Theories of Acrostic Poems
1. Definition of Terms: Acrostic
The following is the definition of the term used in this research study.
Acrostic: According to Webster’s dictionary, an acrostic poem is a composition usually in verse in which sets of letters (as the initial or final letters of the lines) taken in order to form a word or phrase or a regular sequence of letters of the alphabet. Originally, a short verse composition, constructed so that one or more sets of letters (such as the initial, middle, or final letters of the lines), taken consecutively, form words. In this study, the design of the acrostic poems follows the rules of the acrostic poems. In chapter two, the author is going to discuss more about the definitions of acrostics (see Table 1).
Table 1 Brief definitions of acrostic poems
Researchers/ Sources Definitions of acrostic poems
Holman & Snyder (2006) An acrostic poem is a cryptographic form in which the initial
letter of each line spells out a word, often the subject of the
poem or the name of the person to whom the poem is
dedicated.
Fisher (2007) An acrostic is a poem or a puzzle in which the first or last
letter of each line spell out a word, phrase, or name. When it's
the last letter, it's often referred to as a telestich. A double
acrostic has the first and last letters forming new words.
Marshall (2007) Acrostics, or acrostic poetry are easy enough to write, and
very simple in their format. The message is written vertically
downwards on the left hand side of the page, in the simplest
form of this poetry. Each letter is capitalized, and the first
letter beginning each line, forms the letters making up the
hidden word, or message. The words of the poem also refer in
a subtle way to the message of the hidden word in a positive
or constructive way. Each line may comprise a word, a phrase, or a thought that is continued on, always linking down to the
next line.
Hummon(1999) The word “acrostic” has a long history of existence. The
ancient Greeks wrote acrostics: the word, acrostic, comes
from two Greek words meaning pointed, or first, and row.
More than 2,500 years ago, Jews wrote songs of praise to
God. Some of these songs, called Psalms, are abecedarian
acrostics that are based on the 22 letters of the Hebrew
alphabet.
Poetry Glossary A poem in which the first letter of each line spells out a name.
Webster’s dictionary An acrostic poem is a composition usually in verse in which
sets of letters (as the initial or final letters of the lines) taken in
order form a word or phrase or a regular sequence of letters of
the alphabet. Originally, a short verse composition,
constructed so that one or more sets of letters (such as the
initial, middle, or final letters of the lines), taken
consecutively, form words.
American Heritage A poem or series of lines in which certain letters, usually the
Dictionary first in each line, form a name, motto, or message when read
in sequence.
Oxford Dictionary Acrostic, a poem in which the initial letters of each line can be
read down the page to spell either an alphabet, a name (often that of the author, a patron, or a loved one), or some other
concealed message. Variant forms of acrostic may use middle
letters or final letters of lines or, in prose acrostics, initial
letters of sentences or paragraphs.
Encyclopedia of Judaism Composition, usually poetic, in which sets of letters spell out
words or names or appear in a special order.
Columbia Encyclopedia Acrostic, arrangement of words or lines in which a series of
initial, final, or other corresponding letters, when taken
together, stand in a set order to form a word, a phrase, the
alphabet, or the like.
Britannica Concise Originally, a short verse composition, constructed so that one
Encyclopedia or more sets of letters (such as the initial, middle, or final
letters of the lines), taken consecutively, form words. An
acrostic in which the initial letters form the alphabet is called
an abecedarius. Ancient Greek and Latin writers, medieval
monks, and Renaissance poets are among those who devised
acrostics. Today the term is used for a type of word puzzle
utilizing the acrostic principle. A popular form is double
acrostics, puzzles constructed so that the middle or last, as
well as initial, letters of lines may form words.
Wikipedia, the free An acrostic is a poem or other form of writing in which the encyclopedia first letter, syllable or word of each line, paragraph or other
recurring feature in the text spells out a word or a message. As
a form of constrained writing, an acrostic can be used as a
mnemonic device to aid memory retrieval.
