Using Limericks in TEFL · Can Be Fun and Develop a Positive Attitude to Limericks Are a Type of Humorous Poetry

УПРАВЛЕНИЕ И ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATION TOM IX (3) 2013 VOL. IX (3) 2013

ИЗПОЛЗВАНЕ НА ЛИМЪРИЦИ В ПРЕПОДАВАНЕТО НА АНГЛИЙСКИ ЕЗИК КАТО ЧУЖД

Иван Соколов

USING LIMERICKS IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Ivan Sokolov

ABSTRACT: The limerick is a relatively unknown poetic form in Bulgaria. These funny and often bawdy five-line verses are, however, beguiling and easy to remember. Therefore, they can be exploited to develop students’ language skills and knowledge of vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. The paper outlines a number of activities of using limericks in teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), ranging from controlled to free, creative ones. Key words: limerick, teaching English as a foreign language, foreign language teaching, classroom activities, learning task.

Introduction What is a limerick

It is generally agreed that the basic aim of all The limerick is a relatively unknown poetic language teaching is to develop communicative form in Bulgaria. It originated in England in the competence. However, while trying to achieve 18th or early 19th century (its exact origin and this aim, teachers still often focus mainly on the how it acquired its name is still debatable) and rules of grammar and vocabulary or the devel- was popularised by Edward Lear in his A Book of opment of the four major skills of listening, Nonsense, published in 1845. speaking, reading and writing, largely neglecting Despite some variations, such as the extended to train their students how and when to use the or double limericks, or mixed forms, such as the language appropriately and effectively. This lan- limeraiku, the standard limerick is a stanza of guage appropriateness includes the use (or non- five lines, where the first, second and fifth are of use) of humour and ribaldry, subjects that are equal length and rhyme with one another, while considered controversial or even taboo by many. the third and fourth are shorter and rhyme with Course book writers are also extremely cautious each other (AABBA). The meter of the limerick in this respect (the most notable exceptions is usually the anapaest, but there are also amphi- probably being Woolard 1996, Woolard 1999 brachic ones. Many limericks show some form of and Medgyes 2002), bearing in mind that their internal rhyme, alliteration or assonance, or some materials have to sell well and suit the needs of a element of word play. The first line commonly variety of learners of different cultures through- features a person and a place, the place coming out the world. last and thus providing the rhyme scheme for the The present paper suggests one way to over- second and the fifth lines. In the majority of lim- come this deficiency, namely by using limericks ericks the last line acts as a punch line and intro- in the foreign language (FL) classroom. These duces the script opposition typical of humour and funny and often bawdy five-line verses are gen- jokes, in particular. erally appealing and easy to remember. Limerick The contents of limericks are extremely di- activities can be exploited for a variety of pur- verse. Here is what one of the best-known limer- poses: to introduce a topic; consolidate and ex- ick collectors says: “For if there is one thing that pand students’ knowledge of English grammar, has impressed me, it is the astonishing variety of vocabulary and pronunciation; develop their lan- the material written in this simple verse form. guage skills; and encourage creativity in the FL. There is sophisticated wit and bawdy humour, Thus, they can make a valuable supplement to satire and barbed social content, nonsense and the main textbook. fantasy, wry irony and, yes, even quite serious

