Tell me and I

will forget.
Show me and I
will remember.
Involve me and I
will understand.

(CHINESE PROVERB)

1 | Page

CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION
Background
Language teachers have too often resorted to new ways to get
their classes involving, interactive and, at the same time,
interesting. They require to build up a repertoire of concrete
activities which appeal to students, engross them and, at the same
time, avoid chaos and boredom. For this function, one of the most
efficient instruments that can be employed in the teaching of a
foreign language like English can be striking. Equally it is indicated
that an efficacious way to speak in English is to think in English.
Nevertheless, the non-native speakers of English often think in L1
(mother tongue) and transform it into the alien terminology. In this
respect, the use of drama, as a teaching tool, can not alone cause
the classes interesting, but also facilitate the language learners to
begin calling back in English. With the role of drama in the EFL
classroom, when the students begin working on plot development,
hand writing and finally enacting the play, they get soaked up in
the bodily processes and language learning becomes quite a sport.
In due course of time, as and when they are submitted to different
tasks of drama classes, chances are bright that they may set off
calling back in English and give their performances using English.
Incorporating drama in the language classrooms helps and eases
teaching

and

learning

the

linguistic

communication

skills-

Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing in a more effective

manner. These sciences play a very significant function in a foreign
language teaching and learning as they constitute Language
Learning Pedagogy. A well-known Chinese proverb- tell me and I
will forget; teach me and I will remember; involve me and I will
learn summarizes this gist of whatever foreign language teaching
2 | Page

and learning teaching method. And. The role of drama, as a

teaching model, plays as a outburst of clean air for the students in
this connector. As Asher (1988) notes, dramatic play activities are
more like play, and less like work. The pupils generate an chance
to give extensions to their creativity, nurture their talent and bring
out something significant. With such supportive arguments, the
present paper aims at exploring the benefits of the use of drama in
the EFL classroom for instruction and learning language. It also
discusses potential ways, techniques and methods for integrating
drama in the language classroom for effective, affecting and
motivating teaching and learning process.
RATIONALE
It is a long-held opinion that the arts promote and enrich the
academic and societal growth of immature people. Professional
knowledge shared among educators in the areas of creative
dramatics/drama-in-education and child development tell us that
interpersonal, verbal, and reading comprehension skills can be
taught, or at least enhanced, through arts experiences and
preparation. Often supporting voices claim that students exposed
to arts learning, develop critical and creative thinking skills and
problem-figuring out strategies that are assignable to other
academic areas. Yet, in this age of assessment and accountability,
what answer we know specifically, empirically about arts learning,
successful teaching, and the characteristics that define arts
processes and settings? Farther, what research and measures
support the observed or anecdotal claims, rich as those claims may
be, so much made by advocates of arts training?
Better addresses these critical questions and looks to current and
historical scholarship to support a variety of propositions in various
ways. First, documenting cognitive and affective issues related to
3 | Page

effective arts instruction and learning, vetbettert Practice in

Theatre Education, offers practical and theoretical arguments for
arts integration using evidence drawn from a range of researchers
inside and outside of the field. Second, better explores the
potential of arts learning in differing populations (including at-risk
and disabled pupils) and builds connections between theatre,
literacy, cognition, and communication sciences. Ultimately, better
supports the Maryland Essential Learner Outcomes in the Fine Arts
(ELOs) and is perhaps best read in conjunction with the ELOs and
compendia such as Champions of Change: The Impact of the Arts
on Learning and Critical Links: Learning in the Arts and Student
Academic and Social Development. In concert, these texts promote
and validate the utility of the artstheir effectiveness

as

instructional tools and as independent, academic subjects with

unique content and processes.
While better Practice in Theatre Education celebrates the potential
power and authenticity of arts-related educational activity and
learning, it also raises ancillary questions regarding the efficacy
and application of the said instruction. For instance, when applying
the arts/theatre to teach other academic disciplines, e.g., math or
science, in what ways do theatre serve the related arena? What
balance of educational activity and learning relate to sound
practice and theory? Are the applied theatre exercises and
processes removed from their conceptual foundations only to be
used in pedestrian ways? Are there substance and rigor in the
application for both fields? What are the causal relationships
among the academic field, the arts experience, and scholarship?
These complex questions (suggesting a deep agenda for future
research)

converge

in

two

underlying

concerns:

(1)

What

characterizes a meaningful application of the humanities? And (2)

In what ways might this knowledge, foster better teaching? These
interrelated core questions are the substantive concerns of better.
4 | Page

Building Effective Teaching Through Educational Research/Theatre

Education does not answer all of the questions it puts forwardnor
should it. It serves, nevertheless, identify and synthesize current
research

on effective

instruction,

and

it raises

an implicit

philosophical framework grounded in advocacy that may promote

deeper thinking about curricular design, teaching, and student
learning in and through the arts.
Methodology
The drama techniques are already incorporated in most English
teaching course books. Instructors and their students enjoy songs
with TPR activities, games, dialogues, simulations or simple role
plays. (Maley, 9)
Many teachers hold their physical structure to create a visual effect
and control the voice in order to talk aloud and distinctly. Many
instructors also use Total Physical Response (TPR) technique as a
good method how to start with dramatization. The TPR technique
denotes

childrens

e.g.,

physical

responding

to

language

instructions with their physical structures. (Philips, 9) nonverbal

activities based on TPR teaching technique can be applied at the
outset of the lesson as warm-up activity.
The warm-up activities help develop trust and cooperation with
others and they assist students realize a quiet conversion from
different disciplines in the language category. It is not necessary to
employ them alone at the commencement of the example. They
can be utilized to create links between activities during the lesson.
The object lessons are included in the practical component of this
study in individual lesson programs.
Thither are many more possible ways of applying drama in English
learning teaching. One of the most popular techniques is a roleplay. According to Wan Y. Sam this technique involves taking on a
role of an imaginary character in a hypothetical situation. Pupils act
5 | Page

in role and setting which is described, but it involves spontaneous

interaction of participants. Thither is a whole range of these types
of actions. A role-play can be a very simple scene or a complex
story dramatization. As Gillian P. Leafs highlights in his book titled
Role Play: I do not mean problem-solving case studies in which
school children are asked to call back like Mr Smith or Mr Brown. In
role play they are Mr Smith or Mr Brown.
A quite similar technique to role-play is simulation. It is a
structured set of circumstances from real life where students act
according

to

the

instructions.

Everybody

gets

his/her

own

accomplishments and experience into working. It can be a problem

solving activity with materials to illustrate the setting to induce it
as true to life as possible. (Sam) Another really useful activity is
person-in-office. In this activity one of the students or a teacher
assumes responsibility as facilitator. He/she lays on a character
which enables him/her to encourage the rest of the group, to
control the action, to involve everybody and to flesh out the
possibilities for the interaction. (Neelands, 32)
The instructor uses this type of activity early in the process to
activate the students energy. It is significant to select a proper
character. It does not have to be a key part. The next relevant
point is to clearly show when you are in or out of the office.
This proficiency is beneficial because it takes off the usual power
structure of the instructor-focused course of study. And as Dorothy
Heathcote adds, the teacher may encounter an expert or a
colleague willing to add up into a classroom in the purpose. This
individual should be trained beforehand.
A next technique useful for English teaching is called hot-seating or
in other words questioning in the character. As Vani Chauhan
describes the procedure, the class is told that they are reporters
and their job is to interview the character. The character (a learner
6 | Page

who has volunteered to carry on the role) sits in the front, facing
the rest of the class and answers questions put by the reporters.
The role of the character is delimited by a teacher, an article or
any other fabric. The class takes notes in order to compose an
article for a paper. Reporters work on their articles after the
consultation. This tin be made out as both individual and team
work.
A next possible drama technique called still image is a group action
where pupils have to join forces and produce a photo using their
own bodies. Thither is a motif or idea they represent. (Neelands,
11)
Next popular drama activities are so called drama games. Drama
games are short games and according to Charlyn Wessels they
involve action, when students move freely around the classroom.
They involve imagination too, The learners are called upon to
consider beyond the teachers presentation, and they involve
both reading and learning. Warming up and cooling down body
processes, group formation activities, statues, maiming and other
social status among these drama games.

Research Question
How to succeed with Theatre/Drama in ELT?
It should be mentioned how students feel while they are taught
through drama techniques. Dramatic play is always changing
lessons of language so that no lesson is a dull stereotype. Students
forget that they are taking and practicing English and they induce
a belief that they play games. Everybody is involved and he/she
determines to practice improvisation. Pupils are initiating rather
than replying to the teachers questions.

7 | Page

On the other hand, problems such as shyness, the role of the

mother tongue, correcting errors or noise could arise in drama
lessons. Here are some instructions on how to surmount these
troubles. They will also help teachers succeed with drama in the
schoolroom.
One of the most significant points is that the teacher must believe
in the advantages of drama.
For drama activities to run well, the instructor needs to be
convinced that they will make. A class rapidly senses any
hesitancy or nervousness, or lack of conviction on the character of
the instructor. You are the key to the success of these actions. If
you do them reluctantly, or half-heartedly, it is better not to
perform them at all. (Maley and Duff, 2005)
Since there is no substitute for experience, trying it out is the best
thing. The role of a teacher during the drama in the classroom is
more of a facilitator than an authority or the source of knowledge.
(Heatchcote) Open body language, friendly quality of voice, good
planning and good governance are the characters that show
teachers confidence and experience with this type of instruction.
The teacher should create a well-humored, creative and friendly
atmosphere in the schoolroom. In this atmosphere, it will be
leisurely to get students involved. Drama lessons must be easily
designed. The teacher requires to know the purpose of the lesson
and structure the lesson accordingly. Some other significant
component in the planning is the students age. For new learners
the whole-grade activities are more desirable than a group work,
whereas teenage learners may enrich the drama with their own
thoughts. (Philips, 8)
It is beneficial to use warm up activities in a group of students who
do not even know each other. Thus, it is significant that they
8 | Page

change partners as much as possible so as to interact with a larger

number of other scholars. This can be achieved by group formation
activities. (Maley and Duff, 6, 234)
When a teacher plans a drama activity, it is important to remember
that it is not possible to predict how long it will take since the
ability of each class varies. Sometimes the instructor senses that
the activity is running so well that he/she does not desire to break
it. Or maybe the instructor got a mistake in judgment and the
natural process is too unexciting for students and then he/she
should terminate it earlier than he/she was after. Of course this
happens in other activities too but it is easy to solve this problem
during the drama lesson by preparing a follow-up activity. These
can also be used for the groups that finish before that their
colleges. (Landousse, 12)
The following important problem associated with drama activities is
dealing with misunderstandings:
More and more teachers are sticking to the view that mistakes
are an inbuilt portion of the language-learning process, and that an
opportunity to create them in a three phase in any lesson
ultimately enhances learning, rather than blocking it. Some
mistakes do fossilize, but most of them only seem to indicate
certain stages in the acquirement of the terminology. (Landousse,
1987)
This implies that they vanish with practicing of the speech.
However, there are two primary questions: Which mistakes to
correct? and How to monitor what the scholarly people are saying
and ensure that they are speaking the words correctly?
The first query does not bear a definite solution. Thither are many
standards for dealing with errors during speaking. It must be
9 | Page

counted if the mistake affects communication. No less important is

the aim of the lesson. The mistakes correction will be significant in
a lesson oriented on accuracy. Nevertheless, it will be different
during lessons concentrated on fluency. Some other significant
detail is the students reaction. Teachers corrections must not
discourage pupils from speaking.
To resolve the second question, here is a list of correction
techniques, described by Rolf Donald in his article about the error
correction:
-