Acrostic. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved February 22,
2013, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/acrostic
Based on the above five scholars, three diverse dictionaries and four different encyclopedias, the definitions listed above more or less can be synthesized as follows: an acrostic is a poem in which the initial letters of each line can be read down the page to spell a word, a phrase, an alphabet, a name or some other concealed message. All acrostics have one thing in common: words are arranged in lines so that special acrostic letters create another related word, name, or thing.
According to Hummon (1999), acrostic poems most often spell out a name or word and they also produce some other interesting patterns, simply based on learner’s own creativity. Alike mnemonic instruction, acrostic poems can be viewed as a memory enhancing instruction that involves teaching students to link the new information to the learned information. Wang (2008) further added that acrostic poems are simple in which each the first letter of each line forms a word or phrase. They can describe the subject or even tell a brief story about it. Furthermore, Wang (2008) stated acrostic is one of the simplest poems for students to write because it gives students a concrete format to follow.
The nature of acrostics actually follows basic principles of association and meaning of words. That is to say, students are engaged in a numbers of activities that involve making association that employ mnemonic principles (Levin, 1993). For example, linking the letter “f” to the word “fish” or “h” to the word “happy” is so-called association which employs mnemonic principles. A word alone may be a word only, but it is up to the language learner to associate with other words, and expand to a presentation of a sentence or a poem (Hawthorne, 1846).
Not only Wang (2008) but also Marshall (2007) agreed acrostic poems were easy for students to write because of the concrete format students could follow.
Acrostic poems which can be viewed as a type of pattern poem are very effective teaching tools for teaching basic concepts of vocabulary learning and sentence writing. For example, Hollowell (1999) stated that poems could help students become more sensitive to language and he further suggested English teachers should know how to use poems in their teaching and let the EFL learners not feel worry about understanding poems because not all poems are difficult. In short, it is suggested for EFL English teachers to have the learners explore some poems and write ones. Poems give abundant language exposures that improve students’ language sensitivity and students’ creativity in using their English and will motivate the students to improve their English, especially through its form, vocabulary, pronunciation, contextual meaning and grammar. Moreover, because of its rhythm and word choice, poetry is a good authentic material for teaching some productive skill such as communicative speaking activities, pronunciation, and writing activities. Also, its form makes poems appropriate tools for teaching basic concepts of vocabulary learning and sentence writing. Poems are, after all, authentic texts (Finch, 2003; Hollowell, 1999; Wang, 2008; Bullion,
McWhorter, Haag, Cox & Hickey, 1997). Smart (2010) found that some productive skills can be enhanced through poems, such as communicative speaking activities, pronunciation, and writing activities. Moreover,
Holmes & Moulton (2001) stated that poems could promote a number of positive learning functions, such as awareness of grammar, awareness of phrase and sentence structures, learning from the interactive modeling, learning from the collaborative group, learning from the cooperative group, exercising inductive thinking, exercising sensory stimuli, learning by sharing their works and learning to use their expression in their works. Finch (2003) suggested that pattern poems can be used with all levels and ages of learners, and are particularly effective in the EFL classroom, since they can be adapted to teaching purposes such as vocabulary learning and sentence writing. Holmes & Moulton (2001) believes that through writing simple pattern poems, learners can: 1) play with words and see what fits because the burden of discovering a proper format for a poem is removed; 2) create a polished piece of writing in a relatively short period; 3) rehearse correct spelling; 4) use familiar vocabulary; 5) discover new vocabulary while using the dictionary or thesaurus to find words that serve their ideas; 6) practice specific language structures, such as phrases, word order, and verb tense; 7) develop confidence in their ability to share ideas in writing; 8) nurture creativity by giving their imaginations free reign; 9) cultivate logical and sequential thinking skills through storytelling, and 10) refine summarizing skills.
