the oldest in view of its nascence quite before the 

advent of literacy (Okpewho, 1992). Senghor (1977), one of the pioneers of the Negritude Movement, 

tags along with the same perspective as he sustains that poetry in Africa is a very ancient art form that 

would enliven several kinds of events and ceremonies. Kitty Johnson’s study (2006) stands as an 

exception among a global tendency to analyse poetry from the point of view of historicity, social 

function, structural and linguistic patterns and role in language acquisition.The article is a sustained 

attempt to delineate the role of poetry in language learning and the development of poetic writing skills. 

Still activities and procedures remain too sophisticated to be within the reach of all categories of 

learners including second and foreign language learners. The author looks and sounds to have chosen 

native speakers as a target.  

This paper is attempting to fill in this gap by focussing on EFL/ESL learners’ needs. The approach is 

based on simple procedures that place the learning of poetic writing skills within the reach of advanced 

ESL/EFL learners.What is more, the objective is not overambitious to pursue unrealistic goals that 

would consist in ensuring a thorough command of poetic writing skill forthwith. The paper essentially 

aims at initiating learners to basic poetic language. To reach the set goals, it is crucial to raise learners’ 

awareness and build confidence by debunking the poetic language. An exposition of the nature and 

structure of poetic language patterns combined with appropriate and sustainable training activities will 

enhance the initiation project and arm learners with basic tools to integrate the language of poetry not 

only as interpreters but also as creators. 

 

2. The Psychological Challenge to Meet 

The demystification of poetry must be a prior concern for the EFL teacher.It isa psychological work to 

be absolutely done as perceptions both at the level of the teacher and the learners are generally negative 

and therefore impede any effort or project to deal with poetry. Indeed, the attitude of EFL teachers 

towards poetic language is generally pessimistic. Many teachers often believe that learners’ general 

English language proficiency is not apposite enough to response to the requirements of poetry which is 

perceived as too hermetical and elaborate. My belief is that a process-oriented and well-structured 

approach can enclose an enormous potential forpoetic consciousness raising and poetic writing skills 

development even among the weakest learners. Teachers should bear in mind that the most important 

aspect of EFL teaching is first and foremost the approach that sets out to pursue a remote objective, a 

final product. Besides, the Senegalese context represents an appropriate ground as advanced learners 

startdissecting and exploiting poetic language in French as early as their first year in high school. 

Therefore, it is often the language that changes rather than the linguistic realities and patterns which 

remain generally the same in English. I do admit that the teaching and learning of English accents and 

meters may be complex and even daunting in EFL settings and should therefore be discarded in an 



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initiation project. Instead, the structure of poetry remains the same across many languages. 

It is crucial, from start, to debunk a set of myths or perceptions that lay as ice to break between 

teachers/learners and poetry. Another hindrance in the achievement of such a project might be related to 

the general sidelining of poetry which is regarded as a gift in the hands of “happy few” geniuses, 

prophetic people and supernatural writers. The interconnection between poetic discourse and social 

discourse must be established. Learners should realise that poetic language is nothing but a refined 

reduplication of social language.  

Besides, in this paper, I use a lyric song (I’m Alive by Celin Dion) to plunge the learners in the 

language of poetry. The choice of a song is meant to ensure motivation and attention as learners, 

irrespective of their age or level, are generally focused and motivated when music is around. Starting 

with pure poetry may negatively contaminate the process as learners will precociously put forward their 

habitual negative perception about poetry. The song is, therefore, a pretext that should lead to a pleasant 

expedition inside the linguistic realm of poetry. 

 

3. The Reasonable and the Unreasonable in Poetic Discourse 

Poets are among the most imaginative writers. While novelists and playwrights are often 

social-oriented in their fictionality, poets love embarking on journeysto totally imaginary worlds. The 

readers are impressed by the imaginative capacity backed up with a type of language that is extremely 

beautiful and captivating. The impression that poets are unrealistic and unreasonable is certainly the 

most shared feeling among readers. It is because poems, like lyric songs, aremore often than notfraught 

with exaggerations and extrapolations. Learners should therefore be sensitized about those linguistic 

specificities and the freedom of the poets to express out feelings and ideas according to their desires. 

The teacher should, through a task-based approach, expose the language game poets have the right and 

freedom to play. 

Task: Read and decide whether these statements are reasonable or unreasonable. Discuss your 

decision with your partner. 

 

Table 1. Reasonable Vs Unreasonable Discourse 

Discourse Reasonable Unreasonable/Hyperbole 

When I hear you breath   

I got wings to fly   

When you look at me   

I can touch the sky   

All my world is right   

You set my heart on fire   

Filled me with love   



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Made me a woman   

My spirit takes flight   

 

The decision of learners should be free and subjective. Furthermore, learners will be invited, in the 

process, to voice out the reasons of their choices. The identification between reasonable and 

unreasonable discourses is a basic point in the discovery process. On top of that, it paves the way to 

unprecedented communicative situations and interactions between learners and the intermittent 

arbitrage and verdict of the teacher is sometimes not enough to reconcile learners. But, in any case, the 

teacher should calm down the communication atmosphere at a given moment bydelineating the initial 

rationale behind the task which consists in exposing the complex and figurative character of poetic 

language. Learners should be aware of the inability of ordinary language to embody poetic dimensions. 

