(HL-과학/기술/교육) Should Murder Mysteries Be Used in Classrooms?

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Recently, The Atlantic magazine published a story on a teacher using murder mysteries to teach her class. Jeni Peake teaches English for the Cambridge School in Lisbon, Portugal. She began using murder mysteries to make teaching and learning grammar more fun. Jeni Peake says her students use the murder mystery to interview each other. They are looking for answers to those important questions we talked about earlier: who, what, where, when, why and how. They also must use different verb tenses to describe the events to the “detective.” And when describing the weapon, setting and motive, students must find the right vocabulary. In The Atlantic article, one of Peake’s students says role-playing and having a clear goal of finding the murderer keeps the students focused.
* murder mystery = 살인 미스터리(물)/ verb tense = 동사의 시제/ detective = 형사, 수사관/ role-playing = 역할 연기[놀이]/ murderer = 살인범[자], 살해범

But is using murder to teach appropriate? Some critics say no. Janet Isserlis is an expert of teaching English as a Second Language at the Rhode Island Adult Education Professional Development Center. For several decades, she has taught refugees from many countries around the world. Isserlis says that for many people -- but particularly many English language learners -- the idea or notion of making fun of murder may be distressing. “Particularly with English language learners (ELL), so many ELLs come from countries where people have experienced violence caused by political upheaval and war. And so, the notion making fun and enjoying a murder mystery may not be enjoyable for those people.” Isserlis says that language and language learning is innately, or naturally, a social process. People come together and often share personal details. She says she learned early in her career to avoid questions that brought up painful memories. Instead, she focused on the present and asked questions that were in the students’ comfort zones. “I think, until you get to know who the learners are, you want to avoid questions about home life, about family, certainly about war and about violence. Language is innately a social process and language learning is certainly social. As people come together and know about each other, they will start to share what they’re comfortable sharing...”
* appropriate = 적절한/ critic = 비평가, 평론가/ expert = 전문가/ decade = 10[십]년/ refugee = 난민, 망명자/ particularly = 특히, 특별히/ distressing = 괴로움을 주는, 고통스러운/ political upheaval = 정변(政變)/ innately = 타고나서, 천부적으로; 본질적으로/ social process = 사회 과정: 문화·사회 조직이 변화·발전해 가는 과정/ personal details = 개인의 신상 명세[정보 사항]/ avoid = (회)피하다; 막다, 모면하다/ bring up = 불러 일으키다; (화제를) 꺼내다/ painful memory = 불쾌한[쓰라린, 고통스러운] 기억/ comfort zone = 편안한[익숙한] 상태[생활 환경]

Should Murder Mysteries Be Used in Classrooms - WTS.mp3