Innovation in Language Learning

In this paper, I shall illustrate how the stories contained in a Victorian novel [Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist] and a Shakespearian tragedy [Romeo and Juliet] were successfully exploited , by storytelling and dramatization (process drama) , to improve the English-language[L2] competence and performance of a multi-ethnic 5^th-year primary-school class in a disadvantaged  area of Rome,  availing of a blendof traditional methods and ICT(e-book and YouTube videos ) in a low-pressure, learner-centred environmentfavourable to inter-ethnic integration. The two stories, different in setting and style, bothdealt with love and hate, justice and injustice, moral dyads all the children had no difficulty in appreciating.

Human beings of all ages and cultural-linguistic backgrounds love stories and enjoy entering the imaginary realm of fiction and make-believe. It makes sense, therefore, that teachers exploit learners’ natural curiosity and enjoyment to teach subjects, especially an L2.

Although storytelling and process drama are often believed best suited to small children, in my experience they work with learners of all ages, including adults, also because everyone wants to know “what happens next”. When it comes to learning a second language, storytelling is a valuable tool,  especially with learners who find it hard to speak or perform in front of others,  both  in its receptive (listening, reading , watching) and productive (retelling, predicting, changing) modes.

As languages, besides grammar, vocabulary and phonology, also involve facial mimicry, gesture and body movement L2 learning can be boosted by recourse to kinaesthetic memory.  I found that dramatization cateredparticularly, though not exclusively, formulti-sensory learnerswho find it easier to acquire language by associating words and movement.

Another important (general educational) advantage of the use of acting inclass is the confidence learners acquire. Process drama, unlike school plays, provides a safe unpressurised environment in which learners may use the language they acquire while developing some of the interactive, social skills they need for the rest of their lives.

Key words: L2, stories, storytelling, dramatization, process drama, Oliver Twist, Romeo and Juliet, language competence and performance, kinaesthetic memory.