Different Drama-Oriented Activities for EFL Classroom
Generally it can be said that the use of drama and such drama activities in TEFL do adhere to the principles of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). The final aim in CLT is for the learner to achieve communicative competence. The advocators of the use of drama for foreign language teaching is that learner will become more imaginative, creative and sensitive as he becomes more selfconfident in the process of learning English as a Foreign Language. As it was discussed above using grammar for language learning and teaching is not something you in classroom practice. Several studies have discussed a range of dramatic activities such as scenarios, improvisation, role-play, different games, and simulation in second or foreign language classroom.
Role-play and simulation prompts mental and bodily activity. The activities require active participation. Concentration is also often required and it is not easy for a student to stay passive for long. Situations are created for the students to use the language meaningfully and this would motivate the students towards participation. The less motivated students will be gradually drawn into the activity when they see the rest of the group having a good time. These activities are claimed to have these merits:
· Are fluency activities
· Are suitable for consolidation
· Create sensitivity and a sense of awareness
· Increase motivation
· Are a break from routine
· Prepare students for real life and unpredictability .
Using drama-oriented activities are not devoid of some negative characteristics which should be considered while implementing them in the classroom using communicative language teaching (CLT) and language teacher should try to control them as far as he can. There are many discussions about the negative aspects of communicative drama oriented activities in EFL classrooms. Sam, (cited in Whiteson ,1996) has also classified such a negative aspects of communicative drama oriented activities for teaching English as a foreign or second language as of the following ones:
· They are artificial
· They are difficult to monitor
· They cause embarrassment
· They encourage incorrect forms
· They have cultural bias
· They cause teachers’ fear of losing control
· Spontaneity is lost
· Timing lessons is difficult
· These activities may not be suitable for all levels
Role-play
In the EFL classroom, role-playing is a powerful tool. It teaches cooperation, empathy for others, decision making skills and encourages an exchange of knowledge between students and with the teacher and students. This aspect alone would make role-playing beneficial. Yet, there are many other positive aspects to the roleplaying. Apart from the obvious development of communication skills, it encourages leadership, team work, compromise, authentic listening skills and practice with real life savior-faire. The practice with role-playing contributes to the self-esteem of the students, confidence increases in English as well as real life; self-acceptance can be encouraged in subtle ways and acceptance of others. Assuming a role is an essential element in drama. Some theorists see it as intrinsic to all human behavior whether in games children play 'or roles that adults play each day. Generally speaking, role-play involves being an imaginary person usually in a hypothetical situation and sometimes in a real one. It also involves a finite interaction between characters within a range of possibilities. Makita (1995) sees role-play as a class activity which gives the students the opportunities to practice the language aspects of role-behavior, the actual roles they may need outside the classroom. According to McCaslin (1996), role-play involves a situation in which a setting, participants and a goal problem are described. Participants are to accomplish the task given, drawing on whatever language resources they can. From the above definitions, role-play is thus an activity which requires a person to take on a role that is real or imaginary. It involves spontaneous interaction of participants as they attempt to complete a task. There is a whole range of role-play activities. It ranges from the simple to the complex, from the structured to the unstructured. Some examples of the types of role-play are socio-drama, sketches, story dramatization, mock interviews, business meetings and even debates. Fleming (2003) refers to role-play as a fluency activity where opportunities arise for the learner to use language freely and creatively. Role-play focuses on using language as a conversational resource. Real life situations and communication are unpredictable. A student may learn all the correct forms of communication but may not know when to use them appropriately. Role-play provides opportunities to react to these situations and to give the students a taste of real life.
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Simulation
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Simulation can be defined as a structured set of circumstances that mirror real life and participants act as instructed . Boudreault (2009) defines simulation as reality of function in a simulated and structured environment. He further states that reality of function is the key concept in simulation. Behavior is not controlled in a simulation and the participants bring to the situation their own skills, experience and knowledge. Simulation is often a problem-solving activity to which the student brings his own personality, experience and opinions. It involves being oneself or someone else in a simulated real-life situation. Authenticity and credibility are important elements in simulation. Often documents and materials of validity and even realia to fix the setting are used to make the simulation as true to life as possible. Simulation was originally used as a learning technique in business and military training. The outcome of the simulation is of paramount importance. However, in the ESL class, the end product of the decision reached is of less importance than the language used and generated to achieve it. The definitions of role-play and simulation show that there is no clear distinction between the two. They tend to overlap in characteristics and functions. Ulla (2008) pointed out that the differences between role-play and simulation is not important but what really matters are the opportunities they offer to the language teacher.
Scenarios
Scenarios are those drama-oriented activities which tell the complete story of something in an EFL classroom. They are very powerful techniques for EFL classes using drama. Di Pierto (1978 cited in Young, 2006) has developed specific drama activities for the purposes of language teaching. He based all of these activities on the idea of “strategic interaction” in which language learners use the target language purposefully and skillfully in communication with others. He used three types of communicative drama-oriented activities in these scenarios: Informational: these activities contain grammatical and semantic elements Transactional: these activities contain the means by which actions are motivated in order to achieve goals through the use of strategies in solving problems. Interactional: these activities contain the interactions which are initiated by the students in order to convey their intended messages
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Games
The games are good for developing concentration and trust in the classroom. While the students are having all this fun, they are developing skills of coordination, imitation while focusing on the task at hand. Many different communicative games which have been driven from drama can be used in EFL classes. Such games should involve language learners in meaningful communication in the foreign language. The language teacher can include many interesting and motivating claims in the EFL classroom in a way that promote communication between the learners.
Improvisation
The improvisation enables the students to flex their emotional, mental as well as physical muscles in a safe and controlled setting. The students will develop an increasing facility to meet changing and unknown stimuli with immediate responses. The drama activities give the student several avenues to self-awareness. Drama is the closest literary form to life itself. It is a dynamic process that reveals and examines aspects of the complicated lives we lead. There are many subtle benefits to drama in the ELT classroom.
The use of drama activities (role-play, improvisations, different games, and simulation) in TEFL can help language learners learn a foreign language better with into more meaningful context and in a more realistic situation. According to many studies drama-oriented activities can provide fine language learners with realistic, purposeful, authentic, and contextualized opportunities for learning a foreign language in a less threatening atmosphere. Such activities can be utilized completely in this CLT classroom and they can help to enrich the classroom with a variety of learning opportunities. With the emphasis on the use of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in language teaching, drama in the EFL classroom provides a meaningful way of learning the language. However, it should not be used in isolation but should be used in an integrated approach for language teaching.
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