MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature The Use of Drama Techniques in Teaching Adult EFL Learners Bachelor Thesis Brno 2012 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Naděžda Vojtková Martina Váchová 1 Annotation The Bachelor's thesis The Use of Drama Techniques in Teaching Adult EFL Learners deals with the use of drama in teaching English, putting emphasis on teaching adults. Chapter one is concerned with the advantages and disadvantages of using drama in teaching English and provides several practical tips on implementing drama into English lessons. Chapter two enumerates and describes various types of commonly used drama techniques. Chapter three characterizes adult learners, defines their expectations and analyses possibilities of using drama in adult education, with particular emphasis on enriching English lessons with drama oriented activities. Chapter four, being the practical part, consists of a series of lesson plans based on drama activities, accompanied with evaluations of the lessons. Anotace Bakalářská práce The Use of Drama Techniques in Teaching Adult EFL Learners se zabývá využitím technik dramatické výchovy ve výuce angličtiny, přičemž důraz je kladen na výuku dospělých. V první kapitole jsou popsány výhody a nevýhody používání dramatiky ve výuce angličtiny a dále je zde uvedeno několik praktických rad vztahujících se k zavádění dramatických postupů do hodin angličtiny. V kapitole druhé jsou vyjmenovány nejběžněji používané dramatické techniky. Třetí kapitola pojednává o charakteristických rysech dospělých studentů a nastiňuje možnosti využití dramatiky ve vzdělávání dospělých, zejména v souvislosti s možnostmi obohacení hodin angličtiny. Čtvrtá kapitola zahrnuje přípravy na hodiny založené na dramatických postupech a hodnocení proběhlých hodin. Key words: Drama, drama techniques, EFL, adult learners, adult education, conversation courses, lesson plans Klíčová slova: Dramatická výchova, dramatické techniky, vzdělávání dospělých, konverzační kurz, příprava na hodinu 2 Declaration I declare that I worked on this bachelor thesis independently and used only the sources listed in the bibliography. I agree that the work will be kept in the Masaryk University library for study purposes. Brno, 3 December 2012 ----------------------- Martina Váchová 3 Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Naděžda Vojtková for her kind guidance and helpful advice. 4 Content Introduction..............................................................................................................................7 Theoretical Part......................................................................................................................9 1. Drama…………………………….......................................................................................9 1.1. What is drama........................................................................................................9 1.2. The advantages of using drama.............................................................................9 1.3. The disadvantages of using drama.......................................................................12 1.4. Several tips before using drama...........................................................................13 2. Drama techniques………………………………………....................................................15 2.1. Hot-seating...........................................................................................................15 2.2. Role on the Wall...................................................................................................15 2.3. Conscience Alley………………………………………………………………..15 2.4. Frozen Frames/ Still Images…………………………………………………….16 2.5. Thought-tracking………………………………………………………………...16 2.6. Teacher in Role………………………………………………………………….16 2.7. Mantle of the Expert…………………………………………………………….16 2.8. Role Play…………………………………………………………………….…..17 2.9. Simulation……………………………………………………………………….17 3. Adult learners......................................................................................................................18 3.1. Characteristics of an adult learner........................................................................18 3.2. Adult learners‟ expectations.................................................................................19 3.3. Adult learners and drama.....................................................................................20 3.4. Drama with adults in ELT....................................................................................21 Practical Part 4. Lesson plans for a conversation course..............................................................................23 4.1. Description of the course.....................................................................................23 4.2. Lesson plans.........................................................................................................24 4.2.1. Lesson plan 1-Extraordinary Newspaper Stories..................................24 4.2.2. Lesson plan 2-TV News Bulletin..........................................................27 4.2.3. Lesson plan 3-Guided Tour...................................................................29 4.2.4. Lesson plan 4-Life in the Terminal........................................................32 5 4.3. Final assessment of the course...............................................................................41 Conclusion................................................................................................................................44 Bibliography.............................................................................................................................46 Appendices...............................................................................................................................48 Appendix A: Lesson plan 2 Handout...........................................................................49 Appendix B: Lesson plan 4 Handout...........................................................................50 Appendix C: Questionnaire..........................................................................................52 6 Introduction The popularity of communicative teaching method in the last decades brought interest in using drama in teaching foreign languages. However, there are still many teachers and learners reluctant to include drama techniques, presumably for the reason of lack of information on what drama in language classes looks like and how it can be incorporated into lessons. I must admit that I used to be one of them. Several years ago, I associated teaching languages through drama with working on a masterpiece by a great classical playwright. An idea of rehearsing a play in order to prepare a performance for public crossed my mind and I immediately lost interest. I considered drama to be something complicated and time- consuming, convenient only for enthusiastic theatregoers. The turning point came when I experienced a lesson based on drama techniques as a student. During my studies at university I was impressed by a lesson led by one of my colleagues in the subject Cultural Studies. When I asked her about her source of inspiration she recommended me Neelands and Goode and at that moment a new world opened to me. I started to study literature and became interested in using drama conventions in my teaching. I realised that I had been using some of simpler drama techniques even before being aware that they are drama, for example roleplays and mimes. I have found out that there are many established activities used in drama education that can be adapted to TEFL. However, many of them are designed for bigger groups and most of the resources deal with the use of drama in teaching children. I teach both young and adult learners. As for the children, it seems to be quite natural to use dramatization, in fact I have always been basing their lessons on roleplays, mimes, storytelling and similar techniques. However, doing drama with the adults was a real challenge, I became profoundly interested in it and soon many questions to consider appeared in my mind, which in the end resulted in the decision to focus my thesis on this topic. The aim of this Bachelor Thesis is to examine several questions concerning possible use of drama education as a tool for teaching foreign languages to adults. Firstly, would adults benefit from doing drama activities in English classes in the same way as children do? Secondly, is it possible to use drama activities with small groups (4-6students)? Finally, how would adult students respond to drama? I have divided my work into two parts. The theoretical part deals with the definition of drama in context of teaching languages, describes adult learners and enumerates several most 7 common drama techniques. The practical part offers my own lesson plans incorporating drama activities accompanied with my reflections on them. I hope the lesson plans will be inspiring for other teachers considering introducing drama into their lessons. 8 Theoretical Part 1. Drama 1.1. What is drama To start with, it is important to point out that drama in this context does not mean performing a scripted play on stage. Neelands and Goodle consider theatre “the direct experience that is shared when people imagine and behave as if they were other than themselves in some other place at another time” (3). This implies that we all have experienced drama in our lives – what else is the pretend play in toddlers