As a requirement to my TESL PPISMP semester 2 course, it was necessary

for me to do staging based on the well-known Macbeth. I performed act 3 along

Diyana Alluf, Shafeeq, Syamel and Wan Farah which was my class mates. There

are many things which I have learnt from the staging of the play. A committee was

set up to make the staging a success. The preparation was quite detail as many

parts of staging were taken into account such as the props, the stage and the

costumes. At times, meeting were carried out to get report from each group which

would later perform in front of lecturer who would be evaluating us.

One main thing I have learnt is respect. In daily lives, it is important to show

our appreciation towards other’s opinion although we might not fully agree with what

have been suggested. It is a matter of fact that we cannot always satisfy everyone.

Therefore, when working as a group, it is best to hear everyone’s opinion first before

proceeding into action. We must show respect because eventually, it is us who will

be respected. Everyone was trying to get their opinion accepted and was constantly

looking into their own convenience. In this kind of situation, I have to act maturely by

not taking all of it personally. Since I was working on this assignment as a group, I

was taught the vital value of teamwork. If everyone is acting alone and trying to be

hero or heroine in this assignment, it would be harder to get the job accomplished.

By staging this play, I have learnt to put aside my emotions and personal

dissatisfactions in order to work together with people who hold different opinions

from me. I am now able to respect my superiors and listen to the instructions.

Then also, after acting and seeing Macbeth performed by us in simplified and

modern English, I am now able to understand the play better. Of course, reading the

actual Macbeth written in old English is hard for me and it is no denying that

literature is quite a hard subject. However, after acting literature, or to be specific the

Macbeth play itself, I have gotten a clearer picture of what the play is all about. Then

also, having acted the play has taught me how to convey emotion properly. Some of

the characters need us to show strong feelings of anger, sympathy, curious and

greed, to name a few. In my case, I was acting the character of a murderer whom

Macbeth sent to kill Banquo and Fleance. In this context, I have to show a character

of someone who is ruthless and will show no sympathy of other’s lives. I have to be

able to portray a character of a killer who will show no mercy.

Another good lesson which I have learnt is the value of obeying procedure.

Despite most of the practices and rehearsal being conducted informally without the

presence of any lecturers, there still exists certain procedures that everyone had to

obey. Some of the procedures would be specific time for meetings, rehearsal, full

attendance which were all taken into evaluation. Of course it was hard to follow all of

that to the fullest, but I was trying my best to get on time whenever rehearsal was

carried out. It made me a more disciplined man.

I also realized that learning literature or English as a whole is more fun by

acting the language itself out. I have come to realization that learning English by

conducting such interactive activities will be very fun. Such skills of conducting

interactive fun activities will be paramount when I get posted to school later in my

future. I am aware now teaching and learning should not be confined within the class

only; learning can be carried out outside of the class and it is the teacher who ought

to bring students out. As the world beyond borders is coming so fast, I cannot afford

to narrow my mind to traditional means of carrying out teaching and learning in class

only, but as a creative teacher, I need to find idea of making learning English more

fun and that idea would be conducting interactive activities such as staging as I have

performed.

As a conclusion, Not only have I learnt literature, but I was indirectly motivated

to become a better person in many ways. As I sit down and reflect on what I have

learnt, it is all clear how different it is to work in a group. It is more fun and

challenging at the same time. I am looking forward to another assignment where the

whole class of TESL 1 can work together once again as a group.