Proposal on Shakespeare

1: Introduction:

Ben Jonson rightly said about William Shakespeare, “A quibble is to Shakespeare what

luminous vapours are to the traveller: he follows it at all adventures; it is sure to lead him out

of his way and sure to engulf him in the mire.”

Shakespeare (1564-1616) has become an important landmark

in English literature. In a world where the quality of the art

form called ‘writing’ is so often said to be rapidly diminishing,

it is important to retain some studies of the true classics, such

as Shakespeare. The objective of teaching language to the

school students is to enable them love language and appreciate

it. But the present syllabus in schools is such that it is condensed to the extent where teachers

are not even able to do the required justice to the small topic that they teach. Now-a-days,

literature is no more a part of the curriculum and therefore it is not possible for the present

generation to catch the essence of literary work. It is advisable that, to create enthusiasm and

interest in the students for language learning, the English teachers to at least take up any

genre of literature irrespective of the curriculum, once in a year so that the students are

inspired to learn the ‘strength in language’ and the ‘power in words’ that would exceed the

literary understanding and even polish their vocabulary. For this, teaching Shakespearean

works is the best option. Shakespeare was not only so well accomplished in his writing skills

but majority of his works were written on such basic human themes that they will endure for

all time. Shakespeare's histories and comedies are among the best ever written genres of

literature.

1 |Making Shakespeare Accessible to Secondary School Students: An Experiment with Performance Based Approach

One cannot deny a fact that teaching Shakespeare in a classroom is an extremely difficult

task, but it is as rewarding. Although it demands the unusual efforts from both the teacher and

the students, it may prove extremely motivating as well because it gives the opportunity to

read in original the works of an author who is not only one of the most important in the

English Language but probably the most important writer in the Western literary canon.

Therefore teaching Shakespeare is worth the extra effort from the teacher. Furthermore, there

can be no doubt that Shakespeare was a master of the artistry of the English language. He

wrote with such fluidity of thought, word, rhythm, and sound that the work is presented in a

complex manner, but is not unintelligible, even for the inexperienced reader.

(http://www.shakespeare-online.com/essays/importance.html) Since the Shakespearean

drama differs from other literature studied in the some of the syllabus and high school

English curriculum, one important issue to be addressed is whether the approaches used in

teaching Shakespeare's plays are, in any significant way, different from the approaches used

while teaching any other literary genre.

Additionally, given the potential need

for alternative teaching strategies,

another question to be considered is the

amount of time spent teaching the

Shakespearean drama. When teaching

Shakespeare, it is important to make lessons engaging and entertaining for school students so

they do not lose interest and therefore time should not be a constraint, while it also becomes

an issue when at one go you play the role of a counselor, nurse, semi-parent, teacher and a

friend for each student in the class, you have yard duty for the day including completion of

the lesson in the stipulated time. Use of strategies such as group discussions, visual aids and

hands-on projects to teach students about Shakespeare's works are very common now-a-days


http://www.shakespeare-online.com/essays/importance.html

and time-consuming as well. Researcher therefore thoughtfully presents a technique where it

will, no doubt, break down the energy of the students, make them enthusiastic and at the

same time maintain focus on the most demanded term, ‘Literary Appreciation’ of the

Shakespearean Drama and i.e. to make pupil throw themselves into the whole host of drama.

With increased knowledge of performance based approach and greater

confidence in the teacher’s ability to lead performance based activities,

teachers can greatly enhance their classroom presentation of

Shakespeare's writing. This research can be used as a guide for all the

teachers teaching Shakespearean Drama. That is why the researcher has decided

to conduct research on aforesaid topic.

2: Need of the study:

There is an increasing need for learning Shakespearean Drama at school level. William

Shakespeare, a poet and playwright known for the most popular plays of all time and deals

with contemporary issues that many students face today: conflict, resolution, temptation, and

morality. Shakespeare's writing has been studied as exemplary literature for centuries. The

plays of William Shakespeare are mandatory reading for virtually every English-speaking

student in the world today. What is it about Shakespeare's writing that has brought it to the

forefront of literary studies? Why is knowledge of these plays considered the sign of an

educated, literate individual? Researcher feels like teaching Shakespeare for two main

reasons. Firstly, to experience the lighthearted pleasure in playing with language since

Shakespeare does not simply use words, he uses poetry masterfully and to have a positive and

powerful learning experience. Teaching Shakespeare is important in the classroom because

his works looks at contemporary issues that many students face today: conflict, resolution,

temptation, and morality. Shakespeare resonates emotionally with students – you ask a


student playing Macbeth to look at the ghost of his best friend whom he had killed, and ask

them how they’re feeling – it hits them. These are people speaking beautiful words about

very human situations and experiences, and it’s open to every student.

