The Holistic Approach: Using Drama in the Secondary Esl Classroom (original) (raw)

Drama Techniques Best Serve to Enhance the Learning of a Foreign Language

2016

Teachers need the training to use Drama as a methodology in the classroom as Dorothy Heathcote did in the UK. But teachers of High School may use elements of drama such as asking students in the class to adopt different roles and act them out, watch how they improvise, use their imagination which urges their creativity and speaks about their own life experiences in different situations. Sometimes unknowingly teachers have used it by just asking students' opinion to express their ideas in group works or write questions after reading a story aloud. Drama may be used as a teaching methodology not only during drama or literature classes but also in other ESL classes like Business English, PR classes or research methodology. The primary aim of this qualitative research is to use drama as a method in the classroom to teach English as a foreign language and to use it as an emancipating praxis. What do I mean by emancipating praxis?By using a well-selected drama, students not only acqui...

Drama as a Teaching Tool for the Integration of Language Skills

2016

Language classroom instruction is mostly focussed on writing and reading skills overlooking the other skills such as speaking and listening. The teachers of English perhaps do not integrate language skills in the classroom due to large class size, heterogeneous students and the duration of the period. Hence, the language instruction demands various techniques for integration of language teaching that makes learning more interesting. This paper attempts to offer the techniques of drama in the teaching of language skills at undergraduate level. In general, it exhibits that how dramatic techniques can be integrated in teaching of language skills. In teaching context, the drama involves and stimulates the feelings and visualisation of the learners, providing them various stimuli and elevating their learning knowledge on the subterranean level. Scrivener’s (1994) techniques of drama are adopted in language instruction to examine the effectiveness of the learners’ language development. Th...

Analyzing the Role of Contemporary Teaching Techniques and Importance of Drama in Learning English as a Foreign Language

Journal of Arts and Social sciences, 2021

This research explores the important activities and principles of the teaching of drama in learning English as a foreign language. This research is qualitative in nature and the analysis is based on theoretical grounds and a strong theoretical framework. It concentrates on the brief history of drama in education, its basic principles, techniques, and the possibilities and advantages that drama in education brings into English language learning. The aim of this research, Drama in Learning English as a Foreign Language, is not only to introduce drama in education to the readers but also present drama in the context of English language learning, and subsequently support the concept of drama being an English language learning method. I define drama, its general concepts, principles, and aims. I concentrate on the role of drama in learning English as a foreign language, its techniques, and the benefits that drama brings into the learning. This research is helpful for the teachers to unde...

Drama-Based Approach in English Language Teaching

The present study investigates the benefits of implementing drama techniques in English language teaching. It also focuses on the means and strategies of creating a learner-centered classroom to enhance English as Foreign Language learners’ communication skills. Two dramatic techniques used in the research are exploiting a scripted play and improvisation. Teacher-researcher conducted a qualitative research method through a case study of First-Year Master Students of English Literature and Civilization studying English as a foreign language in Dr. Moulat Tahar University of Saida, Algeria. The present study reveals the positive impact of teaching English through drama on student’s physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development. It sheds light on the method of putting learners in authentic situations to help them discover their hidden creativity and overcome their fears. In addition to promoting their sense of collaboration, including discussion, negotiation, and performance.

Using Drama in Teaching English as a Foreign Language within the Framework of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

With the use of drama, we want to find a systematic approach to education which invites pupils to participate, to search, to use their creativity and aesthetic competence. In addition, we want them to learn to see and feel the experience of drama, and to invite them to communicate in a better way, improving their oral skills. This has not been developed in an adequate way, because teachers have focused their efforts on reading and writing. There are many reasons in favor of using drama as a pedagogic technique in the language classroom. It is fun and entertaining and can therefore provide motivation to learn. It can provide varied opportunities for different uses of language and because it engages feelings it can provide a rich experience of language for the participants. Drama is inevitably learner-centered because it can only operate through active cooperation. It is therefore a social activity and thus embodies much of the theory that has emphasized the social and communal, as opposed to the purely individual, aspects of learning Several dramatic activities such as scenarios, improvisation, role-play, different games, and simulation has been discussed in this paper. Key Words: Drama; Communicative Language Teaching (CLT); Simulation; Role-Play; Scenario; Improvisation

Lesson of Drama in Language Education: Why do We Have to Learn English Through Drama Performance?

