MEDIATING CHARACTER OF THE LANGUAGE IN CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS

Language works as a tool of communication between cultures; it is participating in presenting the

cultural identity of each society. Merriam Webster (2008) defined language as ‘the system of words
or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other’. So, language is the tool
which people use to communicate.

1. THEATER IN EDUCATION

Over the years, working with students, it has been felt that if their lived experiences are
incorporated with the teaching processes, it can help in learning at an escalated pace. Theatre is an
effective tool to convert their experiences into learning. The possible pedagogical value of theater is
yet to be explored to its fullest potential. Theater empowers the students with perspective so that
they can apply various social and intellectual skills in their lives. There are certain visible impacts
of theater activities in educational processes. These are: development of communication skills,
enhanced sensitivities, appreciation for arts and exploration of hidden potential

The Benefits of Theatre Education

- Self-Confidence:

Taking risks in class and performing for an audience teach students to trust their ideas and abilities.
This confidence will apply in nearly every aspect of their future.

- Imagination:

In a word addicted to technology, theatre provides an outlet for making creative choices, thinking
new ideas, and interpreting the material in expressive ways that are the essence of drama.

Empathy & Tolerance:

Acting roles from different situations, time periods, and cultures promotes compassion and
tolerance for others.

- Cooperation/Collaboration:

Theatre combines the creative ideas and abilities from its participants.

- Concentration:

Playing, practicing, and performing develop a sustained focus of mind, body, and voice which helps
with other areas of life including school.

- Communication Skills:

Drama enhances verbal and nonverbal expression of ideas. It improves voice projection,
articulation, fluency of language, and persuasive speech.
 - Problem Solving:

Students learn to communicate the who, what, where, when, and why to the audience.
Improvisation fosters quick-thinking solutions, which leads to greater adaptability in life.

- Fun:

Theatre brings play, humor, and laughter to learning; this improves motivation and reduces stress.

- Trust:

The social interaction and risk taking in drama develop trust in self, others, and the process.

- Memory:

Rehearsing and performing the words, movements, and cues strengthen this skill like a muscle.

- Social Awareness:

Legends, myths, poems, stories, and plays used in drama teach students about social issues and
conflicts from cultures past, present, all over the world.

- Aesthetic Appreciation:

Participating in and viewing theatre raise appreciation for the art form. It is important to raise a
generation that understands, values, and supports theatre's place in society.

For Marco Antonio Limachi Loza

Benefits of the theater in the education

- It is an investigation tool.

- It is good to stimulate the emotions.

- As half of expression and communication.

- It develops the creativity, oratorical and corporal conscience.

- It promotes the empathy and solidarity.

For students with disability:

- It favors the development Psychomotor and the integration.

For the educational ones:

- It enriches the communication abilities and he/she offers a dynamic resource and attractiveness.
For Example:

IF I ALSO CAN YOUR

SCENE 1

Narrator: We will count them a history of a group of friends that met with some problems when
moving for the city. Difficulties that we could have anyone of us.

GUSTAVO.. How's it going, María Emma?

EMMA..Pues is a little nervous. I have forgotten the wallet at home. I have gone quickly to for her
and I have crossed the traffic light in red.

GUSTAVO.. Have you crossed the traffic light in red? Reason!

EMMA.. Casi runs over me; he/she should never cross in red.

GUSTAVO.. Of course, always crosses in green and even so it is necessary to look to both sides.

EMMA..Debemos to have much care.

VANESA..Es truth. The other day my brother started to play with the ball in the sidewalk. That is
not a good place to play, the ball can fall in the roadway and we can be run over.

GUSTAVO.. What that of the roadway is it?

VANESA..Pues the highway, for where they pass the cars.

DAWN..I has realized that when we come in the bus some partners they distract to the driver with
games and comments.

GUSTAVO..Eso is not well, we can provoke an accident.

VANESA.. I have a good think; we will speak with the professor for that it imparts us a course of
Education Vial.

DAWN.. Good morning, Pedro, we want to speak with you.

PEDRO.. What has it happened?.

DAWN..Creemos that is necessary us a course of Education Vial.

