The Performing Arts in Second Language Acquisition

Abstract

This paper is a report on the experience of dramatizing Hans Peter Richter’s novel Damals war es Friedrich (1961). Subsequent to the discussion of the novel in an upper division German class, students and I worked on a dramatized version of the text. The play was performed in the Black Box Theater at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., on April 11, 2006. The first part of the report will illustrate how the work on the play was embedded within the context of a literacy approach towards teaching German as a foreign language. In addition to outlining the benefits of including a theater performance in language education, as experienced during the rehearsals and the performance of the play, the second part of the report will discuss how the project was carried out. This paper is a report on the experience of dramatizing Hans Peter Richter’s novel Damals war es Friedrich (1961). Subsequent to the discussion of the novel in an upper division German class, students and I worked on a dramatized version of the text. The play was performed in the Black Box Theater at Georgetown University, Washington D.C., on April 11, 2006. The first part of the report will illustrate how the work on the play was embedded within the context of a literacy approach towards teaching German as a foreign language. In addition to outlining the benefits of including a theater performance in language education, as experienced during the rehearsals and the performance of the play, the second part of the report will discuss how the project was carried out.