PhD Project: Promoting oral storytelling among adult learners of German as a foreign language through performative storytelling using Kamishibai

Basic data for this project

Description

Oral storytelling fascinates people across all cultures and societies, particularly as a literary art form. At the same time, it constitutes a complex discursive practice that must be acquired during the process of learning a (foreign) language. Whilst the acquisition of oral storytelling by children with German as a first language (see, among others, Ehlich 1983, Quasthoff 2009, Becker & Stude 2017, Quastoff & Stude 2018) and with German as a second language (see, among others, Danner 2012, Hauck-Thum 2017, Naujok 2018, Wardetzky 2019, Roshan 2020) has been relatively well researched, there is, by contrast, virtually no insight into the corresponding narrative practices of young adults in German as a foreign language (DaF) acquisition. This doctoral project investigates Kamishibai as a performative storytelling method for promoting multimodal narration in DaF teaching with adults. Artistic storytelling constitutes a specific form of oral storytelling, combining language, prosody, gestures, facial expressions and proxemics (cf. Wardetzy 2007, 2019). Images, props or musical elements can ultimately transform storytelling into a holistic theatrical experience (cf. Naujok 2018). Current research in foreign language teaching advocates this holistic approach to language learning processes (see Miladinovic 2019, Bryant & Zepter 2022, Knappik 2023). In this context, performative methods, such as the Japanese storytelling theatre Kamishibai, are gaining recognition. However, the potential of Kamishibai in German as a foreign language (DaF) teaching has not yet been empirically demonstrated. This study examines the extent to which oral narrative skills among adult learners of German as a foreign language can be fostered through performative storytelling using Kamishibai. To this end, oral narrative performances in university-level German as a foreign language classes in Indonesia are video-recorded, with a progression from receptive to reproductive storytelling. An experimental group uses Kamishibai for storytelling, whilst the comparison groups use a picture-book-like design and free narration. The multimodal transcripts are analysed using interactional discourse analysis with regard to the organisation of narrative interaction, content structuring and multimodal design (cf. narrative tasks of contextualisation, textualisation and marking according to Quastoff et al. 2019). This doctoral project makes an empirical contribution to research into Kamishibai as a performative narrative medium for foreign language teaching and, where applicable, to its international recognition. The findings will shed light on the potential and limitations of this narrative medium for adult learners of German as a foreign language, from which recommendations for teachers can be derived.