Creating Space Drama in the Foreign Languages at the university of Iceland.

Abstract

Playful approach, serious intent? In this contribution we will discuss aspects of our approaches to drama or theatre (Leiklist) in foreign language teaching in higher education. It is important to create – and protect – space for dramatic art and other arts in foreign lan - guage teaching at a time when an increasing number of universities are adopting a form of “enterprising managerialism” that might or might not accommodate our values as teachers in languages. as Michael Fleming observed, drama has the potential “to ex - plore and examine experience in ways which would otherwise be denied to us in real life”, and we want to demonstrate that drama can provide students with a learning environment in which they can interact, collaborate, become engaged with a foreign language, and become actively involved in their own learning. In this article, one section will discuss a theatre project in French, drawing on methods developed by Pierra in her book Une esthétique théâtrale en langue étrangère, and will focus on oral expression. another section will discuss a theatre project in german that focuses on how to involve creative writing techniques and a reflective practice through portfolios, drawing on methods suggested by gerd Bräuer.