Using signals teacher and students have some shared

signals which they use commonly during lessons. These can
be body language, gestures or mouthing. For example when
the pupil forgets the affix s in the third person singular in
present simple, teacher hisses like a snake to indicate this
type of mistake. In event the class is used to this it is easier
to correct student immediately during drama activity without
disruption.

Notes this is one of the delayed correction techniques.

Teacher notes down the errors during the action. He/she
focuses either on the whole class or on each pupil. Everyone
receives a written feedback on what he/she can ameliorate.

- Recording teacher uses a tape recorder or camera to monitor

the action. At the conclusion of the lesson or the next lesson,
class listen back to the record and concentrate on correction.
This affords students more responsibility for their own
learning, they can be more mindful of the cracks in their
spoken English and the recording makes them to pay more
attention to what they pronounce as they are executing.
(Donald)

10 | P a g e

Further problem while students solve in groups preparing the

activity is that they oftentimes induce a tendency to use a mother
tongue to convey. It is satisfactory to allow beginners a limited role
of the mother tongue in discussion. Indeed, it may be unacceptable
to forestall it. But during the actual activity there should be a rigid
rule to practice English. (Maley and Duff, 3)
The concluding point in this list is that dramatic event is not a
lesson full of pandemonium. However, children are noisy when
they are involved in rehearsing a scene. It is good when drama is
full of laughter and language, but screaming or noisy shouting does
not have space in this type of example. The answer to manage the
class is establishing a block sign. This can be any concerted signal,
e.g. teacher puts the hand up and everybody must practice the
same thing. Another possibility is that teacher uses a whistle,
drums or a piano, etc. The sign means that children "freeze" in
spots they are in.

Drama/Theatre in Foreign language teaching: how

can it be described?
Holden, S (1981: 1) defines drama as any activ ity which asks the student to portray
a) himself in an imaginary situation or b) another person in an imaginary
situationa definition which can be applied to most formats of drama in language
teaching and includes role-play as a form of drama. Howev er, v ocal and phy sical
ex ercises that do not imply the creation of a fictional character or situation, such as
articulation exercises or movement games, should also be included.
The following characteristics can be used to classify drama activities.

Short/long: a drama game can be play ed in only a few minutes while a drama
project can ex tend ov er sev eral months or longer.

Non-v erbal/v erbal: while the use of v erbal activ ities for language
learning seems self-ex planatory , non-v erbal ex ercises can also
have
their benefit, for ex ample as icebreakers to decrease learners anxiety or to
prov ide topics for discussion or to broaden learners perspective on a
foreign language by drawing their attention to aspects of body language.

Open/closed: Kao & ONeill (1 998: 5-1 8) suggest a continuum model

11 | P a g e

of drama approaches ranging from closed/controlled (script-based)

to open communication with process drama at the far end of the
spectrum. Open forms will foster creativ e language use (focus on
meaning) and while they can be used with lower-lev el learners, they
may be more fruitful if a certain lev el of language competence has
already been achiev ed. Closed forms (among which Kao & ONeill also
include language games), on the other hand, are suitable for a focus on
accuracy /focus on form for pronunciation, v ocabulary , and grammar or
tex t-genre practice but they can also be used for the introduction of new
linguistic input. Again, different teaching aims and learner needs will
necessitate different approaches.

Process-oriented/product-oriented: Is there an audience productoriented

approachor is the focus on the ex perience of the participantsprocessoriented approach (cf. Moody 2002 and Fleming 2006). Product-oriented forms
can be more motiv ating for learners who prefer working towards a concrete
end-product (Fonio & Genicot 201 1 ;
Schewe & Scott 2003) and they tend to be more beneficial for a focus on
accuracy . On the one hand, process-oriented approaches are argued to be more
creativ e (Glock 1 993; Kao & ONeill 1 998) and liberating for certain learners
(Culham 2002) as fluency is v alued ov er accuracy and
there is no (or less) pressure to perform flawlessly . On the other hand, process
and product can be connected in drama projects, e.g. as
students process-oriented ex plorations of a topic (improv isations, hotseating,
thought-tracking, etc.) are turned into a scripted play which is
rehearsed and ev entually publicly performed

Chapter Division
In this particular dissertation the following chapters are divided :
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)

Introduction
Literature Review/ Survey
Detailed Chapter on TILL( Theatre In Language Learning)
Activities
Conclusion
Bibliography/References

LITERATURE REVIEW
Much works have been done on Theatre as a tool in language learning
(TiLL) and Teaching. Instructors have realized the benefits of
Theatre/Drama because of its performative nature and the dramatic
12 | P a g e

effect it creates which captures the mind and motivates the language
learning process. Thus, because of this very reason language teachers
have embraced and utilized it with a view to gear up the language
acquisition process. The purpose of my research is to epitomize how
Theatre can be utilized as a tool to teach and learn language.

Gardner, H. (1983). Talks about,

Frames of Mind. Basic Books,

Multiple intelligences and levels of cognitive skills beyond paperand-pencil tests. Gardner sees theatre as key to addressing
linguistic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and bodily kinesthetic
intelligences. (1995). Schools, communities, and the arts: A
research compendium. Tempe, AZ: Author. Involvement in the arts
is linked to student motivation and engagement in school and to
attitudes that contribute to academic achievement. Humans
possess multiple intelligences. In the past, schools attended mostly
to linguistic and logical mathematical, but contemporary educators
must address themselves to the whole person.
According to Christie, J. F. (1987). Play and story comprehension is
a critique of recent training research. Journal of Research and
Development in Education, 21 36-43, which studies investigating
the relationship between play and reading. Most of these
inspections should be called training studies.
DuPont, S. (1992). Talks about The effectiveness of creative drama
as an instructional strategy to enhance the reading comprehension
skills of fifth-grade remedial readers. In R. J. Deasy (Ed.), Critical
links: Learning in the arts and student academic and societal
evolution (pp. 22-23). Documents relationships among creative
drama, childrens literature, and reading comprehension in fifthgrade remedial readers.

13 | P a g e

According to Page, A. (1983). Childrens story comprehension as a

effect of storytelling and story dramatization: A study of the tyke
as a spectator and as a participant. A comparison of dramatization
and storytelling techniques for elementary pupils.
Pellegrini, A. D. (1985) talks about The relations between symbolic
play and literature behavior. Review of Education Research, 5 (51),
107-121. A review and critique of the literature.
As according to Pellegrini, A. D., & Galda, L. (1982). The effects of
thematic- fantasy play training on the development of childrens
story comprehension. Research Journal, (19, 443-452). The process
of animating the graphic symbols and events of a given story leads
to greater understanding of that narrative..
In J. F. Christie (Ed.), they speak about Play and Early Literacy
Thematic fantasy play and spontaneous dramatic play help
children recall a story more accurately than those who did not
perform the story dramatically.
Gardner, H. (1985). Talks about, The minds new science. Gresham,
F. (1982). Assessment of childrens social skills. Journal of School
Psychology,

19,

120-133.

Attempts

to

train

students

with

disabilities have had only limited success. Programs that simply

bring these students in contact with peers without disabilities for
various activities fall short of the desired integration that educators
and parents want for their students and children.
Miller, H., Rynders, J. E., and Schleien, S. J. (1993). Drama: A
medium to enhance social interaction between students with and
without mental retardation. Mental Retardation, 31 (4), 228-233.
The shortcomings of most peer socialization -oriented programs
are not found in programs that bring together students with and
without disabilities in theatre activities. The authors believe that
14 | P a g e

interaction and friendships are improved by including both groups

of students in traditional theatre games and activities.
Barrs, M. (1987). Voice and role in reading and writing. Language
Arts, 64 (2), 207-218. Role-playing as another way of focusingof
developing an attitude toward the material. Role-playing provides a
clear role and a clear sense of audience needed for a young writer
to have a starting point.
Enciso-Edmiston, P. (1988). Writing and responsibility. London
Drama 7, 8-10. Theatre and audience awareness in writing are
closely allied. Because the events in theatre are happening now,
both the participant in role and the writer in role share with their
audience the common concern for what has happened, what is now
happening, and what will happen.
Summerfield, J., & Summerfield, G. (1986). Texts and contexts: A
contribution to the theory and practice of teaching composition.
New York: Random House. Role-play in reading and writing. Both
are products of concrete social exchange. They rely on what-if
propositions and Imagine you were... prompts to engage
students in reading and writing tasks. The authors often have
students write and reshape pieces of writing into the simulated
roles of other persona. They claim that this role-playing is a
powerful generative device.
Wagner, B. J. (1986). The effects of role-playing on written
persuasion: An age and channel comparison of fourth and eighth
graders. In R. J. Deasy (Ed.), Critical links: Learning in the arts and
student academic and social development (pp. 52-53). Washington,
D.C.: Arts Education Partnership. Documents effects of role-playing
on written forms of persuasion and supports the efficacy of
dramatic play as a prewriting strategy.

15 | P a g e

Applebee, A.N. (1981). Writing in the secondary schools. Urbana,

IL: National Council of Teachers of English. Despite our knowledge
of the importance of prewriting to the writing process, teachers in
most high schools fail to give this essential stage the time and
attention it deserves.

