Video on using theater to teach pragmatics: focus on apologizing
Getting ready for CaTESOL on Friday where I’ll be talking about pronunciation through theater. I believe drama still supports communication skills, even on zoom!
Public Speaking in English is Scary. Drama can Help
Poor Emilio! He seemed like such a confident student, but when he had to give a talk in front of the class, he ran to the bathroom and was sick. Emilio’s case might be extreme, but according to the psychologist, Michelle Lynsky, public speaking is one of the […]
A fun, talk-show activity for fluency
As a teacher, it’s sometimes difficult to investigate students’ progress in a productive (holistic) way. Simulations can help by providing a culturally familiar scaffolding that can guide a fluency experience. They are also a lot of fun! While the talk show simulation described below can be done outside […]
Projects for a dynamic classroom
In 2018, an Atlantic Monthly article featured a writer’s experience with Duolingo, the language app that uses gaming principles to attract learners to their lessons. The stickiness of the app seems to work. The article stated that Duolingo has 27.5 million active monthly users, and it is not […]
Teaching speaking skills with a theater sketch
We may assume that our conversations are spontaneous, but the truth is speakers fall into patterns. We especially fall into these conversational grooves in situations that we experience over and over. The patterns exist because they are comfortable and allow us to connect with each other along easy […]
Theater as the ultimate group work: producing a play with English learners
Thunder claps, lightning strikes, and rain begins to fall as Jane and Margaret approach the bus stop. They are two students, one a model child with good grades, the other a bit of a misfit who doesn’t clean her room or get her homework done on time. But […]
Drama in ESL: Using monologues for big picture pronunciation
A monologue is a short speech given by a character in a play. Sometimes the character is alone in a room, but not always. Because a monologue is designed to be spoken, not read, it is an ideal text for working on pronunciation and intonation in meaning-driven ways. […]
Pronunciation with an Attitude
“Language is about managing relationships,” said Stephen Pinker in a 2007 TED talk entitled What our Language Habits Reveal, and in his presentation, Pinker points out that to socialize, you have to satisfy two conditions, “You have to convey the actual content,” and “You want to express the […]
Assessment and Feedback for Conversation Classes
In both theatre and English language classrooms, participants investigate language, work to achieve interpersonal goals and improve through rehearsal or practice. Consequently, it may be helpful for teachers to take a page from the director’s playbook when it comes to supporting students’ efforts to ‘perform’ successfully. One […]
Stress Out! A Roleplay About Relationships
Today we have a guest post by our friend and colleague Alice Llanos Stress and intonation can play a huge role in creating meaning. We all know that the phrase “excuse me” can sound polite, sassy or even downright rude depending on the stress and intonation given to […]
