For 20 years I have been working in theatre and the
performing arts. It never ceases to amaze me how bodily expression and play inspires
growth and change. To play, to tell stories, to enact characters, and to expand
vocal and physical range is to explore and expand who we are.
As a teacher, I use various aspects of theatre and art
to elicit responses from children as they learn a new language. People,
especially children, hold latent knowledge of language. The use of gesture,
mime, objects/props, and costume are all excellent methods for drawing out
reaction or response to something. Theatrical expression helps to build new
pathways in the brain that with repetition imprint and aid in the memorisation
of new information. To elicit is to prompt, to trigger, to spark – and to
employ theatrical methods as a teacher is to inspire and encourage students to
express themselves in the broadest sense.
I have been teaching at Hi-London since the beginning
of the year. In this time, I have worked with a wide range of children/teens with
varied levels of ability in the practice and understanding of the English
language. Children pick up a massive amount of information and very often know
more than they are aware of. It is so vital to encourage the leap between
knowledge that is there inside somewhere, latent, and to draw out that
knowledge into the practice of speaking and action.
The ability to listen, to focus, and to express are
key to learning language. In children, progress can be made quickly if they can
be stimulated to take a risk. Play and storytelling are great ways to help
children feel at ease. Even before they can formulate or understand words,
gesture can be used to cross the boundaries of difference and culture. Gesture
can communicate even before words are spoken, and once the children feel safe
within the community of a group, they are much more likely to grow. Playing
games, drawing and storytelling are excellent methods to build foundations for
new skills in communication of a new language, and Hi-London provides the incredible
cultural backdrop of one of the greatest cities of the world. There are so many
contexts and themes to draw from. Each of our week-long courses are theme-based
around a topic which helps the students to stay focused and to create meaningful
memory and experience.
One week, the theme was London Jungle. We began the
week by reading the story Why Elephant
Has a Trunk (Tinga Tinga Tales). At the beginning of the week, even when
many words were not yet understood, pictures, gesture, and a theatrical
delivery provided the aid to build understanding. Repetition is key. Therefore,
to read the same book a few times during the same week was important, and as
the children grew more familiar with the story parts, they remembered and filled
in information.
During a workshop at a zoo that week, one of the workshop
leaders used simple gesture for each animal which the children had to then repeat
as they named the animal and its habitat. Gesture is a powerful way to memorise
information. In theatrical performance, text is always accompanied by action to
clarify the meaning of the story for the audience, but it is also employed to
anchor the text in the actor’s memory.
The London Jungle week culminated with the making of animal
masks and a re-enactment of the elephant story. Each child chose an animal to
perform, and they were encouraged to voice new information from the week as
they played. Growth was born easily, naturally and spontaneously from the
excitement of theatrical play, interaction, and a city which holds infinite
possibilities!
