makalah+di+ASILE+conference+2005

What is Poetry?

It is always complicated to make a definition of poetry as it is very dynamic and always changes following the trend Hasanuddin (2002:1). There are many possibilities and also confusion to get a standard definition of what poetry is. However, for the sake of teaching and learning poetry should be defined clearly. Poetry means a piece of writing, which has rhyming words. It is written to express meaning from which a theme, intention, and message can be seen. This definition has not given enough description on the characteristics of poetry. According to Djojosuroto (2005:11), poetry is an expression of imaginative experience of people, which is constituted from linguistic, aesthetic and cultural aspects. Therefore, an analysis to poetry should be based on the linguistic and cultural code. From the way it is written, as noted by Djojosuroto (2005: 9), poetry has writing system of which the right margin and the line change are internally determined by certain indicators, which are called the meter. This system makes poetry different from prose. Poetry is also considered a special genre of language just like scientific or newspaper articles. That is why it deserves study.

There are several advantages which poetry offers to foreign language learning. Universality means that all known languages have this form of language. Besides that, themes which poetry deals with are common to all cultures such as love, death, life, nature, children, despair, and happiness. In terms of the language, poetry has typical forms in any language like the rhythm, rhyme, repetition, unusual collocations, figurative language, etc. In other words, even though the language code is different, the convention of what constitutes poetry is very recognizable.

Apart from this, poetry can motivate language learners in a way that allows students to experiment with their language. The meaning of a poem is open to interpretation. There will be no right or wrong interpretation to it. Learners can give whatever interpretation they like in their own words. As a result, they will feel that they have given an important contribution. Furthermore, even though they may not have sufficient vocabulary, they can still appreciate especially the values shown in a poem. It absolutely encourages a good attitude towards learning.

The use of particularly colorful and striking language as well as the marked rhyme in some poems and emphatic rhythm impresses reader’s minds. It is stored a lot longer in the memory. Last but not least, a poem can be used as a source for integrated activities. Not like prose with its complex language, a poem with its short form can generate other activities. When a poem is read aloud, it will give learners confidence and at the same time, practice their pronunciation. It also gives a range of new and ‘unique’ vocabulary and can further lead learners to write either the analysis or another poem.

Despite the facts above, poetry is unfortunately not very often at all included in language learning for several reasons. It is not considered ‘proper’ material for foreign language learning. Educators unavoidably tend to put priority on grammar whereas poetry can show things more than a sentence pattern such as feelings, values and more widely speaking, culture. Thus, it needs much more analysis and is believed to be a bit impractical. Besides that, because of the way poetry has been taught in the mother tongue, both teachers and students view poetry as a boring, over –reactive form of language. As a result, teachers do not have enough knowledge and confidence to use poetry in teaching a language.

B. How has Indonesia Poetry developed?

Puisi lama or Puisi baru? In Indonesia, poetry has been a part of life for the people for a long time. Indonesian people in the olden days used poetry a lot to show their intention, opinions, and values in communication. Almost all inhabited islands in Indonesia had it in their own language. Different from the modern Indonesian poetry, all Indonesian old poetry focuses on the rhymes. Kinds of poetry such as pantun, syair, talibun and gurindam belong to the old poetry (puisi lama) and each has its own characteristics

Pantun → Air dalam bertambah dalam Hujan di hulu belum lagi teduh Hati dendam bertambah dendam Dendam dahulu belum lagi sembuh

Syair → Wajah yang manis pucat berseri Laksana bulan kesiangan hari Berjalan tunduk memikirkan hari Tiada memandang ke kanan dan kiri

Talibun → Sejak berbunga daun pandan Banyaklah tikus di pematang Anak buaya datang pula Daun selasih bertambah banyak

Sejak semula dagang dijalan Tiada putus dirundung malam Banyak bahaya yang menimpa Lamun kasih berpaling tidak

Gurindam → Kurang pikir kurang siasat Tentu dirimu kelak tersesat

Silang selisih jangan dicari Jika bersua janganlah lari

Source : Situmorang( 1983: 33)

Pantun has an abab rhyming style with the first two lines as the introduction (sampiran) and the third and fourth line as the content which becomes the main idea. Syair, on the other hand has more various rhyming style of an aaaa, abab, abba, and aabb and all the lines become the content. Talibun has two verses of four lines where the first verse is the introduction and the second is the content. It usually has an abcd abcd rhyming style. While, gurindam has two verses or more of which each verse has two lines. All lyrics are related to make the content. Gurindam usually has an aa rhyming style. Regarding the themes, Indonesian old poetry are usually about local problems like arranged marriage, authority monopoly and local customs Esten Mursal Drs. (1993 :23).

Like in any other languages, poetry in Indonesia has also experienced a few changes. From those mentioned above, poetry moved to the more modern poetry, which is not restricted with rhymes. The themes also became more specific to national problems like fighting for national independence and maintaining national identity. The age of Pujangga Baru, (New poets (translated): a group which is formed after the youth pledge in 1928), which was pioneered by Rustam Effendi and Muhammad Yamin brought a new atmosphere for Indonesian poetry.

The themes in Indonesian poetry, then, narrowed to more specific problems, which are about humanity/individuality, how, for example, colonization had made many individuals suffer. This can be seen in most of the poetry of Angkatan 45 ( a group of poets which was formed in 1945) like Chairil Anwar, and Amir Hamzah. They sound very patriotic and conscientious in their poetry. They talked a lot about going to war for the country and how colonization was so cruel that separating them from the people they loved. This indeed described the situation in Indonesia at the time. Their poetry shows readers how they missed one word ‘Independence’. Chairil anwar was very prominent with his ‘spirited’ language in almost all his poems.

Then, from 1950s to 60s, some poets like Sitor Situmorang, Toto Sudarto Bachtiar, Ajip Rosidi, and Ramadan Kh brought the old style poetry back. However, the themes were different. Unlike Indonesian old poetry, which generally has simple themes and tries to enhance moral of readers/listeners, this age, on the other hand, is freer in interpretation. The themes are more complex about social problems after the independence.

