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Pantomime in the Foreign Language Classroom
Author(s) -
Carels Peter E.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
foreign language annals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.258
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1944-9720
pISSN - 0015-718X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1944-9720.1981.tb01660.x
Subject(s) - immediacy , gesture , feeling , psychology , class (philosophy) , foreign language , action (physics) , foreign language teaching , linguistics , pedagogy , social psychology , epistemology , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics
Through pantomime, language learners can be encouraged to participate orally in classroom activities without feeling the pressure of having to perform. The teacher, in acting out simple situations before the class, assumes the role of the performer. The students work together to interpret the gestures, losing their sense of individuality in their intense concentration on the action. The immediacy of the pantomime experience guarantees spontaneous utterances of authentic communicative value.