Many scholars have offered practical explanations for the study of Shakespeare's plays. An

examination of Shakespeare's writing, according to Roberts (1993), allows us "the pleasure of

discovering how one supremely creative mind experiments with forms, examines and

reexamines themes, ideas, and characters, and constantly shapes and reshapes our vision of

what the world is like" (p. 3). Evans (1966) offers this justification: Any major Shakespeare

play provides a class with a compact body of reading matter with which they can have all

kinds of experiences that formulators of high school English programs have ever thought

worthy of inclusion. Such a play covers, in effect, all the genres: it is short story, novel,

drama, poetry and essay. It offers narration, exposition, description and argumentation.

Anyone of the above justifications available is enough to say that there should be inclusion of

Shakespeare's plays in the high school curriculum and the combination of these reasons

provides an even more powerful incentive to the researcher for the study of his immortal text

– ‘The Merchant of Venice’. Nevertheless, the question of how to present these great works


of literature to the novice student is also a question where the need for innovations in

instructional strategies for developing literary appreciation, i.e. an ability to gain

understanding and appreciation for literature, have been a concern to the researcher and

therefore the researcher focuses on the need for performance based approach for teaching

Shakespearean Drama that would give the essence of studying in a play-way method and

would be rewarding too.

3: Review of related literature:

1. Brent T. Strom, Loyola University Chicago (2011) ‘The Strawberry Grows Under the

Nettle: How an Integrated Performance-Based Approach to the Teaching of Shakespeare

at the Secondary Level Affects Critical Thinking Skills as Measured by the California

Critical Thinking Skills Test’

2. Folger Shakespeare, (2003) ‘Curriculum Guide for Teachers teaching Shakespeare –

Hamlet’

3. Chip Mather and Ann Costello (2001) ‘An Innovative Approach to Performance Based

Acquisition: Using a Statement of Objective’

4. Department for Children, Schools and Families (2008) ‘Shakespeare for all Ages and

Stages’

5. Thomas Nosker, Richard Renfree and Jennifer Lynch (1994) ‘A Performance-Based

Approach to the Development of a Recycled Plastic/Composite Crosstie’

6. United States Environmental Protection Agency (2011) ‘A Performance Based Approach

to the Use of Swipe Samples in Response to a Radiological or Nuclear Incident’

7. Kathleen Evans, (2006) ‘Shakespeare Comes Alive’

8. Vince Mate, (2005) ‘Teaching Shakespeare in EFL Classroom’

9. Valerie Madsen (1985) ‘Strategies for teaching the Shakespearean Drama’


10. Dervishaj, A. (2009) ‘ Using Performance based approach as a Creative Method for

Foreign Language Acquisition’

The researcher was able to locate very few studies on Shakespeare and performance based

approach in teaching drama to secondary school students and therefore it is also noticed that

there is a gap in the research because of which it is very important to conduct a research on

teaching Shakespearean drama with performance based approach.

4: Significance of the study:

The researcher’s message is that ‘Shakespeare matters’. As his friend and rival, the

playwright Ben Jonson, said, “He was not of an age but for all time!” Shakespeare was just

one writer amongst many on London’s thriving sixteenth and seventeenth century stage – but

he’s certainly one that has lasted! His work is at the centre of Britain’s twenty-first century

theatre industry, is constantly adapted for film, has been translated into hundreds of

languages and is performed throughout the world today. He understood how to take a familiar

story and create tragic, hilarious, suspenseful, philosophical, challenging dramas with which

people all over the world continue to identify.

Shakespeare was writing at a time before theatre technologies and complex stage design

created visual worlds for theatre audiences and he created those worlds through language. He

coined new words and phrases that we still use today and his rich, theatrical and poetic

language can be both strikingly resonant and a challenge to access. This study will therefore

prove to be useful and enriching for all the English literature teachers need a sensible base for

their teaching and guide students throughout the process.