79 limericks” (Parrott 1991: p.7). A lot of limericks boast a natural “bouncy” rhythm or meter, which can be regarded as obscene, “traditionally a joke makes them extremely easy to read, recite or for men, a verse to be recited in smoke-filled even sing. Due to their rhymes and rhythm, they bars or clubhouses, at businessmen’s conferences are particularly useful for practising English pro- or in rugger changing-rooms” (ibid.: p.14). Leg- nunciation and intonation. The common use of man (1988: pp. x-xi) even holds that the form is geographical names in the first line enlarges stu- essentially transgressive and violation of taboo is dents’ knowledge of geography and world cul- part of its function. Nonetheless, there are some ture. Limericks are also undoubtedly helpful to brilliant “clean” limericks, as anyone who has practise grammar and structures (for example, read more than a few of these poems knows. “there was”, the Past Simple Tense, conditional Since their appearance, limericks have been forms, etc.). extremely popular in the English-speaking world. By reading limericks, students expand their There are different limerick-writing competitions active and passive vocabulary as well: they often in the UK and USA (in the first decade of the come across familiar words in novel contexts; 20th century there were even such prizes on offer master new meanings used in puns; discover a as furnished houses or an income for life!). Many wealth of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, etc; famous writers have been tempted to try their and, last but not least, learn words and expres- pen at this type of verse, Mark Twain, Dante sions that no textbook dares to teach – the sort of Gabriel Rossetti, Lord Tennyson, Rudyard language which is often defined as politically Kipling, Norman Douglas, Isaac Asimov, Ogden incorrect, lewd or obscene, but which is never- Nash, W. H. Auden and Walter de la Mare theless part and parcel of human communication. among others. To sum up, in addition to the above- mentioned potentials, limericks Reasons for using limericks in TEFL · can be fun and develop a positive attitude to Limericks are a type of humorous poetry. the FL and language learning; Their main aim is to generate laughter. Humour · are easy to remember. They can be recited and laughter can have a beneficial role in lan- over and over again, including outside the guage teaching and their motivational value is classroom, which helps students memorise undeniable. Therefore the justifications for using patterns of language; humour in the FL classroom are the same as · can be used to develop all four major lan- those for using humour. Here are some of the guage skills; general potentials of humour as described by · are particularly useful for practising pronun- Medgyes (2002: p.5). “Humour ciation, rhythm and intonation; · can be used to practise certain grammatical · is a good vehicle for providing authentic cul- structures, e.g. past tenses, conditional tural information; forms, etc; · builds bridges between cultures; · can be used to expand student’s active and · practises language items in genuine contexts; passive vocabulary; · brings students closer together; · can be used to introduce politically incorrect, · releases tension; lewd or obscene language that cannot be · develops creative thinking; normally found in school textbooks; · provides memorable chunks of language; · can expand learners’ geographical and ency- · reinforces previously learnt items; clopaedic knowledge; · generates a happy classroom; · can be used to balance a lesson, as a lead-in · enhances motivation; or a follow-up activity; · enriches textbook-based courses; · encourage creativity in the FL. · introduces a refreshing change from routine language-learning procedure.” On the other hand, like most humour, limericks can be hurtful. If not chosen carefully to Limericks are, however, a peculiar type of match the students’ linguistic and conceptual poetry. Like most other humour genres, they can level, ethic standards, sense of humour, etc, they be used to develop all four basic skills of speak- can come to be regarded as offensive by the ing, listening, reading and writing. But they also learners and their use may turn out to be a

80 teacher’s ill-fated attempt at toilet humour. The Task 1a. Complete the limerick with one criteria for the choice of limericks will be dis- word only for each gap, having in mind its rhyme cussed later in this article. scheme AABBA.

Suggested limerick activities There was a young man of Cape Horn, Who wished he had never been _____. This section proposes a variety of activities, And he'd never have _____ ranging from controlled to free, creative ones. If his father had _____ Most of them have been tried out in class. The That the end of the rubber was _____. sample tasks have been designed for students at The aim of this task is to practise the use of intermediate or higher level of English. This does the Third Conditional in a funny and amusing not mean, however, that in some cases similar way. If necessary, you should pre-teach the limerick activities cannot be used at lower levels meaning of “rubber”. Discuss with your students too. The focus will be on how teachers can them- what part of speech they need for each gap (past selves develop limerick materials suitable for the participles) and ask them to suggest words rhym- level of proficiency and age of their particular ing with “-orn”. If they find the task too difficult, group of learners. Ordinary activities such as give them the first letter of each word as a clue reading, reciting or listening to limericks are not or words to choose from (born, been, seen, torn). included in the section as they are too well- known to examine. Task 1b. Rearrange the following mixed-up The limericks have been taken from the fol- lines to make a limerick. lowing sources: Baring-Gould 1968, Limericks 1992 and Parrott 1991. Some good “clean” lim- It was grey, long-eared, and ate grass. ericks can be found on Graham Lester’s web- Had a truly magnificent ass: page. As you possibly think – As a start, whatever the task is, the teacher Not rounded and pink, has to explain to his or her students what a limer- Rosalina, a pretty young lass ick is, discuss its structure, rhythm and rhyme scheme and give some examples. The examples The aim of this task is to draw students’ atten- should be interesting and entertaining so that tion not only to grammar and vocabulary but also learners become motivated to do the tasks. to cohesion and cohesive devices. They cannot complete the task unless they understand the 1. Controlled activities meaning of what they read. These exhibit various degree of control and are a prerequisite for attempting the guided and Task 1c. There is one extra word that should free, creative activities. They are normally de- not be there in each line of the following limer- signed using the major text manipulation tech- ick. Cross out the extra word. niques of deletion (leaving out linguistic items of a text), insertion (it is the opposite of deletion: There was a young princess, the Snow-White, adding something to a text), reordering (chang- Who had awoke with a terrible fright. ing the places of some text parts) and substitution She was such frightened and shaken – (deletion of some items and replacing them with She shouldn’t have been taken others). In this case, the linguistic items are let- That Seven-Up last thing at a night. ters, words and phrases, so the techniques can be applied at letter, word and phrase/sentence level The aim of such tasks is usually to correct (for more on text manipulation, see Sokolov grammar mistakes, such as wrong use of articles, 1997). For example, the tasks below have been verb forms, etc. designed using: deletion at word level (Task 1a), reordering at phrase/sentence level (Task 1b), Task 1d. Here are two limericks which have insertion at word level (Task 1c), reordering and been all mixed up. Put the lines of the limericks matching at phrase/sentence level (Task 1d) and in the correct order. substitution at word level (Task 1e). There was a young lady named Bright, Took a lesbian up to his room; To do what and with which and to whom. Whose speed was far faster than light;

