Language teaching as a performing art

Actors have to make every performance as fresh, enthusiastic and energetic as the first time they play a particular character; actors also have to maximise the use of space and movement on stage to establish relationships with other characters and to manage audience attention; actors have to use their voices and bodies creatively to convey meaning and maintain audience attention and they use both pathos and humour to provoke a human reaction.

In this paper, I explore the common ground shared by actors and teachers and suggest that a teacher’s use of certain acting techniques can: reduce anxiety and tension in the classroom; help cope with the frequent need to improvise and be spontaneous; help convey enthusiasm and energy; maintain discipline; make lessons enjoyable and memorable; develop productive rapports with and be viewed positively by learners and enhance classroom dynamics ... while still keeping it natural!