ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF DRAMA

Advantages Mastering the language theoretically and practically Using natural communication speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the message they are conveying and understanding Emotional involvement Disadvantages Limited resources of available to prepare drama based lessons Process of preparing the lessons is very time consuming

Lack of appropriate ready to use materials are frustrating Applying the non verbal communication Pupils reluctance to participate in drama better & effective communication outside the oriented activities caused by their introversion / classroom shyness Brings fun to lessons; increases pupils motivation Learning are more memorable

HOW TO IMPLEMENT DRAMA BASED LESSONS?

Gradual induction period - to allow both teacher and the learners time to get used to drama. try some simple and fun activities to convince the students the value of learning through drama.

Creating a 'relaxed atmosphere' and changes in the layout of the room

Teacher set the the things in motion - introduce the activity and then let the students work independently

Consider the time and place where the drama activities should be performed

DRAMA ACTIVITIES
In drama education various activities called drama techniques or conventions are used in the process of building a performance. Neelands and Goode consider drama conventions tools useful for exploring and communicating the meaning. The following is only a brief description of several commonly used drama techniques that can be easily adapted for teaching foreign languages. The descriptions of individual techniques are based on Neelands and Goode and the web page dramaresource.com.

1. Hot-seating Aim: to explore the character and their motivation or unknown parts of the story One of the students sits in front of the class pretending to be the character and the others (either in roles or not) ask him questions. Questions can be prepared in advance or asked on the spot. This convention helps to reveal the characters motivation and encourages reflection on peoples behavior.

2. Role on the Wall Aim: to get to know the character, to brainstorm ideas Students work with a large sheet of paper where the outline of the character is drawn. Either in groups or individually, they put down what they know about this character. They can write both facts (age, appearance, clothes) and inner feelings of the character. The result of their work is then put up on the wall.

3. Conscience Alley Aim: to analyse a situation that requires a decision Students stand in two lines facing each other, the student in the role of a character walks slowly in the middle and everybody gives him/her advice. As an alternation the group standing on one side could be asked to give arguments for while the other one against. In the end he/she makes a decision.

4. Frozen Frames/ Still Images Aim: to illustrate a specific event, to explore the feeling of characters Students are asked to freeze at a certain moment of performing or they gradually build a scene using their bodies. The advantage is that learners are able to express more than they would be able say in words. It can be also successfully used to control dramatic moments. It is also possible to divide

students into 2 or more groups and then one group performs while the rest comment on what the still-image means.

5. Thought-tracking Aim: to reflect and analyze the situation and role The group focuses on the character who is frozen in a still-image or a frozen frame and comes with ideas what this characters thoughts are. Person who wants to contribute a thought can tap the characters shoulder. These thoughts can be contrasted with what he/she says publicly. This can help to understand inner feelings of the character.

6. Teacher in Role Aim: to develop or control the drama activity, to challenge learners thinking The teacher involves in the drama, either as one of the participants or as a leader. Teacher can give evidence of stepping in or out the role by using a prop connected to the character (for example a hat) or signify that they are in a role only when sitting on a particular chair. This allows the teacher to comment on the situation from outside and actively influence it from inside at the same time. This convention can be used in connection with others, for example Hot-seating.

7. Mantle of the Expert Aim: to move responsibility from the teacher to learners, to provoke involvement, to boost confidence The learners are given roles of experts in a particular field connected with the situation they can become social workers, architects, designers, archaeologists. The group is often supposed to fulfill a task with help of these experts. This activity can be adapted to a great variety of topics and provoke meaningful opportunities to speak.

8. Role Play Aim: to get into role This convention belongs to the basic ones, it is widely used because of its simplicity and familiarity both to teacher and students. It can be established quickly by mere allocating roles to learners or learners can choose roles themselves. More complex alternative is to distribute role cards with additional information on the character, their opinions, wishes or some hints how the character will behave in particular situation. No matter how simple this activity might seem, it can be very beneficial it helps learners to understand different viewpoints and accustom their language and movement to different characters.

9. Simulations Aim: to simulate real-life situations which require making decisions or solving problems Group is presented with a situation that they have to solve, often within a time limit which puts tension on participants. Through simulations learners can identify with the problem and examine various criteria before making a final decision. Group can be for example asked to design a new town facility within a given budget. It is usual in stimulations that learners are provided with some guidelines that have to be taken into account a set budget, criteria of the competition or various rules.

EXAMPLE OF ACTIIVITIES
LANGUAGE ARTS : DRAMA 1. Pupils are divided into groups of four. Each student will be given a vote paper; the one who gets the paper marked X will be the superhero and the rest will be the citizens. 2. Teacher explains that the superheroes and the citizens will be separated for 5 minutes. The citizens plan their roles and the superheroes must decide their superpowers will be. 3. Pupils are explained that something will go wrong, but only the citizens know what will it be. 4. As both citizens and superheroes do not know each other plans, theyre going to perform their play.

Bibliography
Links to Learning. (2012, June 12). Retrieved October 20, 2013, from Lesson plans: http://www.linktolearning.com/arts_plans.htm Romano, K. (2011, August 4). The Use of Drama in the Classroom. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from http://home.moravian.edu/public/educ/Shosh/KRJRN2.html Vachova, M. (2012, December 3). Retrieved October http://is.muni.cz/th/266356/pedf_b/BT_Martina_Vachova.pdf 20, 2013, from