2. Acrostic poems used in various subjects and skills
Vocabulary application, sentence formation, student’s expressiveness and student’s motivation
Wang (2008) aimed at the application of vocabulary acrostics teaching through ‘short poem’ practice on developing elementary school students’ sentence writing skills. She stated that traditional vocabulary teaching focused on memory of vocabulary words and mechanical repetition of sentence patterns. However, she believed that words were the basic building blocks of language, the units of meaning where larger structures such as sentences, paragraphs and whole texts are formed. She further pointed out a concept, “A word alone may be a word only, but it is up to the language learner to associate with other words and then expand to a presentation of a short poem.” She defined acrostics as ‘short poem’ which refers to using letters in a topic word to begin each line to form a poem; she provided an example with the word WELCOME:
When you Enter this Little School, Come On to Make Each day a happy day. In her study, 20 fifth-grade students were the participants. Her study lasted for one semester in a 21- week period. Students were encouraged to practice acrostics ‘short poem’ writing on a worksheet for thirty words listed in the textbook after demonstration of vocabulary acrostics in class. Observation and interviews were also conducted to collect data for analysis. Collected data were categorized into four main parts, including vocabulary application, sentence formation, student’s expressiveness and student’s motivation. The findings showed that the vocabulary acrostics practice not only provided the students with opportunities of reviewing vocabulary participants have learned and even helped them to improve their ability of words for production.
Besides, the vocabulary acrostics also developed students’ writing skills in sentence formation. Moreover, the application of vocabulary acrostics teaching helped students explore their expressiveness in writing and motivated them to learn English.
In terms of vocabulary, acrostic poems were used to help students’ spelling sight words. For example,
Howard, DaDeppo and De La Paz (2008) noted that difficulties with spelling could impact students’ reading acquisition and writing and had a critical impact on overall literacy development. They further pointed out that students with learning disabilities (LD) often struggled with spelling. Therefore, they conducted a case study with three elementary-aged students with LD by using a mnemonic approach to learn the spelling of sight words. Acrostics were used and the instruction was applied to key words in daily instruction. Each of the students improved his or her spelling, as measured by a standardized spelling test, a developmental spelling test, and researcher-developed instrument.
McAvinney (2001) presented a program for enriching language use in writing . The target population consisted of one classroom of fourth graders in a public elementary school which was in the small rural community near a large city in the Midwest. The problem of lack of language skills in writing was documented. Analysis of probable cause indicated that there was a lack of necessary language skills and it was necessary to incorporate detail and emotion in writing. This lack affected various situations, reading and writing desire and self esteem are inclusive. Therefore, a variety of teaching strategies, inclusive of acrostics, with positive and effective feedback were provided to change the focus from television and computer games to reading and writing. The program included lessons which encouraged students to explore language use through writing experiences, including acrostics. Post intervention data showed that the students benefited from a program which focused on writing using descriptive vocabulary. What’s more, Towell (1998) used an acrostic of the word “vocabulary” to present enjoyable and effective strategies and activities for vocabulary instruction with elementary school students and suggested that acrostic poems should be applied based on the current vocabulary in the curriculum by the teacher to help students’ vocabulary development.
Social studies and interaction
In order to enrich students’ social studies experience, Boyer (2006) included assignments in which students could interact with social studies content and skills. She suggested that teachers should use acrostics as the writing activity to enrich students’ social studies experience and interactive interaction.
Learning strategies
Wilcox and Wilson (1979) viewed acrostics as one kind of memory techniques that enhance storage and retrieval of pertinent information and memory strategies. Hamachek (1990) shared the same point and viewed acrostics as a memory technique. Peavey (1998) viewed sequencing and memory with acrostics as one of the eight learning experiences that were specially tailored for adult learners and instructors.
Maxim (1991) further indicated that students could learn to take brief notes without copying, locate information in the library beyond encyclopedias, make logs of observations, interview experts and present information in the format of acrostics.
Besides vocabulary development, Gammage (1993) used acrostic poems for research reporting. Valeri
(1989) presented an acrostic of the word “summary” to help students write a summary correctly.
Language Learning
What’s more, acrostics were viewed as easy games to help non-academic students in the beginning phase of learning German, Italian, French, and Spanish (Schwagermann and Walz , 1984; Fronk and
Martelli,1980; Iorio and Zimmerman,1980; La and Smuel ,1980). The above findings are presented as Table 2.