When young people watch or read Shakespeare today, they are pulled into a world that is

both alien and familiar to them. In one scene, his treatment of love, jealousy, racism,

mourning or power can seem strikingly relevant; in the next moment, the reader might have

to engage with concepts of religion, family, fashion, etc. completely different from their own.


Shakespeare constantly challenges and confounds us: we might be asked to laugh in a painful

scene or engage with profound philosophical questions in a comic one. Therfore, this study

will throw light on the difficulties faced by the students in understanding Shakespearean

language and also the opinion of literature teachers on the difficulties faced by them while

teaching Shakespeare.

Shakespeare can open up brave new worlds to young people and offer them fresh ways of

dealing with familiar ones. His work can challenge our language skills and introduce us to

new realms of poetic playfulness. He can extend our concepts of what fiction can do, and of

what stories a drama can tell. Therefore, it will be an eye-opener for the school authorities

and other researchers.

5: Statement of the Problem:

Making Shakespeare Accessible to Secondary School Students: An Experiment with

Performance Based Approach

6: Variables of the Study:

Independent Variable: Performance Based Approach

Dependent Variable: Literary Appreciation of Shakespearean Drama

7: Operational Definitions of the Key Terms:

Shakespearean Drama: Shakespearean Drama refers to all the plays written by Shakespeare.

In the context of this study, Shakespearean Drama refers to Merchant of Venice by

Shakespeare.

Literary Appreciation: Literary Appreciation is the bedrock of literature. It refers to the

ability of gaining pleasure and appreciation for literature.


Performance Based Approach: Performance-based teaching is an interactive approach to

the study of literature, particularly Shakespeare's plays and poems, in which students

participate in a close reading of text through intellectual, physical, and vocal engagement.

8: Aims and Objectives of the Study:

Aims:

1. To develop a performance based instructional strategy for teaching of Shakespearean

drama for standard VIII.

2. To study the effectiveness of performance based approach for developing literary

appreciation among standard VIII students.

Objectives:

1. To study the opinion of school teachers about teaching Shakespearean drama at school

level.

2. To study the difficulties faced by the students of standard VIII in learning Shakespearean

Drama.

3. To develop performance based instructional strategy for teaching Shakespearean Drama

to Standard VIII students.

4. To compare the pre-test and post-test literary appreciation scores of Standard VIII

students.

5. To study the perceived utility of performance based approach for teaching Shakespearean

Drama according to:

a. Students of Standard VIII

b. Teachers of English Literature


9: Hypothesis and Research Questions:

Hypothesis:

In pursuit of the objective 4, the following null hypothesis is formulated.

H01: There is no significant difference in the pre-test and post-test literary appreciation

scores of Standard VIII students.

Research Question:

In pursuit of objective 1, 2 and 5, the following Research Questions are raised.

RQ1: What is the opinion of school teachers about teaching Shakespearean drama at school

level?

RQ2: What are the difficulties faced by the students of Standard VIII in learning

Shakespearean Drama?

RQ3: What is the perceived utility of performance based approach for teaching

Shakespearean Drama according to

a. Students of Standard VIII.

b. Teachers of English Literature.

10: Research Design:

Methodology of the study: The methodology of the study can be explained with the help of

a Mixed Method embedded research diagram.

This study will be conducted in 3 phases as follows:


Ist Phase: Identification Phase Tools Data Analysis

Opinion of Teachers and students Semi-Structured Interview QUALITATIVE DATA

ANALYSISLiterary Appreciation Pre-test Literary Appreciation Test

IInd Phase: Intervention Phase Tools Data Analysis

Performance

Based

Instructional Design

Lesson PlansQUANTITATIVE

DATA ANALYSISReflective Sheets

Work Sheets, etc.

IIIrd Phase: Educational Phase Tools Data Analysis

Literary Appreciation Scores

of Students and

Perceived Utility of

Teachers and Students

Literary Appreciation Test

QUALITATIVE DATA

ANALYSISSemi-Structured Interview

Population of the study: Population is the entire group of people on whom the research

is conducted and it depends on the context of the study. In my study, the population is all the

students of Standard VIII studying in ICSE schools.

Sample of the study: A Sample is a part of the total population. It can be an individual

element or a group of elements selected from the population. There are various types of

samples. In this study it is ‘purposive convenient sampling’. The researcher has selected the

entire VIII A comprising of 30 students studying in Jankidevi Public School, Andheri (W).

