Performative games
The concept of performative games is a language promotion model for students with a migration background . The classic teaching and learning palette is expanded through forms of performative play. This is intended to specifically promote not only the linguistic, but also the communicative, social and intercultural skills of all students.
development
The concept was developed for teaching as part of a model test at the University of Bremen in cooperation with schools in Bremen. In it, a language promotion model for secondary school students was developed, tested and evaluated through performative games, which works on the basis of movement and action in front of spectators in their own class / group.
With performative [verb (Engl.) To perform = "to perform"] are meant in this context actions with which a topic is not only carried out, but also physically and verbally performed at the same time. The performative game concept for lessons is primarily based on the processing, execution and performance of teaching and learning topics in movement and action-oriented games. The aim is to improve the linguistic development of the students in a holistic and enjoyable way and to offer them opportunities to experience language as something playful. Accordingly, learning should not only take place with the head, but also with the body and its senses. The central thesis is that the stimulation of cognitive abilities (greater attention, memory, memory, creativity) through the performative games can profitably influence the language development process.
Theory of the concept
The peculiarity of this language promotion model is that the development of language, which must never be viewed separately from social and intercultural action contexts, is played and is directly integrated into cooperative and communicative actions. In this way, different senses are included in the learning process: The students have to pay attention to different things at the same time in order for a game to be successful. Due to the fact that students with a migration background all too often experience language as a barrier, language learning itself is not dealt with superficially in the performative game, but rather takes place “casually” at best. This form of learning is primarily geared towards the respective situation and towards conveying a sense of achievement and positive language experiences, and less towards the process of learning itself.
It is well known from brain research that every success in learning leads to a feeling of happiness, in which the body's own "happiness drugs" are released. The fact that something “gets stuck” in this “implicit learning” can also be justified neuropsychologically. For the approach of performative games, this means that the linking of learning with positive emotions in the game process can bring about biochemical (rapid) and structural (long-term) changes in the information channels, synapses, in the brain. These changes lead to the optimization of brain functions and can thus stimulate the process of willingness to learn and learning performance.
The performative games are not a substitute for conventional German or remedial classes geared towards “explicit learning processes”, but rather a methodical and didactic instrument that is “brain-friendly” for the pupils and a flexible methodical and didactic instrument for the teachers, with which linguistic and social teaching and learning processes can be optimized. Seen in this way, support is not an educational task in the narrower sense, but is rather firmly anchored in the game. The knowledge about language acquired in it should promote the processing ability for the explicit appropriation of linguistic rule systems. Through the interplay between conventional working methods and performative play, the quality of teaching can also be improved and the resources of students with and without a migrant background can be better seen and better integrated into the teaching and learning process. Above all, this happens because one can gain a more holistic, expanded picture of the young person. The games are accordingly designed in such a way that they present the teachers with an instrument with which they can better recognize and develop the strengths and weaknesses of their students.
The performative games can, through the "casual" learning in the game and in the presentation in front of watching and listening classmates, give students with a migration background access to language, break down language barriers and create procedural knowledge. This requires a “different” way of working, a different form of learning, a different teaching.
Practical application in class
The performative approach to play essentially consists of group-dynamic cooperation and interaction units, which are organized by the teacher in the classroom and adapted to the existing learning tasks and topics. While the role of the teacher is expanded to include instructions, participation in the game and moderation of the game, in this process the pupils alternate between actors and spectators. An important part of the methodical-didactic approach is not only to use it on its own, but to combine it with learning content and adapt it to the general conditions of your own teaching (group size, age, climate, level of learning, etc.). Creating a positive learning atmosphere that inspires trust is one of the central requirements for success and effectiveness.
literature
- Boos-Nünning, U. / Karakasoglu, Y. (2005): Many worlds live. On the life situation of girls and young women with a migration background, Waxmann-Verlag. 2nd edition Münster, 2006
- Sobat, F. (2004), Concept “Performative Games for Language Promotion of Students with a Migration Background”, manuscript, University of Bremen