Program for Teaching Foreign Students

[Niko]

English through Drama

In the classroom, the simple formulation that students learn by imitating someone else using the language needs careful development. Since the actual classroom is only one small piece of the world in which we expect the student to use English, artificial means must be used to transform the classroom into a variety of other pieces. The obvious means for performing this transformation is through drama.

Imaginative play has always been a powerful educational device for both children and adults.

By using drama in the classroom, the teacher can expand the classroom indefinitely and provide imaginatively natural contexts for learning English.

Drama techniques can include:

• Acting out dialogues
• Relabeling objects and people in the classroom (supplemented by realia if desired)
• Preparing imaginative role playing

So the next time you are in the classroom teaching your students, keep in mind that English through drama is yet another powerful teaching technique.