PEDRO..Es a good idea, that will allow to leave for the city with caution and without company.

SCENE 2

Narrator: As they saw, our friends who realized the importance and necessity were of the Education
Vial. We will see next what it happened in the class.
PEDRO..Buenos days, I eat up they requested a course of Education Vial I have thought that
nobody better than a policeman so that he/she explains to them all the necessary one.

DAVID (Police)..Buenos days, I am happy that you have been who requested the one course of
Education Vial. As all they know, the Education Vial is necessary for an use appropriate of the
public road.

EMMA.. Can we ask questions?

DAVID..Sí, of course.

EMMA.. What is the public road?

DAVID..Is the place for where the vehicles and people circulate? You are a pedestrian when do you
go in the cars of the center?

EMMA..Not, because I don't go walking.

DAVID.. Very well, the pedestrians are people when we go for a walk or we walk.

SANDRA.. What is a step of pedestrians?

DAVID..Un step of pedestrians is.

(Toc-Toc. They knock on the door and Verónica and Vicente enter disguised of zebra and they
explain the step of pedestrians.)

VICENTE..Hello, we are a step of pedestrians. We come to the class of Education Vial.

VERÓNICA..Some calls each other zebra step because we have white and black lines as that animal
that all know.

EMMA.. And for what reason does it serve a step of pedestrians?

VERÓNICA..Sirve to cross the roadway from a side to another.

VICENTE..Siempre that see one should cross for him.

DAVID.. Surprise goes! They have saved me a good work. I have this way no longer to explain the
one pedestrians' step.

DAWN..Bueno, because then you can explain to us the traffic light.

DAVID.. Very well for a specialist friend he/she has come it in the topic. He/she calls himself
Bárbara.

BÁRBARA..Buenos days boys, I will explain to them the traffic light. As they come he/she has two
parts: the one of up it is for the vehicles and the one of below for the pedestrians.

VANESA..Is truth, for that reason the part of below he/she has person's drawing. It is for the
pedestrians.
DAWN..Entonces, when do we cross?

BÁRBARA..Siempre when it is in green. The red one will indicate us that we wait.

DAVID.. Has it been clear?

ALL.. Yes!

Emma..I has a doubt. Some friends when they go in the car they don't use the belt of security. Is it
necessary?

DAVID..Pues yes, the belt will avoid us a strong blow in the event of accident. To look at what can
to happen if we don't use the belt of security.

(Verónica leaves a cardboard car simulating a blow in the head and being unconscious.)

DAVID..En change, to look at what happens if we use it. (Verónica leaves the cardboard car again
simulating how you/he/she avoids the blow thanks to the one belt of security.)

VERÓNICA..I has saved of a good accident.

DAVID..Llega the hour of the rest, if they want we can be another day to see more things. ALL..
Yes!

DAVID..Quedan many more things to work.

Narrator: As they saw, these are some topics on those that it treats the Education Vial. They are
many more things to see, but if they have but you doubt they can always encourage their professors
or parents to that you/they explain to them.

ALL.. Good trip!

2. POETRY

Throughout history, poets have used language to express their thoughts, feelings, ideas and
perspectives. By using rhythm, rhyme, meter and line breaks, poets have addressed everything from
the nature of love or the beauty of a spring day to complex social issues. By studying poetry, middle
and high school students can gain a greater understanding, not only of literature and language, but
of themselves and the world they live in.

- Language Awareness

Poetry can increase students' literacy and linguistic awareness, according Dr. Janette Hughes in a
research report for the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat of Ontario. Studying poetry can help
students to expand their oral and written vocabularies. Reading and writing poetry also helps
students to become more aware of the ways in which language can be used and the rhythms, images
and meanings that can be created.

- Critical Analysis
According to a 2002 study by California Poets in Schools, students who study poetry in the
classroom increase their skills of critical analysis. Poems use a variety of techniques — metaphor,
imagery, rhyme and meter — to convey meaning. By identifying these techniques and thinking
about how they function in the poem, students can develop their analytic and critical skills. Poems
can also have multiple layers of meaning that readers must analyze carefully to understand.

