The study of foreign languages has historically been a cornerstone in higher education for a variety of very good reasons, one being that it will help students develop a sensitivity to diversity. This rationale is compelling in theory, but requires a practical approach for instruction that actually guides students towards such a learning outcome. Current research (e.g., Byrnes, 2006; Kramsch, 2006; Swaffar, 2006) has argued that the traditional focus on the development of communicative competence often promotes a functional understanding of the target language and dominant cultural values, thereby obscuring examples of linguistic ambiguity, power dynamics, and even cultural diversity. According to Kramsch (2009) these concepts can be highlighted by prioritizing symbolic competence, which is the "...ability to draw on the semiotic diversity afforded by multiple languages to reframe ways of seeing familiar events, create alternative realities, and find an appropriate subject position 'between languages,' so to speak" (pp. 200-201). This article discusses why the notion of symbolic competence is so important when teaching foreign language courses at the university level, and explains why theater offers a salient opportunity to engage with semiotic diversity. Specifically, theater allows students to interpret and play with meaning, and in the context of semiotics, students are able to observe, enact, and even dismantle meaning-making devices such as symbolic representation, symbolic action, and symbolic power. This article illustrates classroom activities and examples of student work from an intermediate (200-level) French course, and concludes by discussing the larger implications for foreign language teaching and learning.
This mixed methods study compares the level of satisfaction with one's body image between beginning- and advanced-level female collegiate ballet students. Thirty-six beginning-level students were enrolled in two ballet classes, and a second group of 16 advanced-level students was enrolled in a third class. A mirror was used in the teaching of both groups. During the first and thirteenth week of a 14-week semester, students completed the Cash 69-item Body Self-Relations Questionnaire. In addition, five students from each group were randomly selected to participate in semi-structured interviews during the second and last week of the semester. Researchers asked students questions about their kinesthetic experience and the mirror's role in the studio. The quantitative results indicated that over the course of the semester the beginning dancers decreased in feeling physically fit, while the advanced dancers felt more in shape. For both beginning and advanced dancers there was a decrease in body image satisfaction. By semester's end, the advanced dancers were more preoccupied with weight and exercised more than the beginning dancers. The interviews revealed that four out of the five beginning ballet students discussed the use of the mirror in class and reported experiencing thoughts and sensations characteristic of the objective self-awareness state, such as heightened self-consciousness, comparison of self to others, or negative self-evaluation. The advanced dancers, on the other hand, focused on developing ways to avoid the mirror and preferred to "feel" movements muscularly before using the mirror for feedback. Even though the advanced dancers had more knowledge of how to use a mirror beneficially in class, their body image scores were equally as compromised as the beginning students'. These results suggest that both beginning- and advanced-level ballet students experience a decrease in body image satisfaction in a mirrored studio environment.
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