Bolton, G. (1984). Talks about, Changes in thinking about drama in

education. Theory into Practice 23 (4), 151-157. The use of drama
to teach a number of subjects in school, including writing. Bolton
argues that it is simpler to add details to a drama, or even rerun an
entire story, than to rearrange ideas in writing.
According to Moore, B. H., & Caldwell, H. (1993). Drama and
drawing for narrative writing in primary grades. Journal of
Educational Research, 87 (2), 100-110. Theatre and drawing help
students achieve effective, meaningful prewriting. Novice writers
may gain more control of their narratives by working out ideas
through the artistic/symbolic means of drawing and theatre.
Pellegrini, A. D. (1984). Talks about, Identifying causal elements in
the thematic-fantasy play paradigm. In R. J. Deasy (Ed.), Critical
links: Learning in the arts and student academic and social
development (pp. 42-43). Arts Education Partnership. Research
question: What are the relative effects of three modes of story
reconstruction

trainingthematic-fantasy

play,

teacher-led

discussion, and drawing on the development of childrens story

comprehension
Pellegrini, A. D. (1984). Talks about, The effect of dramatic play on
childrens generation of cohesive text. In R. J. Deasy (Ed.), Critical
links: Learning in the arts and student academic and social
development (pp. 44-45). Arts Education Partnership. Research
16 | P a g e

questions: To what extent does the informational status of a

listener (whether familiar or not familiar with the story) affect a
students use of oral language to retell the story? (Do students use
effective and appropriate language when told in advance the
knowledge base of the listener?) With what relative effectiveness
can childrens use of oral language (retelling stories to non familiar
listeners)

be

facilitated

through

the

use

of

alternative

interventions, namely discussion, drawing, and dramatic play?

According to Schmidt, E. (1975). Syntactic and semantic structures
used by children in response to six modes of story presentation 35,
4879A. The positive impact of nonscripted storytelling on student
language development. Vitz, K. (1984). The effects of creative
drama on English as a second language. Childrens Theater
Review, 33 (4), 23-33. The positive impact of drama in improving
ESL student language facility.

Wagner, B. J. (1998). Talks about, Educational drama and language

arts: What research shows. An extensive overview of theatre
education research.
Barnes, D. (1976). Talks about, From Communication to Curriculum.
Producing language and receiving language are the most powerful
tools for learning what human beings possess. Theatre is one of
the most effective ways to stimulate lively and apt conversation.
According to Booth, D. (1998). Language power through working in
role. And as according to B. J. Wagner (Ed.), Educational drama and
language arts: What research shows (pp. 57- 76). Drama and roleplaying are useful tools to expand student experiences, thus
building language and literacy.

17 | P a g e

Halliday, M. A. (1977). Talks about, Learning how to mean:

Explorations in the development of language, Elsevier. Interacting
in role, students explore the social functions of language that may
not arise in the language forms of the traditional classroom. The
context plays a part in determining what they say, and what they
say plays a part in determining the context.
Byron, K. (1986). Talks about, Drama in the English classroom.
Methuen.

Dramatic

experience

enhances

oral

language

development as children recast their vocabulary and speech

patterns to suit the roles they assume and to accommodate their
listeners, whom they address in imaginary contexts.
Davidson, J. (1996). Talks about, Emergent literacy and dramatic
play in early childhood. Examples and supporting research for the
ways in which theatre can assist young children in language
development.
According to De la Cruz, R. E. (1995). The effects of creative drama
on the social and oral skills of children with learning disabilities
Dissertation Abstracts International 5 610, 3 913 A. A 12-week
creative theatre program for students with learning disabilities.
Felton, M., Little, G., Parsons, B., & Schaffner, M. (1984). Talks
about,

Drama, language and learning. Theatre in Education.

Theatre provides opportunities for children to use language for a

wide range of purposes. There is a higher incidence of interactive
and

expressive

talk,

compared

to

the

high

incidence

of

informational talk in traditional classrooms.

Adamson, D. (1981). Talks about, Dramatization of childrens
literature

and

disadvantaged

visual

perceptual

beginning

kinesthetic

readers

intervention

Dissertation

for

Abstracts

International 42, 062481A. Rural white disadvantaged students

18 | P a g e

who approached reading via theatre performed significantly better

on reading readiness and vocabulary tests.
According to Allen, E. G. (1968). An investigation of change in
reading achievement, selfconcept, and creativity of disadvantaged
elementary school children experiencing three methods of training.
African

American

elementary

school

students

improved

significantly in attitude and motivation toward reading when

teachers included theatre activities in their reading lessons.
Gourgey, A. F., Bosseau, J., & Delgado, J. (1985). Talks about, The
impact of an improvisational dramatics program on students
attitudes and achievement. Childrens Theater Review, 34, (3), 914. Role-playing, story making, playwriting, and improvisational
exercises significantly improved reading achievement, which may
have been a result of emphasizing individual and group story
making and storytelling, because these activities may have
developed skills that directly apply to reading comprehension.

According to Christen, W. L., & Murphy, T. J. (1991). Increasing

comprehension by activating prior knowledge. (EDO-CS91-04 May
1991):

Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication.

An overview of research in reading comprehension and delineation

of the classroom implications of that research..
Edmiston, B., & Wilhelm, J. (1996). Talks about, Repositioning
views/reviewing positions: Forming complex understandings in
dialogue. In B. J. Wagner (Ed.), Educational drama and language
arts: what research shows (pp. 90-117). Chicago: Heinemann.The

19 | P a g e

use of drama to help students address issues from many

perspectives.
Elbow, P. (1986). Talks about, Embracing contraries. Rather than
rest in an acquisitive desire to know more information, it is
important for educators to help their students embrace a sense of
the unknown as well.
Bolton, G. (1979). Talks about,

Towards a theory of drama in

education. London: Longman. An argument for the use of drama in

the classroom. Bolton suggests three levels of reflection (personal,
universal, analogous).
Colby, R.W. (1987). Talks about,

A rationale for drama as

education. Youth Theatre Journal 1 (4), 3-7. Opportunities for

exploration at the subjective level, where the deepest changes in
understanding can be realized. Drama has the potential for
achieving an understanding that transforms a previous way of
thinking.
.Bernstein, B. (1985). Talks about, Drama as a context for
transformation. In J. Kase Polisini (Ed.), Creative Drama in a
Developmental Context. Lanham, Theatre as a way to transform
the traditional classroom relationship of student and teacher and
allow real learning and growth to occur.
.Oddleifson, E. (1990). Talks about,

A fifty school arts education

demonstration project. On the Beam 11 (1), 1-5. An argument for

arts in schools. Oddleifson provides examples of success stories
and demonstrates the link between arts education and Gardners
theory of multiple intelligences.

20 | P a g e

CHAPTER 3
THEATRE IN LANGUAGE LEARNING(TILL) AND
TEACHING
Teachers who approach literature from a dramatic approach help
students become better thinkers and more expert readers. This is
particularly true for scholars who are severely checked in their
interpretation. Surveys indicate a correlation between the mental
processes employed in dramatic art and those applied in reading
(Pellegrini, 1985).
The traditional approach to stories involves reading silently or out
loud. Pupils look at the words on the page and sometimes sound
them out to see what happens to the parts. The teacher may
lecture, take questions, and have students operate in small groups
on questions or issues in the chronicle. The report is read and
addressed. But is it truly understood? And will it even be withdrawn
a few weeks or months after?
Instructors who use dramatic reenactment of stories
in

their

classrooms

provide

opportunities

for

scholarly people to internalize the significance of

words. They enhance comprehension of the news
reports read in class and make more generalized
skills for story reading and story recall.
Too frequently, the result is negative. Still, when students become
physically, intellectually, and socially involved in the reenactment
of a story, they more readily see the roles, relationships between
characters, the natural process of the story, details, and intent.
Having reenacted and discussed the story, students interpret it

21 | P a g e

better when they reread it. They also commemorate the narration
for a longer time (Pellegrini & GaIda, 1982).
More significantly, teachers who encourage and steer their
students in dramatic activities generally find their students to be
stronger readers. In a meta-analysis of 80 studies (culled from 200
published since 1950), Ann Podlozny establishes a relationship
between classroom drama and verbal ability. Her results reveal
statistically significant correlations between drama activities and
half dozen areas of reading and language development, including
reading readiness and achievement, story understanding, and
story recall (Podlozny, 2000). Theatre and reading involve similar
mental processes, and story schema is broken in the process of
creating,

executing,

and

watching

dramatic

performances.

Children, through their own teacher-guided creations, learn the

elements that construct up a tale. Through theatre they organize
narratives and become characters. Their experience and solve
problems, change, and develop. They use terminology and natural
process to communicate.
Recognizing the potential language-rich environment associated
with theatrical experiences, James Catterall notes increases in
reading proficiency among students who are extremely involved in
drama activities, particularly students from low socioeconomic
backgrounds (Catterall, Chapleau, & Iwanaga, 1999). Growth also
appears in remedial readers exposed to creative dramatics.
Investigating

the

relationship

between

creative

dramatics,

childrens literature, and reading comprehension skills, researcher

Sherry DuPont reports increased scores among fifth-grad students
after a six-week integrated program (DuPont, 1992). Students
participating in theatre become storytellers at the same time that
they become story readers. It stands to reason that they are more
capable to comprehend stories than students not involved with the
22 | P a g e

graphics of the story (Wilhelm & Edmiston, 1998). Teachers should

understand, however, that the play is [not only] the thing. Much
of the benefit of theatre results from metaplay, the process of
analysis and creative activity in preparation for the operation.
Students look to the text for guidance and contexthow to do an
action, how to speak or react. In metaplay, students challenge
each other with their varying beliefs and interpretations of the
textbook. And as scholars research and debate the meanings and
intentions of a text, ample opportunities for teaching arise
opportunities to probe, to ask deeper questions, to revisit the text,
and to create (Williamson & Silvern, 1991).
Researcher A. Page reports that such depth of work with a text,
both through the metaplay and the execution, also builds
vocabulary. The teacher who approaches literature through theatre
allows students to look closely at the language, the words on the
page, and the denotations and connotations of the words (Page,
1983).
(Although professional experience often confirms the Pages
assertion, it should be noted that Podloznys work contradicts the
vocabulary building suggested here.) Dramatizing a story one has
just read, or pantomiming a poem or story, helps children
internalize the significance of spoken communication, extend their
range of intellect, and make unfamiliar words their own. And
through theatre, these words take on far larger interest and
importance to students than when they appear on a list to be
memorized for the Friday quiz. Through theatre, the instructor
helps students become more proficient proofreaders.
The

story

schemata

generated

through

repeated group dramatic play should not only

contribute to better inclusion of stories just
23 | P a g e

enacted,

but

also

result

in

increased

understanding and recall of stories in general.

