The Impact of Poetry on Developing Grammatical Competence of English as Second Language Learners

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Shaukat Ali, Tariq, Waheed Khan

Abstract

It has been observed that Pakistani university students struggle in developing their grammatical competence which is one of the important sub-skills ofthe overall English speaking skill. It refers to correct use of grammar, appropriate vocabulary and acceptable pronunciation. The researchers over the years have attributed the problem to teaching methodology, classroom environment, learners’ attitude towards English language, anxiety and lack of motivation. However, there has been little research on teaching materials used in classrooms to develop grammatical competence of the students. This study exploited English poetry as language teaching materials to develop students’ grammatical competence. The study was a quasi-experimental one having a control and an experimental group. The respondents of the study were second semester non-English-majored university students. The experimental group was taught through poems whereas in the control group traditional teaching materials were utilized. Pre-test and post-test were employed as tools of data collection. Besides, observation field notes were also employed as a supporting tool of data collection to understand the effect of both kinds of teaching materials on the students of both the groups inside their respective classrooms. The data collected through pre-test and post-test were analyzed through independent samples t-tests, whereas observation field notes were used to support the statistical results of the analysis. The results of the study showed that the students of the experimental group performed significantly better than students of control group on the post-test with regard to grammar rules and vocabulary. However, there was no significant improvement in the pronunciation of the students of the experimental group. The observation field notes indicated that the students of EG were more interactive, participated actively in the group activities and were more collaborative and cooperative in the language learning process. The study recommends that poetry shall be utilized as teaching materials in English language classroom at university level.

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