81 A pansy who lived in Khartoum And I’ll watch my dessert ‘til I’m blue. And returned home the previous night. Then we’ll eat two racoons at the zoo. She went out one day, You can find a small fish through and As to who had the right through. In a relative way, And they argued all night Task 2b. Think of other possible phrases to use instead of the ones given in the above limer- This task is similar to 1b, but requires more ick. They should have the same beat, but the effort and understanding of cohesion and linking rhyme may be different as long as it follows the devices, especially if the two limericks contain pattern AABBA. the same types of rhymes. Task 2 is a free substitution task, which can Task 1e. The last word in the last four lines of be used as preparation for creative activities. The this limerick has been substituted for a synonym. teacher must be ready to help students with sug- Write the correct word, having in mind the gestions for each box in the limerick in 2a. For rhyme scheme AABBA. example, the suitable phrases for the first box in line one also include “there was” and “I’ve heard There was a young man of Ghent of” and those for the second could be “an old Whose tool was so long that it curved; man”, “a young blonde”, “a rich guy”, etc. To save himself distress, He put it in folded, As a next step, elicit words that rhyme with And instead of coming, he departed. other names, for example Nick, Mike, Jim, Mary, etc (students can look up the rhymes in a rhym- For this task you may need to remind students ing dictionary) and ask them to make new that they have to look for synonyms rhyming phrases for the last boxes in each line. with “ent” for lines 2 and 5 and for synonyms The task can also be done as a group activity. rhyming with each other for lines 3 and 4. Divide the class into groups. Give each group a different name to use as the last word in line one. 2. Guided activities When the groups have finished writing their lim- The main goal of these activities is to prepare ericks, read out or display their work and ask students for the more creative ones, such as them to evaluate it. translation or writing. One such activity is pre- sented in Limerick Factory (reproduced in Task 3. Creative activities 2a). Creative activities, especially translation, are more suitable for students at advanced or profi- Task 2a. Create a limerick by choosing ciency level of English. This does not mean that phrases from the menus below. Even though you students at lower levels should not be encour- may think your limerick is not very good, it will aged to try their hand at writing simple limericks. still follow a pattern. Just try to make the best In this case, the teacher’s help and assistance is one you can. essential.

I know an old geezer called Sue Task 3a. Write your own limerick I recall a canary named Lou You must be a repairman aged two Before attempting to write a limerick in Eng- a young lady lish, students have to be very well familiar with the requirements that this type of poetry poses, Who would sit in a bag with the flu. namely its structure, rhyme pattern, beat, etc. Who could ride on the road eating stew. They should have done at least several controlled Who slept at a desk and guided activities. Have no fear: I would say There are a number of internet sources avail- I don’t know if I’ll stay able that offer advice on how to write simple You might think limericks (for example, Gable 2012, Klenda 2013, Lansky, Brooks et al.). Refer students to I’ll be home anyway these sources or give your explanations as neces- You can come for the play sary. yesterday

82 The best limericks can be put up on a notice- Finally, teachers should also like the limer- board in the classroom or published in a school icks they choose. If you do not enjoy this type of newsletter, booklet or webpage. poetry, do not use it!