The expression of inner feelings in their fullest scope is always the making of unordinary language that 

relies on tropes, symbols and imageries. By the way, this unordinary feature is the main hallmark of 

poetic language. 

 

4. On Similes 

Similes are often pervasive throughout poems and poetic discourses in general. Learners should be 

awaken about people’s tendency to resort to comparison, even in social discourse, to better expose the 

scope of qualities, characteristics, states and feelings. It is just like situations, objects and people 

possess their immediate or remote doubles and are likely to be interchangeable and substitutive. Those 

doubles might belong to different categories or species which does not prevent them from epitomising 

the similar essential values. For example, a person might be compared to a tree as both elements live, 

grow, produce and die. Therefore, similes allow a fuller characterisation. Developing simile building 

skills can rely on activities inspired by specific materials and themes. The theme of love in Celin 

Dion’s song can lay the foundation of this poetic skill. The teacher may ask the learners to find out 

hyperbolic comparisons to the feeling of love as in the activity below. 

Step 1: Find out elements of comparison to the feeling of love 

 

Table 2. Comparison Building 

Theme Some elements of comparison suggested by learners 

LOVE Ocean 

Forest 

Fire 

Tree 

 

 



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Step 2: Discussing, justifying and interpreting comparisons 

The relevance of this phase lies mainly in the integration of the cognitive approach in the process of 

poetic creation. The capacity to build parallels is highly valued when it comes to interpret the semantic 

connexion between the chosen elements to compare. The first moment consists in involving learners in 

the search for elements that are comparable at the surface structure level. The second and perhaps more 

challenging moment consist in requiring from learners to provide justifying evidence at the deep 

structure level. That is why this stageof the process is extremely communicative. Better still, it calls for 

learners’ interpretive skills and critical thinking competences. The teacher will unavoidably be 

astonished by learners’ capacity to build comparisons. The positive surprise of the teacher stems from 

the ability of learners to interpret comparisons which is a crucial dimension in poetry. I must confess 

my amazement due to students’profound interpretative insightswhich are informative enough about 

their enormous poetic potential. The activity is consequently very effective in communication practice 

for EFL/ESL learners. It also enhances critical thinking as learners engage in reasonable linking of 

concepts and elements that superficially might appear different and opposed.  

Still, the ultimate target of the lesson is the building of poetic comparisons. The teacher should 

therefore provide with grammatical tools to allow learners to achieve the set goal not only in oral 

discourse but in written poetic discourse. 

Step 3: The use of “to be like” and “as” forcomparison building 

The development of poetic skills among ESL/EFL learners can tap from grammar resources to be 

successful. The teaching of hyperboles, for example, is an apposite moment to raise learners’ awareness 

of the grammatical instruments that are used in the building of comparisons. Students should know that 

the making of comparisons in English basically resorts to phrases such as “to be like”, “to look like”, 

“as...as”, “as” or “akin to”. As a result, the previous activity can be turned into poetic hyperboles using 

“to be like” or “as”.  

- Love is like a forest 

- Love looks like a tree 

- Love acts as fire/Love is like fire 

- Love is akin to a tree 

 

5. The Metaphorical Discourse Construction in EFL/ESL Settings 

Metaphors are part and parcel of human discourse which all mature speakers tend to call for to be more 

communicative. It is as if figures of speech and figurative language in general conjure up a sort of 

inability in ordinary language to fully express out feelings and ideas. The figurative language is 

therefore a sort of makeshift linguistic tool for humans to be more expressive. So, tropes, contrary to 

the postulate of Anthony Burgess, are not linguistic tools used by poets to tell lies (Mathiam, 13). I 

would rather defend the position that metaphors are perhaps only superficial lies if they are to be 



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regarded as lies. Indeed, like all other figures of speech, they result from a real communication need 

that does not find satisfaction in ordinary language. They are, as such, ways and means, to fill in the 

gaps and voids. Denise Lowery almost tags along with this perspective when he argues:“All languages 

rely heavily on metaphor because human beings use metaphor to make sense of abstract ideas” (2013, p. 

17). 

Producing figurative language like metaphors may, at first sight, be perceived by non-native speakers 

as herculean and difficult to achieve. The role of the teacher consists in taking off this negative 

perception from ESL learners’ mindset. In my teaching, I often try to build the relation between 

real-life communication patterns and classroom language, which is even a strong principle in 

communicative language teaching. The classroom should be transformed into a society at the 

microcosmic level. It is only in this way teachers can trivialise communication in the mind of the EFL 

learner and increase motivation. Resorting to learners’ L1 to provide illustrative examples can be a 

praiseworthy strategy to raise awareness and build confidence. This is all the more important that 

learners often call for elements of comparison from their surrounding environment. The compared 

elements in the activity dealing with simile building are all derived from learners’ realities. One of the 

specificities of the region (Casamance, southern part of Senegal) is the existence of dense forests and 

heavy rains. There is then no wonder when all elements are derived from nature which represents a lot 

in the life of the community. 