As Indonesia was developing and social problems were becoming more complex, in the 1970s, poetry in Indonesia found a new style, which was unusual. Some famous poets like Sutarji Calzoum Bahri, Ibrahim Sattah, and Hamid Jabbar like to use this ‘contemporary’ form. This type of poetry generally does not follow the convention of poetry. Unlike the previous styles, this kind of poetry often uses language, which ignores aesthetic and ethical functions of language. They often use words which are generally considered ‘inappropriate’ and too straightforward for an Indonesian point of view.

C. How much is Indonesian poetry taught in the classroom?

Not much! The fact that poetry is ignored in teaching a language has also happened in Indonesia for years. Even though everyone agrees that Indonesia has an abundance of talented poets like those who were mentioned above and every year there is a poetry reading competition in all levels of formal education, it is a fact that poems have not been taught much at schools. The reasons are more or less the same as what was mentioned in the introduction. Teachers do not feel confident to teach students as they do not know what they have to teach about it and they assume that poetry is, to some extents, related with talent and that it is monopolized by some people Sudjarwo et.al (2005:68). Even if poetry is presented in the classrooms, many Indonesian teachers mistakenly think that teaching poetry is only teaching the meaning behind the words and how to read with body language. They do not realize that poetry can actually be used to teach other language skills like other materials do. Unfortunately, before publishers did not help a lot. There were not many published books, which talked about how language skills could be taught in classrooms through poetry. Instead, they were just published for appreciation. That is the reason why poetry in Indonesia until now seems very exclusive in Indonesian learning. It just appears on certain occasions. Therefore, students often find it uninteresting and also difficult.

The introduction of the new curriculum in Indonesia, which is called a competence-based curriculum and ideally designed to encourage more skills and talent rather than theoretical knowledge has put poetry one of the main ‘literary genres’ in the language learning besides novels, short stories, and folktales. Some books are starting to be published, which try to put poetry as the central activity in language learning in the classroom. Unfortunately, this approach of using poetry has not been able to give something different. The presentation format, the techniques, and the purpose are still the same. They are not more than an appreciation. The books only give the general ideas and information of poetry. Besides that, they do not present poetry as a language mode where vocabulary, functions, and also grammar in poetry are worth learning. The format has not changed into more interesting exercises. In spite of everything mentioned above, poetry actually has strengths which other texts do not have. These strengths make poetry a potential source in Indonesian learning.

D. Why teaching Indonesian poetry?

It has recently been agreed that poetry can be core material for other language activities. The characteristics of poetry which use short and simple language with very special but flexible meaning encourage discussions, analysis and of course creativity. As poetry is very open to different ideas, no students will feel inferior. There are several unique advantages of poetry.

Universality in themes and patterns

All languages in the world including bahasa Indonesia have poetry which has common characteristics. First, the themes are very universal in human life like love, death, misery, happiness, belief, and justice, social criticism, and protests. Students will not find it difficult to guess the theme. The fact that Indonesia has complexity in its people, geography, history and culture has also resulted in the variety of themes. Political events have also given a colour to Indonesian poetry. For example, in 1966, most of Indonesian modern poetry was about social protest against the government about economy and politic. The same theme was also found in modern poetry in 90s, when the people fought for a reform against the government Hassanudin (2002:19).

One positive point in language learning is familiarity. Besides the universality in themes, Indonesian poetry has conventions, which are generally the same as other languages everywhere. No matter what language students learn, they would easily recognize poetry because the use of certain characteristics such as rhythm, rhyme, figurative usage, unusual collocations, repetition Maley and Duff (1989:8). These characteristics are created to help strengthen the readers’ imagination, show the poets’ ideas, and encourage spirits and emotion.

Priority on experience and perception

It is a fact that students will be easily drawn to boredom when they are exposed too much to materials, which are too serious that requires students to think hard. It is also ineffective if the content is put aside for the sake of highlighting the language Maley and Duff (1989:8).

Poetry, on the other hand, puts priority on experiences and perception so that it enables learners to respond in their own way Maley and Duff (1989:9). In the same way, it also leads learners to find out language functions, which are used to show the ideas. Thus, in order to understand it, learners should not only learn about the language but also the values, cultural background of the poets. Indonesian poetry, which is always inspired by the nature, long national history and social complexity, has the flexibility in content, which allows learners to experience both aspects.

Hands on One of the most important conditions for learning a foreign language is the opportunity to experiment with it. Poetry is an excellent medium where students do not have to think only about the grammar Maley and Duff (1989:9). As it is known, poets stretch the language in their poetry. They make up new words, new combinations of words. The fact that Indonesian language is very dynamic and very open to any input from other languages has also enabled poets to experiment with the words they use. Djojosuroto (2005:55) states that the language in poetry is very specific. Poets may use common words with new meaning. All of these are acceptable in poetry. In relation with this, it is obviously noticed that there are at least nine deviations in Indonesian poetry, lexicon, semantic, phonology, morphology, syntax, dialect, register, history, and graphology while semantics, syntax and morphology is mostly found. In short, the language seems unrestricted from the rigid grammar. This is good even though grammar is still important to learn but the tolerance of error is probably more significant. Besides that, teaching language functions, vocabulary, and culture start to be taken into consideration. Look at the extract of a poem below. The word ‘rang’, instead of ‘orang’ is not familiarly used in conversations or writing and the phrase ‘riang haram bersusah’ is hardly heard. Interestingly, readers normally understand what the meaning of those words by relating them to the whole idea.

Reaction and personal relevance As it is generally known, the aims of spoken language are functional and transactional. For functional purpose, learners are taught a lot about how to pamper others with nice language, how to make each other feel comfortable. However, for transactional purposes, the priority is on how to communicate a ‘message’ like giving instructions, showing opinions, asking for a price and bargaining, etc. From the purpose, it seems that these two functions put emphasis merely on ‘communication tasks’.

