Reflexive Pedagogy: A Closer Look at Saudi College Students’ Responses to English Poetry

This study aims to explore Saudi college students’ analytical abilities by focusing on their engagement with English poetry through reflective learning practices. The study employed a multimodal approach and multimedia to interpret poetry, focusing on enhancing students' understanding of poetry while also examining the effectiveness of this instructional method. The poems selected for the study are from the British Romantic Period (1789–1830). It is a strategic implementation of a culturally appropriate pedagogy that utilises visual language to interpret poems in English. Independently constructing their own videos provided students with a chance to replace traditional written interpretation of poems in the classroom. Allowing multilingual students to communicate and express emotions visually gives them access to their creative potential, from which they can construct more meaningful interpretations. The study demonstrates through their personalised videos, that Saudi student are open to composing and explorations using technology and multimedia that liberate them from traditional teaching techniques and allow them to unlock their interpretive skills and represent their interpretations in original ways. Furthermore, these findings might also have greater relevance to wider debates on extending the use of technology and multimedia as a key element for educators hoping to engage students with reading and responding to poetry in a second language. Keywords: Reflexive pedagogy, technology, multimedia, poetry, visual language, interpretive skills