Acting the Role of the English Speaker

Dr Peter JORDAN, winner of 2018 Teaching Innovation Award, aims to remove the anxiety, if not the drama, from English language acquisition. There is a common thread running through the various courses Jordan teaches. “The primary goal is to find novel, innovative interactive ways for the students to apply their English in different contexts,” he explains.

When pressed, he modestly suggests it may have been the nature of this interactivity which earned him his award. “I’m not very good at just lecturing. I want feedback, I push people to give feedback.”

“English on the Move”, which examines the development of English as a global language, and “Popular Music and Social Life”, are two of Jordan’s courses in which students are encouraged to seize the opportunity for personal expression. This is where, perhaps, he gets the furthest away from the traditional classroom approach is in his drama-related courses. These provide students with a chance to actively use their English skills in public speaking, role play, and acting situations.

“They might learn dialogue or they might improvise — we do a lot of improvisation exercises,” he explains. “But the whole focus is on using English in a dramatic way.”

Jordan sees the masks used in some of his classes as a means to highlight an everyday truth. “In all walks of life we’re playing a role, all the time.” This is as true for him as for anyone else, he points out, noting that the persona he adopts in class, as the authority figure, is very different to the face he presents to the world in his leisure time. “So, role playing is not necessarily dishonest or that scary or challenging,” he adds.

In the current semester, the students in his Drama Workshop are preparing for a production based on a treason trial held in Hong Kong in 1946. In this case, a mechanic called George Wong who had apparently collaborated with Japanese, was contentiously charged with treason against the British Crown.

“We present it as a piece of documentary theatre, using news and trial reports and some verbatim testimony,” Jordan explains. Parts had to be found for the nearly 35 students who wanted to be involved. “We will be staging it in our multimedia theatre and currently we are taking it to at least one, but possibly more, international schools,” he adds.

Students involved in one of his previous drama projects, Museum, won the inaugural CLASS DEC competition (Undergraduate Group Category) in 2015.

Jordan has a particular résumé and skill set that not only equips him to teach in his unique style, they also give him a greater degree of empathy with his students. Born in Hong Kong, where, he says he had a very happy early childhood, he went on building a career as an actor, part of which was spent working in a country where he was a non-native speaker. “I was a full-time actor for many years, in the UK, and in Italy, with a Venetian theatre company,” he says.

After performing at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, he was inspired to return to the city on a permanent basis, and, in 2014, joined CityU.

Creating a safe and respectful environment in which his students can express themselves, is very important, he says. “So I clamp down on anybody who mocks others or who is not paying attention.”

But he does believe local cultural norms still tend to create some additional obstacles to language learning. “Nobody likes to be embarrassed, or say something stupid and get laughed at. But I do feel in Hong Kong, and perhaps in Asia in general, there’s even more fear of losing face.”

However, taking a risk on trying and initially failing is an essential part of learning. “So, I try to lead by example. I will tell my students how I feel about something, I will admit when I’m wrong, and then I will say if I can do this, and I’m the teacher, then you should be able to speak out.”

He also points out that it is going to be more fun for them if they really do get involved.

And the work the students do is progressive, so before, say, individually addressing the whole class, students will first speak in small, and then larger groups.

While anyone enrolling on one of Jordan’s courses is told he expects them to contribute to classes, and quite possibly perform or role play, there is a trial period in which students can drop out if they do find it is not for them.

“But as a testing ground where they can try things out, the classroom situation is so good for the students,” he says. As in acting, relaxation and focus are key when speaking in a foreign language. “If you can be relaxed, and your thoughts are still your own, then it all comes out naturally.”