However, besides the functions above, poetry also focuses on another purpose, which is called ‘react ional’. In poetry with its very short presentation in language, learners are made to react personally to other people’s way of seeing things. Thus, they not only need intellect but also feelings to learn poetry, which is considered very important.

Retaining to Memory

Because of certain striking or colourful phrases, poems, which we have read will stick in our minds. This memory actually helps learners keep up with the language or particularly grammar and also vocabulary. Look at the extract of a poem below. What makes it easy to remember?

Rhythmic appeal As is mentioned before, learners have a big interest in poetry because poetry has a rhythmic appeal when it is read. In poetry, rhyme, stress and intonation often get attention from readers. In fact, when it is read, rhythm obviously plays an important role to form the meaning of poetry. Some Indonesian poems are even hard to analyse if they are not read with the correct rhythm, like some of W.S Rendra’s poems. Look at the extract of ‘Nyanyian Angsa’ below:

The attention to rhythm in poetry actually gives learners practice in an important part in the spoken language. In addition to this, only poetry as a written language form enables learners to speak it naturally. Poetry can be read aloud by groups or individuals without seeming to be unnatural. It is noticed that in the past, Indonesian old poetry mostly encouraged readers to overstress words to convey meaning and also for artistic purpose. However, as it the pattern and themes become more realistic, poetry is also read more naturally. Besides that, the opportunity to speak it especially, in a group performance, will develop their confidence. It is very important that in performing poetry, learners actually learn how to show appropriate expressions. Just like in normal speech, where expressions also support meanings.

D. Culture in Indonesian poetry

Based on its definition, poetry has two main characteristics: autonomy and communication. The first is related to literary codes. Meanwhile, for the communicative characteristic, poetry is bound to linguistic and cultural codes. The latter refers to how cultural background affects poets in showing their ideas to readers. Teeuw ( Djojosuroto K., 2005: 23).states that in order to understand the main idea, theme, feeling, tone, and message which a poet conveys, readers should be able to comprehend the codes such as analysis, comparison, meaning, symbols, literary, and culture. Arief Budiman ( Djojosuroto K., 2005: 38) also has the same idea. He states that Indonesian poetry is contextual. This means that the creation of poetry cannot be separated from the poets’ background and socio cultural facts.

From examples of Indonesian poetry, it can be seen that there are some cultural aspects, which are always considered, namely historical and political facts, social structure and values. Readers will be able to find out poets’ point of view about philosophy, social values, problems, psychology, and religion. These points of view affect the poet’s choice of language, expression of the topic, tone, and situation, which are presented in a poem.

The poem above shows readers what village women are like. In the poem above, village women are described with the words ‘perempuan-perempuan’ instead of ‘wanita’ since the connotative meaning of ‘wanita’ is a modern woman who has good career which is, therefore not relevant with village women. The village women are those who are traditional but strong. They are willing to do any jobs to help their family financially. Some words are very cultural like bakul, pasar, desa.

E. What aspects in the language can be taught through poetry

Poetry just like folktales, drama, and other literary works can actually be used as core materials in language teaching activities. However, the other advantage that only poetry has is that it offers a complete content, which is expressed in a very economically expressed language form. This result is in the efficiency in learning. Unlike prose, poetry is a self-contained ‘world’. From the small language input, teachers can generate a large and varied output such as teaching of the culture, values and teaching of the language it self.

Talking about the language, because of its compactness, poetry tends to use words, which are selected for their ‘weight’ and quality. Djojosuroto (2005 :47) also supported the idea that shows how poetry is interrelated with the language and culture. She stated that in order to understand the meaning behind a poem, readers should not only know the literary code but also the language code and the cultural values which are implied in the poem it self.

Referring to the statement above, when using poetry in the classroom, teachers actually lead students to the three aspects. In terms of the literary, teachers can show students the general characteristic of poetry like how it is constituted. For more specific purpose, teachers can teach the language skills and the culture from the content of poetry, which will be discussed latter in part F and G. The language is more about the physical structure of poetry while the culture is related to the ‘soul’, which is covered in the theme, subject matter, and message.

1. What to learn about the language

It is known that in Indonesian poetry, the language used is slightly different from the language people use in conversations. The language used in conversations is more practical while the language in Indonesian poetry is informative, directive, and aesthetic. Thus, it has more words/phrases, which have connotative meaning. Besides that, unlike prose and other written works, poetry does not put priority on the grammar and the sentences tend to be shorter but meaningful. Despite the differences, the poetry and other language forms have several things in common. Thus, students can actually learn the language in poetry to be later used for other purpose like conversations and writing. The aspects in poetry, which can be included in the language teaching, are as follows:

Diction

What is good to learn vocabulary from poetry is from the selection of the words. Words, which are used in poetry, are selected carefully and systematically until they really represent the situation, condition of the poetry and also the feeling of the poet. The right choice of words will strengthen the aura of poetry and then the impact on the readers will be higher. For example, words, which are used to express grief, will be very different from those to show anger. If you see the two extracts of poems below, you will be able to recognize which is about regret and about courage.

The italicized words used in poem A refer to the unhappy situation. Words like hilang, melayang, petang, lalai, lengah, meracun in this poem are related to hopelessness. While, the italicized words in poetry B such as nafas, pukul, api, bakar, merah, bara, nyala, kobar can be associated with with spirit and audacity. Besides the theme, diction in poetry is also based on who the addressee is (who is the poetry for?). In the two poems above, the use of ‘ku’ or ‘aku’ tell us that they are written for younger people, or people who are the same age as the poets. Beside that, there is a close relationship expected between the poets and readers. That is the reason, poetry which is aimed to give advice or stimulate spirit and brave usually use the pronouns aku (ku) and kamu (mu at the end of words).

