چکیده:
L’introduction du théâtre dans l’apprentissage est un moyen de motiver les apprenants
afin qu’ils arrivent à améliorer leur expression orale et leurs compétences linguistiques, leur permettant ainsi de maîtriser leur peur de parler une langue étrangère. La langue française, langue obligatoire dans le cursus scolaire mauricien, du primaire au collège, est une matière qui inquiète les apprenants qui ont souvent des difficultés à s’exprimer. Dans cette activité, l’objectif de sortir de la méthode traditionnelle d’apprentissage et d’introduire la pièce de théâtre a été d’améliorer l’apprentissage de la langue française chez les apprenants inscrits en première année à l’université des Mascareignes et ainsi revoir les bases de la grammaire d’une façon ludique. La première étape était de former des groupes car travailler en équipe peut, selon plusieurs chercheurs, réduire non seulement l’anxiété linguistique des apprenants mais aussi l’expérience intimidante de l’apprentissage. Le groupe devait ensuite réfléchir sur un thème fictif ou historique, rédiger le texte, jouer la pièce et faire un montage vidéo des scènes. Cette étude compte analyser des commentaires laissés par les apprenants à la fin des sessions afin de mieux voir si
l’intégration des activités théâtrales dans leur enseignement les a motivés et leur a permis de renforcer leurs connaissances et compétences en langue française.
معرفی تياتر در امر یادگیری راهی است برای ایجاد انگیزه در فراگیران برای بهبود مهارت‌های گفتاری و مهارت‌های زبانی، این فعالیت انها را قادر می‌سازد تا بر ترس خود از صحبت کردن به یک زبان خارجی غلبه کنند. یادگیری زبان فرانسوی در برنامه درسی موریس، از ابتدایی تا دانشگاه، الزامی است و همواره زبان اموزان را که اغلب در بیان شفاهی خود مشکل دارند نگران می‌کند. در این فعالیت، هدف از ترک روش سنتی یادگیری و معرفی نمایش، در جهت بهبود یادگیری زبان فرانسوی در میان زبان اموزانی بود که در سال اول در دانشگاه ماسکرین ثبت نام کرده بودند و در نتیجه در جهت یادگیری اصول دستور زبان را به روشی سرگرم کننده بود. اولین قدم تشکیل گروه‌ها بود، زیرا به اعتقاد محققین زیادی کار تیمی می تواند علاوه بر کاهش اضطراب زبانی زبان‌اموزان، تجربه ترسناک یادگیری را نیز کاهش دهد. سپس گروه می‌بایست در مورد یک مضمون داستانی یا تاریخی بیندیشند، متن را بنویسند و نمایشنامه را اجرا کنند و از صحنه‌ها فیلمبرداری کنند. این مطالعه قصد دارد تا نظرات فراگیران را در پایان جلسات تجزیه و تحلیل کند تا بهتر مشخص کند که ایا ادغام فعالیت‌های نمایشی در اموزش انگیزه‌ای برای زبان‌اموزان ایجاد می‌کند یا انها را قادر می‌سازد تا دانش و مهارت خود را در زبان فرانسه تقویت کنند.
According to several researchers, the introduction of drama in language classes
allows learners to reveal their intrinsic motivation (Isabelle-Bernard, 2010) and not only does it improve
their oral expression, but also develops their language skills (Joannie -Dubois and Ophelie-Tremblay,
2015), allowing them to control their fear of speaking a foreign language (Mathilde-Dallier, 2014).
Learners thus produce a more sophisticated and better-quality work. For Glen Bledsoe (2010), what
learners often fear is writing a text: finding a start, developing the ideas and writing a logical conclusion
is often very difficult. French language, a compulsory language in the Mauritian school curriculum, from
primary to secondary school, is a subject which worries learners who often have difficulties in
expressing themselves in writing and speaking. According to education statistics in Mauritius, the failure
rate in French is around 20% to 25% in primary and secondary schools (Statistics Mauritius, 2019;
Mauritius Examinations Syndicate, 2016). Our goal is to revise the basics of grammar in a fun way, thus
leaving behind the traditional methods of teaching. For this study, we wanted to formulate the hypothesis
that the introduction of digital drama makes it possible to improve the learning of the French language
among the first-year students-to-be at the Universite of Mascareignes (UdM), Mauritius.
To be admitted in the first year, students must have completed their secondary studies, but it should
be noted that French is not a compulsory subject for those taking the Cambridge Higher School
Certificate Exam, which is equivalent to the French baccalaureate. However, Mauritian learners have
taken French lessons for at least a dozen years (from pre-primary to secondary schools), and besides,
the media and newspapers in Mauritius are also in French. The course “Renforcement de la langue
francaise” is 3.5 hours per session, and is spread over seven weeks. It is obligatory for all those who
register for the first year, and we have worked with three groups of learners, registered in BSc Human
Resources and BSc Marketing. The learners do not know each other, and we have in the groups, both
Mauritian and international learners, more particularly from Madagascar, aged between 18 and 25 years.
