POETRY, MEDIA, AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION A Dissertation Presented to The ...

327 Pages·2011·12.6 MB·English

POETRY, MEDIA, AND SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

A Dissertation
Presented to
The Faculty of the Graduate School
At the University of Missouri-Columbia

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirement for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

By

CHIH-NING CHANG (LYNN CHANG)

Dr. Roy F. Fox, Dissertation Supervisor
Dr. Amy A. Lannin, Dissertation Co- Supervisor

July 2011
The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School,
have examined the dissertation entitled

POETRY, MEDIA AND, SECOND LANGAUGE ACQUISTION

Presented by Chih-Ning Chang (Lynn Chang)
A candidate for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy,
And hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance.

Dr. Roy F. Fox, Chair

Dr. Amy A. Lannin, Co-Chair

Dr. Jill Ostrow

Dr. Flore Zéphir
DEDICATION

I dedicate this work to my husband, Chun Ming Lee. I thank him for
accompanying me to the US; I thank him for always cheering me up; I thank him for the
myriad of other things he did for our living here in the US. I dedicate this work to my
parents. I acknowledge their unconditional love for me. They show so much confidence
and trust in me. I thank them for always supporting me to do what I love doing. I
dedicate this work to my sister and brother. They offer me help whenever I need. I am
thankful for having a wonderful family. Without their support, I could never have come
to the US to fulfill this dream.
I dedicate this work to Dr. Roy Fox. His support made this research possible. I
dedicate this work to Dr. Amy Lannin and Dr. Jill Ostrow. They helped me get the
assistantship from the department, which enabled me to complete my study at MU.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank the professors on my committee: Dr. Roy Fox, Dr. Amy
Lannin, Dr. Jill Ostrow and Dr. Flore Zéphir for this accomplishment. I am indebted to
them for their kindness, guidance, and support. My gratitude extends to no end.
Thanks to Dr. Roy Fox, my advisor, for his constant support and encouragement.
It is my fortune to have such an open-minded, kind and loving advisor. This past three
years has been one of the happiest times in my life. In every class I took with him, I
experienced “freedom,” “sense of accomplishment,” and “transformation.” I enjoyed
much while immersing myself in thinking, writing and creating. While doing this
dissertation, he also offered me much of his valuable time and plenty of useful resources.
He did everything possible to help me succeed. I am especially grateful for all the
opportunities he has given me throughout my doctoral program.
Thanks to Dr. Amy Lannin, my co-advisor. I appreciate her insightful opinions
on my dissertation and other projects. I thank her for the encouragement and advice she
has given me. I have enjoyed the book study and dissertation discussion with her in the
coffee shop. I worked as her RA for more than two years, and I have admired her
wisdom, work ethics, and her ways to get along with people. I also thank her for sharing
her family’s love. She warmed my heart in this foreign land. I am grateful for her
kindness and generosity.
Thanks to Dr. Jill Ostrow for leading me to the world of poetry. She guided me to
find my poetic voice. I never could have planned to do a poetry study if I did not meet
her. I worked as her RA/TA for more than two years and I have been continually amazed
by her courage, creativity and teaching integrality. I especially feel thankful for all the

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teaching opportunities she has given me. She constantly supports me and encourages me
to build confidence in myself. She has had a profound influence in my personal life and
career.
Thanks to Dr. Flore Zéphir, one of the most warmhearted professors I have ever
met. I admire her considerable knowledge and her love toward education. She cares for
each student’s learning and puts students as the priority of her life. I enjoyed every
moment sitting and listening to her in class. I felt excited every time I went to see her. I
enjoyed her jokes, I loved her beautiful accent, and I adored her lovely personality. I
learned how much a teacher’s personality can influence students’ learning.
I am also thankful to the participants in this study. The time spent with them in
the poetry class in fall 2010 semester has been memorable for me. I appreciate that they
made time to meet me and provided all the sources I need for this study. I have been
touched by those stories they shared. I am grateful that I had pleasure and opportunity to
work with and learn from them. I cherish our friendship and I want to say I miss that
poetry course very much.
Writing this dissertation has been a fantastic experience for me in the doctoral
program. I cannot say enough about my love of this topic: Poetry, Media and SLA.
Since I love it, the process is enjoyable; since I love it, the process is meaningful; since I
love it, I could live in it forever. I cannot thank enough to the professors on my
committee and the participants in this study. Without their help, I could not have had this
wonderful experience.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS----------------------------------------------------------------- ii

