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8/14/2019 Drama Techniques for Teaching English

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Drama Techniques for Teaching EnglishVani Chauhan

vani_chauhan [at] hotmail.com

Using drama to teach English results in real communication involving ideas, emotions,feelings appropriateness and adaptability; in short an opportunity to use language inoperation hich is absent in a conventional language class. !uch activities add to theteachers" repertoire of pedagogic strategies giving them a ider option of learner#centeredactivities to chose from for classroom teaching, thereby augmenting their efficiency inteaching English.

Introduction

Benefits of Using Drama in the Language Classroom

$any a times the teaching of English language falls short of fulfilling its goals. Evenafter years of English teaching, the learners do not gain the confidence of using thelanguage in and outside the class. %heir output in the language is limited to riting run#of#the#mill ans ers for literature chapters and producing grammatically accurate, but,isolated sentences. &eal communication involves ideas, emotions, feelings,appropriateness and adaptability. %he conventional English class hardly gives the learnersan opportunity to use language in this manner and develop fluency in it. %hus, the main

purpose of the language teaching course, i.e., developing s'ills in communication, isunfortunately, neglected.

(n attractive alternative is teaching language through drama because it gives a conte)tfor listening and meaningful language production, forcing the learners to use theirlanguage resources and, thus, enhancing their linguistic abilities. *t provides situationsfor reading and riting. *t is very useful in teaching literary te)ts as it helps in analy+ing

plot, character and style. *t also involves learners more positively and actively in the te)t.(s ilga &ivers - /012 states, 3the drama approach enables learners to use hat they arelearning ith pragmatic intent, something that is most difficult to learn throughe)planation.3 4y using drama techni5ues to teach English, the monotony of aconventional English class can be bro'en and the syllabus can be transformed into onehich prepares learners to face their immediate orld better as competent users of theEnglish language because they get an opportunity to use the language in operation. Usingdrama techni5ues also fulfills socio#affective re5uirements of the learners. $oreover, thislearner centered approach ma'es the syllabus personally fulfilling.

The Need for One-off, Stand-alone Drama cti!ities

Even though the effectiveness of drama in teaching E!6 may not be doubted, it is butnatural for someone ho has no e)perience in it to approach it ith hesitancy. %here areso many things that have to be ta'en into consideration before one leaps into putting up a

play. ( teacher may come across several constraints such as an already prescribed te)t to


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3cover3 in a stipulated time period, lac' of space, a paucity of monetary funds ordisinterest and orse, s'epticism of colleagues. (t times you yourself may not feel

7ustified in putting up a full#fledged public performance specially if you yourself do notfeel very comfortable ith acting and have no e)perience in it. ould you be needingsome coaching yourself8 ould doing drama re5uire a radical change in your

relationship ith the learners8 ould it pose a number of organi+ational problems in ane)ternally imposed strict timetable8 %hese are 7ust a fe 5uestions that could bother you.9o not let these 5uestions prevent you from seeing the value of drama and e)ploiting it,specially in teaching E!6. %o 5uote :avin 4olton -in 9ougill . /0 ?nly one memberof the team is sho n the name@title and he or she has to mime it ithout mouthing any of

the ords for his o n team members ho have to guess it. *f they guess it correctlyithin the stipulated time period -three to five minutes2 they in a point. %he actor canindicate the number of ords in the title and, also, there are common gestures for articlesand prepositions hich can be discussed before the game begins. !tudents can be creativein getting the title@ name across to their team mates. Aor e)ample, they could indicate thatthey are miming a rhyming ord instead of the e)act ord if that is much simpler.!ometimes it helps to brea' up big ords and students could indicate that they are doingso. %his game is going to tell you a lot about your students. *t ill also loosen up theatmosphere of your class and prepare you and your students for doing drama.

%he three drama activities @ techni5ues that * am going to describe no are one#off and

stand# alone e)ercises good for ne initiates in the field. * have ta'en literary te)ts as theta'e#off points.

cti!it% One& 'uestioning in (ole or )ot Seating

Buestioning in role@hot seating involves one of the learners - the teacher could also ta'eon the hot seat in case there aren"t any student volunteers2 3... being 5uestioned in a roleabout their motives, character and attitude to a situation or other people and so


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on.3-Aleming, $. // 2 *n literary te)ts, it can be used to deepen characteri+ation. *n casethe level of the learners" 5uestions remains literal, or barely relevant, the teacher shouldintervene and give lead. %his techni5ue operates in a controlled manner and is, therefore,very useful for the teacher ho is ne to drama. %e)ts about characters ho have doneheroic feats, lived an adventurous life or been in the ne s for some reason or the other,

can be used for hot seating or 5uestioning in a role.

