1

Creative Multilingualism @creativelangs www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk

GETINVOLVED!ThispackhasbeenproducedtointroduceyoutotheMultilingualPerformanceProjectandtogiveyousome‘do-it-yourself’multilingualperformanceideastotryoutinyourschool.TheexcitingMultilingualPerformanceProject reachesacrossEnglandandWales to showcaseandcelebratethemultilingualnatureofschoolsanddemonstratehowmultilingualismcaninteractcreativelywithteachingintheclassroom,promotingbothtaughtlanguagesandtheuseofcommunitylanguages.Ouraimsinclude:

• Building confidence among MFL teachers in conducting creative work in school,increasingawarenessofthecreativedimensionoflanguages.

• Connectingschoolswithourproject,witheachotherandwithlocaltheatres.• Celebratingthemultilingualnatureofschools,anddemonstratinghowthiscaninteract

withmodernforeignlanguagesastaughtintheclassroom,buildingconfidenceamonglearnersfrommultilingualbackgroundsandshowcasingtheirhomelanguages.

• Promotinginternationalisminschools,encouragingstudents’interestinothercountriesandcultures.

Ifyoufindthispack’sactivitiesuseful,wantadviceonhowtoadaptthem,orifyouhaveotherexercisesyouuseandwouldliketosharethenpleasegetintouch-daniel.tyler-mctighe@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk

Daniel DanielTyler-McTigheDirector,MPP

Releasingthecreativepotentialofmodernlanguages

Makinglinguisticdiversitymorevisible,valued,andvibrantInspiringlearners.Empoweringcommunities.Invigoratingresearch

The Multilingual Performance Project is an initiative of Creative Multilingualism, a four-yearresearchprogramme fundedby theArtsandHumanitiesResearchCouncil in the contextof itsOpenWorld Research Initiative. Creative Multilingualism is investigating theinterconnection betweenlinguisticdiversityandcreativity,andrethinkingtheidentityofModernLanguages.Itaimstostrengthentheidentityofthediscipline,enhancingthevisibilityandstatusoflanguagesinsociety,andgivinganewimpetustolanguagelearninginschools.Tofindoutmore,pleasevisit:www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk

2

ACTIVITIES:DramaGames&TheatreExercises

Allofthegamesandexercisesthatfollowcanbeadaptedtobebi-ormulti-lingualorbefullytransposedintodifferentlanguageswithinavibrantmultilingualenvironment.Someoftheseactivitiesandotherscanbeseenonlineat:https://www.creativeml.ox.ac.uk/resources/multilingual-drama-teaching-activitiesBUSYBEES(AKABUZZYBEES)This is a greatway to energise the room, aswell as being a really interestingway to test students’vocabularyandquickthinking!Playedinanotherlanguage,it’sagreatvocabularytestforstudents.Youneedabitofspaceforthisone,butaclassroomwithspacebetweendeskscando.

- Thegameleaderstandsattheheadoftheroomandshouts“BusyBeesBUZZ!”- Studentsbeginto“buzz”aroundtheroom.- TheGameleaderthencalls“BusyBeesmakesomethingbeginningwith…”andchosealetterof

thealphabet;thegameleaderbeginscountingdownfrom5.- Eachstudentmustthenfreezeinastatueofsomethingbeginningwiththatletter.(Forexample,

theletter“L”mightyieldstatuesoflions,lemons,legs,leaves,lusciouslips,ladders…).- TheGLthenproceedstoaskeachstudentwhattheyarerepresenting.Anystudentswhohavethe

sameassomeoneelseareout;likewise,anystudentwhohasnotmanagedtothinkofsomethingisout.

- Thegamecontinues,withfewerandfewerpeopleineachround,untilawinner(orwinners)aredeclared.Extrapraisemaybegivenforanyexemplarystatuescreated.

ILLNESSESANDINJURIESAgreatgameforanyageandskilllevel.Frombasicvocabularyaboutbodypartsandhealthtocomplicatedsentencestructureandtheuseofpast/presenttense,allskilllevelscantakepartinthisactivity,andeveryonelovessharingagoodstoryabouthowtheygotthatinterestingscar…

- Eachpersonmustfirstthinkofanillnessorinjurytheyhavesuffered(andarewillingtosharewiththeclass!)andthestorythatsurroundsit(i.e.“whenIwasonholidaywithmyDadIfelloffmybikeandbrokemycollarbone.”)