Proceedings of the 1st Paris Van Java International Seminar on Health, Economics, Social Science and Humanities (PVJ-ISHESSH 2020), 2021

The primary goal of this research is intended to report how the implementation of Drama Performance as a project based in learning English foreign language and whether the lessons, the learning activity can motivate students interest also encouraging students to use their English language skills. Further, the discussion also takes into the issues of the problem that may exist during drama performance such as some students believe they cannot perform in English and they may choose to withdraw from the activity. The researcher is employing qualitative methodology to investigate the research questions. Observation and interview use as the instrument of this present study. The participants are the students who take Drama in Language Education course at the fifth semester of English Education Department at School of Teacher Training and Education (STKIP) Muhammadiyah Bogor. The students have performed drama, and have experience in preparing the session. The students are under the researcher supervision. The participants from other Department to be interviewed became the source of the data who watched drama performance. The students are under the researcher supervision. Activities are designed in accordance with the course objectives to share information about the students, the learning process and the phenomenon. The implementation of drama performance as a project based learning has myriad benefits for students and drama activities are a unique way of enhancing students' motivation and participation. Language skills can be exposed to students not only through conventional technique but also through drama performance. Project based learning provides students with the opportunity to explore the contents of Drama in Language Education. To get into the outcome, the core activities focus on the elements of drama, creative writing (composing a play script), characterization, make-up character, providing students with the information about drama in language education, and also hope to give students the opportunity to perform a drama in English. The lecturer's role in the teaching learning process is crucial. It can influence the students' response towards project based learning.

A Descriptive Analysis and Classification of Drama Techniques for Language Teaching

Shanlax International Journal of Education (Online), 2024

This study offers a descriptive analysis and classification of drama techniques that can be used in foreign language teaching. The aim is to provide language teachers and practitioners with accessible techniques that can be easily utilized in major stages and skills of the language teaching process as needed. The method of the study includes descriptive analysis and classification, resulting in the identification of five major categories of drama techniques. These include introduction and warm-up techniques, awareness-raising techniques, self-confidence and motivation techniques, techniques for speaking and listening skills, and techniques for reading and writing skills. For each category, several techniques were selected and described as examples. It is hoped that this study will make these techniques more available to teachers and researchers, ultimately improving language teaching practices. Since there seems to be no study in the literature on the classification of drama techniques in terms of language teaching, we hope that this study will fill an important gap.

Applied Drama in English Language Learning (PhD Thesis)

This thesis is a reflective exploration of the use and impact of using drama pedagogies in the English as a Second Language (ESL)/ English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom. It stems from the problem of secondary school English language learning in Malaysia, where current teaching practices appear to have led to the decline of the standard of English as a second language in school leavers and university graduates (Abdul Rahman, 1997; Carol Ong Teck Lan, Anne Leong Chooi Khaun, & Singh, 2011; Hazita et al., 2010; Nalliah & Thiyagarajah, 1999). This problem resonates with my own experiences at school, as a secondary school student, an ESL teacher and, later, as a teacher trainer. Consequently, these experiences led me to explore alternative or supplementary teaching methodologies that could enhance the ESL learning experience, drawing initially from drama techniques such as those advocated by Maley and Duff (1983), Wessels (1987), and Di Pietro (1983), and later from process drama pedagogies such as those advocated by Greenwood (2005); Heathcote and Bolton (1995); Kao and O'Neill (1998), and Miller and Saxton (2004). This thesis is an account of my own exploration in adapting drama pedagogies to ESL/EFL teaching. It examines ways in which drama pedagogies might increase motivation and competency in English language learning. The main methodology of the study is that of reflective practice (e.g. Griffiths & Tann, 1992; Zeichner & Liston, 1996). It tracks a learning journey, where I critically reflect on my learning, exploring and implementing such pedagogical approaches as well as evaluate their impact on my students’ learning. These critical reflections arise from three case studies, based on three different contexts: the first a New Zealand English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class in an intermediate school, the second a Malaysian ESL class in a rural secondary school, and the third an English proficiency class of adult learners in a language school. Data for the study were obtained through the following: research journal and reflective memo; observation and field notes; interview; social media; students’ class work; discussion with co-researchers; and through the literature of the field. A major teaching methodology that emerges from the reflective cycles is that of staging the textbook, where the textbook section to be used for the teaching programme is distilled, and the key focuses of the language, skills, vocabulary, and themes to be learnt are identified and extracted. A layer of drama is matched with these distilled elements and then ‘staged’ on top of the textbook unit, incorporating context-setting opportunities, potential for a story, potential for tension or complication, and the target language elements. The findings that emerge through critical reflection in the study relate to the drama methodologies that I learn and acquire, the impact of these methodologies on students, the role of culture in the application of drama methodologies, and language learning and acquisition. These findings have a number of implications. Firstly, they show how an English Language Teaching (ELT) practitioner might use drama methodologies and what their impact is on student learning. While the focus is primarily on the Malaysian context, aspects of the findings may resonate internationally. Secondly, they suggest a model of reflective practice that can be used by other ELT practitioners who are interested in using drama methodologies in their teaching. Thirdly, these findings also point towards the development of a more comprehensive syllabus for using drama pedagogies, as well as the development of reflective practice, in the teacher training programmes in Malaysia. The use of drama pedagogies for language learning is a field that has not been researched in a Malaysian context. Therefore, this account of reflective practice offers a platform for further research and reflection in this context.