Embodied spaces in performative language learning

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorEschenauer, Sandrine
dc.contributor.authorRony, Jane
dc.date.accessioned2026-09-09T14:38:27Z
dc.date.available2026-09-09T14:38:27Z
dc.date.issued2025-12-31
dc.description.abstractThis article examines how embodied sensory-affective spaces support the emergence of communication in English as a foreign language within a performative, translanguaging approach. Drawing on an enactive perspective, language is understood as a shared, situated and embodied experience, as well as psychosocial and linguistic. It is shaped by the dynamic interplay between bodies, material spaces, imagination, speech and the temporalities of classroom life. The study analyses data from the CELAVIE project, conducted in Grade 4 and 5 classrooms, combining qualitative materials (18 focus groups, 21 semi-structured interviews, and three explanatory teacher interviews) with quantitative measures of autonomous lexical production in pre- and post-tests. The findings show that transforming the classroom into a performative space—through physical openness, sensory comfort, creative exploration and embodied engagement—encourages students to speak more spontaneously, to draw on multiple languages, and to develop empathy, creativity, and confidence. Six interrelated dimensions of sensitive space emerged: sensitive space-time, intimate spaces, material spaces, performance spaces, physical engagement, and spaces for creativity and autonomy. Together, they reveal how performative practice supports the emergence of communicative behaviour by engaging students’ bodies, emotions, perceptions and imaginative capacities. The results highlight the potential of performative pedagogy to create inclusive learning environments where language becomes a lived, relational and creative experience.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationEschenauer, S. and Rony, J. (2025) 'Embodied spaces in performative language learning', Scenario: A Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning, Research, 19(2), pp. 22-42. https://doi.org/10.33178/scenario.19.2.2en
dc.identifier.doi10.33178/scenario.19.2.2
dc.identifier.endpage42
dc.identifier.issn1649-8526
dc.identifier.issued2
dc.identifier.journalabbrevScenarioen
dc.identifier.journaltitleScenario: A Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning, Researchen
dc.identifier.startpage22
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/19224
dc.identifier.volume19
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherDepartment of German, University College Corken
dc.rights© 2025, the Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.subjectEmbodimenten
dc.subjectPerformative learningen
dc.subjectSecond language learningen
dc.subjectSpatial pedagogyen
dc.subjectPrimary schoolen
dc.titleEmbodied spaces in performative language learningen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
03+-+ESCHENAUER+Rony.pdf
Size:
683.67 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Published Version
Download
Collections
Scenario: A Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning, Research. Vol. 19 Issue 2