In practice, it is very important for language learners to know how to put correct words in certain contexts and situations. However, so far, diction is not learnt much in Indonesian classroom. Few teachers discuss group of words or phrases, which have certain a ‘flavour’. Sometimes, teachers only correct mistakes in diction without giving any reasons. Through poetry, teachers can actually provide students practice in recognizing diction efficiently and effectively.

Figurative Language

If diction is related with words, figurative language is more related with phrases and sentences. In Indonesian conversations or writing, figurative language is often used to create additional meaning and to strengthen the intention of the speakers and writer. In poetry, the purposes of using figurative language are 1) to create imaginative pleasure for the poets and the reader 2) to enhance additional meaning that denotative words cannot make 3) to show the intensity of the poets’ feeling and represent their attitude towards something 4) to emphasize the main idea that the poetry deals with. Djojosuroto K (2005: 17).

There are different opinions about the language forms, which can be categorized into figurative language. However, in general there are four patterns, which are found in Indonesian poetry.

1) Comparison : this pattern tries to compare one thing with another which has the same characteristics. The conjunctions used here are comparative words like bagai, bak, seperti, laksana, umpama, and ibarat.

…………………………….. bak lenggokan mohjang priangan langkah girang para bocah kayuhan sepeda tua para jejaka muda ……………………………………………. (Tempoe Doeloe, Maria Lonna: unpublished)

2)Metaphor, a figurative language, which tries to use certain words, phrases, or sentences, which originally belongs to one thing, to symbolize other things ,which, in some ways, have the same characteristics. Look at the extract below:

The poem above, rumput symbolizes Mother as both have the same characteristic for not seeking her own pleasure. While Burung dara symbolizes the daughter who will go to follow her husband and Elang is the son who will go away to his ambition.

3) Personification: this figurative language put characteristics of live/animate things into inanimate things. They can act or think like human. Poets who use this form try to make the image in their poem alive or concrete.

4) Imagery : The poets’ sensitive experience which is expressed in words and sentences. This helps livening the situation that the poets try to show in their poetry. Readers will feel as if they hear, see, feel something. Look at the extract below:

In Indonesia the figurative language above is much used not only in literary works. Also, people use them to reinforce others’ impression of what they say or write. For example, in debates, campaigns, advertisements or the likes, figurative language is one of weapons to persuade others.

Apart from figurative language, even though the grammar in poetry is not considered ‘the priority’, actually it still can be discussed for the sake of language teaching. In addition to this, some Indonesian poems are very good examples for discussions about grammar. From the observation of some Indonesian poems, it can be seen that there are several aspects which can be taught. Among others are:

1. Affixes : except contemporary poetry as it is not a proper example for the topic, actually most Indonesia poems from the era of Balai Pustaka until Angkatan 66 tend to follow grammatical rules in their sentences, meaning that they still use affixes to clarify the meaning. Look at the extract below;

The poem above uses certain affixes like me, ter, ber, and –kan to let readers have a clearer picture about what is happening in the poem. Besides that, the poet uses complete sentences to ‘humble’ himself in front of the god. For language teaching purposes, the teacher can simply lead students to identify affixes in the poem and the meaning behind the patterns. Poetry can be a media to test their comprehension. From the use of affixes, readers know sentence structures, which are very crucial in forming a meaning. Structures include active-passive, repetition, the combination of prefixes and suffixes.

2. Pronouns: because Indonesian poetry, like others, is written to show what poets feel about something and what they expect from something or someone, pronouns appear a lot in it. From the use of pronouns, readers will know how poets put themselves in front of readers. Beside that, readers will be able to recognize whom the poetry is written for. The use of kita, kami, saudara-saudari, kamu, Anda are the indicators. Like the poem above, the poet used -ku and –mu with capital M to show that there is a close relationship between him and the God. The use of capital M, which is only for God, shows the respect. As a comparison, see the extract of the poem below:

The verse above uses ‘saya ‘ because he does not want to involve readers in the poem and put them in a distant position. Pronouns in fact are never away from language use. That’s the reason why they are very significant to learn and put emphasis on. Poetry gives very clear contexts where the pronouns have an important part to constitute a message.

Cohesive devices: just like other written works, poetry also needs cohesive devices to make sentences interrelated and coherent to create an idea. In Indonesian poetry (once again, except the contemporary poetry), cohesive devices, which include conjunctions, and prepositions are used much, especially in poetry to connect one line to the next line to create a story.

Pronunciation

As mentioned earlier that the biggest appeal of poetry is the rhythm. The knowledge of how words or sentences are read is very significant in order to get the meaning. This fact is just the same in any other spoken text. Poetry can be an effective material to practice word stress, intonation, and pronunciation accuracy.

2.What about culture?

Introducing culture through poetry is in some ways very effective. That is because in the process of writing poetry, poets are inspired by the socio cultural background. This can be seen from the selection of theme, words and sentences, tone, feeling and message. Basically, a literary work including poetry is codes or symbols which represent the life of society where poets live. Regarding society life, topics will extend to values, tradition, lifestyle, habits, economic life, and history. Indonesian poetry is very ‘rich’ in these aspects.

F. Media in teaching poetry

As mentioned earlier, poetry has been considered ‘unfamiliar’ for a long time in language learning. As a result, when teachers start to use it in class, it might not work as expected. The problem might be in the approach which is used. So far, it is assumed that Indonesian language teachers only use ‘ a read aloud and read by your heart then find out the theme kind of activity. That makes students bored and reluctant. Receptivity to a poem is usually improved if students are already tuned in to the wavelength on which it is transmitting Maley and Duff (1989:17).

