1The work of the Silent Experience is further pursued in the second THEMPPO praxis, the Engaged Body. The engagement of this praxis refers to a corporal-vocal symbiotic relationship. This relationship underpins the need to take into account two complementary spatial dimensions of the engagement.

2First, there is the location and the physical interaction of the speaker with the environment in which they find themselves. We like to call this environment the “speaking arena”, in which the speaker not only produces but also projects sound. Factors like an interior or exterior setting, size, acoustic quality and ambient noise are all important and will have an effect on speech.

3The other dimension is the one which highlights the interaction of the speaker and the listener(s), taking into account distance and orientation. The aim is to help language learners to accrue confidence in their oral communication through an understanding of how the body—the source of speech—relates to the speaking environment and how this can impact the very quality of the voice, in terms of energy and involvement.

4In addition to this vocal quality, the impact of work in the Engaged Body praxis has shown itself to be significant in terms of reinforcing presence and the intelligibility of the communication. The work of Edward Hall on the concept of proxemics (Hall, 1966) and the communication descriptors of the voice coach Patsy Rodenburg, as described above in Chapter 2, have provided some of the bases for our Engaged Body praxis.

5Underpinning this praxis is the understanding of speaking as a physical activity. Whatever physical activity we engage in, we associate it with a space or an environment. Tennis is associated with a court, football with a pitch or stadium, swimming with a pool, and climbing with a mountain. Speaking, which is not immediately identifiable as a physical activity and which is so varied in its nature, is not associated with just one specific space. But the space, the environment, in which speaking takes place can change the nature and quality of the activity. This is why it seems so important to us to vary the ‘staging’ of oral production situations in the classroom. So much language learning takes place in a space which is not typical of the speaking environments found socially and professionally. And as we have already pointed out, it is very far removed from the environment in which the acquisition of the mother tongue took place.

6Work which has already been done on the Silent Experience, on posture and breathing, is essential in enabling the speaker to situate themselves within the speaking arena. For many people, speaking in front of a public, be it one individual or a large audience, can be a daunting affair. Everything must be done to enable the speaker to feel comfortable within this space and, in so doing, to increase their confidence level. A first step towards this awareness can be done in any classroom, regardless of space. The teacher asks the learner to come to the front of the class, making an entrance from the side and then standing there in front of the class as if about to speak. But the learner does not speak and after a short time leaves this space. (See Part 2, Section 1:9). Prior to the exercise, the teacher has asked the learner to focus their attention on how they feel at the moment before they speak and has asked the other members of the class to observe and be ready to comment on what they see. After the exercise, the teacher asks the learner to describe how they felt and to ask the other members of the class to describe what they have seen.

7The observations of the class, provided that they are of a supportive nature, can be useful for both the person observed and for the observers who will, at a later point, find themselves in the same position. The observers, their attention not distracted by speech, can focus on what is happening in the body of the speaker. They will be able to observe the level of confidence which the body is exuding, or not, and the role that posture and breathing play in revealing the confidence level. In addition, they will note in the speaker the tics and mannerisms which betray nervousness and thus a lack of confidence. We describe these movements, or gestures, as parasitical because they have the effect of sapping the energy of the speaker required for a real engagement with the listener and for subsequent speaking. The activity can then be developed with the introduction of language in incremental quantities.

8This very simple exercise, which has been a feature of THEMPPO’s workshops since the beginning, has proven to be a great success with teachers, with very favourable feedback regarding its usefulness in the classroom.