Effective Learning of English Through Drama

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MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

Department of English Language and Literature

Effective Learning of English through Drama

Bachelor Work

Brno 2007

Author: Kateina Trachtulcov Supervisor: Mgr. Lucie Podroukov, Ph.D.

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Declaration

Hereby I state that I have worked on this bachelor work by myself and that all the sources

of information I have used are listed in the references.

I agree that this bachelor thesis will be deposited in the Library of the Faculty of

Education at the Masaryk University and will be made available for study purposes.

In Brno, 10 May 2007

Kateina Trachtulcov

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I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Lucie Podroukov, Ph.D, for her guidance,

support and comments on my work.

Kateina Trachtulcov

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Contents

Contents ................................................................................1 Introduction...........................................................................2 THEORETICAL PART........................................................4 1. The nature of drama ......................................................4 2. Reasons for including drama in TEFL..........................6 3. Different learning styles................................................8 4. Basic drama techniques...............................................10 5. How to succeed with drama in ELT............................12

PRACTICAL PART ...........................................................15 LESSON PLAN 1: Welcome...........................................15 LESSON PLAN 2: The Environment ..............................20 LESSON PLAN 3: What is important?............................25 LESSON PLAN 4: Friendship in our lives ......................28 LESSON PLAN 5: Family ...............................................31

Conclusion ..........................................................................36 Summary .............................................................................37 References...........................................................................39

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Introduction This bachelor thesis deals with using drama for effective learning of English as a

foreign language. The aim of this thesis is to prove that drama is a very effective learning

technique and to show some examples of how to use it in the language lessons.

In the first place, it must be mentioned that drama as a teaching technique does not

mean any big end-of-term play. The word drama in this work indicates learning process

rather than rehearsing a performance. This kind of technique represents short drama

activities where students learn through drama. These activities are based on principles used

by actors in their training to stimulate their feelings and imagination.

This subject matter is worth studying because drama as a teaching technique

encourages students to learn language in a very effective way. This means that these

techniques give students opportunity to learn interactively, in context and to use their

creativity and imagination. Students have to react spontaneously without any preparation,

which is very important for fluency in language. As Juliet du Mont writes in her work,

most students of a foreign language want to be fluent. This ability means connecting

fragments of language and making them sound natural so that everyone could understand

them. The problem with fluency does not have to be in the learners level of knowledge.

The reason for difficulty in speaking can lie in the fact that fluency involves a skill in

performance because there is no time for preparation in communication. A lack of this

skill frustrates a speaker so that he/she can not communicate with self-confidence. Drama

is a very good way of practicing real fluent discourse in friendly environment. Drama gives

satisfaction not only to students but even the teachers enjoy teaching in this way, because

they see students learning with pleasure and fun.

Without a doubt this form of teaching practices most language skills at the same time.

Students work on speaking and listening while they perform. At the same time, it is easy to

include reading and writing into these activities. Drama is a very good teaching method,

which expands the repertoire of every professional teacher. It puts emphasis on meaningful

communicative activities instead of mechanical drills.

The bachelor thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part is theoretical and

presents reasons for including drama in foreign language lessons from various points of

view. Furthermore, it gives a list of main drama techniques useful for teaching and deals

with clues on how to succeed with drama in ELT.

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The second part of the work is practical and it demonstrates using drama in a foreign

language teaching. Drama techniques are incorporated into lesson plans, which are based

on the following topics: friendship, environment, values, familiarization and family. These

topics are only an illustration of the way of linking cross-curricular items into the drama

language lessons. These topics lead students to develop not only the language skills but

also qualities as originality, sensitivity, flexibility, cooperation, form moral attitudes,

toleration, imagination and creativity. At the same time I would like to show that drama

techniques do not have to be demanding for teachers or require special material.

My interest in drama techniques started when I participated in a workshop presented by

David Fisher in Jihlava in 2004. This seminar was called Using Drama Activities to Teach

Grammar. It was an illustration of the lesson where children play game and learn at the

same time.

This thesis is aimed at teaching English at primary school because I have been teaching

English for four years at the primary school in Havlkv Brod. I teach English to students

in the second grade. They are between twelve and fifteen years of age.

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THEORETICAL PART

1. The nature of drama

Drama is doing. Drama is being. Drama is such a normal thing. It is something that we all engage in daily when faced with difficult situations. (Wessels, 1987)

According to this citation everybody in the world is an actor or an actress. Everybody

has to represent his/her everyday roles. These roles are e.g. the role of student or child.

Later they become employees and have to interact with their colleagues and customers.

Beyond these examples of some big roles there are many situations where people have to

react according to their positions and situations. Drama is a Greek word meaning action.

These facts imply that drama and acting is a very natural part of human life.

It is important to write a few words about the nature of drama in context of English

language teaching. According to David Fischers comparison both an actor and a teacher

have something in common. They both perform in front of people. These people are

audience for actors and class for teachers. They both try to engage their spectators. They

both want to convey some information to their viewers. However, there are many

differences between these two professions. Theatre is more visual and has more people and

resources involved whereas teaching is usually a one-man show. The second difference is

that actors prepare the performance a long time beforehand while teachers plan lessons a

lot quicker. Last but not least is the aim of these two places. The theatre should entertain

and it is very welcome when the attendant learns something during the performance while

in school the attendant should learn and it is very welcome when he/she entertains during

the lesson. (Fisher, 1)

The unlike focus of drama and teaching is also clear from the quote of Charlyn

Wessels:

Drama in education uses the same tools employed by actors in the theatre. In particular, it uses improvisation and mime. But while in the theatre everything is contrived for the benefit of the audience, in classroom drama everything is contrived for the benefit of the learners. (Wessels, 1987)

Drama also differs from the other teaching techniques. That is probably the reason why

both teachers and students, especially those of the traditional classrooms, feel insecure in

this area. It is necessary to ensure everyone that these drama techniques are different from

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drama on stage. Drama in a classroom avoids the distinction between the performers and

the audience as during the lesson everybody is involved at the same time. Everyone can get

a role which will suit him/her best. There is usually a group of students who like

performing in public, on the other hand there are introvert students and they prefer

observation. In drama lesson a teacher can arrange suitable tasks for every student.

Further uncertainty can arise from the fact that students are not enough self-confident

at their language skills. But one of the good attributes of drama is that it can be enjoyed by

students of any level. Even with a little knowledge of language pupils can be a part of a

drama lesson.

Drama allows students to include their personal experiences, emotions and their

personality into the process of learning and this is great advantage. As this very old

Chinese proverb says, the involvement of students is the most important part of the

teaching process:

Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember.