Task 3b. Choose a limerick to translate 2. Planning The use of limericks brings variety into the The translation of limericks is a particularly classroom – not only of learning materials, but demanding task. The English language seems to also of tempo, student groupings, etc. They can be better equipped for this type of verse than be used as an addition to the course book: to in- Bulgarian due to its frequent use of contracted troduce, practise and consolidate the grammar forms, reduction of vowels and syllables, gener- and vocabulary to be taught through its applica- ally shorter words and words with multiple tion in a novel, out-of-the-ordinary context. This, meanings. Therefore, translation should be at- however, needs careful preparation and planning. tempted mainly by students with a penchant for Teachers have to pay attention to the following poetry. Some excellent translations into Bulgar- questions: What are the aims of the lesson and ian can be found in Penevski 2002. how does the limerick activity fit in with them? The translation and writing of limericks can How long is the activity expected to take and be useful both in terms of a process and a prod- will this be different for the different groups of uct. As a process, they help learners to develop learners? If the limerick contains new language, their language skills and competence. As a prod- when should it be introduced – before the stu- uct, they can yield some fine results, ready for dents see it or after that? Will the context be fa- publication and bringing their authors fame – miliar and appropriate for the students? among their classmates, at least. 3. What if the activities don't work? Some methodological principles for using lim- If a limerick activity does not work, do not ericks in TEFL force students to do it. Instead, you should stop it and move on to something else as smoothly as 1. How to choose limericks for use in the possible. Afterwards, you should reflect on what classroom happened and analyse the reasons. This will help We can use any type of limericks: “clean” or you to decide how (or if) to use such activities in “dirty”, witty or silly, with or without puns, and the future. so on. There are limericks that can suit any topic you teach. However, they should meet several Conclusions criteria. First, they should be in line with the overall Limericks do have their place in the FL class- aims of teaching and the syllabus. This means room. They can be chosen to suit almost any that they should not contain unfamiliar gram- topic to be taught and exploited to consolidate matical structures or too many new words. No and enhance students’ knowledge of grammar, matter how funny they may be, limericks with vocabulary and pronunciation, develop their lan- archaic or obsolete language should be avoided. guage skills and encourage the creative use of the Second, limericks have to match the students’ FL. Teachers who are not afraid of experimenta- linguistic and conceptual level, age, ethic stan- tion can easily make them an integral, much- dards and sense of humour. Teachers should not liked part of their lessons. attempt their use in class unless they know their students well. Humour, and hence limericks, is Appendix age-specific. Depending on their age and social experience, students may or may not be able to Key to sample tasks understand the humour in certain limericks. Be- sides, different learners may find one or other Task 1a. limerick offensive for different reasons – reli- There was a young man of Cape Horn, gious, moral, political, etc. As a rule of thumb, Who wished he had never been born. try to avoid those with particularly explicit lan- And he'd never have been guage and allow yourself only occasional lapses If his father had seen into “political incorrectness”. That the end of the rubber was torn.

83 Task 1b. Klenda, David. 2013. How to Write a Limer- Rosalina, a pretty young lass ick. http://www.brighthubeducation.com/help- Had a truly magnificent ass: with-writing/127829-how-to-write-a- Not rounded and pink, limerick/?cid=parsely_rec. (accessed on As you possibly think – 20.04.2013). It was grey, long-eared, and ate grass. Lansky, Bruce. How to Write a Limerick. http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/limeric Task 1c. kcontesthelp.html. (accessed on 20.04.2013). There was a young princess, Snow-White, Who awoke with a terrible fright. Legman, Gershon. 1988. The Limerick. Ran- She was frightened and shaken – dom House: New York. She shouldn’t have taken Lester, Graham. Limericks for Kids. That Seven-Up last thing at night. http://grahamlester.webs.com/kids.htm. (accessed on 20.04.2013). Task 1d. Limerick Factory. There was a young lady named Bright http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/patterns Whose speed was far faster than light; /limerick/limerick_acttxt.html. (accessed on She went out one day, 20.04.2013). In a relative way, Limericks: 1700 Examples with Notes, Vari- And returned home the previous night. ants and Index. 1992. Castle Books: Secaucus. Medgyes, Péter. 2002. Laughing Matters. A pansy who lived in Khartoum Took a lesbian up to his room; Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. And they argued all night Parrott, E.O. (comp. & ed.). 1991. The Pen- As to who had the right guin Book of Limericks. Bloomsbury Books: To do what and with which and to whom. London. Penevski, Tzvetan. 2002. Цветан Пеневски. Task 1e. Англопоетичен смеховник. Труд: София. There was a young man of Ghent Sokolov, Ivan. 1997. Students’ Materials for Whose tool was so long that it bent; the Classroom. Collected Papers. Bradford and To save himself trouble, Ilkley Community College: Bradford. He put it in double, Woolard, George. 1996. Lessons with Laugh- And instead of coming, he went. ter. Language Teaching Publications: Hove. Woolard, George. 1999. Grammar with Laughter. Language Teaching Publications: References Hove. ______Baring-Gould, William Stuart. 1968. The lure of the limerick. Panther Books: London. Име на автора/авторите: Иван Соколов Brooks, Lisa et al (eds). How to Write a Lim- Университет "Проф. д-р Асен Златаров", Бур- erick. http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a- гас Limerick. (accessed on 20.04.2013). Катедра "Английски и Френски език", Депар- Gable, Patricia. 2012. There Once Was a Boy тамент по езиково обучение Named Nick Who Wanted to Write a Limerick. Адрес: бул. "Проф. Якимов" №1, Бургас 8010 http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching- elementary-school/126321-teach-kids-how-to- e-mail: [email protected] write-a-limerick/. (accessed on 20.04.2013).