After two weeks of lessons, which slightly follow the “traditional” model (dictation, reading, basic
grammar review etc.), the first step was to form groups because working in a team can, according to
some researchers, reduce this intimidating experience to learn (Shiri-Lavy, 2017) and help manage the
linguistic anxiety of learners (Isabelle-Bernard, 2010).
Motivate learners with digital drama – a case study
at Universite des Mascareignes (Mauritius)*
Neelam PIRBHAI-JETHA**
The group then had to think about a fictional or historical subject, write the drama text, play it, and make a video of the scenes. During this 24.5-hour course, learners have two assessments: a dictation and the production of the digital drama. The exercise in digital drama, which is the product of group work, is evaluated in two parts: the writing of the drama with stage directions, and the recording in video limited to 25 minutes. The score counts for 50% of the overall score. It was advised to take a historical event from Mauritius. However, fictional stories have also been accepted. All subjects must be approved in advance by the module lecturer. Of the 110 learners, 48 students responded to the questionnaire on Google Form, which was sent to the learners after the end of the last session.
This study intends to analyse the learners' comments and thus identify not only the positive aspects of this learning method, but also to review its shortcomings and the problems encountered. In other words, this research allows us to better understand the learners' perceptions in order to know if, according to them, the integration of drama in their teaching motivated them and allowed them to strengthen their knowledge and skills in French.
A questionnaire was prepared on Google Form and several open-ended and closed-ended questions were asked on the learning of the French language with drama, learner motivation, and teamwork experience among others. However, for this qualitative study, we will only analyse the following four questions, which unveil the learners' opininon on their motivation to learn French through drama:
i) a closed-ended question divided into sub-questions on the learning method they prefer (a list is provided);
ii) an open-ended question about what they thought of the teaching of French before joining university;
iii) an open-ended question on what they thought about learning French language with digital drama;
iv) an open-ended question on any other comments than they have on the course
In the first part of research on drama in French in higher education, we are interested in the question of motivation. Although we did not use the questions on the grid of the intrinsic motivation inventory (IMI) of Desi and Ryan to assess the subjective experience of participants in this activity, we note that several sub- scales / factors mentioned in IMI were raised in the answers to the learners' open questions.
The results show that, with the exception of a few learners, the participants (around 87%) were intrinsically motivated and they had the willing to engage in the activity for pleasure and personal satisfaction and not by rewards or external constraints. Moreover, an intrinsically-motivated person is the one at the highest level of self-determination and this is reflected by the adjectives of pleasure and satisfaction used by the learners in their responses. This intrinsic motivation comes from having done or learned something new, from having accomplished a difficult task and also from having carryied out an activity which stimulated them and where they felt pleasure and fun. To illustrate this, some responses are analysed. The amotivation of some students is also discussed in this section.
Teaching adults implies that several criteria must be taken into account because adult learners do not want to return to school to be judged, or to learn by heart. Autonomous and responsible, they need an informal and secure environment to motivate them (Jean-Philippe-Schmidt, 2018). It is in this perspective that we proposed to introduce digital drama during the module of “Renforcement de la langue francaise”. We started from the assumption that learners would be motivated and therefore take responsibility for their work and learning. This proved to be true because the final video submitted enabled the learners to have a positive attitude towards learning French language. From an outsider’s perspective, the motivation of the learners did not decrease during the whole course. According to the answers of the learners, they became aware of their skills and those which they must acquire, they had the choice to work with whom they want to, and to choose their themes. The digital drama, taught in a less formal and rigid context, seems to develop autonomy (or self-determination), which in turn, creates intrinsic motivation. The active learner is at the center of all activity who takes responsibility for the
teaching-learning process. Group work allows him to acquire knowledge and the learners could ask the teacher in the event of inability to solve a problem.
In short, digital drama, which encompasses the competences necessary in traditional drama, tends to blur the boundaries between traditional roles reserved for the teacher and the learner. This implies that learning guaranteed a certain autonomy because “action is done for the pleasure of doing it, and because it seems, for example, interesting, exciting or involves a challenge” (Eva-Lang, 2010, p 28). However, some limitations of this study should be emphasised. First, if time permits, we will present learners with a choice between digital drama and creating a digital game or story, so that each learner can deal with the means of presenting the themes/topics that interest him. Thus, greater individualisation would be possible. In addition, in order to analyse in depth the relevance of the digital drama in a language course, we will develop, in future research work, the social competences acquired by the learners during team work and we will also make a detailed analysis of the deviations or 'errors' left by the learners in the French written text and videos.
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