Involve me and I will understand. (Chinese Proverb)

Another advantage is that drama is the opportunity to enter another world and explore

various situations. It offers to escape from our everyday selves and to put on a role. It is

easier to speak as somebody else. It is like hiding behind the mask. It gives a person

freedom to express his/her feelings easier and without anxiety. This means that people feel

free to scream, cry, laugh, dance and do other things that they do not usually do without the

mask. The mask is great opportunity for shy people. It helps them to do the activities

listed above and obviously it helps them improve their speaking skills. (Cockett and Fox

10 - 12)

This point is especially useful in teenage classes because students in this age do not

want to reveal anything about themselves. The role gives them a chance to speak and not to

disclose their feelings.

Although this may be true, in teenage class which is not used to doing drama it is not

easy to start. It must be very gradual. The best way is to start with drama from the

beginning of the language teaching.

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2. Reasons for including drama in TEFL

Beside the advantages mentioned on the previous pages there are more benefits in

persuading teachers of language to include drama techniques in their lessons.

The first benefit is that drama gives a chance to use the language. Students are satisfied

that they are able to communicate in different roles and situations. This builds the self-

esteem. It helps shy students overcome their fear of speaking. Teacher can find a suitable

role for every child to give him/her an opportunity to succeed. This achievement

encourages everybody to go on, improve and speak more. (Philips, 6) Learners can use all

the theory, they have learned, in meaningful practice. Moreover, drama prepares the

students for real-life situations. It puts language to the context. Students can try everyday

situations in a friendly environment and this experience gives them a good preparation for

the real life. This is also a big motivation for them to prove to themselves that the language

is really a way of communication.

Dramatizing is one of the childrens favourite activities from an early age. It is the way

of acquiring the world. Children play out scenes from the life of adults, fairy tales and

other children around them. They put on the role of doctors, teachers, shop assistants etc. It

is useful to take advantage of these familiar games and use them to teach them something

new. (Philips, 6)

Children often work in groups or pairs during the drama lessons. They have to make

decisions as a group. These activities encourage pupils to think of good arguments and

then to use them convincingly. They have to listen to each other, and value each others

suggestions. They have to co-operate and negotiate to achieve their aims, find ways of

settling their differences, and use the strengths of each member of the group. It is a very

important social element to cooperate with other people. Students need it for their future

life in school, in family and in work. This importance is illustrated by an old similitude,

which says that every team which has an aim is like a ship. They pull it forward together. If

one member of a team paddled in a different direction or even stopped, the ship would not

go ahead. This confirms how important the ability to cooperate is.

The other reason for including drama in lesson is a change of atmosphere in the class.

Drama is learner-centred so that teacher can use it to contrast with the more teacher-

centred parts of the lesson and transfer the responsibility for learning from teacher to

learner. (Maley, Duff, 1)

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Drama activities integrate all language skills in a natural way. Students must listen

carefully to react to a teachers instructions and to their schoolmates discourse. At the

same time they must express themselves spontaneously. Many activities require reading

and writing, both as part of input and output. (Maley and Duff, 1)

A very important point is that it is easy to use drama as a means of exploring other

subjects in language lessons. Teacher can cover topics from other subjects in drama lesson

plans. He/she can introduce famous people from history e.g. by the drama technique Hot

seating or teacher can cover the ideas and issues that run through the curriculum, such as

sexism, respect for the environment and road safety. (Philips, 8) It is very useful to

incorporate more things together and do not teach them separately. It encourages thinking

in contingency. This is what is called interdisciplinary or cross-curricular teaching.

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3. Different learning styles

Some people are good at mathematics, some people are good at learning languages and

for some people it is easy to play a musical instrument. The fact that different people have

different abilities results in their various learning styles. Because every student has

different learning style it is not easy to teach a group of e.g. fourteen students together.

Professor of education at Harvard University Dr. Howard Gardner introduced his

theory of multiple intelligences. He pointed out that I.Q. testing is limited by verbal,

logical-mathematical, and some spatial intelligence. Dr. Gardner identifies kinds of

intelligences based upon eight criteria. These intelligences are: linguistic intelligence,

logical-mathematical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence,

musical intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalist

intelligence. Mark K. Smith specifies each kind of intelligence as follows:

The first linguistic intelligence represents people good at reading, writing and

speaking. This group of people learns best by reading or listening to lecture. They learn

foreign languages very easily.

The second logical-mathematical intelligence represents a group of people who excel

in mathematics or computer programming. They are good at chess and analyzing logical

problems. This type of intelligence together with the first linguistic intelligence is typically

valued at schools.

The third spatial intelligence is an area which deals with vision and spatial judgment.

People in this group have strong visual memory, good visualizing and a very good sense of

direction.

The fourth bodily-kinaesthetic intelligence represents e.g. good sportsman or dancers.

People with this kind of intelligence prefer activities which utilize movement. They like

acting and creating things. They learn best by physically doing, rather than writing or

listening.

The fifth musical intelligence labels a kind of intelligence which contains sensitivity to

sounds, tones, rhythms and music. People who are representatives of this area are able to

sing, play musical instruments, or compose music. These people like learning and

memorizing via songs or chants.

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The sixth kind of intelligence, called interpersonal, represents usually extrovert people

who are sensible to others feelings. They are social and they can empathize easily with

others. They like group work and are good at cooperation.

The seventh intrapersonal intelligence is opposite area to the previous one. It denotes

introvert people. They prefer working alone to a group work. They are usually self-aware

and know their goals. They learn best when they concentrate on the subject by themselves.

The eighth kind of intelligence was added later. It is the naturalistic intelligence and

this area deals with nature and classification. People gifted by this naturalistic intelligence

have greater sensitivity to nature and the ability to interact with animals. They are also

good at classifying different species.

Instead of having only one from this list, it is claimed that students have several

different types of intelligences.

It stands to reason that teacher can not teach all children in the same way. Thanks to the

theory of multiple intelligences, educators can better understand the learners and their

needs. He/she should design the lesson to involve students with all kinds of intelligence.

(Guignon)

Drama has a potential to involve all types of learners in the lesson and gives them the

opportunity to learn in most effective way for each of them.

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4. Basic drama techniques

The drama techniques are already contained in most English teaching course books.

Teachers and their students enjoy songs with TPR activities, games, dialogues, simulations

or simple role plays. (Maley, 9)

Many teachers control their body to create a visual effect and control the voice in order

to speak loudly and clearly. Many teachers 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 bodies. (Philips, 9)

Non-verbal activities based on TPR teaching technique can be used at the beginning of the

lesson as warm-up activity.

