The Use of Drama in Teaching English

Elif Genc, Turkey

Elif Genc has been an English language instructor at Gediz University for five years. She is studying at the M.A. program in ELT at Pamukkale University. She is interested in testing and assessment, vocabulary teaching/learning, and teaching young adults. E-mail: elif.genc@gediz.edu.tr

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Introduction
Why use drama in ELT?
How to use drama in ELT?
An application in the classroom
References

Introduction

Drama can be defined in a number of ways, one of which is “any kind of activity where learners are asked either to portray themselves or to portray someone else in an imaginary situation" (Holden, 1982). Similarly, Hubbard (1986) defined it as “a wide range of oral activities that have an element of creativity present." Via and some other researchers considered the value of drama in language teaching derives from the opportunities it provides the students to have a meaningful purpose to express themselves (Dodson, 2002). Rivers (1983) also mentioned that "the drama approach enables learners to use what they are learning with pragmatic intent, something that is most difficult to learn through explanation." The students have the opportunity to experiment with the language they have learnt, and the teacher has a chance to see how each person operates in a relatively unguided piece of interaction (Holden, 1981:5). According to Maley and Duff, dramatic activities are those which give the students an opportunity to use their own personalities in creating the material on which the language class is to be based (1982).

Why use drama in ELT?

Davies (1990) states that “Drama strengthens the bond between thought and expression in language, provides practice of supra-segmentals and para-language, and offers good listening practice. If drama is considered as a teaching method in the sense of being part of the eclectic approach to language teaching, then it can become a main aid in the acquisition of communicative competence.” Drama can be used in teaching English for different purposes (Sam, 1990):

1. Language is used in meaningful situations (Scharengnivei, 1970; Early and Tarlington, 1982; Mordecai, 1985). Language in the class that uses drama activities is explored, tried out and practised in meaningful situations.
2. Drama activities can be used as a means of reinforcement of language learnt (Mordecai, 1985; Fernandez and CoIl, 1986). It helps to extend, retain and reinforce vocabulary and sentence structure through role-play and communication games.
3. Drama can help restore the totality of the situation by reversing the learning process, beginning with meaning and moving towards language form. This makes language learning more meaningful and attempts to prepare the student for real-life situations.
4. Learning a second language can be enjoyable, stimulating and meaningful when combined with drama activities (Mordecai, 1985).
5. The problem of mixed ability is reduced when drama activities are used. Students who are more fluent can take the main roles which require more oral communication, while the weaker students compensate for their lack of linguistic ability by paralinguistic communication e.g. body language and general acting ability (miming).
6. Earl Stevick (1980) states that language learning must appeal to the creative intuitive aspect of personality as well as the conscious and rational part.

Sam (1990) points out that the uses of drama mentioned above are strongly related to Communicative Approach as they both aim to improve communicative competence. Hillyard (2011) summarizes the benefits of drama in ELT as follows: Pronunciation, diction and voice control, body language and gesture, stance and posture, blocking/interacting in space with others, register / speaking in role/ improvisation, language games, lifting the word off the page, and making language active, meaningful and fun.

How to use drama in ELT?

Dramatic activities can vary from songs, rhymes and chants, and miming to role-play and improvisation according to the age and level of the target group. Songs, rhymes and chants are easy for young learners. Children can learn a new language better with rhythm and melody (Gül-Peker, 2010). Dougill (1994)suggests that “the non-linguistic demands as wells as the linguistic demands being made upon the students” should be taken into consideration.

Mime

Dougill (1987) defines mime as "a non-verbal representation of an idea or story through gesture, bodily movement and expression". Mime helps develop students' powers of imagination and observation, and can also be quite simply "a source of great enjoyment", with students tending "to be very enthusiastic about this aspect of drama" (Hayes 1984, p.28). Mime activity is usually followed by parallel exercises in which mimed words are told. As Holden (1981, p.26) states “the purpose is not to replace the features of communication but to enrich them”. Most teachers use mime when the words fail to convey the meaning or when explaining new vocabulary. Wessels (1987) suggests that mime can be used presenting coursebook dialogue.

Simulation

A simulation activity is one where the learners discuss a problem within a defined setting (Davies, 1990). Jones (1982) stated that reality of function is the key concept in simulation. Simulation activities are also interaction activities with various categories of dialogues. One category would be social formulas and dialogues such as greetings, partings, introductions, compliments, and complaints. Simulation is often a problem-solving activity to which the student brings his own personality, experience and opinions (Livingstone, 1983). The distinctive feature of a simulation is, then, that it may require a certain knowledge or experience related to the given role.

Improvisation

Via (1985:3) defines improvisation as “to be able to function with whatever English the students have at their disposal”. He states that to achieve success in creating a dialogue through improvisation there has to be either a problem, to solve or a kind of conflict to deal with. McCaslin (1990) states that the focus of improvisation is on helping learners to discover their own resources from which their most imaginative ideas and strongest feelings flow, participants gain freedom as self-discipline and the ability to work with others develops.