Table 2 Acrostic poems used in various subjects and skills
Researchers/ Year Acrostic poems used in various subjects and skills
Howard, DaDeppo and A mnemonic approach (used to improve learners’ memory of
De La Paz(2008) key information while linking new information to existing
knowledge) with acrostics helps elementary-aged students with
LD learn the spelling of sight words.
Boyer (2006) Use acrostics as one of the writing exercises to encourage
students to interact with social studies content and skills.
View sequencing and memory with acrostics as one of the Peavey (1998) eight learning experiences that were specially tailored for adult
learners and instructors.
Maxim ( 1991) The format of acrostics is used to teach students to take brief
notes without copying, locate information in the library, make
logs of observations, interview experts and present
information.
Hamachek(1990) Acrostics were viewed as one kind of memory techniques that
Wilcox and Wilson enhance storage and retrieval of pertinent information and
(1979) memory strategies
Taylor (1990) A series of activities, including acrostics and word games were
designed to develop a sense of enjoyment for language
learning.
Schwagermann and Acrostics were viewed as easy games to help non-academic
Walz (1984); Fronk & students in the beginning phase of learning German, Italian,
Martelli(1980) ; Iorio French, Spanish
& Zimmerman(1980) ;
La & Smuel (1980)
Padgett (1989) Different writing ideas, including free-writing, describing and acrostics were used to teach elementary level students to make
their own books and how to illustrate written work.
Jewinski(1980) Besides, acrostic poems are also suggested to use to cultivate
Reid(1985) students’ logic and language learning and accelerate learning
Throckmorton (1979) It is suggested that middle and junior high school students
create a context to write about personal experiences in form of
acrostics
Gensler and Nyhart Ways to write poems, focusing on acrostics to stimulate
(1978) children’s writing
Tiedt (1975) Stimulate students’ curiosity by using encoding and decoding,
word play and acrostics and help students to develop positive
attitudes toward working words to increase their vocabularies.
Honeyghan (2001) A model for motivated seventh- and tenth- grade Ethiopian
students to write poetry about their personal feelings and
experiences was presented. Acrostic poem writing is one of the
four strategies for the poetry workshop. Besides, students were
encouraged to express themselves on thing they cared about,
no matter what their feelings might be.
McAvinney( 2001) A program for enriching language use in writing was
presented. The target population consisted of one classroom of
fourth graders in a public elementary school which is in the
small rural community near a large city in the Midwest. The
problem of lack of language skills in writing was documented.
Analysis of probable cause indicated that there was a lack of
necessary language skills need to incorporate detail and
emotion in writing. This lack affected various situations,
reading and writing desire and self esteem are inclusive.
Therefore, a variety of teaching strategies with positive and effective feedback were provided to change the focus from
television and computer games to reading and writing. The
program included lessons which encouraged students to
explore language use through writing experiences, including
acrostics.
Towell (1998) Use an acrostic of the word “vocabulary” to present enjoyable
and effective strategies and activities for vocabulary
instruction with elementary students.
Gammage (1993) Use acrostic poems for research reporting.
Valeri (1989) Present an acrostic of the word “summary” to help students
write a summary correctly
To summarize, acrostic poems were viewed as writing activities or exercises to help improve students’ vocabulary application, sentence formation, expressiveness and motivation (Wang, 2008; McAvinney, 2001;
Towell,1998), students’ spelling and vocabulary learning (Howard, DaDeppo and De La Paz, 2008), enhance storage and retrieval of pertinent information and cultivate logic ( Wilcox and Wilson ,1979) and facilitate foreign language learning (Schwagermann and Walz , 1984; Kaiser,1977; Fronk and Martelli,1980;
Iorio and Zimmerman,1980 La and Smuel ,1980). Students can be guided to create a context to write about personal experiences, summaries, even a research in the format of the acrostic poem (Maxim, 1997). The project design aims at facilitating students’ vocabulary learning and sentence writing and guiding students to create a context to writing about their own personal experiences and express their ideas.