The warm-up activities help develop confidence and cooperation with others and they

help students make a smooth transition from different subjects to the language class. It is

not necessary to use them only at the beginning of the lesson. They can be used to make

links between activities during the lesson. The examples are included in the practical part

of this work in individual lesson plans.

There are many more possible ways of applying drama in English learning teaching.

One of the most popular techniques is a role-play. According to Wan Y. Sam this

technique involves taking on a role of an imaginary character in a hypothetical situation.

Students act in role and setting which is described but it involves spontaneous interaction

of participants. There is a whole range of these types of activities. A role-play can be a

very simple scene or a complex story dramatization. As Gillian P. Ladousse highlights in

his book titled Role Play: I do not mean problem-solving case studies in which students

are asked to think like Mr Smith or Mr Brown. In role play they are Mr Smith or Mr

Brown.

A rather 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

brings his/her own skills and experience into acting. It can be a problem solving activity

with materials to illustrate the setting to make it as true to life as possible. (Sam)

Another very useful activity is person-in-role. In this activity one of the students or a

teacher takes responsibility as facilitator. He/she puts on a role which enables him/her to

encourage the rest of the group, to control the action, to involve everybody and to expand

possibilities for the interaction. (Neelands, 32)

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Teacher uses this type of activity early in the process to activate the students energy. It

is important to choose a right role. It does not have to be a central character. The next

relevant point is to clearly indicate when you are in or out of the role.

This technique is good because it takes away the usual hierarchy of the teacher-centred

class. And as Dorothy Heathcote adds, the teacher may find an expert or a colleague

willing to come into a classroom in role. This person should be coached beforehand.

Next technique useful for English teaching is called hot-seating or in another words

questioning in role. As Vani Chauhan describes the procedure, the class is told that they

are reporters and their task is to interview the character. The character (a learner who has

volunteered to take on the role) sits in the front, facing the rest of the class and answers

questions posed by the reporters. The role of the character is specified by a teacher, an

article or any other material. The class takes notes in order to write an article to a news

paper. Reporters work on their articles after the interview. This can be done as both

individual and team work.

Next possible drama technique called still image is a group activity where students

have to cooperate and create a photo using their own bodies. There is a theme or idea

they present. (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 see

beyond the teachers presentation, and they involve both learning and acquisition.

Warming up and cooling down activities, group formation activities, statues, miming and

other rank among these drama games.

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5. How to succeed with drama in ELT

It should be mentioned how students feel while they are taught through drama

techniques. Drama always changes lessons of language so that no lesson is a boring

stereotype. Students forget that they are learning and practicing English and they have a

feeling that they play game. Everybody is involved and he/she learns to use improvisation.

Pupils are initiating rather than responding to teachers questions.

On the other hand problems such as shyness, the use of the mother tongue, correcting

mistakes or noise could arise in drama lessons. Here are some instructions on how to

overcome these problems. They will also help teachers succeed with drama in the

classroom.

One of the most important points is that the teacher must believe in the advantages of

drama.

For drama activities to work well, teacher needs to be convinced that they will work. A class rapidly senses any hesitancy or nervousness, or lack of conviction on the part of the teacher. You are the key to the success of these activities. If you do them reluctantly, or half-heartedly, it is better not to do 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 tone of voice, good

preparation and good organization are the qualities that show teachers confidence and

experience with this type of teaching. Teacher should create a good-humoured, creative

and friendly atmosphere in the classroom. In this atmosphere it will be easy to get students

involved. Drama lessons must be well planned. Teacher needs to know the aim of the

lesson and structure the lesson accordingly. Another important element in the planning is

the students age. For young learners the whole-class activities are more suitable than a

group work whereas teenage learners may enrich the drama with their own ideas. (Philips,

8)

It is good to use warm up activities in a group of students who do not yet know each

other. Therefore, it is important that they change partners as often as possible so as to

interact with a larger number of other students. This can be achieved by group formation

activities. (Maley and Duff, 6, 234)

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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 teacher feels that the activity is going so well that he/she does not want to stop it. Or

perhaps the teacher made a mistake in judgment and the activity is too unexciting for

students so he/she should stop it earlier than he/she planned. 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 earlier that their

colleges. (Landousse, 12)

The next important problem connected with drama activities is dealing with mistakes:

More and more teachers are adhering to the view that mistakes are an integral part of the language-learning process, and that an opportunity to make them in a free phase in any lesson ultimately enhances learning, rather than hinders it. Some mistakes do fossilize, but most of them just seem to indicate certain stages in the acquisition of the language. (Landousse, 1987)

This means that they vanish with practising of the language. Still, there are two main

questions: Which mistakes to correct? and How to monitor what the students are saying

and ensure that they are speaking the language correctly?

The first question does not have a definite answer. There are many criteria for dealing

with errors during speaking. It must be considered if the mistake affects communication.

No less important is the aim of the lesson. The mistakes correction will be important in a

lesson oriented on accuracy. However, it will be different during lessons concentrated on

fluency. Another important point is the students reaction. Teachers corrections must not

discourage pupils from speaking.

To answer 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 case

the class is used to this it is easier to correct student immediately during drama

activity without interruption.

- Notes this is one of the delayed correction techniques. Teacher notes down the

mistakes during the activity. He/she focuses either on the whole class or on each

student. Everyone gets a written feedback of what he/she can improve.

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- Recording teacher uses a tape recorder or camera to monitor the activity. At the

end of the lesson or the next lesson, class listen back to the record and concentrate

on correction. This gives students more responsibility for their own learning, they

can be more aware of the gaps in their spoken English and recording makes them

to pay more attention to what they say as they are performing. (Donald)

Further problem while students work in groups preparing the activity is that they often

have tendency to use a mother tongue to communicate. It is acceptable to allow beginners a

limited use of the mother tongue in discussion. Indeed it may be impossible to prevent it.

But during the actual activity there should be a strict rule to use English. (Maley and Duff,

3)

The concluding point in this list is that drama is not a lesson full of chaos.

Nevertheless, 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

place in this type of lesson. The solution to manage the class is establishing a stop signal.

This can be any concerted signal e.g. teacher puts the hand up and everybody must do the

same thing. Another possibility is that teacher uses a whistle, drums or a piano etc. The

signal means that children "freeze" in positions they are in.

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PRACTICAL PART

LESSON PLAN 1: Welcome

Aims: This lesson is organized for the very first day in the classroom. These

activities should help a class to get to know each other, to break the ice

among strangers, to encourage children to speak and to improve

imagination, creativity as well as group cooperation.

Language: Practicing of past tense form of irregular verbs. Other: To encourage quick reactions to verbal stimuli.

