IMe
Performed multilingualism in drama and theatre-pedagogical settings in project work and subject lessons
Background and aims
This project investigated multilingualism and the inclusion of heritage languages in drama and theatre-pedagogical scenarios in both project and subject lessons (class context) in lower secondary school. In particular, the project examined:
- how multilingual scenarios are realised, including language use and interactions regarding task distribution, mutual understanding, performative aspects of self-presentation, and feedback.
- the participants’ perspectives: individual perception and others’ perception of language and culture; learning processes as well as developing perceptions and relationships in multilingual and intercultural constellations.
Opportunities for and constraints on the inclusion of multilingualism (especially heritage languages) in playful scenarios and theatre-pedagogical approaches were thereby explored.
Methods
A fundamental concept in this study was that of ‘performative competence’, which refers to multiple, connected individual competences, such as the ability to initiate and stage social interactions, to help shape these independently and to critically reflect on one’s own role within them. Interactions between participants were observed, and the ways in which they introduced different linguistic and cultural resources to various scenes examined. Research emphases lay on the experiences and learning processes of the participants, how they present their own and perceive others’ languages.
Interactions could be compared via the implementation of an identical catalogue of multilingual scenarios in various project and subject lessons, which integrated performance scenes with an emphasis on language use. These activities also aimed towards holistic language learning and the development of language awareness as pupils were confronted with the linguistic diversity of their peers. Performance-based scenarios were video recorded and analysed using multilingual didactic methods. These analyses were supported by oral interviews with students and teachers who shared their perceptions and perspectives. Participants could also comment on individual scenarios via ‘stimulated recall’.
The investigation was complemented by language tests (C-test, profile analysis) and a quantitative survey on social background, language biography and self-assessed oral competences.
Findings
Intensive communication between project participants strengthened trust in one’s own linguistic abilities over the course of the project. At the same time, analyses of the videotaped interactions during subject lessons reveal a correlation between increasing performative competences and linguistic growth.
Teachers generally viewed pupils’ multilingualism as positively influencing cognitive abilities, language and cultural awareness. Yet many teachers were also critical of heritage languages as the primary means of communication in pupils’ families as this is perceived to hinder skills in German.
Participating pupils viewed the learning of their peers’ heritage languages positively, while, at the same time, expressed ambivalence towards their own heritage languages. This ambivalence can be attributed to negative attitudes and difficult situations that pupils experience regarding their language background.
The analyses showed that ‘freer’ settings, such as project-based teaching, can offer more opportunities for interactive exchange. Project teaching opens space for languages and identities, as well as more possibilities for shaping emotional and social aspects.
What does this mean for educational practice?
Firstly, teachers should be encouraged and empowered to include heritage languages productively in their lessons, and should be permitted to choose themselves from the existing range of multilingual-didactic approaches and methods. Playful scenarios based on the principles of theatre-pedagogy can be especially valuable as they foster pupils’ performative competences via unrestricted artistic composition and expressions, meaning they develop courage to use their languages (German as well as the respective heritage language). Language biographical elements can also be incorporated in creative spaces.
The results also clearly show that teachers require more training and support in dealing with heritage languages and multilingual-didactic approaches. Moreover, teachers should be encouraged to pay more attention to the language biographies of their students, without ascribing outside perspectives to them, in order to become aware of the (often hidden) languages that are present in classrooms.
Project Publications
Rost-Roth, M., Bülow, A., Mengele, H. & Wlossek, I. (2015). Inszenierte Mehrsprachigkeit in drama- und theaterpädagogischen Settings im Regel- und Projektunterricht. Empirische Analysen zu sprachlich und kulturell heterogenen Kontexten unter Berücksichtigung von Herkunftssprachen und Deutsch als Zweitsprache. Das Forschungsdesign. In H. Rösch & J. Webersik (Hrsg.) Deutsch als Zweitsprache – Erwerb und Didaktik Beiträge aus dem 10.Workshop „Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund“. Stuttgart: Klett, S. 249 –263.
Mengele, H., Wlossek, I. & Bülow, A. (2016). Sprachenvielfalt dramapädagogisch inszenieren – Umsetzungsmöglichkeiten in heterogenen Schülergruppen der Sekundarstufe. In A. Betz, C. Schuttkowski, L. Stark & A. Wilms (Hrsg.) Sprache durch Dramapädagogik handelnd erfahren. Ansätze für den Sprachunterricht. Baltmannsweiler: Schneider Verlag, S. 99 –118.
Wlossek, I., & Rost-Roth, M. (2016). Sprache/n als Ressource im Klassenzimmer? Erfahrungen und Einschätzungen von Lehrkräften in Regel- und Übergangsklassen. In V. Schurt, W. Waburg, V. Mehringer & J. Strasser (Hrsg.) Heterogenität in Bildung und Sozialisation. Opladen: Verlag Barbara Budrich, S. 105 –124.