Drama Techniques for Teaching English

Vani 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 in operation hich is absent in a conventional language class. !uch activities add to the teachers" repertoire of pedagogic strategies giving them a ider option of learner#centered activities to chose from for classroom teaching, thereby augmenting their efficiency in teaching English.

Introduction
Benefits of Using Drama in the Language Classroom
$any a times the teaching of English language falls short of fulfilling its goals. Even after years of English teaching, the learners do not gain the confidence of using the language 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 learners an 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, is unfortunately, neglected. (n attractive alternative is teaching language through drama because it gives a conte)t for listening and meaningful language production, forcing the learners to use their language resources and, thus, enhancing their linguistic abilities. *t provides situations for 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 are learning ith pragmatic intent, something that is most difficult to learn through e)planation.3 4y using drama techni5ues to teach English, the monotony of a conventional English class can be bro'en and the syllabus can be transformed into one hich prepares learners to face their immediate orld better as competent users of the English language because they get an opportunity to use the language in operation. Using drama techni5ues also fulfills socio#affective re5uirements of the learners. $oreover, this learner 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 but natural for someone ho has no e)perience in it to approach it ith hesitancy. %here are so 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

3cover3 in a stipulated time period, lac' of space, a paucity of monetary funds or disinterest 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 not feel very comfortable ith acting and have no e)perience in it. ,ould you be needing some 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 an e)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<2, 3drama is a uni5ue tool, vital for language development3 as it simulates reality and develops self e)pression. =ou need not go into a full#fledged production and public performance. =ou could begin ith incorporating one#off and stand#alone drama activities stretching as less as five minutes in your class here students perform for each other. 9rama activities or techni5ues are e5ually successful in ma'ing learners e)perience language in operation and provide motivation to use language embedded in a conte)t and a situation. %he simple 3acting# out3 re5uiring the learners to adopt a ne position involves them creatively.

"arm-u# $ame
:ames such as charades are good in gauging your class"s interest and talent in drama. =ou could have your class play it in a substitute period. 9ivide the class into teams. Each team, usually after a collective discussion, gives one member of the other team ho has volunteered to mime, a name of a film or a boo' to guess -of course, films are by far more popular2. *nitially it is a good idea if you choose the titles as you can ensure that they are easy to mime. 9o not forget that these should be in English> ?nly one member of 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 correctly ithin the stipulated time period -three to five minutes2 they in a point. %he actor can indicate the number of ords in the title and, also, there are common gestures for articles and prepositions hich can be discussed before the game begins. !tudents can be creative in getting the title@ name across to their team mates. Aor e)ample, they could indicate that they 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 doing so. %his game is going to tell you a lot about your students. *t ill also loosen up the atmosphere 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 the ta'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'e on the hot seat in case there aren"t any student volunteers2 3... being 5uestioned in a role about their motives, character and attitude to a situation or other people and so

on.3-Aleming, $. .//C2 *n literary te)ts, it can be used to deepen characteri+ation. *n case the level of the learners" 5uestions remains literal, or barely relevant, the teacher should intervene 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 done heroic 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, facing the rest of the class and ans ers 5uestions posed by the reporters. Ee is intervie ed for no more than .F minutes. %he reporters as' not 7ust 5uestions, but, also ta'e notes in order to rite a ne s story or a more descriptive feature article for the ne)t edition of their paper. *n case of a large number of learners in the class, about three learners can team together and pose as reporters from the same ne spapers. %he hole activity can be made more dramatic by as'ing the learners to ma'e their nameplates ith ne spaper names and display them on their des's. ( learner can be given the role of a moderator ho introduces the 3character3 and ensures a smooth functioning of the conference. (fter the 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 the reporters.

+ollo,-u#
%he reports are read aloud in class and the learners discuss ith the teacher hich are the good 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 class decides hich learner gave the best intervie and this intervie is used to rite the report 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 learners are free to say hatever they li'e, they have to bear in mind hatever is said by the other

spea'er and continue the conversation accordingly. %his techni5ue helps in enhancing the spea'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 each other so that they can only hear their telephone conversation partner. %he learners in each group are to imagine that they are t o different characters. ( particular situation from the story@te)t is ta'en for hich every pair has to build up a telephone conversation. =ou could as' them to discuss another character or some specific event from the te)t. =ou could 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.

+ollo, u#
%he conversations can be later ritten do n in the note boo's. Each learner rites do n the entire conversation that she has had ith her partner. %hese can be e)changed and read 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 learner gets into the s'in of the character and thin's from his@her point of vie . Ee totally empathi+es ith the character. *t is suggested that literary te)ts having an omniscient narrator ould be more suitable in comparison to pieces of ritings@essays giving accounts 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 an important point of time in the main character"s life in their te)t. *t could be a time of success, failure, disappointment, loss, re7ection, elation, isolation or struggle, a time hen the character has a monologue ith himself.

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

+ollo, u#
(fter the representatives of all the groups have "performed", the class discusses hich ere the better selections and performances. %his could be consolidated by riting the solilo5uies 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 the groups. (ll the groups could be either given the same occasion or different occasions.

(eferences

4latchford, &oy [Ed] -./0G2. %he English %eacher"s Eandboo'. 6ondonH Eutchinson 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<2. 9rama (ctivities for 6anguage 6earning. 6ondonH $acmillan Aleming, $ichael -.//C2. !tarting 9rama %eaching. 6ondonH 9avid Aulton ;ohnson, J. I $orro J. [Ed] -./0.2. Communication in the Classroom. 6ondonH 6ongman $aley, (. I 9uff ( -./0K2. 9rama %eaching in 6anguage 6earning. 6ondonH CUD ?" Leill, C. I 6ambert, ( -./0K2. 9rama !tructuresH ( Dractical Eandloo' for %eachers. DortsmouthH Eeinemann Deacoc', Colin -.//F2. Classroom !'ills in English %eachingH ( !elf#(ppraisal Arame or'. 6ondonH &outledge ,essels, Charlyn -./0<2. 9rama . ?)fordH ?UD