Language level: Pre-intermediate

Age group: All

Time: 90 minutes

Class size: 14 20 students

Materials:

- paper for paper stones for every student - large sheet of paper for the stone wall and glue - Czech-English dictionaries

Description

1 Warm-up: ZIP ZAP INTRODUCTION (10 minutes)

Students sit in a circle. This activity has two parts. At first pupils ask their neighbours

about their names. Next they ask them about their hobbies. You explain the rule: One

person points to the other one and says some of these words:

ZIP means LEFT pointed student must tell the name of the neighbour on the left

ZAP means RIGHT - pointed student must tell the name of the neighbour on the right

ZIP ZAP means that everybody changes their seats.

Variation: Instead of names or hobbies students can ask their neighbour about interests,

favourite food, favourite colour etc.

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2 NAME GAME: (10 minutes)

Students put an adjective before their names. This adjective should start with the same

letter as their first name. For example: Beautiful Bra, Elastic Eva, Frozen Frantiek, Lazy

Lenka, Naive Nina, Rocking Radka, Speedy Soa.

The student should then act out his/her adjective to the other students by introducing

him/herself Hallo, Im Lazy Lenka. The other students will then repeat the movement and

say: Hallo Lazy Lenka!

Variation: Teacher can encourage the students to look into the dictionary to find some new

and interesting adjectives. Than he/she asks them to write it on the board and explain and

act the new word to the schoolmates so that all understand it.

3 STONE MIRROR A classroom project (20 minutes)

This is a project activity for the whole class. Give students time to think about an

English word which somehow represents them. They can be inspired by the previous

activity or you can motivate them to devise themselves an Indian name e.g. Clever Fox or

Pink Pike. Encourage them to use a dictionary for new words.

After doing this give them paper and demonstrate tearing a shape of stone from it.

Everybody has his/her stone. They write their nicknames on it and decorate it as they like.

Prepare a large sheet of paper and glue all stones on it to create a wall. You can

decorate the classroom with this stone mirror of the class.

4 BLACK AND WHITE (10 minutes)

All students stand in the middle of the classroom. Divide the room into two parts. You

can use rope and put it on the floor or this division can be just fictive. The left part means

like and the right one means dislike. Then ask pupils to run to the part of the room

which indicates their answer on your question. Call out questions e.g. Do you like Chinese

food? or Do you like playing softball? Make sure that they make their choices

immediately. It must be very impulsive.

5 MAKING A PICTURE (20 minutes)

Introduce one part of the classroom as a canvas of famous painter and explain that

everybody is going to create a picture. Ask the first volunteer to run into the canvas space

and forms his/her body into a shape of whatever they choose. Then this student announces

what he/she presents. E.g. I am an old factory. Instantly the next person enters the scene:

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I am a smoke-stack of the factory. The next person ads: I am a cat catching the mouse.

Other people then enter the picture until the whole group is involved. Repeat it as long as

the students enjoy it.

Make sure a different child starts a new picture. This process goes very fast. Do not let

the students think. It is better to divide them into two teams and paint two pictures with a

larger group

6 THE COWBOY GAME (15 minutes)

Everybody stands in a circle. Choose one child to stand in the middle of this circle.

He/she is the leader. The leader points at one person and shouts an infinitive of an irregular

verb e.g. go That person then ducks down and the two people on either side are the

cowboys and pretend to shoot each other as quickly as possible by saying the past tense of

this verb went. The slower one has to leave the circle. When there are only two pupils left

they stand back to back and the leader says a series of words. If the word is a kind of sport

the two cowboys take one step away from each other, if the word is a job, they turn and

shoot.

7 TONGUE TWISTER: (5 minutes)

How many cuckoos could a good cook cook, if a cook could cook cuckoos?

Write this tongue twister on the blackboard and let the students repeat it. Then clean

one word and let someone repeat it again. Clean one more word after every repeating. In

the end when the board is clean ask the whole class to say the whole tongue twister.

Evaluation:

It is very difficult to teach the very first lesson of the course where the students do not

know each other. Another big problem of these starting lessons is that the teacher usually

does not have the course book in hand yet. I tried to show and prove that drama can be

very helpful technique for dealing with this period of time. I choose drama activities which

do not require experience with drama although there could be a problem with adults or

teenage learners. They may do not agree with this type of lessons but it depends on the

teachers ability to persuade them. I chose a group of 20 children for piloting this lesson

plan. They are 12 years old. It was not difficult to involve them.

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The first activity Zip Zap introduction helped students to get to know many people

and their names and because it is not easy to remember the direction of ZIP and ZAP it was

fun and it supported friendly atmosphere. Picture 1 was taken during this game.

Next activity, the Name game, gave the space for introduction too. One small remark

is that teachers should give a few minutes to students to prepare their adjectives. This helps

them feel more comfortable while introducing themselves.

The Stone mirror project is a game where the children had time to get accustomed in

the class without speaking and get to know new information about their schoolmates.

During the game Black and white it depends on the teacher what information he/she

wants to know about the class. He/she asks questions and they answer though their body.

This activity is very good when teacher feels that it is time for some motion. On the other

hand it needs big space in the classroom.

The activity Making a picture was the first time when the class had to cooperate

during this lesson. I had to push a few shy students to participate in it. I gave them the

instruction that everybody has to take part and the whole class created one very big picture.

I took a photograph of one of our still images (Picture2). There is a bridge over the river

and a statue of a famous writer next to the school.

Picture 1

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Picture 2

The cowboy game helps to practice grammar and vocabulary at the same time. This

game must go very quickly otherwise the children who are already out of the circle could

be bored. In the end, during the duel, many different vocabulary topics can be alternated

e.g. fruit, vegetable, clothes, parts of the body, animals etc.

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LESSON PLAN 2: The Environment

Aims: To approach the topic of nature and the protection of the environment during the language class, to practice listening ability, to improve imagination and creativity and to encourage group dynamism.

Language: The vocabulary from this topic: animals and nature Other: This lesson should remind students of the importance of protecting nature

and form a relationship with the environment


Age group: 13-15 years old

Time: 90 minutes


Materials:

- A picture of animal for every child - A ball of string - CD with Earth song by Michael Jackson - The copy of Earth song lyrics by Michael Jackson for everybody Appendix 4 - Paper for palm drawing for everybody and pencils

Description

1 Warm-up: Imagine (10 minutes)

Instructions:

Students go around the class in a circle and react to what teacher says:

Imagine that you walk barefooted and:

there is cold snow on the ground

there are ten centimetres of water on the ground

there is a fire on the ground

there are sharp stones on the ground

there is mud on the ground

there is honey on the ground

there is melted chocolate on the ground

there are trunks of trees on the ground

there is a very thick bush in front of you, try to make your way

there is a pond on the floor and you walk across using stepping stones. Be

careful not to slip and fall in.