Tools for collection data:

1. Interview schedule for studying the opinion of teachers about teaching Shakespearean

Drama.


2. Interview schedule for studying the difficulties faced by Standard VIII students in

learning Shakespearean Drama.

3. A pre-test to analyze the literary appreciation of Shakespearean Drama in Standard VIII

students.

4. A post-test to analyze literary appreciation scores of Standard VIII students.

5. A semi-structured interview to study the perceived utility of performance based approach

for teaching Shakespearean Drama according to:

Students of Std VIII

Teachers of English Literature

11: Scope and Delimitations of the Study:

Scope of the study:

1) The study seeks to identify the following:

Problems faced by teachers teaching Shakespearean Drama.

Problems faced by students learning Shakespearean Drama.

Literary appreciation scores in the pre-test

Literary appreciation scores in the post-test

Difference between the pre-test and post-test scores

Perceived Utility of Performance Based Approach for teaching Shakespearean Drama

according to literature teachers.

Perceived Utility of Performance Based Approach for teaching Shakespearean Drama

according to literature students.


2) The study seeks to develop and try out an intervention module for fostering the literary

appreciation for Shakespearean Drama through performance based approach.

3) The study also seeks to enhance English teaching efficacy in Shakespearean Drama

through performance based approach.

4) The study also seeks to find out the effectiveness of the intervention module with respect

to Performance based approach in Literary Appreciation.

5) The study also seeks to find out the effectiveness of the intervention module Performance

based approach and the perceived utility of teachers and students in teaching

Shakespearean Drama.

Delimitation of the study:

The present research is delimited to ICSE Students only.

It is also delimited to VIII A students of Jankidevi Public School (ICSE), Andheri(W)

It is also delimited to:

30 students of Standard VIII A from Jankidevi Public School,

Andheri(W).

Students not belonging to any learning disability problems.

The present study is delimited to:

Only one Shakespearean Drama, ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

Results obtained through the literary appreciation test on

Shakespearean Drama, ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

12: Data Analysis:


Data analysis is a crucial process of research. Analysis of data refers to organizing the data,

tabulating it into a manageable and understandable form. Analyzing of data consists of

descriptive analysis and inferential analysis.

1. Descriptive Analysis: In the present study, the following descriptive analysis will be used.

a) Measures of Central Tendency: The measures of central tendency computed for the

present studies are Mean, Median, and Mode.

b) Measures of Variability: Variability is described as the dispersion or spread of

separate scores around the central tendency. The measure of variability used in the

present study is standard deviation.

c) Measures of Divergence from the Normality: Measures of Divergence used in the

present studies are Kurtosis and Skewness.

d) Graphical representation: Histogram and Pie diagram

2. Inferential Analysis: Inferential analysis refers to the testing of hypothesis. It involves

inferring a population’s characteristics or parameters from a random sample statistics, thus

generalizing the findings to a larger population.

The Parametric techniques that will be used for the present study is ‘t’-test.

‘t’-test : ‘t’-test will be used to determine whether there is significant difference between the

pre and post test scores of literary appreciation of Shakespearean Drama.

The data collected through semi structured interview from the teachers and students will be

analyzed qualitatively. Data collected from the interviews and reflections will be displayed

using the contextual matrix. This will assist the analysis of the data and conceptualization of

the findings in terms of emerging themes.


13: Conclusions:

“The experience of Shakespearean Drama through role play, dramatization and art has always

enhanced our children’s reading and writing skills.” When we know this, then why can’t we

include this in our daily activity and be a reason for that smile on pupil’s face. Watching,

performing and reading the work of this extraordinary poet and playwright asks us both to

challenge and celebrate our social and personal lives. Shakespeare can open up brave new

worlds to young people and offer them fresh ways of dealing with familiar ones. His work

can challenge our language skills and introduce us to new realms of poetic playfulness. He

can extend our concepts of what fiction can do, and of what stories a drama can tell. Working

with Shakespeare can be challenging but is eminently rewarding, rich and fulfilling. This

research is designed to help teachers deliver learning objectives in lively and engaging but

manageable ways and exemplify active, imaginative and

performance based approaches related to ‘The Merchant of

Venice’. This research offers the teachers, ideas for working

with Shakespeare. This research will make you realize that

stories can be told in different ways including Dramatization

through ‘Performance Based Approach’.


Documents

Proposal on Shakespeare