(Christie, 1987, p. 36)

The TiLL Model

The TiLL model is an applied theatre model which was created by the founder
of Viennas English Theatre, Austrian Theatre Director, Dr Franz Shafranek and
his wife, American actress Ruth Brinkmann. In 1970, in partnership with Leo
Leitner, Head of Secondary Schools at the Austrian Ministry of Education and
Culture (BMUKK), they jointly devised a programme of educational theatre
under the title Englisches Theater geht in die Schulen.
The core objective of the model was to produce theatrical productions
supporting the study of English as a foreign language by offering
Professional theatre performances, acted by native English speakers
The commission of age-appropriate and specifically targeted plays
The publication and distribution of the play texts to students prior to
Performance
The provision of educational support materials (exercises and questions
based on the productions and texts).
The key pedagogical outcomes of this model were defined as
Building cross-cultural understanding;
Making the study of English fun
Taking language study out of the classroom context;
Hearing English spoken by native speakers
Providing opportunities for conversations with native speakers.
The TiLL model was, and still remains, based on three key principles: reading,
seeing and hearing.
24 | P a g e

The script of a selected play is read in the classroom and all its ramifications
are discussed in detail. The students are familiarized with the
plot, characters and the medium of a foreign language. The direct
experience
of the scenes is enhanced through understanding, the action in
the play forms a kind of unity between actors and spectators, and theatre
becomes inter-action. (Shafranek 2001: 102)
Students are supplied with a copy of the selected text, (ideally) to be studied in
the classroom prior to a performance of the play. Performances are undertaken
by a team of professional native speaking actors and take place within the school
itself or in a theatre location nearby. The tripartite focus of reading, seeing
and hearing particularly supports three of the distinct learning styles identified
within Flemings celebrated VARK model the visual, the auditory and the
read/write. It also has the potential to contain the kinesthetic within the reading
category, and in audience participation, as will be demonstrated.
In his internet article on the Use of Drama in the Classroom on the Teaching
English website, Robinson cites Maley & Duff (1978) and Wessels (1987) as
authors who have demonstrated the core values of this methodology; in that it
can overcome the students resistance to learning the new language by making
the learning of the new language an enjoyable experience, a particularly
important outcome in a compulsory learning setting. Robinson also highlights
the research undertaken by Collie & Slater into the positive contributions
made to language learning by the study of literature. Primary texts constitute
valuable authentic material which expose learners to different registers
(Collie & Slater 1987: 3). There is also strong evidence that reading produces
superior vocabulary retention rates in L2 learners, in comparison with the use of
vocabulary lists (cf. Hermann 2003: 1).

Social Cognition
Instructors who use theatre as a medium for instruction effectively
increase interactions and encourage friendship building between
students with handicaps and those without handicaps.
For years, educators in mainstream school settings attempted to
incorporate pupils with and without handicaps. Many schools have
devised buddy systems or special friend initiatives to bridge the
societal and educational gap between the two groups. Cooperative
25 | P a g e

learning techniques and recreational activities are also popular

approaches. Offering an environment for scholars with disabilities
that is both motivational stimulating and emotionally safe is often
debatable. Despite troubles, many programs follow.
With theatre, some teachers take in increased interaction between
pupils

with

and

without

disabilities,

and

have

stimulated

friendships between the two groups. Theatre teachers report, and

studies indicate, that the sham world of theatre functions as a sort
of neutral territory in which the two groups can converge in
creative, artistic, and meaningful ways (Miller, Rynders, & Schleien,
1993). The processes of dramatic exploration and artistic creation,
encourage an environment in which both groups remain active and
challenged, free of some of the dangers associated with other
plans. Dramatic play offers a unique paradox in which participants
can experience risks without penalties. Theatre is a social
interaction. Accordingly, it is an excellent option when working with
people who possess limited social skills (Gardner, 1985).
Miller, Rynders, and Schleien (1993) cite examples of how students
with and without disabilities who participate in creative drama
activities spontaneously initiate play and assume imaginary roles
with each other outside the schoolroom. An environment of
imaginative play and creation is equally enriching for children both
with and without handicaps. This is not only a way for students
with and without disabilities to spend time together. Through
theatre, both groups share the process of mental imagery and
creative activity. They interact in a confident manner and build
friendships not often trained in other areas of the shoal.
If adults leading [theatre] activities encourage imaginative play
activities involving children with and without mental retardation, it
appears that the group dynamics and enjoyment of everyone
involved are enhanced. (Miller, Rynders, & Schleien, 1993, p. 232)

26 | P a g e

Role play and Writing

Instructors who use role-play as a generative device with their
students enable them to get more proficient writers. They
encourage students to draw close the all-important act of
expository, persuasive, or narrative writing by knowing and
reacting to different parts and points of view.
To be effective writers, students must possess a sense that what
they say has value and how they convey it in writing will interest
their readers. Pupils are often unsafe and unsure of what they like
to read. Even those who experience what they want to read are
often unsteady with tone and voice necessary to earn their points
appropriately. As a consequence, their narrative writing is often flat
and their expository writing mediocre. Instructors who wish to
better student writing can turn to the theater of operations.
Role-playing, one area of theatre, helps scholars develop a voice
both on stage and on paper (Barrs, 1987). Role-playing allows
students to try on different hats and a variety of personalities, to
be someone they are not (Summerfield & Summerfield, 1987).
When students act in a role, they are challenged to organize
narrative sequences and identify ideas and emotionsto develop
empathy by adopting voices or states of intellect that are perhaps
foreign to their spirits.
Through role-playing, students learn to acquire cognitive and
affective strategies and to use language in expressive ways. For
instance, when approaching persuasive writing, pupils can use
improvisational role-playing with a spouse to produce a series of
convincing and meaningful statements. As students interact with
classmates, orally and kinesthetically, they may explore and test
rationales and counterarguments. The immediate effects
Feedback or spontaneous interaction between participants may
also assist scholars identify a variety of logical, ethical, and
27 | P a g e

emotional appeals. Betty Jane Wagner speaks to the positive

relationship

between

role-playing

and

successful

persuasive

writing. Comparing the writing of fourth- and eighth-grade students

receiving direct persuasive instruction (lecture only) or no specific
instruction with students exposed to lecture and role-playing
sessions, Wagner observed stronger argument construction and
writing among students having the lecture/role-play intervention
particularly in the fourth-grade group (Wagner, 1986).
[Theatre is] another way of focusingof taking up an attitude to
[the writers] material. Either a clear role or a clean sense of
audience is needed for a writer to have a beginning period. (Barrs,
1987, p. 217)
Prewriting Process
Instructors who incorporate drama activities as part of the
rewriting process improve student writing. They offer opportunities
for scholarly people to go through the creative process, rehearsing
their narratives and shaping their stories before dropping a line.
Educators have recognized for some time that teaching the
process

of

writingtraditionally

categorized

as

prewriting,

composing, and rewritingis more significant to developing strong

student writers than is the finished merchandise. Lacking serious
and meaningful planning, many young writers are incapable of
making a nice finished product. Although experts have known for
years the need to prepare for writing, many instructors do not pass
this important stage the time it deserves. Too much, they only
discuss ideas with their scholars. Normally, this is not enough for
young authors, particularly those who struggle with writing (Moore
& Caldwell, 1993). Scholars tend to be more interested, and to
write better, when they act out, pronounce, or rehearse their
stories first (Bolton, 1984).

28 | P a g e

The procedure of authorship does not necessarily signify the act of

composition. The cognitive and creative process used before
writing is frequently as important as putting words to report. When
simple discussion falls short in planning to write, multimodal
approaches may be informative. Exploring stories through creative
movement, theatre games, and improvisation prepares students
for composition. In a 15-week experimental program, students who
used drama activities to prepare thoughts and strategies for
narrative writing displayed significant growth in style, content, and
organization when compared with a control group using more
traditional prewriting discussion models (Moore & Caldwell, 1993).
Constructing stories through theatre before writing offers students
needed planning and thinking time. Before students even sharpen
their pencils, they explore character and plot, and develop detailed
and dialoguepossible elements of story composition. In effect,
they make their levels. The rehearsal of their stories through
theatre might even be seen as a first draftdrafts that students
may easily revise and edit before they actually start the procedure
of writing (Bolton, 1984).
In helping others perform their stories, students invite each other
into their unique creative processes. They challenge and assist
each other in shape and revise their thoughts into a tale. In
concert, they decide what runs in the narratives and what does
not. Though the real composition is done alone, the concerted
process of preparation for writing involves the pupils in an exciting
manner.

Creative Drama, Storytelling, and Proficiency

29 | P a g e

Instructors who allow students time to practice acquired language

skills through creative theatre and storytelling activities motivate
them to extend their language skills and develop more complex
linguistic structures.
Acquiring proficiency in language goes beyond the simple ability to
put together a string of words to make a perfect condemnation.
Real proficiency occurs when students have enough control over
the voice communication to express abstract and complex ideas.
Theories abound about how best to reach proficiency. Various
surveys demonstrate that theatre and storytelling can play a
positive part in the operation.
In

one

survey,

students

who

participated

in

non

scripted

storytelling activities significantly improved their ability to produce

complex linguistic structures (Schmidt, 1975). Other studies
showed that theatre enabled students not just to make more
complex sentences but also to bolster their total verbal output as
easily.

This

development

also

occurred

with

students

who

participated in classroom work that was not in their main language

(Vitz, 1984).
Just why do scholars who participate in creative drama activities to
experience significant increase in their linguistic acumen? On that
point are no unequivocal answers, but Holly Griffin (1990), in an
article written for the Youth Theatre Journal, postulated that
perhaps theatre leads to an apprehension of how to breach out of
experience and collectively shape it (p. 20). Betty Jane Wagner
(1998) expands upon this thought, conjecturing that this ability to
abstract and study as well as to take part in the experience may
lead to cognitive maturity (p. 40). Jane Davidson (1996) believes
that dramatic play lets students use the language skills they know.