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2 Group formation activity: Molecules (10 minutes)

Let students move freely around the room to the music. Play the Earth song by

Michael Jackson. After a while stop the tape and call out Molecule two! Students have to

perform molecule with two atoms. Repeat this with whatever number you like. As you

need groups of at least four students for the next activity, the last number should be four.

3 Introduction of the topic: Tableau (20 minutes)

Ask students to discuss the word Nature in the groups. What do they associate with

this term? They have the ideas like e.g. trees, animals, forest, park, flowers, insect, sea etc.

Students will create a still image of a scene from nature in order to portray their ideas

from discussion. Give them about 5 minutes to prepare the live photos.

After this time limit let the first group perform their tableau. Help them with a signal

e.g. clap your hands in the moment they freeze. The rest of the class comments on the

picture. They describe what they can see.

4 Spider web (15 minutes)

Stand in a circle. Give every child a picture of an animal. This should be the revision,

but you can add one or two new animals. Hold the end of the string. Ask the class: Which

animal lives in a tree? A person who has a picture of a squirrel takes the ball of the string

while you still hold on to the loose end. The game goes like this till every student has

string in hand. Now ask: What does it look like?? A huge spider web!!!

And then the class has to go backward and say: My animal lives in a tree. etc. The

class then reacts with the name of the animal. The string is rolled back to the previous

person till the teacher has the ball again.

Here are some examples of animals and questions:

Which animal has a trunk? Elephant

Which animal has a long neck? Giraffe

Which animal has colourful feathers? Parrot

Which animal lives on a farm? Horse

Which animal produces wool? Sheep

Which animal eats bananas? Monkey

Which animal eats meat? Tiger

Which animal lives in river? Fish

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Which animal is the best friend of

humans?

Dog

Which animal eats mice? Cat

Which animal is an insect? Fly

Which animal can sing? Bird

Which animal can produce milk? Cow

Which animal can lay eggs? Hen

Which animal has 8 legs? Spider

What has a trunk? Elephant

What has a long neck? Giraffe

What has colourful feathers? Parrot

What lives on a farm? Horse

What produces wool? Sheep

What eats bananas? Monkey

What eats meat? Tiger

What lives in river? Fish

What is the best friend of humans? Dog

What eats mice? Cat

What is an insect? Fly

What can sing? Bird

What can produce milk? Cow

What can lay eggs? Hen

What has 8 legs? Spider

5 Earth view (35 minutes)

Ask children to pretend that they are birds flying high over the Earth. Let them take

turns telling what they see e.g. flowers, bushes, trees, rivers, mountains

Then play the video of Earth song and give them the lyrics (Appendix 4). After this

discuss the song and ask children to find out all words connected with the nature and the

environment in the lyrics e.g. sunrise, rain, crying Earth, bleeding Earth, animals,

elephants, crying whales, seas, forest trails. Ask children: Why is the Earth crying and

bleeding? Why are the whales crying?

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Ask children to pretend that they are the birds again after this debate. Ask them: Do

you see the same things? Children see rather different pictures of the Earth. They are

influenced by the song. They see e.g. factories, cut trees, killed animals, fighting people

etc.

6 Palm drawing: Give Earth a hand (20 minutes)

Every child cuts out of a sheet of paper his/her hand and writes on it everything that

he/she can do to help the Earth e.g. I will not waste. I will sort the garbage. etc.

Create an exhibition of all the works and give the children time to see it.

Evaluation:

In this lesson plan I tried to integrate environmental education with the language

lesson. Environmental education is one of the requirements of the school curriculum.

Beside this fact it is very important to show the young generation the human impact on the

nature and guide them to think about these problems. I enjoyed this lesson with a class of

sixteen students. Their age is about 15 years.

In Picture 3 there is the groups tableau. Everybody represents an object from nature.

Picture 2

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During the activity Earth view I asked children to write down a few things which

they saw as birds flying over the planet. We were too big a group to listen to everybody

and the class has similar vocabulary so they saw similar things. After flying we watched

a video. Children liked this a lot because they liked the music but I could see that they

were sorry for some images they saw e.g. the dead elephant with cut tusks. The evidence of

their feelings was seen in the change of their Earth view. Before the video they saw only

nice images e.g. oceans, animals, flowers, trees, hills, rivers etc. After the video they saw

suffering people and animals, cut rainforests, dirty rivers, smoke from factories, and a lot

of cars in the streets etc.

The Palm drawing was a very nice final activity. Picture 4 is an example of one

of the works.

Picture 3

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LESSON PLAN 3: What is important?

Aims: To realise the values of the society, to practise self expression, to help a

class to get to know each other, to improve imagination and creativity Language: Expressions of speculation, questions for clarification, new vocabulary

(characteristics), occupations



Time: 90 minutes


Materials:

- Piece of paper with a role from Appendix 3 for each student - Sellotape and scissors - Cut-out pieces of paper form Appendix 5 for each pair

Description

1. Warm-up: Blow out the candles (10 minutes)

Teacher motivates students:

It is your birthday today and there is a lovely big cake on the table. Have a wish and

blow out all the candles. If you manage, your wish will be fulfilled.

Children blow out the candles. Then tell them to light candles again and blow them

down one by one.

The last cake activity: let children try the cake, they should share it with their

schoolmates on a big birthday party. There could even be a cake battle in the end.

2. Short discussion: Happy birthday (10 minutes)

Ask students to form pairs and give them a cut-out worksheet with things and values

that are important in order to enjoy a happy birthday (Appendix 5). Ask them to order

these values from the most important to the least important ones.

After that ask them to join other pairs and do this in groups of four. And in the end the

whole class discusses the order and gives reasons why each thing is important for them.

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Variation: Teacher elicits everything that students need for their happy birthday and

the class than works with the list.

3. Changing voices (20 minutes)

Write the first column of adjectives on the board and elicit the opposites from students.

They should understand all of them.

friendly unfriendly

active lazy

honest dishonest

tolerant intolerant

interested bored

happy sad

calm angry

old young

Tell the students that everybody will say the following sentence in one of the ways

written on the board: We are late. Lets hurry.

The person, who will speak, chooses one pair of opposites e.g. active and lazy and says

the sentence in both ways. The rest of the class guesses which pair of the opposites he/she

used.

