Dear SCENARIO Readers,
Our new issue starts off with the article Creative Writing and Performance in EFL Teacher Training: A Preliminary Case Study. John Crutchfield (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany) reflects on his own teaching practices as a pilot study for a larger project in the English Department at the Freie Universität Berlin. This project examines the processes that student teachers of English as a Foreign Language undergo when they become ‘performers’ in theatrical plays.
In her contribution Improving Learners’ Oral Skills Through Two Types of Role-Play, Bokja Cho (University of Essex, England) describes a research project at Anyang University in Korea. She provides evidence for definite oral improvement through role plays in students who study English for tourism.
Martina Turecek (Pädagogische Hochschule Vienna, Austria) explores the topic of migration pedagogy in her article Die ‘Anderen’ im Klassenzimmer: Othering im Kontext von DaZ in der Lehrer/innenbildung. She shows how an autobiographical narrative can be used as a starting and reference point in the drama-based work with novice teachers. She describes how the students viscerally experience problematic instances of othering and how this results in heightened awareness of social marginalisation.
Our Window of Practice contains two contributions:
Philip Botes (Roma Tre University, Italy) considers the role of music in foreign language education. His article Sounds in the Foreign Language Classroom demonstrates a concrete classroom example: a ‘performative weather forecast.’
In his contribution Es war 4 mal – Érase 4 veces: Ein Theaterprojekt im DaF-Unterricht der deutschen Schule Valdivia, Daniel Berghoff (Deutsche Schule Valdivia, Chile) describes the adaption of the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale Snow White with 12-year old pupils. The successful design and development of four different versions has resulted in theatre now being a fixed component in the school curriculum for German as a Foreign Language.
The following four articles in this issue refer back to the 2014 conference Performative Teaching, Learning and Research at University College Cork, Ireland, and complement the conference contributions of Issue 2/2014, featuring articles from diverse disciplines beyond foreign language education.
In their contribution The Bullying Prevention Pack: Fostering Vocabulary and Knowledge on the Topic of Bullying and Prevention using Role-Play and Discussion to Reduce Primary School Bullying, Peadar Donohue and Carmel O’Sullivan (Trinity College Dublin, Ireland) demonstrate how, in educational contexts, performative approaches can effectively be implemented against mobbing.
Hanne Seitz (Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Germany) refers to an innovative project with adolescents in Berlin. Her article Producing Knowledge in Self-Organized Artistic Settings through Performative Research and Artistic Intervention describes a concrete example of performative research in a context in which young adults become culturally and socially engaged.
The post-dramatic theatre collective Gob Squad is the topic of Kristin Westphal’s (Universität Koblenz-Landau, Germany) article Theatre as a Place of Self-Empowerment. The Example of Gob Squad: Before your very Eyes. In their performance project, Gob Squad experimented with the reversal of roles: Rather than adults performing theatre for children, the children themselves explain their perspectives on the world to the adults through play.
In his contribution Theatre and Obstinacy – A Friend’s Perspective, Manfred Schewe (University College Cork) honours Peter Jankowsky – pedagogue, author, translator, and actor. Jankowsky’s striking solo performance Life and/or Death: A Classic Case was a memorable part of the conference in Cork.
We would also like to inform our readers about two new publications:
Sabine Dengscherz (University of Vienna, Austria) reviews the anthology Ästhetisches Lernen im DaF-/DaZ-Unterricht. Literatur-Theater-Bildende Kunst-Musik-Film (edited by N. Bernstein and C. Lerchner, 2014), while Stefanie Beckmann (Ricarda-Huch-Gymnasium Gelsenkirchen, Germany) appraises J. Passon’s (2014) book publication Shakespeare in der Realschule inszenieren. Theatre Education zur Förderung von kommunikativer und performativer Fremdsprachenkompetenz.
Finally, we would like to direct attention to two symposia: the 2nd SCENARIO FORUM SYMPOSIUM Towards a Performative Teaching and Learning Culture at University College Cork on September 25, 2015, and the 3rd SCENARIO FORUM SYMPOSIUM Performative Pedagogy at Indiana University in Bloomington (USA). For more information click here.
With our best wishes from Ireland and the United States,
Manfred Schewe & Susanne Even