30 | P a g e

While it is oftentimes hard to distinguish the multiple variables that

may influence outcomes related to arts interventions, researchers
have designed sound experiments yielding intriguing results.
Proficiency in storytelling, for model, depends on an array of
behaviors linked with literacy such as the ability to produce
complex linguistic utterances or to return and recreate a narrative
for a specific listening audience. In a 1984 study, Pellegrini asked:
With what relative effectiveness can childrens use of oral language
(retelling stories to unfamiliar listeners) be facilitated through the
utilization of alternative approaches, namely discussion, passing,
and dramatic play? The researcher found that kids involved in
dramatic play, after hearing a narrative read by an adult, we're
better capable to make an explicit and coherent retelling to an
uninformed listener (Pellegrini, A., 1984). This result indicates a
causal link between enactment and recall (a connection discussed
elsewhere in this document). Farther, and perhaps more subtly,
students retelling strategies demonstrate an agreement of how
the

speaker/listener

communication/language

choices.

relationship
Knowing

influences
the

relationship

between context, narrative, and the communication of meaning

speaks to higher-level thinking skills.
Confronted with a myriad of challenges to foster language
proficiency in our students, teachers need a varied repertoire of
instructional strategies.

Creative play, storytelling, and dramatic

enactment may prove appropriate in a diversity of contexts.

The multidimensional learning that happens is a natural part of
childrens pretend play, whether the children are skilled pretenders
or beginning actors. Some hint that for children with language
impairments, and for those with developmental delays, this type of
play is specially important. Because dramatic play is child directed,

31 | P a g e

and child selected, it often motivates children to stretch their skills

in order to keep the play going. (Davidson, 1996, p. 7)

Speaking Proficiency
Instructors who use theatre in instruction enable students to
acquire a richer apprehension of the communicative process, and
provide authentic situations for testing and acquiring language
proficiency.
Proficiency in spoken language marks a major element of success.
Spoken language is a social act. People need a good grasp of the
language to function well, and must be able to adjust the way they
use language for a variety of situations. Language proficiency and
the ability to adapt to multiple environments develop with practice.
Acting out text-based plays in the classroom can help students
polish vital communication skills.
Language develops best when students engage in authentic
experiences (Booth, 1998). The traditional classroom provides only
two interactive settingsteacher/student and student/student.
Theatre enables students to step into the shoes of characters who
are involved in any number of situations. By performing as those
characters, students gain insights. Acting also lets students talk
the talk of the situation. They can use the language of a king,
knight, or pauper. They can speak as a lawyer, doctor, politician,
mother, father, or friend. Charles Grover (1994) encourages
teachers to have students ask themselves questions like, What
would I do in that situation? How do I like this character? or
How am I different from this character? The responses help
students understand the character and context. In addition, the
reflection and responses give students an opportunity to project
themselves into the situation, identifying needs and feelings while
exploring

the

meanings

and

nuances

evoked

by

differing

approaches to delivery.
32 | P a g e

Paulo Freire (1970) contends that learning begins with known

reality. Teachers, through theatre, can encourage students to
expand upon the known reality. By extending the boundaries of
theatre

beyond

the

formal

representation

of

characters,

authentic opportunities for oral expression can also be found in

interpretive literary readings. Through the oral interpretation of
literature

(with

appropriate

guidance,

experimentation,

and

discussion), students may gain an understanding of the power of

language
discovering and giving voice to ideas while honing general
communication skills. In a six-week workshop/study, students were
introduced to poetry and wrote poems based on personal
experience and perception (Kassab, 1984). Students were then
offered instruction highlighting interpretive and presentational
skills. Summarizing this strategy, Catterall notes, The study found
that the workshop on the oral interpretation and dramatic
presentation of personal poems improves oral skills, increases
comfort with oral communication, and enhances self-esteem and
self-image (Critical Links, p. 30).
In all, to encourage experimentation with expressive language,
clear and balanced feedback shared in a supportive, nonevaluative, communal environment is critical. Through theatre,
teachers create situations in which students learn that we play
many roles in life, and we speak differently in each role. The
dramatic process provides a vehicle for students to practice
speaking in authentic situations. As students learn that context
influences what is said, and that what is said also influences the
context, theatre can provide a safe environment for written and
oral experimentation (Halliday, 1977).
When students are being as well as doing, the potential for
exchange of thought and language grows, and they can negotiate
between their own knowledge and the as if-what if world. In
33 | P a g e

drama, language controls and influences both the real and the
imaginary situations and relationships. Students are not talking to
talk, but are talking to learn, to influence, to persuade, to interpret.
They are using and developing all of their linguistic resources.
(Booth, 1998, p. 71)

Oral Language
Teachers who provide opportunities for students to interact and
express themselves as different characters in a variety of settings
and situations enhance oral language development.
Theatre offers a range of situations, language contexts, and modes
of expression that promote language growth. Young people interact
with various forms of languagethat of home, class, friends, work,
or athletic teams, for example. They are instinctively familiar with
how language is used in different settings; the language of home
may change when there is company or when the family is in a
setting outside of the home. Drama activities can appropriate
language styles and modes of delivery that are not
experienced in traditional classroom settings. Through theatre,
teachers can stimulate and encourage students to expand their
language base and apply linguistic decisions to more abstract and
extended levels of thinking (Wagner, 1998, p. 34).
The collaborative process of theatre and the production of oral
languageas opposed to independent reading or writing in class
allows the teacher to observe the process of language rather than
examine the product. At any point in the process, the teacher can
pause the action to challenge the students, to ask them to reflect
on what they are doing, to consider alternative strategies. Using
theatre, the teacher can create any dramatic situation or

34 | P a g e

environment and stop the action at any place in the process to

develop a salient teaching moment (Davidson, 1996).
People often interpret dramatic play as doing a skit, but the
teacher is actually providing an exercise in language that helps
students become more literate. Studies clearly demonstrate that
students, including those with learning disabilities, experience
improvement

in

oral

communication

skills

and

language

development when they participate in creative theatre experiences

(de la Cruz, 1996; Podlozny, 2000).

Motivation And Reading Comprehension

Teachers who use strategies that enable students to participate in
the stories they read improve motivation for reading and reading
comprehension skills in student populations whose academic
performance is statistically lower than that of their peers.
There is nationwide concern about illiteracy. Test scores are not
what they should be; students graduate unable to succeed in
college or to find a job that pays a decent salary. For too many,
literacy is at best functional and at worst seemingly impossible.
This is especially true of student populations that are marginalized
by society, raised in communities whose schools perform below
average. These students face even greater difficulties in becoming
literate.
Educators have found that these populations respond well to
theatre in the classroom. Many students, including those who live
in

lower

socioeconomic

communities

and

those

who

are

behaviorally disturbed, are motivated by theatre (Wagner, 1998).

Rather than just reading or answering questions, these students
35 | P a g e

have the opportunity to participate in the stories they read. Many

struggle with reading and have even greater difficulty when
working alone. When collaborating with peers, however, whether
creating a performance or working together to understand the
story to present it correctly and interestingly, students who
normally are turned off by reading take more interest in it. They
also have more fun with it. James Catterall documents a 20%
increase in the reading proficiency of low-SES students involved in
intensive drama instruction between 8th grade and 12th grade
(Catterall, Chapleau, & Iwanaga, 1999), and a growing body of
research

supports

connections

between

motivation,

comprehension, and dramatic activitiesespecially in the lower

grades. Teachers who use strong storytelling techniques and/or
employ story enactment strategies increase students ability to
identify characters, motivations, narrative sequences, details, and
key ideas (Page, 1983; Galda, 1984). As future studies support
gains in reading comprehension, it is reasonable to argue for the
place of drama activities in the early grades as one mode of
literacy intervention.
Results

of

the

studies

reviewed

showing

improvement

in

generalized story comprehension suggest that repeated enactment

of

stories should

remembering

help

stories

students
they

in reading as well as in

have

heard,

since

reading

comprehension is dependent on the same story schemata...

Improvisational drama, perhaps more obviously than other oral
language activities, ties directly into both literacy and into
nonverbal knowing. Dramatizing a story one has just read or
pantomiming a poem or story as it is presented orally helps
children internalize the meaning of language, extend their range of
understanding, or make unfamiliar words their own. (Wagner,
1998, p. 197)

36 | P a g e

Schemata And Reading Success

Teachers who use instructional strategies that establish common
experiences before reading help diverse student groups to succeed
by enhancing their preexisting knowledge base. A growing body of
research

indicates

that

preexisting

schemata

(knowledge

elements) have direct bearing on reading and writing abilities

(Christen & Murphy, 1991). Childrens knowledge and emergent
literacy begin at home in the context of shared family experiences
and ideas (Teale, 1987). Every day, however, teachers face
classrooms of children from increasingly diverse backgrounds, and
it is difficult to find reading materials that reflect common
experiences. Nevertheless, teachers need to use reading and
writing activities to impart knowledge about every subject area.
When students lack the knowledge necessary to read well,
teachers may consider three instructional strategies: (1) teach
vocabulary prior to reading; (2) provide students with experiences
that relate to what they will read; and (3) introduce a conceptual
framework that will help students build their own
background (Christen & Murphy, 1991).
Theatre activities can create a shared information base for
students. Watching a production of The Andersonville Trial gives
students who are studying the Civil War insights into its horrors.
Social studies students acting out a scene from Inherit the Wind
assume

roles

and

deliver

lines

in

play

that

addresses

controversial philosophical, social, political, and religious issues. A

group of science pupils studying the cell may grasp the subject by
improvising mitosis.
Humans learn language in a social setting. To assist students in
acquiring and developing language, teachers must foster an
environment and context in which words, ideas, and experiences
37 | P a g e

are shared (Schickedanz, 1990). Theatre is a social process that

can help the teacher lay the framework for successful reading and
writing experiences.
When educators fail to build on students preexisting schemata,
gaps are produced in students cognition. If a student does not
know the farm concept, Old McDonald has little significance. One
must have experienced the concept personally to truly gain
additional knowledge. Otherwise, the knowledge is hollow, stored
in the short-term memory bank, and soon forgotten.(Czubaj, 1997,
p. 539)

