PROCESS DRAMA AND THEATRE IN THE LEARNING OF ITALIAN
Process drama and theatre in the learning of Italian. The case of ‘I Promessi sposi di Birmingham, un “romanzo criminale”’
This paper illustrates the use of two language-teaching and learning methods (process drama and theatre) in a class of Italian. Process drama is based on improvisation, over-identification, and dramatisation from a short set of coordinates that students can read just a few minutes before the activity that will be later performed in class
(see Dunn, 2016; Giebert, 2014; Hulse & Owens, 2017; Jun, 2001; Kao & O’Neill, 1998; O’Neill, 1995; Piazzoli, 2010; Pirola, 2011). Theatre, on the contrary, is based on a script; it involves actors, a director, costumes, set, props, and an audience (see, Fonio, 2012; Guerra & Militello, 2011; Marini-Maio & Ryan-Scheutz, 2010). These methods promote different learning experiences and through reflection on my teaching experience I demonstrate how both process drama and theatre can enrich the student experience and foster a creative and imaginative use of the foreign language in and outside the classroom.