Students’ Perceptions of Collaborative Playwriting Projects Undertaken at a High School in Japan 日本一所高中學生對校內協作編劇項目的觀感
Abstract
This paper explores the activity of collaborative playwriting for theatre performance as a mode of language learning within a task-based framework. It describes a quasi-experimental study in which a pair of similar but distinct playwriting theatre tasks wasimplemented in a first-year English oral communication course at a senior high school in Japan. This paper briefly discusses the background, rationale and design of the playwriting tasks. It then reviews relevant data obtained from post-task student feedback questionnaires. Despite the evident lack of theatrical experience amongst the student participants, their feedback was markedly positive. In addition, a number of students reported improvements in various areas of their language abilities. They also recognised the opportunities for learning that both the devising process and the performance outcomes afforded them.
Keywords: drama and language learning, Japan, playwriting, theatre
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