Her Royce Fellowship project helped her create a curriculum for non-English speakers that relied on reading and writing poetry
Sarah Wells '01 has always believed that intelligence has nothing to do with education.
That belief inspired her to seek a Royce fellowship to create a poetry-based literacy project for non-English speakers. Literacy, she says, can be a vehicle for the expression of ideas that otherwise may not be heard. To Wells, it was important "to give people access to expressing their hopes and experiences."
The daughter of a freelance journalist and a carpenter, Wells is the first in her family to attend college. "My parents were always very active politically, participating in unions and anti-nuclear and anti-Vietnam demonstrations," she said. "Reading and writing have always been important to my family. My parents taught me the significance of articulating, and that educational background had nothing to do with intelligence."
Poetry was at the core of the curriculum Wells designed for the adults who participated in the project. The program took place for eight weeks this summer at the Knight Memorial Library on Elmwood Avenue in Providence. Six students, all newly arrived from Spanish-speaking countries, were in her class.
Each lesson had a central theme such as current events, history or goals. Class began with the reading of a theme-related poem. The reading was followed by a discussion, which would generate new vocabulary. Students then wrote their own poems, drawing from personal experiences.
Wells considers poetry an ideal teaching tool because "it asks people to reflect on experiences and identities." Studying poetry also has pragmatic applications as well. "Alliteration helps with pronunciation, rhyme helps remember," said Wells. "You can have poems that are all adjectives and poems that use slang. No other text allows you to do this." Poetry validates different forms of language, which allows for conversation about language that may not come about in conventional English courses for speakers of other languages.
"Poetry can be less intimidating for a new learner," said Wells. "It's easier to read five poems rather than five essays." Although many of the participants were hesitant to write poetry in the beginning, by the end, all had improved their writing, reading and speaking skills. Wells proudly recalled a couple from El Salvador who had moved to Providence only a couple of months before participating in the program. Their command of English was very limited at first. "Now, they have moved up to the intermediate level."
Wells' students weren't the only ones to benefit from the project. In her senior year, Wells, a comparative literature concentrator who is focusing on creative writing and English/Spanish translation, will be required to translate a Spanish work as her thesis project. The literacy program allowed her to "learn the nuances and idiosyncrasies of the Spanish language," invaluable knowledge in translating.
Wells is no stranger to teaching English. Through the Swearer Center's language and literacy program, she has been a tutor since her second semester at Brown. She currently coordinates the English program for speakers of other languages at the Gilbert Stuart School in Providence. She also is working on a teaching text, based on the poetry project and her students' poetry, that she will distribute to others who teach English to speakers of other languages.
The project Wells completed through her Royce fellowship enabled her to combine her two greatest passions, literacy and literature. "There is so much freedom with no parameters," she said of the fellowship. "It offered me the opportunity to combine literature with public service."