- Participantsthenshow,physically,howtheywouldlookwiththatillnessorinjury(i.e.holdingcollarboneandgrimacing).TheGameLeaderscanstheroom,andwheneveryonehasaclearstatuetheycanbegin.

- Eachpersonmustwalk(orlimp!)aroundtheroomwiththeirillness/injury.Whentheymeetanotherpersontheymustswapstories,andthenabsorbtheotherperson’sinjury/illnesswiththeirown.(Brokencollarbonemeetssomeonewithfoodpoisoningfromawedding.TheyswapstoriesandwalkawaybothwithabrokencollarboneANDfoodpoisoning.)

- Theymightthenmeetsomeoneelse,speakaboutbothoftheircurrentillnesses/injuriesandalsohavetoabsorbthetwoillnessesandinjuriesoftheotherperson.(Brokencollarboneandfoodpoisoningmeetsupwithsomeonewhobrokeanankleplayingfootballandhasalsocutopentheirfingerwhilstcooking.Theybothnowhaveallfourillnesses/injuries.)

- Dependingongroupsize/ability,setalimitonhowmanyinteractionseachpersonshouldhave.Whentheyreachthelimit(i.e.twointeractions/fourinjuries)theyshouldagainfreeze,showingtheGLwhattheynowlooklike.

- Onceeveryoneisfrozen,theGameLeadercanchooseparticularlyinterestinglookingstatuestosharetheirstories.(i.e.“IwasonholidaywithmyDadandIfelloffmybikeandbrokemycollarbone,andthenextdayIwenttoaweddingandgotfoodpoisoning.ThenIdecidedtoplayfootballtomakemyselffeelbetterandbrokemyankle.Ithoughtasandwichwouldbetheeasiestthingtomaketosettlemystomachandcutmyfingeropen…”)

3

WORKINGWITHSCRIPTSAnyscript,whetherwrittenbytheteacherorthestudentsthemselvesorapublishedtextcanbeusedtoenlivenaclassroom.Askstudentstoconsidernotonlythevocabularyneededbutthestructureofthesentencesandtheirimpact,thegrammar,thesoundofthewordsandtheirforeignlanguagecounterpart,andtheculturalreferencesinatext.Allofthesethingscanbeagreattoolforengagingstudentsinthepoweroflanguage.Youcould:

- Find/writeascenewithtwocharacters.PlaythesceneinEnglish.PlayitagainwithonepersonspeakingEnglishandoneinthesubjectlanguage.Cantheyretainthesenseofthescene?Whichwordsareimportant?

- Playthesceneagainwiththembothhavingtranslatedthetext–doesitfeelthesameasinEnglish?Arethereanywords/phrasesthatDON’Ttranslate?Why?

WINTERIS…Alovelywaytostudysomeoftheculturaldifferencesandsimilaritiesbetweenthestudent’scultureandthesubjectlanguage.Again,adapttothenumbersandskillsetofyourgroup.

- Aclassissplitinhalf.Onegroup(A)decideswhatthingsmakeupatraditionalBritishwinter(i.e.snow,Christmas,delayedtrains,hotchocolateandmarshmallows,openfires,‘flu,snottycolds,woollyhatsetc…).Theothergroupdecideswhatmakesupthe“winter”ofthesubjectculture.(Resourcesorindependentresearchtimewillbeneededforthisexercise.)

- Afteratime,eachgroupwillpresenttheirfindings.Aspeaker/smallgroupofspeakerswillreadout“Winteris…”andthevariousthingstheyhavedecidedrepresentthat,whilsttherestoftheteamactout/mimethosethingsbehindthem.Thenextteamshowstheclasswhat“Winteris…”forthesubjectlanguage.

- Thegroupsthenswap;theteamwhohadlookedatBritishwinterthenlookatthesubjectlanguagesummer,andvisa-versa.

Thiscouldbedonewithanyfestival/seasonthatisculturallyappropriate.WHATAREYOUDOING?Ashort,fungametoworkonthoseverbs!

- Thefirststudent(“A”)standsandmimesanactivity.- Thesecondstudent(“B”)asks“whatareyoudoing?”.- “A”replieswithanewactivity,which“B”mustthenbegintomime.- Thiscontinuesuntileveryonehashadaturn.

Forexample,“A”beginstomimediggingahole.“B”asks,“whatareyoudoing?”.“A”replies“I’mdancingtoNightFever!”andsitsdown,whilstBmustbegintodotheNightFeverdanceuntilthenextstudentasks“whatareyoudoing?”.INTERNATIONALPERSONOFMYSTERYThisisaquickwarm-upgamewhichgetsparticipantsfocusedandusessomebasicvocabulary.

