The play’s the thing for immigrant students at Oregon’s Rogue Community College. English as a Second Language students act out experiences with prejudice as part of an interactive theater project that lets students hone their English skills while reaching out to the community, reports the Mail Tribune.
In the middle of the action, the actors stopped to allow the audience to ask questions about their characters’ motivations and perceptions.
Evalyn Hansen, a Rogue ESL teacher, used theater when she was teaching remedial English students at Oregon Coast Community College, reports the Mail Tribune. Hansen decided “the technique could be used with ESL students, who also could reach out to the greater community to promote understanding between different cultures in the Rogue Valley.”
“Acting and repetition are the key to learning how to express yourself in another language,” Hansen said. “Theater is valuable because it brings out emotions where you might not have expected it. The audience becomes involved in the characters. They learn to solve problems in a new way. When you speak from the heart, that breaks a lot of language barriers.”
