Multicultural poetry in ELT : benefits, challenges and strategies

Abstract

This article explores how teachers can incorporate multicultural poems in their English lessons in order to address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. By engaging with such texts students are able to overcome traditional biases and develop an appreciation of contemporary society's vibrant cultural variety. At the same time a plurilingual perspective is allowed to enrich English learning. This article addresses the challenges that might discourage teachers from incorporating multicultural poetry in their lessons and outlines the value of using such poems as a means of teaching English. It also presents a number of strategies by means of which multicultural poetry can be woven into one's lessons. It focuses in particular on how multimodal poems and creative writing can be used as a means of developing students' multicultural appreciation while learning English.