Review of Carroll, C. (2024). Class clown. Fooling them into Learning.

Maija-Leena Rebsch; Anke Stöver-Blahak

doi:10.33178/scenario.20.1.9

Authors

Maija-Leena Rebsch Leibniz University Hannover
Anke Stöver-Blahak

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33178/scenario.20.1.9

Keywords:

Book review, Foreign language teaching, Clowning, Game-based learning, Theatre pedagogy

Abstract

Cathal Carroll’s book, which is the subject of this review, demonstrates how clowning techniques can be integrated into foreign language teaching. It draws on personal experience and is practical in its approach. The reviewers evaluate the suggested exercises and ideas from the perspective of experienced teachers.

Author Biographies

Maija-Leena Rebsch, Leibniz University Hannover

Maija-Leena Rebsch studied German linguistics, English literary studies, as well as Italian literature, culture, and linguistics at Leibniz University Hannover, where she also earned an additional qualification in German as a foreign language. Since 2012, she has been working at Leibniz Language Centre (LLC) at Leibniz University Hannover, where she teaches German as a foreign language. Her particular interest lies in performative approaches to language teaching, which she further deepened by completing a theatre pedagogy training course in 2024.
Anke Stöver-Blahak

Anke Stöver-Blahak worked at Leibniz University Hannover until her retirement in 2023, initially spending ten years at the Lower Saxony Studienkolleg and, from 2002, at the Specialist Language Centre/Leibniz Language Centre. She coordinated the German as a Foreign Language department and developed and established language courses that utilise performative methods. In 2012, she was awarded a PhD for her thesis on foreign language learning through the recitation of poetry. She served on the executive committee of the Professional Association for German as a Foreign Language for eleven years and took part in numerous conferences and symposia; in 2018, together with Bärbel Jogschies and Manfred Schewe, she organised the 6th Scenario Forum Symposium in Hanover, which resulted in the ‘Recommendations for Promoting a Performative Teaching, Learning and Research Culture in Higher Education’.