Abstract:
This article explores the challenges faced by English First Additional Language (FAL)
Grade 11 learners when studying poetry. Poetry in South African secondary schools is a
compulsory literature genre that is taught in both mother tongue and first additional
languages. The literature genres as prescribed by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy
Statement (CAPS) are short stories, poetry, drama and novels. Even though poetry is
taught in schools, there are challenges since the learners’ performance is generally lower in
this genre. This was the case in a study of two secondary schools in Soweto that teach
poetry in the subject English FAL. The study was qualitative and collected data through
questionnaires, interviews and document analysis. Eighteen learners were sampled, nine
from each school, for data collection. The reader-response theory by Rosenblatt which
places emphasis on the relationship between the readers and the poems was used as a
theoretical lens from which the study was viewed. The findings revealed that the learners
struggled while studying poetry. Some challenges could have been as a result of the
discrepancies between the CAPS Annual Teaching Plan (ATP) and the Grade 11 poetry
anthology. There was less preference for poetry because of the difficulties in the language
of poetry. This article concludes with the implications and recommendations that responded
to the discrepancies in the CAPS, ATP, and poetry anthology for improved teaching and
learning of poetry.