ims of the cti!it%

Comprehension and interpretation of character %a'ing do n notes Dractice in report riting

*rocedure

%he class is told that they are ne spaper reporters at a press conference to intervie the

character after his@her adventures.%he "character" -a learner ho has volunteered to ta'e on the role2 sits in the front, facingthe rest of the class and ans ers 5uestions posed by the reporters. e is intervie ed forno more than F minutes. %he reporters as' not 7ust 5uestions, but, also ta'e notes inorder to rite a ne s story or a more descriptive feature article for the ne)t edition oftheir paper. *n case of a large number of learners in the class, about three learners canteam together and pose as reporters from the same ne spapers. %he hole activity can bemade more dramatic by as'ing the learners to ma'e their nameplates ith ne spapernames and display them on their des's. ( learner can be given the role of a moderatorho introduces the 3character3 and ensures a smooth functioning of the conference. (fterthe intervie is over, the teams of 3reporters3 or' together for the rite#up. %he learner

ho has been 5uestioned in the role of the character can 7oin one of the teams of thereporters.

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%he reports are read aloud in class and the learners discuss ith the teacher hich are thegood ones and hy. :ood reports are put up on the class all maga+ine.

ariations

9ifferent learners can volunteer as the character to be intervie ed. 6ater, the classdecides hich learner gave the best intervie and this intervie is used to rite thereport or the feature article.

cti!it% T o& Tele#hone Con!ersations

%elephone conversations test the learners" ability to react 5uic'ly and, though the learnersare free to say hatever they li'e, they have to bear in mind hatever is said by the other


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spea'er and continue the conversation accordingly. %his techni5ue helps in enhancing thespea'ing#listening s'ills of the learners.

ims of the cti!it%

4eing able to sustain a meaningful telephone conversation *nterpretation of character

*rocedure

%he class is divided into groups of t o learners. %he learners sit ith their bac's to eachother so that they can only hear their telephone conversation partner. %he learners in eachgroup are to imagine that they are t o different characters. ( particular situation from thestory@te)t is ta'en for hich every pair has to build up a telephone conversation. =oucould as' them to discuss another character or some specific event from the te)t. =oucould also go beyond the te)t and give them a conflicting situation and as' them to

resolve it as the 3characters3 they are role playing.

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%he conversations can be later ritten do n in the note boo's. Each learner rites do nthe entire conversation that she has had ith her partner. %hese can be e)changed andread by different pairs.

cti!it% Three& Soliloqu% . Thought Trac/ing

%his drama techni5ue can be e)ploited for interpretation of the literary te)t and,especially, for understanding a fictitious character. *n this particular techni5ue, the learnergets into the s'in of the character and thin's from his@her point of vie . e totallyempathi+es ith the character. *t is suggested that literary te)ts having an omniscientnarrator ould be more suitable in comparison to pieces of ritings@essays givingaccounts of personal e)periences.

ims of the cti!it%

&eading comprehension, especially interpretation of te)t and character. riting diary entries, i.e., being able to e)press personal feelings and thoughts.

*rocedure

%he class is divided into groups of five or si) students. *n groups, learners are to select animportant point of time in the main character"s life in their te)t. *t could be a time ofsuccess, failure, disappointment, loss, re7ection, elation, isolation or struggle, a time henthe character has a monologue ith himself.


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(fter having selected a crucial point of time, the individual members of the groups are toarticulate aloud the thoughts of the character to each other. (fter having heard eachothers" interpretations, the group has to or' on a final one hich ill be presented infront of the class by a student as if he ere actually the character going through thatmoment.

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(fter the representatives of all the groups have "performed", the class discusses hichere the better selections and performances. %his could be consolidated by riting thesolilo5uies in the form of diary entries in their noteboo's later on.

ariations

%he teacher could give a specific point of time in the life of the character to all thegroups. (ll the groups could be either given the same occasion or different occasions.

(eferences 4latchford, &oy [Ed] - /0G2. %he English %eacher"s andboo'. 6ondonH

utchinson 4yram, $ I Aleming, $ [Eds] - //02. 6anguage 6earning in *nter#cultural

DerspectiveH (pproaches through 9rama and Ethnography. 6ondonH CUD 9avison, . I 9a son, - //02. 6earning to %each English in the !econdary

!choolH ( companion to !chool E)perience. 6ondon H &outledge 9ougill, ohn - /0