================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 Vol. 19:10 October 2019 ================================================================ USING THEATRE TO ENHANCE LEARNER LANGUAGE IN ENGLISH CLASSROOMS: A SRI LANKAN EXPERIMENT KANDIAH SHRIGANESHAN Supervisors: Dr. Geetha Durairajan Reader, Dept. of Evaluation, EFLU Prof. Maya Pandit Narkar Pro-Vice-Chancellor EFLU, Hyderabad, India A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English (English Language Education) The English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) Hyderabad, India May 2008 ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:10 October 2019 Dr K. Shriganeshan Using Theatre to Enhance Learner Language in English Classrooms: A Sri Lankan Experiment i Dedication I dedicate this book to: my father Late (Mr.) SELLIAH KANDIAH, a retired Principal, for his tireless encouragement in all my endeavours and my mother, Mrs. THANGAMMA KANDIAH, a retired primary teacher, for her timely support in all gestures…. ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:10 October 2019 Dr K. Shriganeshan Using Theatre to Enhance Learner Language in English Classrooms: A Sri Lankan Experiment ii Dr. Kandiah Shriganeshan Kandiah Shriganeshan is a Senior Lecturer attached to the Department of English Language Teaching at the University of Jaffna with Ph.D. in English obtained from the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India in 2009. Being accredited as a Teacher in Higher Education from the Staff and Educational Development Association in England and having served as the Head of the English Language Teaching Unit and Course Academic Coordinator for the Extension in English (Vavuniya Campus, University of Jaffna) and Coordinator for B.A. in Translation Studies and English Language Teaching (Special Degrees) he has authored many books, presented research papers in international conferences, published several research articles in refereed journals, translated poems and articles, edited magazines and journals and written, directed and acted in plays. He is currently the Editor of Sri Lanka Journal of South Asian Studies of the Faculty of Arts, University of Jaffna. Dr. Shriganeshan got Sri Lankan Govt. Literary awards for his collection of plays and criticisms in Tamil and Translations from English to Tamil. E-mail: [email protected] Acknowledgements I am deeply obliged to all those who have guided and encouraged me to complete this study. I wish to express my thanks to the following: - Dr. Geetha Durairajan and Prof. Maya Pandit Narkar, my Supervisors. - Prof. Julu Sen, Prof. G. Rajagopal, Prof. S. R. Prahalad, Prof. J. Amirthavalli, Prof. Paul Gunasegar, Prof. Jacob Tharu, Prof. K. Amaliraj, Prof. S. Upendran, and Prof. Shruti Sircar. - Vice Chancellor, the Registrar and all the administrative staff of EFLU. - Prof S. Sri Raman, Dean of English Studies and Mr. G. S. R. K. Babu Rao, Asst. Registrar and the other officers in the Dean’s Office, EFLU. - Deputy Librarian and all the staff attached to the Ramesh Mohan Library, EFLU. - Vice Chancellor, University of Jaffna, and Rector, Vavuniya Campus, University of Jaffna. - Director, NCAS, UGC, Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka. - Prof. R. Nanthakumaran, Dean, Faculty of Business Studies, Mr. N. Nanthakumar, Senior Assistant Registrar, Mrs. Vennila Vijeluxman, Senior Instructor in English, ELTU, Mr. K. S. Selvarajan, Senior Instructor in Computer Science, Mrs. Poongothai Selvarajan, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Business Studies, Vavuniya Campus. - ELTU office assistants Miss V. Tamilselvi, Miss. Yamuna Subbiah, Mr. Anjanan and Mr. R. A. Raveendran. - Principals of Vn/ Vavuniya Tamil Madhya Vidyalayam, Vn/ Rambaikulum Girls’ Maha Vidyalayam and Vn/ Saivaprakasa Vidyasalai. - Mr. S. Sivapalan, former Coordinator, English medium, Vn/ Rambaikulum Girls’ Maha Vidyalayam, Mr. N. Ragunathan, Coordinator, Vn/ Vavuniya Tamil Madhya Vidyalayam, for their support during the days of data collection. - Mr. S. Pathmanathan, retired Principal, Palaly Government Teachers’ College. - Late Prof. K. Sivathamby, Prof. S. Maunaguru, Dr. Kulanthai Shanmugalingam. - Dr. K. Sithamparanathan and Nadagaselvar. Late. S. T. Arasu. - My Late father and mother, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law and sisters in law. - My friends Mr. N. Gnanasooriyar, Late Mr. Inuvaiyoor Sithampara Thiruchenthinathan, Mr. T. Sivakumaran, and Mr. N. Sivasithamparam of Inuvil Circle of Arts and Literature. ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:10 October 2019 Dr K. Shriganeshan Using Theatre to Enhance Learner Language in English Classrooms: A Sri Lankan Experiment iii - Dr. N. Raveendran and Dr. Akalangan of Circle of Arts and Literary Friends, Vavuniya. - Friends from CIEFL/EFLU, Hyderabad, namely, G. Rajasegar, Ruth, Manisha, Binthu, Boitheki, Charithra, Anerine, Majeeth, Shek, Ravichandran, Theebak, Parthasarathy, Pathmakumar, Joe, Shereen, Vengat Rao, Raju Nayak, Ashley, Jibu Geroge, Dr. Balasubramaniam and Mr. K. Parani. - Mr. Suresh, owners of Sai Xerox, and Sargar Stores. - Mrs. Shriganeshan Selvakumary, my wife and Miss. S Shahmeera and my son Mas. S. Nathiskar, my children for their lovely support to complete my academic effort. ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:10 October 2019 Dr K. Shriganeshan Using Theatre to Enhance Learner Language in English Classrooms: A Sri Lankan Experiment iv Abstract The thesis represents an attempt to explore the possibilities of using theatre in ESL classrooms at the secondary level in Sri Lankan schools. The study is based on the assumption that theatre will facilitate and enhance language learning especially when learners hail from a rich L1 theatrical culture. The thesis therefore aimed to find out whether theatre could be used to promote oral and written communication skills and whether it would encourage community learning in groups and create a healthy collaborative learning atmosphere in order to open up possibilities for extending the scope of traditional classroom teaching and learning. Being exploratory and essentially ethnographic in nature, the research methods used in the investigation were participant observation and open-ended interactions with students accompanied by researcher intervention and teaching. The texts that were analysed included classroom scripts, students’ and teacher’s diaries, the workshop journal of the researcher and comments from parents and well-wishers. The theoretical framework of the thesis draws on the uses of theatre in education and language learning, the notion of a scaffolding device and concepts of dialogic and liberating pedagogy. The initial investigation in the form of a preliminary study paved the way for the main study and indicated the need for a longitudinal ethnographic oriented main study. This was carried out over a period of three months with secondary level Sri Lankan Tamil students transiting into English medium of instruction. The findings reveal that the use of theatre promotes learning in a substantial manner. Students were able to create situations, enact scenes and then script plays, thus producing the necessary language for communication in those contexts. Their spontaneous and effective oral communicative capability which the theatre workshop enhanced was reflected in the performances that preceded the group-wise scripting and the enhancing of the written capability was captured in the scripts and diary entries. ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:10 October 2019 Dr K. Shriganeshan Using Theatre to Enhance Learner Language in English Classrooms: A Sri Lankan Experiment v List of Tables and Diagrams Table 3.1 Table 3.2 Table 4.1 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Diagram 5.1 Diagram 5.2 ==================================================================== Language in India www.languageinindia.com ISSN 1930-2940 19:10 October 2019 Dr K. Shriganeshan Using Theatre to Enhance Learner Language in English Classrooms: A Sri Lankan Experiment vi Table of Contents Dedication Acknowledgements Abstract List of tables and Diagrams Chapter I Behind the Scenes 1.1 Introduction 1.2 My Roles in the Theatre of English Language Teaching 1.2.1 Theatre for Communication 1.2.2 Theatre in Language classroom 1.2.3 Theatre at the University 1.2.4 Experiential Learning 1.3 The Present Study 1.3.1Statement of the Problem 1.3.2 Background to the Study- English Language Teaching in Sri Lanka 1.3.3 Status of English during the British Colonial Rule 1.3.4 English Language Education after Independence 1.3.5 The Importance of English in Sri Lanka 1.4 Methods adopted in the ELT in Schools 1.4.1 Current Status of English 1.4.2 Linguistics Human Rights and Empowerment of the Minority 1.4.3 Objectives of the Study 1.4.4 Assumptions of the Study 1.5 Methods of Investigation 1.5.1 Ethnographic Perspectives 1.5.2 The Principles of Ethnographic Research 1.5.3 Different Kinds of ethnography 1.5.4 Application of Ethnography in second Language Classrooms 1.5.5 Use of Ethnographic Methods 1.5.6 Rationale for Qualitative Methodology