Second-Language Learning
Teachers who use dramatic games and other theatre techniques for
second language instruction promote accelerated development of
second-language skills.
Theatre helps students grow and develop in regard to their primary
language. It is also beneficial to students learning a second
language.
Students who learn a second language through dramatic games,
storytelling, interviews, and role-play make fewer errors and speak
English as a second language better than students trained in
traditional ESL methods (Planchat, 1994). Students who learn
through theatre also improve in spontaneity, fluency, vocabulary,
articulation, variety of speech patterns, and reading readiness
skills (Maranon, 1981).
The traditional class may use innovative methods to teach
vocabulary, but usually the class offers almost exclusively a
teacher-student linguistic environment. Theatre allows students to
create new characters and settings, thus expanding active
involvement in the second language. Students can use reality38 | P a g e

based theatre for practice in using the second language to deal

with lifes daily occurrences, or theatre can be fantasy based,
which really allows them to play with the language. They can be
firemen, ship captains, or politicians, each of which brings new
language challenges.
Both observational and empirical studies show that theatre
challenges students to use a second language in a wide range of
registers and styles, and for a broader range of purposes than
customary school dialogues. (Wagner, 1998, p. 55)

Reasoning

and

the

Application

of

Personal

Resources
Teachers who engage students in constructing meaning actively
encourage and enrich learning. They model ways to connect
personal resources with multiple modes of learning to internalize
experience and develop reasoning ability.
The Battle of Bull Run, the splitting of a cell, obtuse and acute
angles, two roads diverging in a yellow woodall are sources of
passion for teachers. However, they often mean little to the
students who must learn them, having had no connection to their
lives nor providing any inspiration.
How often have teachers taught something that students learn but
dont actually get? They wish to please their parents and
teachers; they wish to do well, to earn good grades. They do learn,
but too frequently dont internalize that which they study; they
dont own the material in a rich or meaningful way.
Teachers, hoping for more from their students, can use theatre
strategies and activities to link learning and knowing (Wagner,
1997, p. 68). Theatre brings students to another zone of learning
(Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). The passive form of education, reading
39 | P a g e

and answering questions, is replaced by kinetic, experiential

learning. The student who dramatically performs the role of
mitochondria in a cell must do far more than remember that they
are the powerhouse of the cell. To present mitochondria
dramatically, a student must know what powerhouse of the cell
means, its functions and operations; otherwise, his or her actions
on stage are entirely uncertain. Knowing what it is, the student
then draws on experience to create the role, translating knowledge
into a different mode or a new language of expression.
With effort and teacher guidance, the child connects with the topic
in a meaningful way. Creation, collaboration, physical involvement,
the tension of presenting something of merit to teacher and peers
all come together to involve the student deeply in the study of
mitochondria. Rather than just reading about the cell, discussing it,
bubbling in answers to multiple-choice questions, the student sees
it and becomes part of it. The student completes a lesson using
several ways of knowing.
Jennifer Ross Goodman addresses dramatic play and literacy in 5year-old children. During a five-month observation, children
enacted literacy in a variety of ways: adapting stories into plays,
orchestrating material into narrative sequences, translating images
into language, or producing and using written artifacts within
enacted scenarios. Commenting on Goodmans work, Bruce Wilson
notes: The research provides evidence that dramatic play is an
important vehicle whereby children can both practice and learn
about literacy skills and knowledge, highlighting the need for an
engaging

and

stimulating

learning

environment,

and

for

opportunities to participate in potent teacher-student and studentstudent

engagement

around

personal

and

relevant

themes

(Goodman, 1990).
How is drama a way of knowing [as opposed to simply learning]? It
challenges children, within a social context, to work symbolically. It
40 | P a g e

demands that they draw on personal experiences and from

external resources in order to construct meaning out of events at
first so seemingly remote from their lives. Drama enables them to
transform the meaning of events into a personal and profound
understanding. (Wagner, 1997, p. 71)

Multiple Perspectives and Complexity

Teachers who use dramatic dialogue effectively in their teaching
encourage students to expand their understanding of complex
issues.
Thinking frequently occurs in simple, concrete terms: This is good,
that bad; this is better than this; this event happened as a result of
that event. These simple notions are comfortable, but valuable
learning occurs when questions are asked and when accepted
notions are challenged. Often, it is discovered that what seemed so
simple is, in fact, quite complex.
Theatre, specifically dramatic dialogue, can help students open
their minds, ask questions, and explore an issue from multiple
sides. Students dont need to place themselves in character to ask
questions. Often, however, students pose questions that are
merely informational in nature, seeking information that supports
opinions they already hold. Through theatre, students must
address the issue at hand. Whether the roles they assume depict
the conflict in Vietnam, the Scopes trial, or violence in schools,
students engaged in theatre become physically, mentally, and
emotionally involved. Through dramatic dialogue, they see the
topic from multiple perspectives, causing them to review their

41 | P a g e

original positions and perhaps even change their understandings

(Edmiston & Wilhelm, 1998).
Theatre should not be a means of changing beliefs contrary to
those held by students and perhaps by their parents as well.
Teachers should not undermine values held by the students and
their families, but theatre can help students explore issues in more
depth.
Teachers often use a common theatre device in all content areas.
Students can dialogue as characters from a novel, as famous
historical figures, even as inanimate objects or as abstract ideas.
When they interact dramatically in character, they begin to see
issues from different perspectives. Having more than a single
perspective from which to judge, they review their positions,
reconstruct what they know or thought they knew, and consider
whether it is appropriate to change their beliefs. Regardless of
whether a student actually changes, he or she gains a deeper and
more complex understanding of the issue. That is what education
is about (Edmiston & Wilhelm, 1998).
No view is ever complete. To recognize the role of perspective and
vantage point, to recognize at the same time that there are always
multiple perspectives and multiple vantage points, is to recognize
that no accounting, disciplinary or otherwise, can ever be finished
or complete. There is always more. There is always possibility.
(Greene, 1988, p. 128)

Gesture as Symbolic Language

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Teachers who challenge students to communicate using gesture

strengthen
understanding

of

other

symbolic

systems

and

enhance

communication skills.
By removing language from the classroom, the teacher can bring
students closer to what they are reading and to what they wish to
express. Initially it may seem preposterous, but by limiting
students to hand, body, and facial expressions, the teacher can
build their understanding and assess comprehension.
Though awkward at first, gesture is not as foreign as one might
think. Did you say something to me? (raised eyebrows, head
forward

and

up);

What

stinks?

(nose

scrunched,

eyes

questioning); No thanks, I cant eat another bite (big exhalation

and a pat on the belly); and how about, Go that way (try saying
that without pointing or tilting your head). Appropriate and even
necessary gestures accentuate much of normal daily conversation
(Eastman, 1989).
In what way is gesture educational? Gestures, like spoken and
written language, consist of symbols. Gestures symbolize feelings
and ideas. They can be highly descriptive (who couldnt show
Santa Claus with gesture?). The symbols of gesture can convey
almost any idea. Gestures are rudimentary and basic, even pure.
Gesture is to language as stick figures are to portraits. While a
stick figure looks little like a human, it is a symbol that all can
easily understand (Gardner, 1982).
The teacher asks a student to retell a story he or she has read,
perhaps the legend of Johnny Appleseed. Rather than telling,
however, the student is to gesture it. Like the stick figure, the
telling omits many details, leaving the essence of the story. This
43 | P a g e

can be difficult because many people do not know the difference

between essential and nonessential details, or do not recognize
that some scenes are not essential to plot. Students struggle in
this new symbolic mode. Students understand the story more
deeply and become more skilled in symbolic communication as
they develop skill in gesture (Schwartz & Aldrich, 1985).
Students watching the silent, gestured retelling of a story are
challenged in understudying a sequence of symbols in which they
are not yet fluent. They become more attentive and involved than
if the story were retold in words. Students use and comprehend
symbolic language. Gesture provides an
interesting and challenging way to communicate while bolstering
other language skills.
Gesture is the shoot from which writing grows. We start by
gesturing as if writing in the air; our gestures are signs and
symbols just as our later pictures and writings on paper are also
signs and symbols. (Wagner, 1998, p. 18)
Drama offers no neat, quick solutions: indeed the further a
particular problem is investigated the more complex it could
become. In making provisions for reflection in the dramatic
experience, the teacher is continually planning situations which
move students from their subjective concerns to an objective
awareness of the world in which they live and from a concrete,
contextual use of conventional language to the use and awareness
of the power of symbolic thought and language. (Verriour, 1984, p.
130)

Reflection and Objective Awareness

44 | P a g e

Teachers who plan opportunities for reflective thought expand their

students thinking processes by moving them from concrete to
symbolic uses of thought and language. One key skill necessary
for student success is reflection. Studies demonstrate that
classroom

theatre

activities

stimulate

and

enhance

student

reflection. Through the performance of scenes, students become

actors who interpret their characters while other students are
audience. Actors can take moments to pause and step out of
character. Teachers should encourage the actors and audience
members to discuss and reflect on what they have just seen and
heard (Wagner, 1998).
This is not always easy for a teacher to do. As in so many other
aspects of teaching, the teacher must walk a fine line. The teacher
must guide and facilitate but not force any theatre activity (Creery,
1991). Too much guidance becomes control, at which point
students become players to the teachers work, rather than
thinkers. Students lose interest in the activity and miss the
opportunity to reflect on a theatre they own. Cooperating with
classmates,

students

extend

and

expand

their

thinking.

Throughout the dramatic process, teachers must provide as many

opportunities as possible for students to reflect on their work with
theatre (Edmiston, 1992).
The teacher can engage the students in various activities to
encourage reflection. Gavin Bolton (1979) suggested three levels
of reflection personal, universal, and analogous. Teachers who
create a comfortable and open environment encourage student
participation in theatre education experiences. They implement
timely and probing questions along with carefully crafted activities.

45 | P a g e

Teacher Knowledge and Competence

Teachers who maintain high standards, set expectations, and
demonstrate fairness with students contribute to student success
by

providing

nurturing

environment

that

enriches

and

encourages learning.
Findings in the literature make it clear that theatre is a social act.
Integral to this social milieu is the teacher, whose critical role in
theatre and in theatre in education activities structures learning
relationships. Throughout the school year, the theatre teacher will
have to assume many roles in the classroomcatalyst, prodder,
prompter, referee, cheerleader, director, audience ember, fellow
actor, editor, and sounding board (Johnson & ONeill, 1985).
What does it take to be an excellent theatre teacher? Dorothy
Heathcote wrote on the subject: For me, an excellent teacher is
one who knows the difference between relating to things and
relating to people.
If I am to aspire to excellence as a teacher, I must be able to see
my pupils as they really are.
As an excellent teacher, I must not be afraid to move out of my
center, and meet the children where they are. I must also have the
ability to see the world through my students, and not my students
through it. I must also have the ability not to be lessened by my
students, to withstand them, to use my own eyes sometimes, and
be myself.