There are actually several ways that poetry can be taught in language learning. First, to find out themes of poetry, teachers can try the following ways. However, the language skills and poems have to be graded based on levels of students

1. Using Pictures. Pictures can be used as the direct representation of what a poem is going to be about. A recommended activity would be a picture with prompt questions like: Gambar apakah ini? (What is it?) Apa yang sedang dilakukannya?(What is it doing?) Bagaimana keadaannya (how is it?) etc. It is more effective if the questions are relevant to the poem. By doing so, students will have prior knowledge (even though, on the level of guessing) and actually learn vocabulary. Look at the following poem which is taken from a famous child magazine, Bobo;

Before showing this poem to students, the teacher can show several pictures which can be associated with it, such as a rabbit with sad face, a house and a girl who is looking for something. These pictures are not necessarily good but clear enough for students to understand. While showing the pictures, the teacher can give prompt questions like, Binatang apa ini? Apakah dia kelihatan senang? Gambar apakah ini? Apakah kelinci ini tahu rumah ini? Siapakah kira-kira gadis kecil ini? Apa yang dia lakukan? The teacher should appreciate any answers from students even though you have to make the conclusive answers in the end. For a follow-up, students can be asked to make a one-paragraph story, which relates all the pictures. Then the activity can be continued with reading the poetry and asking what the theme of the poem is. On one side, by showing pictures with prompt questions, the teacher actually not only lead students to the concept of what the poem is about but also introduce grammar such as making questions, affixes an pronouns. On the other side, culture can also be taught through discussion about having a pet in Indonesia, which might be different from the culture of students, which include the animals, the treatment, the regulation, etc. For more advanced activities, after reading the poem, students in groups may be asked to make different questions about the pictures and ask other groups. To stimulate vocabulary learning, the teacher can ask students to list any adjectives, which describe the pictures.

This way may sound a bit ‘unfriendly’ to teachers who are not good at drawing. However, pictures, which are drawn or chosen by students themselves, can also provide very powerful motivation, as well as focusing students’ attention on themes Maley and Duff (1989:22). Teachers can assign students to draw or find out pictures, which are related with the poem, which will be discussed.

2. Stimulating personal reactions. To comment on a poem, students may compare it with their own experience, as it is believed that the greatest resource available in the classroom is the wealth of personal experience of students Maley and Duff (1989:23). Personal reaction includes memory and reaction to sensations. Indonesian poetry is coloured with poems, which talk about personal experience and involve senses. Thus, students can make their own poem based on their experience, which might result from brainstorming on memories, sensations, and spontaneous reactions.

To do this activity, the teacher should do a brainstorming activity in such a way so that students can express their feeling and experience. One theme can be selected, for example, the simple one, an activity at one weekend. The teacher can ask students to mention an unforgettable weekend in their life or ask them to write words, which are related with their weekends. The teacher might restrict them in numbers and class of words. It is also a very good idea if teachers can show one example of a poem which has the same theme.

This poem can be shown to students after they finish doing the brainstorming activity. They can compare what they have and what the poet writes. To follow this, students are given questions to check their understanding of the poem. This poem and also the words, which they have in their list, then can give inspiration for students to write a poem.

The word ‘delman’ is very cultural, which is very useful for students from a different culture, which does not know/have it. Teachers can explain why ‘delman’ is so interesting for children in Java and why it is closely connected with ‘pasar’

3.Using recordings There will require a little extra effort, as teachers have to involve other people in preparation. The teacher can choose a theme and compose a brief interview conversation with about three native speakers. Teachers may ask non-native speaker who is quite fluent Indonesian if there are no native speakers around. Record the interview. In class, students listen to the recording and fill in the table with appropriate information. In pairs, students compare their answers. A poem is presented and students should match it with the likely speaker.

Speaker Theme? Who/what is the poem, for? Feeling?

Speaker 1

Speaker 2

Speaker 3

For a follow-up activity, the teacher can ask students their opinion on the issue appearing in the theme

4.Newspaper articles A poem can be integrated with an up-to date article taken from a newspaper. The article is then the foundation of discussion and poetry is used as a support. Students can read the article first (it is suggested to have an article about a tragedy) and teachers lead students to a guided discussion kind of activity. At the end, teachers show a poem, which students can compare with their ideas.

What the teacher can do is first select a short newspaper article which touches on the theme of the poem you want to work with. Then, have students read the text. In groups, they discuss the problems shown in the article and ways, to avoid the problems. After discussion, teachers can show the poem and discuss the poet’s point of view. As this activity needs more language input, in teaching Indonesian as a foreign language, especially lower levels, teachers should be ‘tolerant’ with the use of students’ mother tongue. Beside teachers should do article selection which is based on students’ level of ability

For example for high school students, The tsunami in Aceh last year could be quite a good topic to raise which allows further discussions. The teacher can ask students a few brainstorming questions about the tsunami before giving the article. The teacher might ask when students heard about a tsunami; where this word comes from; what happened in Aceh. After that, let students read the article about The tsunami in Aceh. The teacher can provide comprehension questions. As a comparison, show students the poem below.

For further discussion, The teacher can invite students to a mini debate activity about how this problem can happen and how to solve the problem. Related to the theme of the poem, The teacher at the end can explain about Indonesian geography and how it might influence potential for a tsunami.

A few words are also worth discussing with students as they have cultural point. Words like Ibu pertiwi, which refers to the country and ‘semayam’ which means to give final tribute and prayers before burial.

4.Using drama and Role-play

Some poems allow students to put them into a role play or drama. The teacher can choose any poems which are possible to dramatise. It is not as difficult as it sounds. Role play and drama can be a short dialogue or a simple opera kind of presentation. Look at the poem below:

After reading the poem and discussing the theme and meaning, tell students that they will act out the poem. The simplest way is to put students in groups of approximately five students. Three of them will be teachers and the rest are students. Each of the three teachers then read aloud each paragraph with proper body language to students.

This activity can be designed more deliberately by asking students to provide props for the drama such as the clothes and accessories for the teacher’s role and students’ role. Before that, however, a brainstorming activity prior to the teaching should be given to students through discussion of a teacher’s life in general. Then, discussion is narrowed to teachers in Indonesia. Ask students what they know about them, their life style, what their relationship with students is like. In this case, there is a lot of information on culture can be introduced.

