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Coup de théatre, aprendizaje del francés a través del teatro

Coup de thëâtre y Kaleidós is an association that fosters theatre festivals. They belong to the International Net of School Theatre Festivals in French as a foreign language (Artdrale, since 1999). This initiative was born under the beliefs that a foreign language is learnt through emotional experiences and affective bonds. The target Groups are students of ESO (High School Education). The main goals are to make the students face real communicative contexts, to socialise themselves among teenagers, to foster teamwork, and teach them how to be spectators. In short, to teach them how to live being free and tolerant. With this Project the students take part in a theatre Workshop where they are guided to deal with different plays in French. Some booklets are created to exploit the plays with different activities focused on the plays. Besides, all the participants are given a manual for spectators through which the students are invited to watch different technical questions involved in a play highlighting the contrast between theatre and cinema. On a first stage, the students are spectators and on a second stage, they become actors. Such an experience implied a special training on the students’ side and for this reason a Group of teachers organised “La Troupe de Profs” to satisfy the students’ necessities. The results obtained are clear and consistent regarding the improvement of the students’ communicative skills. However, the enthusiasm and interest shown by the students is recorded in a Golden book they have for all sorts of comments.