Art workshops for the English language teachers

Poland, ID LLCE2015-172

When educational practice of second language learning is concerned it may be very inspiring and creative to utilize art in the process of acquisition foreign language. English teacher does not need to be artistically gifted, but he/she should develop skills to produce objects which have their own meaning, sense, and motivate students to dialog. During my “Art Workshops” English language teachers realized 3 practical tasks: a colourful stationery in authentic Turkish EBRU technics, coins of imaginary country made of plasticine, and puppets – typical characters of Italian comedia dell’arte. Extraordinary looking piece of paper should inspire students to create unique letters, with a lot of new words. Looking at a coin with its emblem and an image of monarch’s head one should be able to describe it in English or to tell story about the imaginary kingdom. Characters of comedia dell’arte may speak in many languages as the troops of comedians travelled and performed all round Europe. Stages of art work realizations from the concept to final effect, and teachers actual propositions pf English topics and tasks for their pupils will be presented in the last part of the text.

Key words: fine arts workshop, in-service teacher training, art techniques, developing language abilities, inspirations in foreign language learning, dialogue, play in second language learning