This activity is very effective in a way that through role play, students can feel the poem. Remind students all the time to use body language and facial expression. Besides that, students practice their pronunciation skill. By being able to be part of a literary work, students will be a lot more motivated.

5. Prose writing This way is one of the most useful to make students think about the theme and content of the poem. Therefore, this activity can be done either after or before the poem.

As a pre activity, teachers can ask students to write down their opinion on a given theme, which is of course related with the theme of the poem, which they are going to read. Then, students can compare their ideas with others. At the end, show students the poem and ask them to compare it with their composition.

If the poem is about a story or description, teachers may ask students to retell what they understand from the poem in writing.

It is noticed that the activities above are more related with the ideas in poetry. However, if teachers would like to teach the language as well, then they should also focus on the detailed text. Language and ideas are not separate in poetry. That is the reason why students should work with the content as well.

G. What to do with the text in a poem ?

To teach the content of poetry, it is suggested that teachers vary the activities to maintain students’ interests. Just like songs, if the presentation of the poems is too monotonous, students will not see a challenge to become involved.

There are several activities which can be generated from the content of a poem. However, teachers should grade the exercises to get the maximum result.

1. Missing words or gap filling Just like teaching a song, students can be challenged to listen and spell words. This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or in large groups. Students fill in gaps with correct words.

This activity is very effective to let students practice their vocabulary skill especially in putting words in contexts. For lower classes (beginners), teachers can help students by providing the words, for example in the box, and students can choose. Beside that, the words, which are focused, are more general. For pre-intermediate or intermediate levels for example, however, without any help from teachers, students should be given more specific diction to guess. With the higher levels, teachers can ask their reasons why they put certain words. Here is an example:

i. Choose the words in the box to complete the poem below.

Katak Bentuknya bulat kakinya 1………… Tidak 2………… kulit berkerak Saat 3 ………..meloncat-loncat Tampak di saat hujan tiba Sembunyi di saat 4……….. Bernyanyi di 5……… hari Tidur di siang hari 6 …………. kesukaannya 7…………… dengan lidah Lalu ditelan 8………… sungguh lucu Aku suka melihatmu Dan aku takmengganggumu

(Unsa arifa : Majalah Bobo. 2005:10)

The exercise above might be too easy for higher levels. If teachers want to use the same poem for lower and higher levels, teachers should be able to upgrade the exercises. Teachers can ask students in higher levels to fill in gaps without having to provide them the choice. In this case, students should use their imagination and ability to relate words in contexts. Here teachers should accept any answers as long as they are logical and coherent. By doing this, students do not realize that they might make a new poem of their own. That is why teachers should be very tolerant with any answers even though at the end of the activity, the original version should be revealed.

As follow up, teachers can conduct a discussion about the poem including the theme and the content both the language and cultural perspective. Above all, not all poems can be used for this exercise. Teachers should choose a poem, which can be fairly well grasped, even with words missing. To decide which words are left out, teachers should strike a balance between the easy and difficult. Also, there should be clues in the text to be able to guess the words.

2. Words selection This exercise is just like the previous exercise. However, it is more possible to introduce unknown or unfamiliar words. The technique in this activity gives an advantage for students to work from language parts of a poem to learn the whole meaning. Another good point is that teachers can use any poems even the already familiar ones.

The activity can start by giving students the poem on a sheet or on OHP with three alternatives for selected words. Students, who are put in small groups before, should discuss to choose the most suitable word for each context. One of the alternatives should be the word, which the poet used. Later, they can compare their answers with the original poem.

Apart from the language purpose, as Indonesian poetry uses a lot of words, which are cultural and selected to meet the poet’s intention, teachers can induce the teaching of social and cultural background as well. However, not all poems can be good examples. Look at the example below,

ii. Choose the word, which you think most suitable in each context.

Perempuan-Perempuan Perkasa

Perempuan- perempuan (gemulai, perkasa, pemberani) yang membawa (tombak, bakul, senjata) di pagi buta Dari manakah mereka, Ke setasiun kereta mereka datang dari bukit-bukit desa, Sebelum peluit kereta pagi (terhenti, terjaga, berteriak) Sebelum hari bermula dalam (pesta, rutinitas, kegilaan) kerja.

Perempuan-perempuan yang membawa (tombak, bakul, senjata) Dalam kereta kemanakah mereka

Di antara roda-roda baja mereka berkendara Mereka (beradu, bersitegang, berlomba) dengan surya menuju ke gerbang Kota (membuang-buang, menikmati, merebut) hidup di pasar-pasar kota.

Perempuan-perempuan yang membawa (tombak, bakul, senjata) di pagi buta, Siapakah mereka Akar-akar yang (menjulur, melata, mati) dari tanah perbukitan turun ke kota, Mereka: cinta kasih yang bergerak menghidupi desa demi desa.

(Source: Hartoyo Andangjaya :Djojosuroto K. 2005:60).

