The Cultura and Accoglienza (Culture and Reception) project allowed for the enrolment of 30 asylum seekers as guest students at the University of Padova, Italy, in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 academic years.
The University of Padova offered these students a number of services, including access to the library, a mentorship programme, the possibility to attend Italian language classes at Centro Linguistico di Ateneo (CLA) the university language centre.
In 2017 Prof. Fiona Dalziel, who has run English classes through drama for over 20 years in Padova, invited me as visiting fellow to work with her on a series of drama-based language classes within the Cultura and Accoglienza project.
Our aim was to find out whether a drama-based approach would enhance and support creativity in a group of multilingual refugees and migrants. We engaged the participants in a series of drama workshops in Italian (L2).
Read about the findings (in English) in our paper “It comes from you”: Agency in adult asylum seekers’ language learning through Process Drama’ published in Language Learning in Higher Education (2019, issue 9/1), here .
Read about the project (in Italian) here
Hear us talk about the study (in Italian) here on Radio Bue, the University of Padova local radio station – hosted by Gioia Lovison