- Everyonestandsinacircle.- Anominatedpersonpointsatsomeoneandsays‘double’(doble,doppelt,double)- Thispersonpointsatsomeoneandsays‘o’(theremaynotbeatranslatable‘o’meaning‘zero!)- Thispersonpointsatsomeoneandsays‘seven’(siete,Sieben,Sept)- Thisperson‘becomes’JamesBondandshootssomeonewitha‘bang’- Thepersonwhohasbeenshotduckstoavoidthebulletandthetwopeopleeithersideputtheir

handsupandgasp.- Participantsareeliminatediftheydoanyoftheactionsdescribedaboveincorrectly,orafter

somepracticetooslowly.

4

WOULDILIETOYOU?BasedontheTVprogrammeofthesamename,agoodfunwaytosharestoriesandworkcollaboratively.Dependingonhowmuchtimeyouhaveandhowmanyparticipantsyouwillbeincluding,youcanre-workthisinvariouswaystobestsuityourneeds.Belowisabasicstructurewhichyoucanthenadapt.

- Splitthegroupintosmallteams(i.e.fourgroupsofthree).- Ingroups,eachpersonmustshareastorybasedupontheGameLeader’schoiceoftopic.You

coulddo“BestBirthdayEver”,“MostEmbarrassingMoment”,“FavouriteHolidayMemory”orwhateversuitsyourtopic/class.TheGameLeaderre-iteratesthatthestoriesmustbeTRUE.

- Thegroupsthendecidewhichstorywillbethehardestonefortheotherteamstoguesswhoitbelongsto,andrehearseit,eachtellingitasifitistheirownstory.

- Teamstakeitinturnstopresenttheirstories.Forexample,TeamAstandandeachpersontellsthesamestoryasifithashappenedtothem.TeamsB,CandDdeliberateamongstthemselvesandvotewhotheythinkitreallybelongsto.Eachteamwhohasguessedcorrectlygetsapoint.TeamAgetsapointforeveryteamthatguessesincorrectly.TeamsB,CandDgettheirturn.

Teamscanworktogethertoworkouthowtotellthetaleinthesubjectlanguage,ormoreadvancedstudentscantelltheiroriginalstoriesinthesubjectlanguage.PROPSPropscanbeusedinavarietyofwaystostimulateaspeakinginanotherlanguage.Here’safewideas:

- Whatisit?Aplainobjectispassedaroundthecircle,andeachpersonmustcomeupwithavariationonwhatitis.i.e.acardboardboxispassedaround.Thefirstpersonsays“It’sacageIkeepmymicein,“thenext“mybesthat”,thenextperson“mynewbabybrother.”

- Ifoundthis…Twopeoplemustcreatethemostinterestingstoryaboutwheretheygotacertainpropfrom.Thestoryvotedmostinterestingbytheclasswins.

- It’smine!Inpairs,thestudentsdeviseshortscenesbasedonthembothwantingtopossessacertainprop.Youcouldhaveabagof15randomobjects,oneisgiventoeachpairandtheymustdeviseascenebasedonthedesireforthatprop.

- 1,3,5…Apropisgiventoeachsmallgroup.Atmosphericmusiccouldbeplayedtosupportthescenes.Groupsmustdeviseashortscenebasedonthepropbutareonlyallowedtouseone(orthree,orfive)words.Bylimitingthenumberofwordsused,youareallowingstudentswithvariouslevelsofabilitytocontribute,aswellaschallenginggroupstothinkcarefullyaboutthepowerandimportanceofcertainwords.

THESUNSHINESONThisgamewouldworkbestwithstudentshaveagraspofadjectivesandhumancharacteristics,likesandsoon.

- Thewholegroupsitonchairsinacirclewithonepersonstoodinthemiddleofthecircle(withnoavailableseat).Thispersonwantstowinachairbymakingpeopleleavetheirplaceandgotoanotherchair.

- Thisisdonebythepersoninthemiddlesaying“Thesunshineson…”(ortheMFLtranslation)andthencompletingthephrasewithacharacteristicthatcouldbetrueofmorethanoneseatedperson(e.g.women,peoplewholikechocolate,anyonewearinggreen).Ifthestatementistrueofthemeachplayermustleavetheirchairandruntoanotherchairbeforethepersoninthemiddlestealsachair.No-onecanreturntothesamechairinthatround.

- Thereshouldbearegularturnoverofwhoisinthemiddle.- Continueplayingroundsforaslongasyoulike!

