CREATIVE WRITING: COMPOSING AND ENJOYING HAIKU IN THE EFL CLASSROOMS
6. The Practice of Haiku Writing in EFL Classrooms
In order to practice haiku writing effectively in EFL language classrooms, a specific plan is necessary. This lesson plan is written and reviewed by scholars using current research and the best instructional practices.
6.1 The First Stage: Reading and Discussing Haiku
At the beginning of the class, it is helpful to read a few haikus. Before providing a formal definition of what haiku is, the instructor should give students opportunities to experience reading haiku and feel the syllables coming alive with the whole of their being. Giving examples of haiku poems written by famous poets is an excellent way to become familiar with this form of poetry. They illustrate what a haiku poem looks like and a little about their history can be helpful too. As it was mentioned in the previous section the three masters of haiku from the 17th and 18th century were
Basho, Buson and Issa. Their works are still the model of haiku writing today.
The next step is for the students to make their own interpretations. The instructor encourages them by asking the following questions:
• What is the theme? • What is the context?
• What is happening in the poem?
• What does the writer want to tell you in the haiku?
• What is your impression from this haiku? (Iida, 2010, p. 32)
At first students responds individually, then they form small groups to share and discuss their comments and interpretations. Remember that there is no right or wrong way of responding to a haiku. There are no correct or incorrect comments. The instructor is to welcome any possible
the basic features of this type of Japanese poem. It can help the students when they start writing haiku in English.
6.2 The Second Stage: Guidelines for Writing Haiku
The aim of this stage is to help the learners to gain a better understanding of the nature of Haiku. The instructor reads aloud the poems. The poems should be read slowly. Then the instructor asks the following questions about the haiku:
• How many syllables are used in each line? • What is the seasonal reference?
• Where do you see a cutting word in this haiku? (Iida, 2010, p. 31)
The instructor allows a few minutes for each student to think about these questions and then discusses them in class. The learners are asked what common features the poems have. The instructor’s role in this activity is to lead the discussion and help learners understand the special guidelines that dictate the form of haiku. The common characteristics will be written on the board as the students mention them. Finally the instructor completes the list so there will be a comprehensive list of the features of haiku for later use.
Traditional Japanese haiku had a total of seventeen syllables divided into three lines.
It can be written in the traditional pattern of 5-7-5 syllables but they do not have to be.
It contains sensory images and seasonal references (kigo).
It avoids figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification …)
It avoids complicated language or high sounding words.
It does not have to rhyme.
It pictures simple ordinary subject matters in everyday language.
It contains two juxtaposed ideas (two seemingly unrelated things). This juxtaposition arouses powerful responses in the readers.
A haiku has usually one strong break in meaning (a division in thought between the earlier and later parts of the poem. It may come at the end of the first or second line. In Japanese it is called
Kireji (cutting word). In English this division may be indicated by dash, colon, semi-colon or ellipsis.
6.3 The Third Stage: Brainstorm for Ideas
Now it is time to offer our students a chance to start writing haiku. The instructor is to help the learners to collect material for their poems. It can be done in the classroom. Beautiful landscapes drawings and pictures of natural scenes can stimulate creativity. When students form mental pictures with their mental eyes, when they are still in the right mood, encourage them to record their inner thoughts and feelings in their haikus.
Some instructors suggest takingstudents outdoors or even to art exhibitions. You should find a place that can spark students' imaginations and inspire them to write poetry. Ask the students what they saw, heard or felt at that particular inspiring moment. They can start by making a list of seasonal images, and emotional responses. This list can be very helpful when they start writing their haikus. Iida (2010) believes that it works if the instructor asks them to spend 10 to 20 minutes there to answer the following questions:
• What do you see and hear? • What do you smell and taste? • What do you feel?
This activity allows students to situate themselves to a specific time and collect as many impressions as possible by answering the above questions (p.32).
6.4 The Fourth Stage: Start Writing Haiku
The aim of this stage is to help students understand how to write haiku in English. Now it is time to use their collected impressions to write haiku. However, in spite of reading and reviewing the nature of haiku in the previous stages, our language learners may still feel confused when they are asked
to start writing their first haiku. Therefore the instructor is to guide the students' thought process by asking specific questions. For instance, first of all, students may be asked to consider the main idea that they intend to convey to the readers of their poems. Now students can write three lines. In order to adjust to the traditional structure of haiku, the instructor should help students by encouraging them to search among synonyms, and rewrite the poem that fit into the 5-7-5 syllable pattern.
6.5 The Fifth Stage: Small Group Reading Activity
Having students work in small groups to improve writing skills is just smart. When all the students have written their haiku, they can share their works with other learners in small groups. While reading their haiku aloud to each other, students can recognize whether the flow of the language in their haiku is natural or it is necessary to bring some changes. Kramsch suggests that each student who is in the listening role can write down something "he or she particularly liked about the poem" or suggest the points "he or she would have said differently" (p. 171). Feedback from friends can be very helpful. The students can exchange their haiku and try to formulate themes for those poems. If the interpretation of the readers matches with the main idea that the writer has tried to convey, the haiku can be assumed to be written appropriately. If in vain the readers attempt to guess what was on the writer's mind, he or she needs to revise the work. This activity can incorporate several
language skills simultaneously such as reading, writing, listening and speaking. Thus, "if the student author’s friends cannot understand his or her haiku, he or she should explain its meaning in the target language, a process which will enhance the learners’ communicative competence" (Lee, 2011).