- Creativity and Enthusiasm

Students can become enthusiastic about poetry in the classroom, connecting their reading
experiences to their experiences of music and their own lives. Allowing students to write poetry for
class encourages them to express themselves creatively.

- Community

Poetry in the classroom helps students to connect to others. Poetry encourages students to view the
complexities of the world in new ways and to develop empathy and understanding for other points
of view. For instance, Elizabeth Bishop's "In the Waiting Room" describes a girl's experience of the
deep connections that exist between people and her discovery of what "held us all together/ or made
us all just one?" Discussing poetry in the classroom can also help to promote connections between
students, encouraging them to think about the different ways that their classmates interpret the
poems.

For Marco Antonio Limachi Loza

Benefits of the use of the poetry in education

- The poetry helps to enlarge the situations and talkative possibilities in the classroom.

- The poetry allows the students to imagine realities different from those to those that are
accustomed to live.

- The poetry enriches the capacity of use of the Language.

- He/she allows to acquire and to consent knowledge in a different way.

- The poetry opens to the students to an aesthetic experience.

- The reading of poems of the past on the part of the students allows them to observe and to know
through the time.

3. ARTS

The arts have a profound ability to enrich the lives they touch and can be an invaluable tool for
teachers at all levels to enhance instruction for English Language Learners. English Language
Learners (ELLs) in New York State enter our public schools facing the multiple challenges of
learning English, mastering academic content, bridging distances between the home country and
their new home, and negotiating new cultural and social contexts. By integrating the arts and
artmaking into English language teaching and learning, students will develop and deepen their
understanding of their own and others’ human experience. In combination with reading, writing,
speaking and listening, the arts can open doors for high levels of analysis and also challenge
students to explore themselves and their surroundings, and thus find avenues for sophisticated
comprehension and communication. The arts convey what it means to be human, challenge the
intellect and provide rich experiences in analysis, exploration, reflection, observation, imagination,
experimentation, and communication.

For Marco Antonio Limachi Loza

Benefits of the art in the education:

- It develops the aesthetic perception, the feelings and the ideas in the students.

- It develops the artistic capacities - creators.

- He/she teaches to the students to be tolerant and open.

- It promotes in work in singular and collective.

- Their trust increases in if same and it improves its academic yield in general.

- It forms attitudes you specify, it develops capacities, knowledge, necessary habits to understand
their environment.

4. LITERATURE

Literature has been a subject of study in many countries at a secondary or tertiary level, but until
recently has not been given much emphasis in the EFL/ESL classroom. It has only been since the
1980s that this area has attracted more interest among EFL teachers. The purpose of this article is to
look at some of the issues and ways in which literature can be exploited in the classroom. There are
also links to classroom activities and lessons with literature that you can download and use straight
away.

What is literature?

First of all, any method or approach towards using literature in the classroom must take as a starting
point the question: What is literature? The Macmillan English Dictionary gives the following
definition:

Many authors, critics and linguists have puzzled over what literature is. One broader explanation of
literature says that literary texts are products that reflect different aspects of society. They are
cultural documents which offer a deeper understanding of a country or countries (Basnet &
Mounfold 1993). Other linguists say that there is no inherent quality to a literary text that makes a
literary text, rather it is the interpretation that the reader gives to the text (Eagleton 1983). This
brings us back to the above definition in the sense that literature is only literature if it is considered
as art.

Before doing any study of a literary text with your learners, one idea would be to ask them what
they think literature is. Attached below is a short discussion lesson you can do with your students on
the subject “What is literature?”
 Why use literature? There are many good reasons for using literature in the classroom. Here are a
few:

 Literature is authentic material. It is good to expose learners to this source of unmodified language
in the classroom because they skills they acquire in dealing with difficult or unknown language can
be used outside the class.
 Literature encourages interaction. Literary texts are often rich is multiple layers of meaning, and can
be effectively mined for discussions and sharing feelings or opinions.
 Literature expands language awareness. Asking learners to examine sophisticated or non standard
examples of language (which can occur in literary texts) makes them more aware of the norms of
language use (Widdowson, 1975 quoted by Lazar 1993).
 Literature educates the whole person. By examining values in literary texts, teachers encourage
learners to develop attitudes towards them. These values and attitudes relate to the world outside the
classroom.
 Literature is motivating. Literature holds high status in many cultures and countries. For this reason,
students can feel a real sense of achievement at understanding a piece of highly respected literature.

