Susanne Even, Indiana University Bloomington
Learning Spaces: An Introduction to Performative Pedagogy
All of us perform multiple roles in our normal daily lives without necessarily being aware of it. But when it comes to learning another language, ‘normality’ is suspended: learners enter a different world they cannot navigate as easily due to less developed lexical, structural and pragmatic knowledge. To improve foreign language skills, teachers employ grammar, communication and activity-oriented practices. However, a lot of these activities fail to support the development of learners’ foreign language identities and tend to neglect the significance of ownership and agency – role plays in particular are often rejected as ‘boring’ and ‘fake.’
This interactive presentation will introduce performative conventions that go beyond the traditional role play of the foreign language classroom. Participants will be familiarized with collaborative role creating and improvisation techniques that can lead to intensive and lasting learning experiences. In order to facilitate those experiences, the performative teacher needs to be fully present, engaged, and to teach on the basis what is actually happening in a given classroom.
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Friday, September 8, 2017
3 – 5 pm
B-4 Dwinelle Hall