Pros and Cons of Using Art in Language Classrooms
Integrating arts and language learning in the classroom may help children understand art better by allowing them to look at, listen to, discuss, share, and create it. It can also help them improve and expand their foreign language knowledge and linguistic abilities. Responding to the art may motivate students and lead to various linguistic exercises. It is more than just presenting what students see in the image or hear in the music; there are several methods to utilise art to teach and practise vocabulary and grammar in an exciting and inspiring way. In reacting to art, the instructor can actively involve students in learning by encouraging them to draw on personal experiences when discussing what the painting reminds them of, such as recognisable items, animals, or landscapes. Responding to or making art engages additional senses in the learning process. Art naturally lends itself to working with students of varied learning styles, resulting in the steady development of many intelligences. One significant advantage of using art in the foreign language classroom is that it can be conveyed and dealt with nonverbally. This is especially useful when learners understand more than they can produce or when a fear of making mistakes hampers progress in language development. Integrating art and language can improve learners' creative and critical thinking abilities; it inspires creativity and allows them to participate in new ways while developing a good attitude toward learning, understanding others, and expressing their opinions.
Practicing the arts in the foreign language classroom helps students grow and improve their literacy and language abilities. According to the Guttenheim programme Learning Through Art findings, participating students "performed better in six categories of literacy and critical thinking skills - including thorough description, hypothesising, and reasoning - than students who were not in the programme." According to the program's additional findings, learning about art helps to develop reading and oral communication skills. It improves a child's ability to learn in other academic areas, particularly reading, writing, and speaking, which are areas of interest in foreign language education. Of course, there are more than benefits to using art in language learning; teachers may encounter various potential issues when dealing with a piece of art with their students, such as subjectivism, unfamiliar subject matter, a lack of connection to language learning, etc. As a result, it is critical to choose carefully, potentially after a previous conversation with the students, so that the art they intend to deal with is relevant to them, either because of its subject matter, the artist's history, or their own experience. In terms of language work, the arts can be an excellent starting point or subject for a variety of language-based activities; however, it is critical to clearly define the outcome and learning point them, for example, using a piece of art to practise various language functions such as giving opinions or agreeing and disagreeing. In addition, by responding to visual art, children may study and practice colors, possessive adjectives, job-related vocabulary, feelings, action verbs, place prepositions, attire, weather, scenes, etc. However, this should be explicit and followed deliberately to fulfill aesthetic and linguistic goals.
Strategies to Integrate Art into Language Teaching
One of the tactics suggested at the start of working with a piece of art in the language classroom is to use open-ended questions to bring students' attention to the artwork. It is critical, especially in the early stages, to motivate and interest learners in the work by asking them to describe what they see in the picture and encourage them to express their responses to the artwork by linking it to their personal experiences and prior knowledge. The instructor can build a narrative and thematic understanding of the work and relate it to cultural, historical, or ideological content by questioning students about the people, things, or activities shown in the artwork and the emotions and sensations that the painting generates in them.
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