3. Jumbled lines

This activity brings students to practice their listening skill as well their vocabulary skill. First, teachers should prepare a poem. Then, the sentences in each line are broken up and written randomly on the white board. The students in partners should sequence the lines back. After that, teachers invite the class as a whole to build up the poem line by line. Teachers can ask some students to read their version and others can show disagreement At the end, the original version is read out. For this activity, teachers should select a poem, which has a maximum length of 12 lines. These can be variously combined so that any different orders will tolerable. For lower level students, teacher can use a poem, which uses more explicit sentences and the selection of more simple words. The poem “ naik delman “ (page 17) can be used. Asking students their experience with a public transport and market can combine this activity. Then it is continued with the sequencing exercise, like the example below:

iii .Order the sentences below from 1-10 to make a poem. Number 1 and 8 have been done

Naik Delman

Naik Delman (1) Kusirnya duduk tenang Di antara berjubelnya kendaraan Kuikut ibu ke pasar Mengatur jalannya delman Di antara sempitnya jalanan Kudanya lari kencang

Karena bisa melihat pemandangan Perjalanan menyenangkan Kiri kanan Naik delman (8) Kiri kanan (source: M Saputri : Juharmie et.all. 2004:33)

4. Contrast Students are given two poems, which in some ways have similarities. Students should find the similarities and differences. It is admitted that this activity is rather difficult and need more preparation especially for lower levels. However, for them, teachers can start with two simple poems, for example, about animals, then ask students to find out three similarities and differences between the poems. To look for two poems, which are similar, is not an easy job. Obviously, poems are unique in different ways. However, teachers can consider two poems are comparable from the theme or message, the vocabulary, grammar, form or tone. Comparing two poems actually help students to notice things, which they might ignore when they are given one poem. If teachers cannot find already available poems, which are similar, teachers for the sake of teaching can make a second version, which is adapted from the original version. Teachers might just change some words or sentence patterns.

Here is an example of the activity, which uses two different poems which both talk about flowers.

iv. Poem A

Mawar Merah

Mawar merah di bawah jendela Menjulur-julurkan tangkainya Kamarku jadi taman seribu bunga Dan peri kecil berlompatan Diantaranya (ketika larut seseorang menanamnya dan membawanya pagi-pagi buta)

Ingin kupamerkan mawarku Pada setiap yang lewat Berharap membagi keindahannya Sia-sia sebab ia senantiasa sembunyi Jauh dalam tidurku

Mawar merah di bawah jendela Menjatuhkan kelopaknya helai demi helai Tubuhku jadi nisan bertabur kembang dan dari harumnya Kurangkai dongeng masa kanak-kanak

Jangan sedih Tempatmu bukan pada warna dan wangi tapi mawar merah menjadi mimpiku

(Mas Ruscita dewi. 1999:13 Poem B

Teratai

Dalam kebun di tanah airku, Tumbuh sekuntum bunga teratai Tersembunyi kembang indah permai Tak terlihat orang yang lalu

Akarnya tumbuh di hati dunia Daun berseri Laksmi mengarang Biarpun dia diabaikan orang Seroja kembang gemilang mulia.

Teruskan, O Teratai Bahagia Berseri di kebun Indonesia Biar sedikit penjaga taman.

Biarpun engkau tidak dilihat Biarpun engkau tidak diminat Engkaupun turut menjaga zaman.

(Sanusi Pane : Situmorang B.P : 1983 :82)

Teachers can start the activity by giving students some brainstorming questions, for example asking students to mention any flowers in Indonesian. Write their answers on the white board. Continue asking students to mention words, which are related with flowers. After the brainstorming activity, show students these two poems and ask them to skim-read them. Then, ask students questions about the general idea of the poems, such as, ‘what flower is poem A talking about?’ ‘What flower is poem B talking about?’ ‘Does the poet in A and B give positive feeling to the flowers?’ For more specific language activities, ask students to read the poems more carefully. Then, ask them to underline words which both poems use or words, which have the same meaning. For more difficult task, ask students to underline sentences which imply the same meaning from the two poems.

5. Translation The involvement of mother tongue in foreign language learning in some ways can encourage students’ confidence. Translation is one of the ways, which allows students to use their mother tongue. It is believed when dealing with comprehension and opinion; the interference of mother tongue in language learning is acceptable as students can show more ideas. Apart from that, one of the ways to learn vocabulary is by giving the translation of the words.

Translation in poetry can be categorized into two kinds. A pure translation means that the original version is translated, as it is words by words or lines by lines. The second, paraphrase translation, the original version is summarized in a prose version. Both are very useful depending on the purpose of learning. If teachers require students to learn words, which only appear in a poem, the first one will be better as students. For higher levels, the second translation might challenge them because they can express their comprehension on the poem in their mother tongue. To do this activity, teachers can first give a poem in the target language (Indonesian) and the translation text. Here is the example:

v. Lukisan

Lukisan abstrak hitam putih Seperti goresan kanak-kanak Dengan seribu keinginan Menjadi gunung, menjadi laut Menjadi angin, menjadi langit

Bahasa yang dimengerti sendiri Tak ada janji keindahan Karena kita adalah keindahan Menjadi debu, menjadi batu Menjadi bulan, menjadi semesta

Kau dan aku tak selalu paham Siapa sebab, siapa akibat Siapa kanvas, siapa pena Siapa tangan, siapa kita

Kita adalah lukisan abstrak Hitam putih The translation: Painting

An abstract painting in black and white Like the scribbling of a child With a thousand desires To become mountains, or the sea To become wind or the sky

Language directly understood Offers no promise of beauty For we are beauty Becoming dust, becoming stone The moon and the universe

You and I will never comprehend Who is the cause, who the result Who the canvas, who the pen Who the hand, or who we truly are

We are an abstract painting In black and white

Ask them, then, to find out which words or phrases in the poem, which become the equivalence of the underlined words or phrases in the translation text. Teachers can restrict the activity by giving a list of words (especially keywords).

As follow up activity, teachers can ask students to write their paraphrase translation with the help of the keywords.

