Vocal Revelations: Body and Voice in the Language Classroom
Pedagogical Guide
Speaking is a physical activity, and this fact should take a central role in second language learning where the physicality is different from that experienced with our native tongue. Here the authors seek to enable teachers to include meaningful work on the body and voice in the language classroom, providing both a theoretical background concerning the physicality of speech, and ready-to-use activities. Increasing learners’ awareness of what happens as they speak, through experimentation and “pl...
Editor’s note
Cet ouvrage a été produit avec le soutien du programme IDEX Université Grenoble Alpes.
Illustrations by Teresa Robertson.
Publisher: UGA Éditions
Place of publication: Grenoble
Published on OpenEdition Books: May 22, 2026
Digital ISBN: 978-2-37747-596-4
DOI: 10.4000/169es
Series: Université tous terrains
Year of publication: 2026
Number of pages: 126
Speaking is a physical activity, and this fact should take a central role in second language learning where the physicality is different from that experienced with our native tongue. Here the authors seek to enable teachers to include meaningful work on the body and voice in the language classroom, providing both a theoretical background concerning the physicality of speech, and ready-to-use activities. Increasing learners’ awareness of what happens as they speak, through experimentation and “play” with sound, energy, emotion and physical space, will improve their vocal confidence, control and quality. This approach draws on elements of theatre, dance and music training as well as language pedagogy, and is relevant to both second language acquisition and public speaking in general.
Université Grenoble Alpes
IdRef: 278958710
Marieke de Koning holds a PhD in Educational Sciences (UGA) and Linguistics (University of Bologna). After a long career as a choreographic artist, she transitioned to teaching English. Her research focuses on plurilingual interactions and multimodality in both face-to-face interactions and additional language teaching and learning.
IdRef: 284212830
Chris Mitchell is an English teacher, vocal coach, playwright and theatre director, trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (London). He has led English theatre workshops at UGA and Grenoble INP – UGA for many years.
Grenoble INP
IdRef: 149826915
Rebecca Guy holds a PhD in Musicology (Manchester University). She has taught English at Grenoble INP – UGA for more than 15 years. Her research focuses on language didactics, particularly on the connections between music, prosody, and orality in the acquisition of English as an additional language (L2). In addition, she is a classical musician and slam poet.
Only the text can be used under the Creative Commons - Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International - CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Other elements (illustrations, attached files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.
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Méthode Parm : PArler et Raconter en Maternelle
Démarche et outils de la PS à la GS
Laurence Buson, Isabelle Rousset and Solange Rossato
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Outils MIMNA : Médiation de l'Information à destination des Mineurs Non Accompagnés
Guide d'utilisation pour les professionnels
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2026