46 | P a g e

If I wish to be an excellent teacher, I must also have the ability to

dominate the scene for my students when it is necessary, and in
the guise of one thing, do another, so that the pupils can grow. As
an excellent teacher I must be able to bring power to my students
and to draw on their power (Heathcote, 1978, p. 18-21).

Heathcote (1985, p. 195) states, I am suggesting that teacher

power has enormous potential for these changing times.
Nellie McCaslin, in her book Creative Drama in the Classroom and
Beyond (1996), gives us insight into successful teachers:
Successful creative drama teachers guide rather than direct.
Teachers of creative drama find their own way. A sense of humor
helps teachers over those periods when nothing is going right.
Teachers maintain high standards, knowing that what they accept
in the beginning is what the group is capable of at the time, but
that they can expect more from them later. Finally, a successful
creative drama leader keeps abreast of the times (pp. 412-413).
There is no single way to do theatre in schools. Armed with training
in his or her discipline, coupled with an understanding of the
learning and growing process, the theatre teacher embarks on a
journey of exploration and discovery. The explorations and
discoveries lay the foundation for the most valuable research
setting available to a teacherthe classroomwhere, through
years of experimenting, cajoling, inspiring, observing, and learning,
the excellent teacher begins to know the true value and impact of
theatre in the school.

47 | P a g e

The more we could honor in our training programmes the need for
personality, plus the need for internal structure, the more quickly
we might get authentic relationships in learning situations. Those
teachers with that something extra could teach or be helped to
analyse what they are doing when theyre in action. (Heathcote,
1985, p. 180)

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
Many of us are familiar with three general categories in which people learn: visual
learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Beyond these three general
categories, many theories of and approaches toward human potential have been
developed. Among them is the theory of multiple intelligences, developed by
Howard Gardner, Ph.D., Professor of Education at Harvard University.
Gardners early work in psychology and later in human cognition and human
potential led to the development of the initial six intelligences. Today there are nine
intelligences and the possibility of others may eventually expand the list. These
intelligences (or competencies) relate to a persons unique aptitude set of capabilities
and ways they might prefer to demonstrate intellectual abilities.
People have different strengths and intelligences. For example, students who are
interviewed as a means to gain access to a course may be mis-labeled as being less
than desirable because of inappropriate assessment (poorly written interview
questions, bias toward a perceived perfect student, and other narrow criteria). In
life, we need people who collectively are good at different things. A well-balanced
world, and well-balanced organizations and teams, are necessarily comprised of
people who possess different mixtures of intelligences. This gives that group a fuller
collective capacity than a group of identical able specialists (businessballs.com,
2009).

48 | P a g e

 The following tables given below, shows what are the various types of Multiple

Intelligences as according to Howard Gardner

LINGUISTIC Intelligence

Learning style and

preferences

Description
written and spoken
words
interpretation and
explanation of ideas
and information via
language
understands
relationship between
communication and
meaning

Roles
copywriters
editors
historians
journalists
lawyers
linguists
poets
PR and media
consultants
speakers
teachers professors
trainers
translators
TV and radio

Tasks, activities and

assessments
edit a peers paper
give an oral
presentation
list the strengths and
weaknesses of a product
write a eulogy
write directions to
accompany a map

49 | P a g e

presenters
voice-over artists
wr

LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL Intelligence
Learning style and
preferences
Logic and numbers

Description

Roles

Tasks, activities and

assessments

analyze problems
detecting patterns
perform
mathematical
calculations
scientific
reasoning and
deduction
understands
relationship between
cause and effect
toward a tangible
outcome or result

analysts
arbitrators
bankers
certified public
accountants
computer
programmers
accountants
engineers
insurance brokers
negotiators
researchers
scientists
statisticians
traders

analyze how a
computer works
assess the value of
a business or a
proposition
create a process
devise a strategy to
achieve an aim
perform a mental
mathematical
calculation, create a
process to measure
something

MUSICAL Intelligence
Learning style and
preferences

Description

Roles

Tasks, activities
and assessments

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 awareness,
appreciation and use
of sound
recognition of
tonal and rhythmic
patterns
understands
relationship between
sound and feeling

Music, sound,
rhythm

acoustic engineers
composers
DJs
entertainers
environment and
noise analysts
music producers
musical instrument
repair specialists
musical
performers
Singers voice coaches

coach someone to
play a musical
instrument
compose media
jingles
identify music for
malls and retail
stores
lead a choir
perform a
musical piece
review musical play

BODILY KINESTHETIC Intelligence

Learning style and
preferences
Body movement
control

Description

Roles

Tasks, activities and

assessments

eye and body

coordination
manual dexterity
physical agility
and balance

anthropologists
athletes
biologists
dancers
geologists
instrumentalists
nurses
physical education
teachers
physical therapists
physicians actors
sign-language
interpreters

arrange workplace
furniture
demonstrate a
sports technique
design a window
display
interpret a speech
using American sign
language
prepare samples
for magnification and
testing
put together a
piece of modular
furniture
ride a horse
stack books on a
shelf

SPACIAL-VISUAL Intelligence
Learning style and
preferences

Description

Roles

Tasks, activities and

assessments

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Spatial-visual
Images and space

interpretation and
creation of visual
images, pictorial
imagination and
expression
understands
relationships between
images and meanings
and between space
and effect

architects
artists
cartographers
city-planners
engineers
graphic designers
inventors
landscape
architects
photographers
sculptors

compose a
photograph
create an
organizational logo
design a building
design a historic
costume
design a landscape
interpret a painting
organize a storage
room
pack an
automobile trunk
paint a landscape

INTERPERSONAL Intelligence
Learning style and
preferences
Other peoples
feelings

Description

Roles

Tasks, activities and

assessments

ability to relate to
others
interpretation of
behavior and
communications
understands the
relationship between
people and their
situations, including
other people

advertising
professionals
care givers
coaches and
mentors
counselors
educators
health providers
HR professional
mediators
politicians
psychologists
sales-people
teachers
therapists
trainers

affect the feelings

of others in a planned
way
coach or council
another person
demonstrate
feelings though body
language
interpret moods
from facial
expressions
mentor a new
faculty member

INTRAPERSONAL Intelligence
Learning style and
preferences

Description

Roles

Tasks, activities and

assessments
52 | P a g e

 ones own needs

for and reaction to
change, ability to
deal with change in
the workplace
ones relationship
to others and the
world
personal
cognizance
personal
objectivity
the capability to
understand oneself

Self-awareness

one who is selfaware and involved

in the process of
changing personal
thoughts, beliefs, and
behavior in relation
to their situation
other people, their
purpose and aims

consider and
decide ones own
aims and personal
changes required to
achieve them (not
necessarily reveal
this to others)
consider and
decide ones own
position in relation to
the Emotional
Intelligence Model

References
businessballs.com

(2009).

Howard

Gardners

multiple

intelligences.

http://www.businessballs.com/howardgardnermultipleintelligences.htm.

Selected Resources
Armstrong, T. (2010). Multiple intelligences.
http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.htm
Howard

Gardner.

(2010).

Multiple

intelligences.

http://www.howardgardner.com/MI/mi.html

BLOOMSS TAXONOMY

53 | P a g e

First

of

all

who

is

Dr.

Benjamin

Bloom?

(1913-1999)

He was a teacher, thinker, & inventor

He worked at a college

He created a list about how we think about thinking..

As accordind to Dr Bloom, there are six levels of thinking.

The levels build on one another. The six levels all have to do
with thinking.

Level one is the lowest level of thinking of thinking

Level six is the highest level of thinking

1) Knowledge
observation and recall of information
knowledge of dates, events, places knowledge of major ideas
mastery of subject matter
Keywords:
list, define, tell, describe, identify, show, label, collect,
examine, tabulate, quote, name, who, when, where, etc

2) Comprehension

understanding information
grasp meaning translate

knowledge

into

new

context

interpret facts, compare, contrast order, group, infer causes

predict consequences.

54 | P a g e

Keywords:
summarize, describe, interpret, contrast, predict, associate,
distinguish, estimate, differentiate, discuss, extend

3) Application

use information use methods, concepts, theories in new

situations solve problems using required skills or knowledge
Keywords:
apply, demonstrate, calculate, complete, illustrate, show,
solve, examine, modify, relate, change, classify, experiment,
discover

4) Analysis
seeing patterns organization of parts recognition of hidden
meanings identification of components
Keywords:
analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange,
divide, compare, select, explain, infer

5) Synthesis

use old ideas to create new ones generalize from given facts
relate

knowledge

from

several

areas

predict,

draw

conclusions
Keywords:
combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan,
create, design, invent, what if?, compose, formulate, prepare,
generalize, rewrite

6) Evaluation

compare and discriminate between ideas assess value of

theories, presentations make choices based on reasoned
argument verify value of eidence recognize subjectivity
Keywords
assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend,
convince,

select,

judge,

explain,

discriminate,

support,

conclude, compare, summarize

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Reference:

http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/program/hndouts/bloom.html

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/researchskills/dalton.htm

http://oaks.nvg.org/taxonomy-bloom.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bloom%27s_Rose.png

Researchers Experience:
The present study is based on the researchers experience of using
drama in language classroom for teaching and learning language
and communication skills. This use of drama in her classes
produced encouraging results as students language skills as well
as

their

communication

ability

improved

dramatically.