6. Recognition This activity is more suitable with higher levels as, in some ways, it requires a deep comprehension on language form and preparation to transform a poem into a prose. Students, who are first divided into two groups, are given two pieces of texts, which have the same theme. However, one of the texts is a poem and the other is a prose. Look at the examples below:

vi. Which text is a poem and which is a prose

A. Naik Delman

Naik Delman (1) Kusirnya duduk tenang Di antara berjubelnya kendaraan Kuikut ibu ke pasar Mengatur jalannya delman Di antara sempitnya jalanan Kudanya lari kencang

Karena bisa melihat pemandangan Perjalanan menyenangkan Kiri kanan Naik delman (8) Kiri kanan (source: M Saputri : Juharmie et.all. 2004:33)

B. Pada suatu hari Saputri ikut ibunya ke pasar. Merekanaik angkutan bernama delman. Pak kusir mengendarai delmannya diantara banyaknya kendaraan dengan sangat tenang. Pak kusir sangt mahir mengendalikan kuda diantara jalan-jalan yang sempit. Saputri sangat senang karena sepanjang perjalanan, dia bisa melihat pemandangan kiri kanan. After presenting the two texts above, ask students to discuss with their groups, which one is a poem and which is a prose. They should be encouraged to give reasons. Ask them to discuss the characteristics of both texts. Before showing the correct answers, teachers can ask one student to read each piece of the text aloud. By doing so, teachers remind students that from the way the texts are said and presented show what type of writing they are. In Indonesian, to find out an already available poem and prose, which have exactly the same things to talk about, is almost impossible. That is why teachers should write their own prose, which is based on an already available poem or vice versa. To transform a poem into a prose version, teachers can add punctuations, conjunction, and other words, which clarify meanings. Teacher, however, should understand words in the poem which have connotative meanings. To make things less complicated, poems, which are chosen, should better have a clear narrative style.

As follow up, students can be asked to make their own prose writing based on a poem given by teachers. When doing this, students actually practice to put words in contexts and understanding the ideas a poet tries to convey.

7. Fractured phrases Students are divided into several groups. Each group is given slips of paper where phrases are written. These phrases are derived from a poem. Ask each group to make as many as complete sentences by combining any of the phrases. Tell students that same phrases can be used more than once. For example:

vii. sumber pengabdianku adakah yang ku punya selain buku-buku ke rumahku kalau hari Minggu aku takut, anak-anakku dan sedikit ilmu kepadamu. engkau datang, anak-anakku

kursi-kursi tua dan meja tulis dan jendela-jendela diganti kainnya tentang hidupku semua padamu ah, tentang ini depan kelas wajah-wajahmu remaja bagiku- anak-anakku engkau terlalu bersih untuk mengenal yang tak pernah sederhana yang di sana akan bercerita dirumah tangga tak pernah aku bercerita , sedang menatap- horison yang selalu biru karena kutahu engkau terlalu muda dari dosa ini semua

To make the activity easier, teachers can give students some clues, such as, the title of the original poem, the number of stanzas (verses) and number of lines in each stanza (verse). Before a sequencing activity, ask students to exchange their list of sentences with other groups. After comparing with other groups’ work, students can revise theirs and sequence the sentences. At the end, show students the original poem.

This activity has an aspect of sentence- building skill. It is very useful to train students to make meaningful and logical sentences. Consequently, this activity requires students recall their memory on grammar. It is very interesting that students might form a new piece of poem just by doing that.

8. Building up from memory This activity is usually done after reading a poem. Students are asked to call out any words or fragments of the poem that they can remember in a given time. Teachers should not be too strict with the answers. Students check their answers when the poem is read once again. At the end, as a round –up session, ask students to call out the words/phrases which they get and discuss the lyrics line by line. This activity can also use pictures to test students’ memory. After listening to the poem for the first time, students are given a picture with several things in it. Students should recognise which of those things are mentioned in the poem.

9. Illustration

For higher level, teachers might use this activity. Groups of students are given three or four poems, which are all similar. Then, they are also given a set of pictures. Students should choose which picture illustrates which poem the best. After that let them compare their ideas with other groups. This activity needs a quite long preparation, as teachers have to provide pictures, which is not easy to find unless teachers should make it by themselves. However, to anticipate this problem, if teachers are hesitant in drawing, they can use three already available pictures and write a poem based on one of the pictures.

10. Line-by-line opening

Students are given the title and the first line of a short poem. Write these on the white board. Ask them to guess what the second line might be. Accept any answers come from students. After that, write up the second line. The activity continues to ask students the third line.and so on, until the end of the poem. As a variant of this activity, teachers can use a poem with strong end rhymes. Write each rhyme on the white board and ask students to make a line, which ends with these words.

All the activities above are very common in language learning. Therefore, teachers will not find serious difficulty in designing the activities. What teacher should notice is the selection of poems. The selection of poem should be based on the language level, learning purpose, and the suitability of the theme with students’ background.

Bibliography

Ensten, Mursal Drs. (1993). Pengantar Teori dan Sejarah Kesusastraan, Bandung:Penerbit Angkasa.

Maley, A. & Duff, A. (1989). The Inward Ear :Poetry in the language classroom, New York : Cambridge University Press.

Sudjarwo and et al. (2005). Cakap Berbahasa Indonesia 1A : SMP Kelas 1 Semester 1, Jakarta : PT Garmedia Widiasarana Indonesia.

Hasanudin WS. (2002). Membaca dan Menilai Sajak : Pengantar Pengkajian dan Interpretasi, Bandung : Penerbit Angkasa.

Mas Ruscitadewi. (1999). Hana Bira Kelopak Bunga : Collected Poems of Mas Ruscitadewi, Denpasar : Yayasan Bali Anyar.

Situmorang, B.P. Drs. (1983). Puisi : Teori Apresiasi Bentuk dan Struktur, Flores : Nusa Indah.

Djojosuroto, Kinayati. (2004). Puisi : Pendekatan dan Pembelajaran, Jakarta : Nuansa.

E.K. Juharmie, and et al. (2004). Buku PR B. Indonesia sekolah Dasar Kelas 6, Jakarta : Epsilon Grup.

Tim Grasindo. (2005). Bahasa dan Sastra Indonesia 3A untuk SMA Kelas 3, Jakarta : PT Gramedia Widiasarana Indonesia.

Redaksi Majalah Indonesia. (2005) Bobo : Teman Bermain dan Belajar Tahun xxxii 24 Februari 2005, Jakarta : Redaksi Majalah Indonesia.

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