Glottodrama

The introduction of the GlottoDrama method has amongst its main objectives that of making the learning of Italian more stimulating and attractive to students, a language which often represents in the main European educational systems one of the choices for a second or third foreign language when the curriculum is based on multilingualism. In this way, the project can contribute to increase the average number of foreign languages learnt per student in secondary schools. Removing emotional filters so as to acquire a more natural and expressive ability; develop a better awareness of linguistic applications as they apply to different situations and contexts; stimulate the ability for global communication by applying best verbal and non-verbal solutions; using the second language more spontaneously as the tool to express those emotions and sentiments usually expressed using the first language, even at the higher levels of learning. To transform the unnatural dynamics of the school class into the more natural and motivating dynamics of the theatre company, a group founded on pursuing a collective goal (project-work) and characterized by an intense interpersonal emotive exchange and from a strong sense of belonging. To pursue these objectives, GlottoDrama, which assumes as its theoretical basis the communicative approach with an affective-humanistic orientation, will base itself on strongly motivating activities such as project-work, that is to say, on the study of a language with the aim of carrying out a task (theatrical performance) and on strategic interation, that is to say, on communication not as a mere exchange of information but as an activity of social interaction and of negotiation in order to achieve a goal (Di Pietro R.J.). In other words, to concentrate attention on communicative performance as a complex semiotic act, a harmonious synthesis of multiple codes, both verbal and non verbal, moving from a holistic conception of language learning. Last, but not least, is the intercultural objective: the profound understanding of a dramatic text means to seize a culture in action. A culture which manifests itself, both in an explicit manner, through textual references widely known in the cultural universe of native speakers, and on an implicit level with reference to general knowledge that the encoder of the text believes to share with the decoder and what Umberto Eco defines in semiotic terms as encyclopedia.The 2008/2009 project targets Italian as a foreign language and/or second language. The project envisions the creation of courses based on in-class laboratory applications of theatre recitals conducted in the foreign language of choice, by two teachers, one of languages one of theatrical arts.