The following sites are excellent for book excerpts and stories:

www.bookbrowse.com - a great site that allows you to read an excerpt from a multitude of recently
published books. You can search by author, book title or genre!

For Marco Antonio Limachi Loza

Reason is important the use of the literature in the education:

- The student has enough data envelope in literary fact.

- He/she knows authors, works, times and styles.
- To know how to read and to interpret a literary text.
- It inculcates in the technical student of interpretation and identification and stylistic resources.
- It offers knowledge on relating cultural and traditional.
- It develops approaches in the studying approaches to select a book according to their interests and
their likes.
- It incorporates in the students the literature in their life.
- It foments the pleasure for the reading in the students.
- It contributes to the socialization and the structuring of the world of the students starting from the
literary texts.

- It foments the student's creative interest.

5. FILMS IN CLASS

Language teachers have been using films in their classes for decades, and there are a number of
reasons why film is an excellent teaching and learning tool.

- Learning from films is motivating and enjoyable

Motivation is one of the most important factors in determining successful second-language
acquisition. Films and TV shows are an integral part of students’ lives so it makes perfect sense to
bring them into the language classroom. Film, as a motivator, also makes the language learning
process more entertaining and enjoyable.

- Film provides authentic and varied language

Another benefit of using film is that it provides a source of authentic and varied language. Film
provides students with examples of English used in ‘real’ situations outside the classroom,
particularly interactive language – the language of real-life conversation. Film exposes students to
natural expressions and the natural flow of speech. If they are not living in an English-speaking
environment, perhaps only film and television can provide learners with this real-life language
input.

- Film gives a visual context

The visuality of film makes it an invaluable language teaching tool, enabling learners to understand
more by interpreting the language in a full visual context. Film assists the learners’ comprehension
by enabling them to listen to language exchanges and see such visual supports as facial expressions
and gestures simultaneously. These visual clues support the verbal message and provide a focus of
attention.

- Variety and flexibility

Film can bring variety and flexibility to the language classroom by extending the range of teaching
techniques and resources, helping students to develop all four communicative skills. For example, a
whole film or sequence can be used to practise listening and reading, and as a model for speaking
and writing. Film can also act as a springboard for follow-up tasks such as discussions, debates on
social issues, role plays, reconstructing a dialogue or summarising. It is also possible to bring
further variety to the language learning classroom by screening different types of film: feature-
length films, short sequences of films, short films, and adverts.
Given the benefits of using film in the language learning classroom, it is not surprising that many
teachers are keen to use film with their students, and an increasing number of them are successfully
integrating film into the language-learning syllabus. Until quite recently it was difficult to find
pedagogically sound film material to help students improve their language through watching film,
and teachers had to spend many hours creating their own materials. However, with the advent of the
internet there is now a wealth of online resources for both language teachers and their students.
With so many resources, it’s sometimes difficult for teachers to see the wood for the trees.

For Marco Antonio Limachi Loza

Benefits of the use of movies in classes:

- They communicate their content efficiently without requiring of the spectator aptitude for the
reading.

- Awake the student's interest for the treated topic.

- It strengthens the previous knowledge and it favors the significant learning.

- It promotes investigation attitudes in the student.

- It allows the student to establish comparisons of different points of view, with relationship to the
treated topic.

- They help to overcome obstacles of the human experience. For example: Telephotograph,
microphotograph and animation.

- The action can demonstrate herself in its community or to change with some visual purpose
(normal, slow camera, speed or freezing)

- They serve as recreation for the student.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

- Clandfield Lindsay: EFL/ ESL classroom. Elementary, Pre-intermediate, Intermediate,

Upper intermediate, Advanced Type:Reference material
- Miranda Sinclair ; Updated September 26, 2017
- https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/media/users/nbm3/art_tool.pdf
- https://mediosdeaprendizaje/slidshare/diaposivaspresentacion.com