4. Teacher-in-role: Who am I? (45 minutes)

Introduce yourself as an attendant of a meeting and welcome all the guests (the class).

Stick a card from Appendix 2 on each students back. This sticker describes what his /her

job is. The students should not know what they have on their backs. They mingle at a

meeting for about 10 minutes and talk to each other. They should try to find out who they

are according to the way people behave to them and talk to them.

After this mingling everybody guesses what his/her job is and the others confirm or

clarify the right answer. Than they have five minutes to prepare a short speech about the

importance of their job. They should convince the audience that their work is the most

important one for the society.

Evaluation

I entitled this lessen What is important? because my aim was to make the students

think about their priorities. I tried this lesson plan with a group of fourteen years old pupils.

There were sixteen students in this group. The lesson started with the warm-up activity

which helped students control their breathing and develop concentration. They liked the

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idea of having a birthday and the most popular point was the cake battle in the end. The

truth is that the children were quite nosy during this fight.

Consequently children worked in pairs and they discussed their priorities for their best

birthday. I often had to remind them to use English because during the discussion they

tried to negotiate in Czech. The final order of our class was this: Health, Friends, No

school, Family, Happiness, Money, Food and drink, Music, A lot of presents.

The next activity Changing voices is very good for the begging with the drama

techniques. Children have to control the tone of their voice to illustrate the adjective.

Sometimes, it was difficult to recognise the difference but children concentrated a lot and

they learned all the adjectives and the phrase We are late. Lets hurry.

The last activity was very interesting and children liked the mystery that they did not

know what they have written on their backs. This situation is seen on the Picture 5. They

practiced social interaction and learned a lot of vocabulary because they wanted to know

who their friends are. In the end they had to introduce themselves and persuaded the

schoolmates that their job is as important as the others and that everybody is important for

our society.

Picture 4

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LESSON PLAN 4: Friendship in our lives

Aims: To encourage students to use monolingual dictionary, to improve speaking skills in context, to help class to get to know each other, to improve imagination and creativity

Language: Questions for clarification, new vocabulary of characteristics: friendly,

honest, reliable, tolerant, interesting, unfriendly, dishonest, intolerant, unreliable, calm and angry

Other: Students will think about the role of friendship in our lives



Time: 90 minutes


Materials:

- Copies of the pictures of famous friends from Appendix 1 for small groups of children

- A piece of paper with a characteristic for each student from Appendix 2 - Monolingual dictionaries - Pieces of paper for noting down the friends problems - 8 strings for 16 students ( about 50 cm) - Friends theme song on CD

Description:

1. Warm-up: Change your seat who.. (10 minutes)

The students sit in a circle. Put one chair away and ask the person who is left without

the chair to stand in the middle. He/she says something like, Everyone who is wearing red

colour. or Everyone who has a brother, or Everyone who is left-handed. Any

description that is likely to describe some and unlikely to describe all will do. Everyone

who fits the description must move to a different chair. The person in the middle of the

circle is also trying to get the chair. Usually a different person will be left standing in the

middle.

2. Introduction of the topic: Group discussion (5 minutes)

Give a copy of the pictures in Appendix 1 to students in groups of four. They can see

many TV characters there. Let them discuss the pictures and guess what the topic of this

lesson will be.

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After group discussion ask students to say their tips aloud. They should find out that

the topic is friendship.

3. Character (25 minutes)

Cut-out the characteristics in Appendix 2 and give one to every student. Students first

task is to find out the meaning of the word in a dictionary and prepare an explanation for

the class with a sentence as an example e.g. optimistic is someone who always believes

that good things will happen. The example sentence: He is optimistic about the future.

The class is sitting in the circle and everybody introduces his/her characteristics.

Than teacher collects the small pieces of paper, mixes them up and distributes them

again. The students must mime his/her characteristic this time. The other students guess

what the name of the mimed characteristic is and if it describes a friendly or an unfriendly

person.

4. Group formation activity Strings (5 minutes)

Teacher holds about 50 cm long strings in his/her hand and lets the ends loose. He/she

invites students to take hold of one end of one piece of sting. Then teacher lets the stings

off and students holding the same piece of string are paired off.

5. Friends in action (35 minutes)

Elicit some friends problems from your students. Use brainstorming and ask them

which problems friends can have in their relationship? Write all the suggested answers on

the board.

Here are some example situations:

1. You are in love with your best friends brother.

2. You and your friend are both in love with one person.

3. You reveal a big secret of your best friend and he/she gets to know it.

4. You find out that your best friend tried to take drugs.

5. Your friend is moving very far away.

6. Your friend needs help with something but you dont have time.

7. Your friend wants to go for a holiday with you but you dont have money.

8. You fall in love with your best friend and he/she doesnt know it.

9. Your best friend started ignoring you and you dont know why.

10. Your parents dont have time for you. They devote their time to your sister. You

complain to your friend and you want some advice.

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11. Your friend doesnt want to go out with you.

Then ask children to write them on cards.

Give students in pairs (created by strings in the previous activity) a card with some of

these situations, and then give them ten minutes to rehearse a short dramatization to show

their situation.

Each pair performs their dramatization for the whole class. The class has to work out

which of the situations mentioned is being presented. There should be more cards then are

used.

Variation: This can be introduced as a competition. The first pair which guesses right

wins a point.

6. Statues (5 minutes)

Students work in pairs. One is the sculptor and the other the clay. Ask students to

imagine a friend. It does not have to be any particular person. Next, ask sculptors to

create a statue of a friend from their clay while the music plays. They model the statue by

using their hands. Play the Friends theme song from the popular TV soap opera. After the

song, you and the sculptors go through the statue exhibition and look at friends. Express

how good the feeling is to see kind people around you.

Than ask sculptors and clays to change their roles.

Evaluation:

This lesson plan is formed to encourage class cooperation and to improve the

relationship among students in the class.

The game Change your seats who is a well known activity but it is very good

because it helps the class to get to know each other and it calls for a strategy that depends

in part on how well the person in the middle of the circle knows the others.

While the groups were discussing the pictures in Appendix 1 there was a small problem

that I chose famous friends from television stories and it was a bit misleading. In the end,

students managed to find out the theme of the lesson.

The group formation activity with the strings is very useful because students often have

a tendency to work with the same partner, but this activity mixes them.

While we were acting the friends problems some pairs had excellent ideas how to

solve the problems and it was fun.

The Statues was a very nice ending activity. At first students did not like to touch

each other but than they got accustomed to it.

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LESSON PLAN 5: Family

Aims: To make the class think about the role of the family in our lives, to improve imagination and creativity, to encourage group dynamics.

