‘Suddenly, I am part of the poem’: texts as worlds, reader-response and grammar in teaching poetry

Abstract

This paper draws on research in using reader-response theory as a way of thinking about teaching grammar and poetry in the English classroom. Framing my discussion around world-based models of reader-response such as Transactional Theory (Rosenblatt 1938; 1978) and Text World Theory (Werth 1999; Gavins 2007), I argue that this approach is useful in that it foregrounds the creative nature of reading whilst providing a systematic way of analysing language. I analyse data from a series of Key Stage 3 poetry lessons, showing how world-based approaches provide a 'concept-driven pedagogical tool' for the teaching of grammar, giving KS3 students the opportunity to build and develop on KS2 grammatical knowledge. I also show how this approach helped to produce authentic responses to literature and generated meta-reflective discussions on the reading process. I argue that this approach offers an intuitive, accessible and contextualised method to for exploring how language and grammar work. 1 Texts as worlds The human mind has a remarkable capacity and ability to imagine fictional people, events and worlds that are different from our own. This ability is often at its most striking when we encounter literary texts: through language, we can be transported to and immersed within alternative worlds, often so realistic that we feel we are actually a part of them (Gerrig 1993). In a 1992 chapter called Secondary Worlds, Michael Benton begins with a quotation from J.R.R Tolkien, who describes a writer as a 'successful sub-creator' of a secondary world, which a reader's mind has the capacity to enter: Children are capable, of course, of literary belief, when the story-maker's art is good enough to produce it […] the story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator'. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken: the magic, or rather art, has failed. You are then out in the Primary World again, looking at the little abortive Secondary World from outside. (Tolkien 1964: 36).

Integrating Language and Literature: A Text World Theory Approach

“…The argument for the use of stylistics in schools is in line with a growing movement amongst educators and academic researchers which emphasises the cognitive, social and functional nature of language, as well as valuing the importance of reader-response in studying literature (e.g. Cushing, 2018aCushing, , 2018bGiovanelli, 2016;Myhill, Jones & Watson, 2012). In this paper, we present and discuss data from research undertaken in UK schools that explores the pedagogical value of the cognitive stylistic framework Text World Theory (Gavins, 2007;Werth, 1999).…”

“…Recent work has seen a growing interest in the application of Text World Theory as a pedagogical tool suitable for use in schools with teachers and young readers. This work has demonstrated how Text World Theory can be actualised by teachers in terms of teaching specific grammatical constructions (Cushing, 2018a), developing meta-reflective skills during reading and drawing on discourse-world knowledge to support literary criticism (Giovanelli, 2016(Giovanelli, , 2017, tracking worldshifts across literary discourse (Giovanelli, 2010(Giovanelli, , 2014 and facilitating creative writing (Scott, 2016).…”

“…Second, we suggest that stylistics and Text World Theory offer a wealth of affordances to engage students in meaningful, contextualised language work and to help them bridge the language-literature divide. This study builds on and develops recent work which has explored the teachers' potential for drawing on stylistics and Text World Theory in schools (Cushing, 2018a(Cushing, , 2018bGiovanelli, 2010;. This paper is structured in the following way.…”

“…There has been, however, limited research in applying some of these principles to L1 contexts in the UK (see Giovanelli, 2014 for an exception) despite the emerging potential of cognitive linguistics within pedagogical stylistics (for example, Cushing, 2018a;Giovanelli, 2010Giovanelli, , 2014Giovanelli, , 2016Giovanelli, , 2017Giovanelli & Mason, 2015).…”

Stylistics goes to school

“…When a model of language is re-contextualised to schools, it must be disseminated with a sensitivity to the needs of the practitioners involved. Successful examples of this typically report a collaborative relationship between participants, as demonstrated in work by both Cushing (2018) and Giovanelli (2016b;2017), who worked closely with teachers in exploring the application of cognitive stylistics in schools, both as a tool for teaching aspects of grammar, and as a model of readerresponse. An important part of both these studies was researchers working collaboratively with teachers, training them in stylistics and co-designing teaching materials specifically to suit the needs of the specific professional context.…”