LIST OF FIGURES-------------------------------------------------------------------------- vii

ABSTRACT---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ix

Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
Rationale
Why Study Poetry Reading, Writing and Teaching? ---------------- 2
Why Study Incorporating Media with Poetry? ----------------------- 2
Why Study Poetry and Second Language Acquisition? ------------ 3
Definition of Terms--------------------------------------------------------------- 3
Research Questions---------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Theoretical Framework------------------------------------------------------------ 6
Methodology------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11
The Participants----------------------------------------------------------- 12
Procedures------------------------------------------------------------------ 14
Limitation of the Methodology------------------------------------------ 15
Findings: Central Themes------------------------------------------------ 15
Organization of the Study--------------------------------------------------------- 17
Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17

2. LITERATURE REVIEW--------------------------------------------------------------- 18
History of Poetry & the Development of Humanistic Values---------------- 19
Reader Response Theory --------------------------------------- 20
Research on Reader Response Theory -------------------------------- 24
Writing as Healing: Poetry Therapy -------------------------------------------- 27
Research on Poetry Therapy--------------------------------------------- 28
Research on Writing as Healing----------------------------------------- 31
Media Literacy Theory------------------------------------------------------------ 33
Multiple Intelligences (MI) --------------------------------------------- 35
Critical Thinking in Media and the Power of Image----------------- 37
Digital Literacy/New Literacy------------------------------------------- 39
Research on Digital Literacy -------------------------------------------- 40
Digital Poetry-------------------------------------------------------------- 41
A Digital Poet----------------------------------------------------- 42
Research on Digital Poetry ---------------------------------------------- 44
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) ------------------------------------------- 49
Definition of SLA---------------------------------------------------------- 49
Overview of Key Terms and Theories---------------------------------- 50
Poetry & Second Language Acquisition-------------------------------- 53
Research on poetry in the ESL/EFL classroom------------------------ 54
Research on Digital Literacy in the ESL/EFL Classroom------------ 61

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Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 65
Interdisciplinary Theories------------------------------------------------- 65
Themes----------------------------------------------------------------------- 66
Significance of this Study------------------------------------------------- 66

3. METHODOLOGY------------------------------------------------------------------------ 67
Research Questions------------------------------------------------------------------ 68
Research Design--------------------------------------------------------------------- 69
Paradigm--------------------------------------------------------------------- 69
Approach--------------------------------------------------------------------- 70
Researcher Role------------------------------------------------------------- 72
Research Context-------------------------------------------------------------------- 72
Setting------------------------------------------------------------------------ 73
The Class--------------------------------------------------------------------- 74
The Participants------------------------------------------------------------- 76
Campus IRB Approval----------------------------------------------------- 85
Informed Consent Process------------------------------------------------- 86
Ethical Considerations----------------------------------------------------- 86
The Curriculum---------------------------------------------------------------------- 87
Class Assumption----------------------------------------------------------- 87
Glimpse of the Class Routines-------------------------------------------- 88
Data Collection Sources and Data Collecting Procedure----------------------- 93
Data Sources----------------------------------------------------------------- 94
Data Analysis---------------------------------------------------------------- 101
Another Analysis Approach for Teaching Practice-------------------- 104
Trustworthiness-----------------------------------------------------------------------108
Prolonged Engagement in the Field and Persistent Observations---- 108
Truth Value through Triangulation--------------------------------------- 109
Rich, Thick Description---------------------------------------------------- 110

4. FINDINGS---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 112
Overview of Methodology and Data Analysis Procedures--------------------- 112
Overview of the Findings----------------------------------------------------------- 113
Cases Highlighted ------------------------------------------------------------------- 118
Case One: Hung------------------------------------------------------------- 119
Hung’s Selected Poems and Analysis--------------------------- 125
Hung’s Attitude Change------------------------------------------ 142
Hung’s Reaction to Peer Response------------------------------ 144
Hung’s English learning------------------------------------------ 144
Case Two: Fem------------------------------------------------------------- 147
Fem’s Selected Poems and Analysis --------------------------- 154
Fem’s Attitude Change------------------------------------------- 165
Fem’s Reaction to Peer Response------------------------------- 167
Fem’s English Learning------------------------------------------- 168
Case Three: David --------------------------------------------------------- 174
David’s Selected Poems and Analysis-------------------------- 182

