Learning through theatre.

Foreign language teachers spend most of their time trying to adapt different materials found in text books, the Internet or all kind of material to their students. This is, we are always thinking about how I can use this or that in my classes.

The English Department in our school offers our students the opportunity to attend to an adapted theatre performance. Last year it was the turn of “A CHRISTMAS CHAROL”. This performance is an excuse to read the script and comment it, vocabulary exercises, comprehension exercises and some discussions too. We also learn something about the author and its time, trying to contextualize the learning of the language. As the student level is varied, the activities are also adapted to a beginner level. Of course, the outcome of those activities and the performance itself are a great success. Our students rate them quite high and they are aware that it is an excellent way of learning the language and its culture.

This school year, I suggested my students a representation of “THE STONE SOUP”. First I adapted the script to the number of the students and their level. Then we worked over it, reading, translating, and explaining any difficulties. We started rehearsing the play, first reading aloud and checking pronunciation, then practicing intonation and finally focusing on the performance itself. We did this during three months one day a week, and on our last class we made a performance and taped it. The play turned out to be a very motivating way of putting in practice language and grammar they had learnt during the course.
Furthermore, as students felt more relaxed and even those who are quiet shy felt more comfortable after rehearsing several times the final performance was very successful although not perfect. Pronunciation and intonation need to be improved, of course, but the development of the activity was excellent.
To conclude, theatre plays are an excellent way to learn a language because they give a context and a script, so students have to understand and learn the words, the plot and internalize the feelings but they do not need to produce new dialogues, which is very stressful for beginners. Once they feel comfortable with the script and the situations, the learner can focus on the non-verbal gestures, on pronunciation, and dramatization. When the process finishes they feel more self – secured and ready to perform in new situations and with new vocabulary.

Example

The Stone Soup from teteg662