Role play

Livingstone (1986: 6) defines role-play as “a classroom activity which gives the student the opportunity to practise the language, the aspects of role behaviour, and the actual roles he may need outside the classroom.” Davies (1990) claimed that open-ended dialogues give students the freedom to decide how to develop the dialogue further, while mapped dialogues provide a kind of chart telling students the functions they must use while interacting. The most common situations for role plays are those in which the students may need to function in the target language (Richard-Amato, 1996, p.182). The situations should also be familiar to the students. “Appropriate situations include topics that students see or in which they participate in their own lives. Examples include shopping, interacting at school, talking on the telephone, asking for directions, making appointments, and attending business meetings” (“Drills, Dialogues, and Role Plays”, 2007).

Sociodrama

Scarcella (in Oiler & Richard-Amato, 1983: 240) defines sociodrama as “a series of student enactments of solutions to a social problem”. She claims that the distinctive feature of this technique is that it allows them to decide on their roles and courses of actions in their performances. The students are left to their own devices to work out the scenario from the point of dilemma forward (1983: 239).

An application in the classroom

The study was conducted with two B2 level classes (15 students in each). One class was randomly selected as the experimental group and the other class as the control group. The experimental group was taught through drama whereas the control group was taught traditionally. The study aimed to find out whether teaching through drama makes a difference. The students in the experimental group were given the task to play roles of doctors and patients while they were learning ‘modals’. A frame was provided, but the dialogues were written by the students. They worked on the dialogues for an hour and then acted out in class. The control group was taught the same subject by just studying the book and doing the traditional exercises. After completing both classes, a quiz was given to them to see if there was a difference.

The quiz was context based and had both open-ended and close-ended questions. The students were required to write or choose sentences with suitable modal verbs. The results showed that the experimental group, whose mean was 80, had a relatively higher score than the control group, whose mean was 65. The finding shows that the drama activities seem to be effective on students’ grammar learning. The findings agree with the findings of effectiveness of teaching through drama on the third graders’ achievement on English as a foreign language (Aynal, 1989), the fifth-graders reading achievement (Dupont, 1989), and third graders’ achievement on standardized proficiency test (Barnes, 1998).

References

Barnes, M. K. (1998). Hot on the Campaign Trail! Teaching Social Studies through Drama. Social Education: v62 n4 p218-21 Apr-May 1998

Bolton, G. (1986). Selected Writings on drama in education. London: Longman.

Collier, C. (1997). Creating Games for Emerging English Speakers: Language & Content Reinforcement Activities. Annual Meeting of the National Association for Bilingual Education, (pp. 1-22). Dallas.

Davies, P. (1990). The use of drama in English language teaching. TESL Canada Journal , 87-99.

Dodson, S. L. (2002). The Educational Purpose of Drama for ESL. G. Brauer içinde, Body and Language: Intercultural Learning Through Drama (s. 161-175). Greenwood.

Dougill, J. (1994). Drama activities for language learning. London: Macmillan Publishers.

Fleming, M. (2006). Drama and language teaching: The relevance of Wittgenstein's concept of language games. May 22, 2013 Humanising Langauge Teaching:
old.hltmag.co.uk/jul06/mart01.html

Fuentes, A. G. (2010). Break A Leg! The Use Of Drama In The Teaching Of English To Young Learners. A Case Study. Analizar datos> Describir variación [Recurso electrónico]: Analysing data> Describing variation (s. 320-329). In Servicio de Publicaciones.

Gül-Peker, B. (2010). Using drama as pre-and post-reading activities for young learners. In B. H. ed. Hacer Hande Uysal, Handbook for Teaching Foreign Languages to Young Learners in Primary Schools (pp. 161-182). Ankara: Anı Paublishing.

Hayes, S. K. (1984). Drama As a Second Language: A Practical Handbookfor Language Teachers. National Extension College.

Holden, S. (1982). Drama in Language Teaching. Longman.

Jones, K. (1980). Simulations: A Handbook for Teachers. London: Kegan Paul.

Livingstone, C. (1983). Role play in language learning. Harlow: Longman.

Maley A., A. D. (1982). Drama Techniques in Language Learning. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Maley A., D. A. (2001). Drama techniques in language learning: a resource book for communication Activities for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Maley A., D. A. (2005). Drama Techniques: A resource book of communication activities for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

McCaslin, N. (1990). Creative Drama in the Classroom. New York: Wesley Publishing.

Ments, M. (1999). The Effective Use of Role Play. London: Biddles Limited.

Peter Hubbard, e. a. (1986). A Training Course for TEFL. Oxford University Press.

Philips, S. C. (2003). Drama with children. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Richard-Amato, P. (1996). Making It Happen : Interaction in the Second Language Classroom : From Theory to Practice (2nd edition). Longman.

Rivers, W. (1983). Communicating Naturally in a Second Language: Theory and Practice in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.

Sam, W. Y. (1990). Drama in teaching English as a second language-A Communicative approach. The English Teacher, 19 , 1-11.

Scarcella, R. J. (1983). Sociodrama for social interaction. O. &. Amato içinde, Methods that work: A smargasbord of ideas for language teachers. Rowley, Mass: Newbury House Pub. Inc.

Via, R. (1985). Drama & self in language learning. The English Teaching Forum , 12-15.

Wessels, C. (1987). Drama. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Wong, C. (1983). Roleplays in the English classroom. English Teaching Forum, 21: , 43-44.

Please check the Drama Techniques for Creative Language Teaching course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the How the Motivate your Students course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Building Positive Group Dynamics course at Pilgrims website.