If the phase about simile building is successfully achieved, the teaching and learning of metaphorical 

discourse construction should not be that challenging for the learners. Technically, and in a simple way, 

a metaphor creates confusion between elements. While similes create parallels, metaphors build 

confusion and oneness between similar elements. The comparative grammar tool is to be taken off to 

pave the way to a sort of equality. The activity in the comparison building phase can serve as a 

springboard. 

 

Table 3. From Simile to Metaphor 

Similes Metaphors 

Love is like a forest Love is a forest 

Love looks like a tree Love is a tree 

Love acts as fire/Love is like fire Love is fire 

Love is like the ocean Love is an ocean 

 

6. Examples of Activities for Poem Composition Practice 

The approach I have implemented, as you can notice it, is process-oriented and functions like a chain. 

The tasks assigned to the learners are interdependent and the phases are graded as far as the process 

goes on. We believe that an exposition of the poetic and figurative discourse patterns combined with 



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practical activities is necessary for learners to start struggling with poetic composition. Even here, the 

process-oriented approach should be privileged.  

Step 1: Composing verses 

In this phase, I ask students to choose a person they cherish a lot. The chosen person may be a family 

member, a friend, a lover or even a historical figure they would like to pay homage to by dedicating 

them a couple of verses (3 or 4 verses). Student will have the freedom and the challenge to compose 

verses using figurative language such as similes, hyperboles or metaphors. The teacher can try to list all 

the students who have chosen the same persons for the dedication. For example, those working on the 

mother will form a group. At this stage, students will have to work individually in order to compose 

their verses. 

Step 2: Exposition and feedback 

Learners will individually be asked to expose their verses on the chalkboard or by reading them aloud. 

The role of the teacher and the peers will consist in providing feedback related to grammar, word 

choice, spelling, etc.  

Step 3:The collective poem 

The collective poem is the gathering of all the verses composed by students working on the same 

person. Student will group their verses to form one poem dedicated to the mother, the friend, the lover 

or the historical figure. Teacher and students will work cooperatively to arrange verses in order to have 

a certain poetic harmony especially by paying heed to the rhymes that can go together. The teacher can 

help students propose titles depending on the person they chose. The collective poems may be exposed 

somewhere in the school or recited during English club activities.  

Step 4: The individual poem 

For more practice, the teacher, under the form of a home assignment, may ask students to complete the 

verses they composed in classes into full individual poems. 

 

7. Conclusion 

The paper has explored a relatively simple approach to the development of poetic writing skills in EFL 

contexts. We finally come up with the conclusion that teaching and learning have lots of chances to be 

successful when the appropriate approach is implemented in a comprehensive layout based upon 

well-organised steps. In the approach under consideration each phase is essential in the process. A 

reading of the article bears witness to the existence of a chain of phases that are interdependent and 

interrelated. Each phase in the process represents a foundation that clearly propels learners forward. 

They are all prerequisites whose combination forms a wide way out towards the achievement of the 

lesson’s final objective. The approach is interesting in many ways. First, it takes off the belief that 

generally positions poetry as a reserved domain, and subsequently equips EFL learners with basic tools 

to produces verses and poems. Secondly, teaching the functioning of poetic language patterns enhances 



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EFL learners’ cognitive reading abilities in general. Learners realise on the way that meaning is not 

only always sailing on the lines and surfaces. It can rather be hidden out of the lines. Third, learners are 

armed with “new” tools they can make use of for more expressiveness or rhetorical purposes in daily 

communication situations. Finally, the teaching of figures of speech boosts learners’ communicative 

skills and literary sensitivity. 
 

References 

He, J. S. (2000).A Cognitive Model for Teaching Reading Comprehension. Forum, 38(4), 12-17. 

Johnson, K. (2006). Reading, Writing and Performing Poetry. English Teaching Forum, 1, 44-52. 

Linse, C. (2006). Using Favorite Songs and Poems with Learners. English Teaching Forum, 38, 38-42. 

Lowery, D. (2013). Helping Metaphors Take Root in the EFL Classroom. English Teaching Forum, 1, 

12-17. 

Okpewho, I. (1992). African oral literature: Backgrounds, character, and continuity.Indianapolis: 

Indiana University Press. 

Senghor, L. S. (1977). Négritude et Modernité, Négritude et Civilisation de l’Universel. Paris: Le Seuil. 

Thiam, M. (2011).Issues in Teacher Training in EFL: From Theory to Practice. Diaspora Academy 

Press, Dakar. 