5

PLAYWRITINGSCHEMEOFWORKThisisanexampleofaschemeofworkinwhichstudentsworktowardscreatingperformancethatcaneasilybe adapted to integrate different languages or support the students to create their first fully foreignlanguageplay.Theexercisesdescribedintheschemeofworkcanbeusedwithprimarystudentsupwardsandcan,ofcourse,beadaptedtobemorecomplexforolderstudents.Attheendoftheschemeisanexampleofanactivityonbuildingacharacterwhichwouldbeusedforolder,moreadvancedstudents.SESSION1

- Introductionandexplanationofhowtheprojectwillrunoverthenextfewweeks.- Discussion:Whatisaplay?Maincomponentsarestagedirections,charactersanddialogue.You

canfacilitatethisinwhateverwayyoulike,youcouldusetheboardtowriteanexampleofaverysimpleplaysetinaclassroomwiththegroupandthenhavevolunteersactitout.Theaimistounderstandthedifferencebetweenaplayandastoryandhowtheyaresetoutonapage.

- Exerciseoncharacternames.Astudentwritestheirownfirstnameontheboardandthenjumblethelettersroundtomake3newpossiblenames.Theclasscanthenchoosetheirfavourite.Thengiveoutscrappaperandaskallstudentstodothisexerciseindividuallyuntiltheyeachhaveanewcharactername.

- Exerciseonsimplecharacteristics.Drawatablewithtwocolumns:happyandsad.Writeoneofthestudents’newcharacternamesvertically.Asagroupchoosesomethingthischaracterlikesandsomethingtheydislikeforeachletterandfilloutthetableontheboard.Again,askstudentstoalldothisexerciseindividually.

- Extra,funactivity:GiveeveryoneanA5pieceofscrappaperandaskthemtodesigntheircharacter.Nocolouringin...justsketching.Theycanthendecideonfinalcharactername.Itdoesnotneedtobeoneoftheanagramsyouhavecompletedbeforeascanbeinformedbyhowtheyhavedesignedthem.

SESSION2Thisisallaboutgettingthestudentstocollaborateonwritingtheplayinpairsorsmallgroups.

- Discussionofnarrative.Giveexamplesofstorieswithclearbeginning,middleandend.IdeallystoriesfromcultureswhouseyourMFL.Focusontheideathatgoodstorytellingisproblemsolvinganddramaistheobstaclesyoucomeacrossandhavetoovercome.

- Ingroups:decidehoweachcharacterknowseachotherandiftheircharactersarebadorgood.Theythenneedtodecideonthesituationandtheproblem.

- Askthemtowritetheirstoryinonesentence.Yougivethemanexample.- Thenplantheirstorymorefullybasedonthreescenesinthreedifferentlocations.

SESSION3AND4

- Writingtheplays.Thismaybebesttodirectlyontolaptopsortablets.Youcaninstructstudentsthateachpersonshouldwritetheirowncharacterdialogueencouragingamoredemocraticformofcreatingthescripts.

SESSION5

- RehearsingandPerformingthenewplays.Workingacrosscurricula,studentscouldalsodesignpostersandevenprogrammesfortheirplays.AliteracytaskafterwardswouldbeallstudentswritingreviewsintheMFLofeachother’splays.Keeptheplaysshortandsimpleandfeelfreetoamendanyofthisplantosuityourownstyle.Itissetupsotheycandothissittingatdesks,butsometimesyoumaywantthegroupstostanduptoactoutsectionsoftheirplays.

6

ThefollowingquestionnairecanbeusedduringthisschemetoCREATEADRAMATICCHARACTER:Character’sName: ______________________________________________Myfamilystructureis: ______________________________________________Myfriendsare: ______________________________________________Ilivein: ______________________________________________Iwork: ______________________________________________Myageis_____________Iwasbornon______________________________________________MyPrimarySchoolwas ______________________________________________MySecondarySchoolwas ______________________________________________ThefirstmusicIrememberlisteningtoandlikingwas______________________________________________NowImostlylistento______________________________________________Myearliestmemoryis: ______________________________________________Myfirstkisswas: ______________________________________________Myperfecteveningis: ______________________________________________Peoplesaymyhandwritingis:______________________________________________Mygreatestfearis: ______________________________________________Myfavourites:Colour ______________________________________________

Food ______________________________________________Typeofholiday______________________________________________

Thisisforyoutocreateastatementspecificallyforyourcharacter:My_____________________________________is: ______________________________________________

Lastupdated:17May2019