Slam Poetry and Poetry Slams im Fremdsprachen- unterricht: Erleben, Analysieren, selbst Verfassen und Präsentieren

Abstract

Slam poetry and poetry slams position a performative act at the forefront of the foreign language classroom, and thereby present numerous possibilities for linguistic, cultural and artistic teaching and learning. This allows for a form of applied language to be learned and experimented with that draws attention to the receptive and interpretive possibilities of the utterances as well as to the aesthetic dimensions of texts and the media of their presentation. Slam poetry in the foreign language classroom can enable immediate impressions and interactions, most typically among young slammers, and encourage closer analysis of texts, their performance, and the media involved in their performance. Slam poetry can also encourage students to create and perform their own texts. Such assignments promote basic communicative competencies as well as individual skill sets. This contribution will articulate these aspects on the basis of recent research on slam poetry and poetry slams in the foreign language classroom. It will also cover newer empirical studies of the successes of performative pedagogies, of poetic practice with spoken poems, and of learning to recite poetry in a foreign language. An example of such a praxis will show how learners can compose their own slam poetry and present their poems in (public) poetry slams that they organize themselves or in self-produced poetry videos.