Language: Basic phrases for introduction and meeting people. Other: Students will think about the importance of relatives and the advantages of

not being alone. They will be encouraged to use dictionaries for their work.



Time: 90 minutes


Materials:

- Paper for paper hearts for every student - Dictionaries - Pieces of paper with family situations (Appendix 7) - Small cards with members of a family (Appendix 6)

Description

1 Warm-up: Big wedding party (10 minutes)

Set a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom by plying a popular CD. Tell the students

that you are enjoying a big wedding. There are many relatives both form the grooms side

and from the brides side. So this wedding is bringing together family members who have

not met yet. Let the students pretend to drink their toasts and go around the tables full of

food. Encourage them to take a role of any member of this big family. As they do so, they

should introduce themselves to other members of the family by using phrases such as: Hi,

my name is Nice to meet you. How are things? Arent you brides cousin? Are you that

popular Uncle Tom? Etc.

2 and they lived happily ever after (10 minutes)

Give every student a piece of paper and ask them to tear a shape of heart from it. Let

them write three things or qualities which Susan and Mike will need in their marriage and

which they - as the members of their family - wish them in order to live happily ever after.

Encourage them to use dictionaries for some new interesting words.

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3 Role plays: Family Situations (40 minutes)

Situation 1

You came home and you see your Mum talking to a strange man. When they see you

he is quickly leaving. You do not understand it and ask your Mum to explain it.

Your daughter came home from school and saw you with your colleague who helps

you prepare surprise for your husbands birthday. You do not want anyone from your

family to know it.

Situation 2

You are father and you booked a great holiday for the whole family and you are

announcing it over the family dinner. You feel very happy that you have such a nice

surprise for your family.

You are mother and you are serving dinner to your family. You are saving money for

new furniture and you hope that nobody from the family wants to go abroad this year.

You are daughter and you long for a holiday by the sea.

You are son and you have planned to go to Italy for a summer job for the whole

holidays. Your parents do not know about it yet.

Situation 3

It is your birthday today and you expect your son to congratulate you.

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You are sitting in the living room and watching a football match on TV. Your

favourite team is playing but your Mum is trying to speak with you.

Situation 4

You bought your favourite yogurt for breakfast and you put it in the refrigerator. It is

breakfast time but you cannot find it.

You came home late and you are very hungry. There was a yogurt in the fridge. So

you ate it. Now it is a morning and you are meeting your sister. She is looking for a

yogurt.

Probably that one you ate.

Situation 5

You live in a very small room with your brother and he is always leaving his clothes

everywhere.

You came to your and your sisters room and you put your jacket on your sisters bed.

Situation 6

You have a problem at school and your want to talk about it with your father.

You are very tired from work and you really want to have a shower. Right now!!!

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During this activity audience should concentrate on the performance. It is

recommended that after each scene teacher discuss the situation with the students. Have

you ever been in a similar situation?

4 Group formation activity (5 minutes)

You need to divide the class to groups of three or four. Cut-out different forms of

family members addressings from Appendix 6

First group Mum, Mother, Mummy, Mama

Second group Father, Dad, Daddy, Poppa

Third group Granny, Grandma, Grandmother, Nanny

Fourth group Grandfather, Grandpa, Granddad, Gramp

Give everybody one piece of paper with an addressing and ask them to mime their

member of the family. All Mums, Dads, Nannies and Grandpas must group together and

stay in these groups for the next activity.

5 Group Poem (25 minutes)

Give each group four decorated hearts from the activity 2. Ask groups to create a

short poem in which they use words from the wishes in the hearts. They are allowed to use

dictionaries during this activity. After this group work they should prepare a presentation

of their poems.

Evaluation:

I started this lesson with the activity Big wedding party. It was a very nice

activity. Students enjoyed the idea of being at a party full of fun. I used a poster to

motivate them and I played their favourite music to set the atmosphere (Picture 6). They

spoke a lot, which was the aim. The only problem was their tendency to use the mother

tongue in case they needed some difficult word. So we had to agree on the following rule:

Do not speak Czech during the party!

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Picture 6

Next activity and they lived happily ever after was a calm

individual work. Picture 7 displays one of the works. They used

the dictionaries for words they did not know but wanted to use in

their works.

The activity Family Situations took place after this calm work. It

was very demanding on concentration. Some scenes were excellent and we laughed a lot

but during the shy students performances it was quite boring. On the other hand, I think

that it helped even the shy students to improve their communicative skills and to push

themselves into public performance.

The part of the lesson where my students were asked to create a poem was a big

challenge for them. It was the first time when they composed a poem. They realized that it

is more difficult in English than in Czech because of differences in pronunciation and

spelling of the words. It encouraged them to work together. They had to use the

dictionaries to get inspiration for their rhymes. They had to concentrate on pronunciation.

In the end they managed to create nice work. Here is one example:

We wish you a lot of love

While you wear a wedding ring

In your life no bad thing

And every day sweet as a pudding.

(Honza, Katka, Jana and Tom, 9.A)

Picture 5

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Conclusion

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, 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.

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Summary

This bachelor thesis Effective Learning of English through Drama tries to prove that

using some activities from the area of dramatic education enriches the process of teaching.

Thanks to 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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Resum

Tato bakalsk prce Efektivn uen anglickho jazyka pomoc dramatu se sna

dokzat, e pouitm nkterch aktivit z oblasti dramatick vchovy, se proces uen

obohat a zefektivn. Pouitm dramatickch technik pi uen studenti zapojuj vechny

jazykov dovednosti. Procviuj i mnohem vce ne mluven, poslech, psan a ten.

V hodinch v kterch jsou dramatick techniky zakomponovny, studenti diskutuj, reaguj

na sv spoluky, spolupracuj, vzjemn se respektuj, naslouchaj si a pemlej o

nzorech druhch. Krom tchto velmi dleitch aspekt komunikace ci rozvjej svou

fantazii, kreativitu a schopnost vyjdit se. Tyto schopnosti, kter ci v hodinch

zskvaj, jsou nezbytn pro jejich dal ivot ve spolenosti.

Drama tak dv prostor pro jakkoliv tmata. Uitel do hodin jazyka lehce

zakomponuje nkter z prezovch tmat z rmcov vzdlvacho programu a nebo

nkter jin pedmt v rmci mezipedmtovho vyuovn

Drama je velmi rznorod a zahrnuje tm vechny zpsoby vuky, dky emu je

velmi vhodnou metodou, kter oslovuje ky s rznmi styly uen. Kad k si bhem

vyuovn me najt svou roli a zapojit se.

V praktick sti tto prce jsou plny devadesti minutovch lekc anglickho jazyka.