This

transformation in the language abilities of her students formed the

basis of this research which she decided to share in the form of
present paper. After using drama in the classroom, with various
interactive,

motivating

and

involving

activities

which

made

learning not only meaningful but also a fun, the students were
given questionnaires to answer. The aim was to understand their
perceptions about the use of drama in their EFL classrooms and the
benefits they experienced..
If drama is introduced in the language classrooms, it will help the
students to practice living in the target language, as a creative
means of perceiving and understanding ourselves and the world,
and as something inherent to our very human condition (Way B,
1967). The drama classes will enhance the communication skills of
the students as they will learn to communicate in English in a
natural manner and as Tannen suggests:
58 | P a g e

Communication is a system. Everything that is said is

simultaneously instigation and a reaction, a reaction and
instigation. Most of us. See ourselves as reacting to what
others say and do, without realizing that their actions or
words are in part reactions to ours, and that our reactions to
them wont be the end of the process but rather will trigger
more reactions, in a continuous stream. (1986, p 124)
The true goal of teaching and learning a foreign language like
English is to make the learners competent in using four language
skills- listening, speaking, reading and writing. In this respect, the
knowledge of vocabulary plays a very crucial role. As Al-Dersi,
(2013) reports, mastery over required knowledge of vocabulary
can make a foreign language learner an effective speaker, good
listener, reader and writer. On the other hand, lack of vocabulary
significantly affects these four language skills. Therefore, the
teaching and learning of vocabulary needs special attention both
from teachers and learners (P.53). In this respect, a deliberate and
structured approach needs to be taken for enriching vocabulary of
EFL learners and the use of drama can be that apt option as
learners not only learn the essential new words through drama; but
also learn their approprate usage through dialogues which can help
them in retaining these words for very long time.

59 | P a g e

CHAPTER 4
ACTIVITIES

Pre-reading Strategies
Strategies to activate your prior knowledge:
Brainstorming:
Examine the title of the selection you are about to read
List all the information that comes to mind about this title
Use these pieces of information to recall and understand the material
Use this knowledge to reframe or reorder what you know, or to note what you
disagree with, for further research
Group discussions:
Group discussions in and out of class will help you to discover what you bring to
your reading, what your fellow students bring, as well as shared experiences
If you find they have new background information, ask for more information from
them
Concept or mind mapping:
This is a type of brainstorming where you place the title/subject as the main idea,
then develop a "mind map" around it. It can be effective either in a group or by
yourself
Pre-questions:
Often chapters in texts provide organizing questions.
You can also write out a series of questions you expect to be answered when
reading:
Examples:
Definition:
What is....? Where does ... fit? What group does ... belong to?
Characteristics:
How would I describe...? What does ... look like? What are its parts?
Examples
What is a good example of ...?
What are similar examples that share attributes but differ in some way?
Experience
What experience have I had with ....? What can I imagine about ...?
Visual Aids:
Pictures and other visual material can activate your prior knowledge.
Use the Internet to search for pictures related to your title/topic to give you visual
60 | P a g e

images of what you are about to read.

Advance Organizers:
Relate new reading material to something you already know, to your background or
experiences. Ask your teacher for assistance in developing these.

While reading Strategies

Marginal Notes
Encourage students to use a system of marginal notes instead of a
highlighter while they are reading a text. This will be a new activity for many
students and will require a great deal of practice for students to feel
comfortable with it. For example:
After reading a paragraph from a longer text, students can summarize the
main point and any major details in the margin. (Pencils should be used to
make corrections easier.) These notes should be written in students' own
words as much as possible to make sure they are understanding the concepts
being presented.
Students can also write questions they have about the information to help
them remember to bring up a specific point in class.
To show that they are relating existing knowledge with new concepts,
students can write examples from their life that are related to ideas in the
text.
Students should also be encouraged to write definitions for new vocabulary
they encounter in the text.
If students are not permitted to write in their texts, a similar process of notetaking
can be done in a notebook. Copies of articles can also be distributed for practice
with marginal notations.

Role Playing Good Reading Habits

Using a short passage, try role playing how experienced readers might actively
engage themselves with a text.
Talk about what images are forming in your mind as you read a portion of the text.
Make predictions as to what the next paragraphs might explain.
61 | P a g e

Show how you check your understanding by keeping an "internal summary" of

ideas. This can be done after each paragraph or section by stopping and saying to
yourself, "This paragraph explained the causes of ____. The most common cause is
____."
You can demonstrate how an experienced reader might use marginal notes.
Finally, show what you do when you come across unfamiliar vocabulary (look for
synonyms, antonyms, definitions, and other contextual clues).

Post-reading Strategies
Students often finish a reading, close the book, and don't think about it again

until they arrive in class. The following activities can be used after a
reading to help students analyze concepts for a deeper understanding of
ideas and organize information for later retrieval:

Graphic Organizers

Encourage students to use graphic organizers (charts or concept "maps") to help

them visualize concepts and key relationships between ideas from their readings.
These should be started right after students have completed a reading, whereas
revisions and additions can be done after class discussions.

It's a good idea to show students several examples of graphic organizers and explain
which ones work well with different text patterns. Many reading skills texts have
62 | P a g e

examples of various graphic organizers with explanations of how they might best be
used. Here is an example of one type of graphic organizer for comparing two
concepts:

Quiz Questions

After students read a chapter or section of a chapter in the course textbook, ask them
to develop questions for a quiz. (This can also be done with other reading
materials.) This activity forces them to analyze the information in the chapter and
decide on the most important concepts to remember.

Formulating questions can also help them to organize the concepts into logical
chunks of information for easier retrieval. Working in groups on this activity is
helpful for further discussion of concepts.

Students can then present their questions to the class and see who can answer them
correctly. The students trying to answer the questions may offer suggestions on how
to write a question more clearly so that it can be easily understood. Teachers might
also offer suggestions for revision of questions. Other SEA Site modules, for
example, "WH-Questions" and "Passive Voice" can be useful for teachers in
providing guidance in using structures that will be more easily understood by
students.

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Summary Writing

Ask students to write a summary of the main points of a text or passage. Figuring
out what to include in a summary is often a difficult task for students, so passing out
a handout with the criteria for a good summary can serve as a reminder to students.

Modeling the process of good summary writing during class is also helpful. For
example, when students have finished a portion of text, begin a discussion of the
most important points from the text. Write all the points that students suggest on the
board. Discuss which ideas should be included in the summary. In addition, show
how ideas can be paraphrased and written in the student's own words.

Remember to emphasize that minor details, specific examples, and opinions should
not be included in a summary of a text.

Outlining
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Writing outlines is also a good way to organize and remember concepts. The
emphasis here should be on how students see the relationships between ideas being
presented. Don't worry if students don't use the correct Roman numerals or other
markers. What is important is that they are able to distinguish the main ideas from
the supporting details and organize the information in a logical format.

Creative Testing

To evaluate how much of a text students understood, and to see how confident
students are when answering questions about a text, you can try the following quiz
method. This method also encourages valuable small group discussion of concepts.
Here's how it works:

Students read an assigned number of pages for homework. (The number of pages
assigned usually depends on the level of difficulty of the text.) They are told that
they will be quizzed on the information the next day.

When the students arrive for class the following day, they are each given a quiz and
asked to complete it individually. The quiz involves a series of TRUE/FALSE (T/F)
questions where the students are required to write three answers for each question.

After students answer all the questions, their papers are collected by the teacher.
Then the students are divided into groups and given the same quiz. Students discuss
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the questions, give their opinions, and try to support their answers with information
they remember from the text. They write their own TRUE and FALSE answers to
the questions again based on the discussion with their group.

The teacher collects the papers and has the option of keeping both scores for each
student, combining the scores for both quizzes and recording the average, or keeping
the higher of the two scores.

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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY
Teaching a foreign language like English through drama can be a
very beneficial tool provided it is taught in the right spirit. The
results could be better if the course is taught in smaller groups
consisting about 30-35 students as in small groups the teacher is
able to give personalized attention. Through drama the students
learn the art of meaningful communication with proper voice
modulations and appropriate gestures. The use of drama helps
them in fostering not only the required language skills but also
other importants aspects of life. Through the use of drama, the
students not only feel important but also responsible while
performing in classes. It provides them a platform to put across
their viewpoint. Drama promotes a healthy and interactive
environment for the learning of a foreign language like English.
Drama acts as a stimulus and gives way to make use of the
different talents possessed by an individual. To sum up, along with
the regular English Language and Communication classes, if drama
is introduced in the classroom teaching, its multi-faced benefits will
help develop the personality of the students and will help in being
more focused and oriented. Learning a foreign language can really
be great fun if it is channelized towards the best utilization of the
resources available. A practical, innovative and involving approach
towards teaching the language can act as wonders and give results
beyond imagination and in this respect, the use of drama can be
that required approach.
Also this work is aimed at giving the examples of drama techniques
as a challenging source for educating. As mentioned many times
before the way of learning through drama gives both teachers and
students many opportunities to explore this completely new area
of learning. The advantages, as learning in context, involving all
language

skills

together,

practicing

creativity,

imagination,
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cooperation and toleration are the reasons why the usage of drama
techniques stimulates the holistic learning. I wanted to prove that
although the lesson does not have a clear aim, students get a lot
from it. They get confidence in using the language and in
presenting their own ideas.
Most of the drama activities require little or no special equipment
or material. A teacher can take advantage of things which are very
common e.g. old clothes, string, cards, small objects, pictures etc.
On the other hand it is important to adapt it to suit the abilities,
ages and interests of the class. Most drama activities can be done
at many different levels.
The lesson plans in the theoretical part of this bachelor thesis are
mainly based on drama techniques but most activities or ideas
from drama education can be used separately as a small part of
any lesson. They can be applied for teaching new vocabulary or
grammar as well as for practicing communication while working
with a course book. They do not have to be separated into
individual lessons.
There is my self-evaluation included after each lesson plan. It is
divided into two parts. In the first part, there is an evaluation of the
complex lesson and than there is an evaluation of individual
activities.
The main goal of my thesis was to demonstrate that drama
techniques have their place in language teaching and that they
should not be used only in drama education because I am sure that
students will remember drama language lessons.
Summary
This PG dissertation Theatre as a tool in Language Learning and
Teaching tries to prove that using some activities from the area of
dramatic education enriches the process of teaching. Thanks to
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these drama techniques students integrate all language skills into

their learning. They practice even more than just speaking,
listening, writing and reading. The students discuss, react,
cooperate, respect each other, listen to their schoolmates and
think about the opinions of the others during the drama lessons.
Beside these important aspects of communication, pupils develop
fantasy, creativity and the ability to explain themselves. These are
virtues which the students need in their future lives within the
society.
Drama is also a good technique how to integrate any topic into the
language lessons. Teacher can add any topics from other subjects
or some ideas and issues that run through the curricular. Drama is
very variable and it teaches in many different ways. This is the
reason why it effectively teaches all pupils with different learning
styles. Every student can find his role in the lesson. There are
ninety-minute lesson plans in the practical part of this work. They
are aimed for the students of the second grade at the elementary
school. The teacher does not need any demanding tools neither
any special abilities. The aim of these lessons is to practice the
language in context, to practise the language skills and to motivate
the students.

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