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David’s Attitude Change----------------------------------------- 187
David’s English Learning---------------------------------------- 189
Discussion of Major Themes ------------------------------------------------------ 190
Students’ Attitudes Toward Poetry and Digital Poetry Changed from
Negative to Positive----------------------------------------------------191
Students Wrote Poetry to Cope with Life Issues----------------------- 197
Students Experienced Self-Exploration--------------------------------- 208
International Students Learned English Through Reading and
Writing Poetry---------------------------------------------------------- 210
International Students Were Motivated and Engaged in English
Learning While Doing Digital Poetry ------------------------------ 212
Summary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 214

5. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ------------------------------------217
Purpose of the Study---------------------------------------------------------------- 217
Procedures---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 218
Summary of Results----------------------------------------------------------------- 219
Lesson Learned---------------------------------------------------------------------- 228
Other Implications and Recommendations for Instruction-------------------- 245
Suggestions for Future Research-------------------------------------------------- 250
Limitations---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 251
Final Thoughts------------------------------------------------------------------------252

APPENDIX------------------------------------------------------------------------------------254

A. Syllabus of the Course, “Writing, Reading and Teaching Poetry” --254
B. Writing Survey-------------------------------------------------------------- 263
C. Informed Consent Form----------------------------------------------------264
D. The Instructor’s Poetry Demonstration Slides:
“How a Poem Grows”------------------------------------------------------265
E. Guidelines for Teaching Project------------------------------------------ 275
F. Interview Questions -------------------------------------------------------- 284
G. Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden (Poem)------------------------287
H. Transistor Radio by Andrew Hudgins (Poem)-----------------------------288
I. The Instrument of Choice by Robert Phillips (Poem)----------------- 289
J. Doctoral Students are… by Lynn Chang (Poem)---------------------- 290
K. İstiklâl Marşı (Independence March) by Mustafa Kemal (Poem) --- 291
L. Coded Interview Transcript Sample (Hung, Tom, Kim)-------------- 294
M. The Instructor’s List Poem Examples------------------------------------ 299

REFERENCE--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 301
VITA------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 316

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure page
2.1 A Framework for Academic Language Learning-------------------------------- 62
3.1 Chronology of Data Collection----------------------------------------------------- 93
3.2 Selected Survey Questions---------------------------------------------------------- 95
3.3 Breakdown of Participants’ Artifacts Collected---------------------------------- 98
3.4 Data Sources Used to Answer Each Research Question------------------------ 100
3.5 Coding of the Data------------------------------------------------------------------- 102
4.1. Poetry Experiment and Date------------------------------------------------------ 117
4.2 Class Routines----------------------------------------------------------------------- 118
4.3 Hung’s Magazine Poem ----------------------------------------------------------- 126
4.4 Poem for Three Voices------------------------------------------------------------- 129
4.5 The Instructor’s Magazine Poem-------------------------------------------------- 130
4.6 Hung’s Drafts of Poem Three------------------------------------------------------ 132
4.7 Language Improvement in “ If ” -------------------------------------------------- 136
4.8 The Template and Hung’s First Draft of “Where I Belong.” ------------------ 139
4.9 Different Drafts of Hung’s Poem “Where I Belong.”--------------------------- 140
4.10 Selected Images in Hung’s Digital Poetry “Where I Belong.”--------------- 140
4.11 Fem’s Poem “ Friends” and the Instructor’s Comments---------------------- 151
4.12 Fem’s Digital Poem Draft One(Selected Slides)------------------------------- 158
4.13 Fem’s Digital Poem Final Draft (Selected Slides)----------------------------- 159
4.14 The Instructor’s Comments on Fem’s Dialogue Poem----------------------- 162
4.15 Different Drafts of Fem’s Dialogue Poem ------------------------------------- 163

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4.16 Drafts of Fem’s Poem “I Need to Raise Money.”-------------------------- 164
4.17 Corrections on Fem’s Poem “Little Hands and Little Feet.”------------- 171
4.18. Comparison of Different Slides --------------------------------------------- 172
4.19 Selected Slides from David’s Digital Poem--------------------------------- 186
4.20 Helen’s Poem “Second Door to the Right” and Analysis----------------- 202
4.21 Dona’s Poem “ Two Sides Coin” and Analysis----------------------------- 205
5.1 Selected Photos Taken in Class------------------------------------------------- 234


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