Jsou sestaveny pro ky druhho stupn zkladn koly. Tyto hodiny jsou pipraveny tak,

aby nevyadovaly dn nron pomcky ani dn zvltn schopnosti a dovednosti.

V tchto hodinch nen hlavnm clem nauit nco novho, ale spe procviit ji nauen

uivo v kontextu, procviit mluven a poslech a v neposledn ad povzbudit a motivovat

ky do dalho uen.

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References

Primary sources Almond, Mark. Teaching English with Drama. London: Modern English Publishing, 2005. Dougill, John. Drama Activities for Language Teaching. London: Macmillan, 1987. Hanpachov, Jana, and Zuzana andov. Anglitina pln her [English lessons full of games]. Praha [Prague]: Portl, 2005.

Maley, A. and A. Duff. Drama Techniques in Language learning. Cambridge: CUP, 1982. Phillips, Sarah. Drama with Children. Oxford: OUP, 1999.

Secondary sources Cockett, S. and G. Fox. Keep Talking! Krakow: Wydawnictwo Naukowe WSP, 1999. Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. London and New York: Longman, 1991. Ladousse, Gillian. Role Play. Oxford: OUP, 1987. Redington, C. Can Theatre Teach? Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1984. Wessels, Charlyn. Drama.Oxford: OUP, 1987 Neelands, Jonathan. Structuring Drama Work. Cambridge: CUP, 2000. Oral sources conference speeches: A workshop by David Fisher Jihlava 2004 Using Drama Activities to Teach Grammar

Internet pages Donald, Rudolf. Error Correction 2. [quoted: 16 March 2007]. http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/error_correct2.shtml Mont,Juliet du. Movement & Drama in ELT. [quoted: 5 February 2007] Howard Gardner, Multiple Intelligences and Education. [quoted: 8 May 2007] http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm Heathcote, Dorothy. Drama as a Learnig Medium. [quoted: 10 April 2007]. http://cultureraven.typepad.com/roll_the_bones/2004/05/dorothy_heathco_1.html Sam, Wan. Drama in Teaching English as a Second Language A Communicative Approach. [quoted: 5 November 2006]. http://www.melta.org.my/ET/1990/main8.html

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Appendices: Appendix 1 Pictures of famous frieds

Appendix 2 - Characteristics

Appendix 3 Roles for activity Who am I?

Appendix 4 Earth Song Lyrics

Appendix 5 - Happy birthday

Appendix 6 - Group formation activity: Members of the family

Appendix 7 Family situations

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Appendix 1

45

Appendix 2

Friend:

Friendly Active Honest

Optimistic Reliable Good

Tolerant Interesting

Unfriendly person:

Bad Unfriendly

Lazy Boring

Dishonest Intolerant Unreliable Pessimistic

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Appendix 3

Waiter

Pilot

Doctor

Teacher

Cook

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Cleaner

Shop assistant

Business man

Farmer

Nurse

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Computer expert

Manager

Poet

Painter

Student

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Hairdresser

Unemployed

Actor

Worker

Bricklayer

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Appendix 4

EARTH SONG LYRICS What about sunrise What about rain What about all the things That you said we were to gain.. . What about killing fields Is there a time What about all the things That you said was yours and mine... Did you ever stop to notice All the blood we've shed before Did you ever stop to notice The crying Earth the weeping shores? Aaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaah What have we done to the world Look what we've done What about all the peace That you pledge your only son... What about flowering fields Is there a time What about all the dreams That you said was yours and mine... Did you ever stop to notice All the children dead from war Did you ever stop to notice The crying Earth the weeping shores Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaah I used to dream I used to glance beyond the stars Now I don't know where we are Although I know we've drifted far Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaah Aaaaaaaaaaaah Hey, what about yesterday (What about us) What about the seas (What about us) The heavens are falling down (What about us) I can't even breathe (What about us) What about the bleeding Earth (What about us) Can't we feel its wounds (What about us) What about nature's worth

(ooo,ooo) It's our planet's womb (What about us) What about animals (What about it) We've turned kingdoms to dust (What about us) What about elephants (What about us) Have we lost their trust (What about us) What about crying whales (What about us) We're ravaging the seas (What about us) What about forest trails (ooo, ooo) Burnt despite our pleas (What about us) What about the holy land (What about it) Torn apart by creed (What about us) What about the common man (What about us) Can't we set him free (What about us) What about children dying (What about us) Can't you hear them cry (What about us) Where did we go wrong (ooo, ooo) Someone tell me why (What about us) What about babies (What about it) What about the days (What about us) What about all their joy (What about us) What about the man (What about us) What about the crying man (What about us) What about Abraham (What was us) What about death again (ooo, ooo) Do we give a damn

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Appendix 5

Happy birthday

Family

Friends

A lot of presents

Food and drink

Health

Happiness

Money

No school

Music

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Appendix 6

Group formation activity: Members of the family

Mum

Mother

Mummy

Mama

Father

Dad

Daddy

Poppa

Granny

Grandma

Grandmother

Nanny

Grandfather

Grandpa

Granddad

Gramp

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Appendix 7 Family situations

Situation 1

You came home and you see your Mum talking to a strange man. When they see you

he is quickly leaving. You do not understand it and ask your Mum to explain it.

Your daughter came home from school and saw you with your colleague who helps

you to prepare surprise for your husbands birthday. You do not want anyone from

your family to know it.

Situation 2

You are father and you booked a great holiday for the whole family and you are

announcing it over the family dinner. You feel very happy that you have such a nice

surprise for your family.

You are mother and you are serving dinner to your family. You are saving money for

a new furniture and you hope that nobody from the family wants to go abroad this

year.

You are daughter and you long for a holiday by the sea.

You are son and you have planned to go to Italy for a summer job for the whole

holidays. Your parents do not know about it yet.

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Situation 3

It is your birthday today and you expect your son to congratulate you.

You are sitting in the living room and watching a football match on TV. Your

favourite team is playing but your Mum is trying to speak with you.

Situation 4

You bought your favourite yogurt for breakfast and you put it in the refrigerator. It is

breakfast time but you cannot find it.

You came home late and you are very hungry. There was a yogurt in the fridge. So

you ate it. Now it is a morning and you are meeting your sister. She is looking for a

yogurt.

Probably that one you ate.

Situation 5

You live in a very small room with your brother and he is always leaving his clothes

everywhere.

You came to your and your sisters room and you put your jacket on a sisters bed.

Situation 6

You have a problem at school and your want to talk about it with your father.

You are very tired from work and you really want to have a shower. Right now!!!

Documents

Effective Learning of English Through Drama