Mentz, Olivier & Fleiner, Micha (eds.) (2018): The Arts in Language Teaching: International Perspectives: Performative – Aesthetic – Transversal. LIT Verlag: Zürich

The Arts in Language Teaching: International Perspectives: Performative – Aesthetic – Transversal is an engaging collection of essays exploring the established and emerging dialogues between language teaching and performativity. In bringing together language pedagogy and the performing arts, the editors Olivier Mentz and Micha Fleiner demonstrate there is much to learn from integrating the two disciplines. In the opening chapter – Performativity, Learning and Aesthetic Education - Mike Fleming explores the tensions between learning goals and aesthetic outcomes. In doing so, Fleming discusses notions of learning in and learning through the art of drama; the inclusivity of the latter being a natural way for drama to be used in language teaching. Despite the idea of learning in being often rejected as a narrow and traditionalist approach in which aesthetic goals are privileged above all else, Fleming suggests that there is much to be gained from engaging with drama (art for art’s sake) as an art form on a deeper level. He argues that the common use of role play in language teaching is limited in scope and, by adding depth to a role play (e.g. considering a character’s motivations), a deeper (rather than surface) learning experience emerges. If learning in ...