Simona Hevešiová
In: Communication, Interaction and the Process of Teaching Foreign Languages after Joining the European Union. - Bratislava: RETAAS, 2007. - ISBN 978-80-89113-31-6. - pp. 94-99.
1 Drama as a teaching technique
The potential of drama in the educational context has been discovered years ago while the attention of researchers and scholars has been focused on the usage of drama in foreign language study. Many teachers contend that drama presents a highly valuable teaching technique since it helps to develop the communicative competence of the language learners and increases their creativity, sensitivity, fluency and flexibility. In addition, drama activities foster mutual interaction and communication between the teacher and the students while they explore their emotions, thoughts and attitudes. However, teachers are still reluctant to incorporate drama in their lesson plans and as Alan Maley observes „all to often, acceptance of an approach does not guarantee its implementation” (Wessels, 1987, p. 3). It is ironic that despite the proliferation of numerous books and articles dealing with the benefits of drama as a teaching technique, the vast majority of students has never been introduced and made familiar with an alternative way of teaching and learning. It is not the teaching process that stands in the centre of attention but rather its results. Hence, the focus needs to be shifted from what to teach to how to teach it. This problem applies not only to foreign language teaching but also to teaching of foreign language literature as an academic subject.
By the same token, the area of teaching literature through drama activities was rather neglected and remained in the background. In the last decades, the study and teaching of literature have been centered around an analytical or rather mechanical approach toward a literary text. It has been viewed and analysed in relation to its author, the relevant literary context and literary theory. The students of literature have been asked to memorise facts related to the life and work of a particular author or the characteristic features of various literary movements and periods. Charlyn Wessels points to the fact that “students are rarely allowed to view a text as anything but abstract, flat piece of printed matter, isolated from and irrelevant to their lives” (Ibid., p. 93).
Besides, there are also other challenges the teacher of literature is facing today. Due to the rapid technological progress, facts are easily accessible to anyone who is skillful enough to work with a computer. Finding appropriate information on internet or in other informational resources is a matter of few minutes. Even though the importance of the theoretical background is not to be undermined, it should be restricted to the lectures while the seminars should be more student-centered and interactive. Furthermore, we live in a “visualised“ era and it is far more demanding and challenging for a teacher to make reading appealing and motivating for students. Therefore, new techniques of presenting and discussing literature in the classroom need to be incorporated in the teaching process to make it more innovative and to activate learners‘ knowledge, experience and emotions. There are several reasons why the study of foreign language literature provides an ideal territory for the employment of drama activities.
First of all, despite its clearly defined physical borders, every literary text represents an open system, i.e. it is bound to be interpreted. As a matter of fact, the very term interpretation indicates plurality and thus diversity of explication. When analysing a piece of literature, there is not just one, objectively given and thus the only “correct“ understanding of the text. The response to the literary work varies from reader to reader. It is precisely this fact that adumbrates and creates ideal prerequisites for the implementation of drama activities in the learning and teaching process. According to Bruce Robbins, “classroom drama is most useful in exploring topics when there are no single, correct answers or interpretations, and when divergence is more interesting than conformity and truth is interpretable“ (http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Creative-Dramatics.htm, 11.12. 2005).
Moreover, every literary text functions as a communication bridge between the author and the reader; it aims at delivering a particular message. Despite the fact that the author plays a more dominant role in this communicative situation, the role of the reader - the recipient is far from being passive. It is the reader who completes the literary work since he is forced to make connections and read between the lines, to fill the blank spaces which the writer had (intentionally) left unfinished or covered with a mysterious veil. In addition, the reader is invited to confront presented ideas and experiences with his own and to process emotions and thoughts the text had evoked. Thus, the recipient (in our case, the learner) takes a significant part in the communication process and rounds it off.
Accordingly, it is rather incomprehensible that teachers still aim at transmitting the knowledge to students by imposing their authority and playing the dominant role in the classroom. It is undeniable that the rigid lessons ask for something innovative and appealing that would motivate the students to raise their eyes from the exercise books, or even raise the students from the chairs. Since literature invites dialogue and communication, students should be provided with the possibility to engage with literary texts and bring them to life. The functions and roles of the reader should be transferred to the learner who will activate or even initiate mutual dialogue and interaction. Similarly, as Carter points out “literature is something we can relate to as individuals“ (1992, p. 17) so students should be encouraged to make use of their own personality, experience, creativity and originality and contribute to the attractiveness of the classroom sessions.
2 Applying drama in the study of literature
There are several ways how to incorporate drama into the teaching of literature. Firstly, it can be used during the warm-up stage at the beginning of the seminar. The aim of warm-up exercises is “to foster a climate of trust, awareness and group cohesion in which creative collaboration can take place“ (Dougill, 1991, p. 9) In this way, the teacher can make use of mime, vocal warm-ups or simple sensitivity activities aimed at generating reader‘s ideas, impressions or problems related to the understanding of a given literary work. Assuming that the students come to the class with the book already read, the teacher may count upon the fact that they are familiar with the basic features of the work, such as plot, protagonists and their characteristics, the structure, form of the work, etc. These are the building stones which the lead-in to the text can be based on and which help to raise the awareness to internal as well as external links associated with the text.
However, drama can be applied in a more extensive and elaborate way as well. Actually the whole seminar may represent one drama activity, or rather a theatre stage where any action or adventure can take place. Such an approach is really challenging both for the teacher and the students but its benefits are unquestionable. It provides a possibility to progress from a teacher-centered lesson to a session which invites the learners to formulate and express their own ideas, emotions and attitudes to the text. Moreover, since drama includes an element of “let‘s pretend ...“, students have a unique opportunity to experience the problems, dilemmas and conflicts of the characters first hand (without any mediator) and explore the text in a natural and spontaneous way.
As far as the basic principles are concerned that the teacher needs to take into account, these are, in fact, almost identical with the guidelines for setting up any drama activity in a language classroom. They involve a well-thought-out plan, clear instructions, leading by example, a friendly and encouraging atmosphere, collaborative setting, positive reinforcement and a feedback provided by the teacher at the end of the performance. (Dougill, 1991, p. 130). Similarly, the risks and potential problems associated with running these activities are the same as with drama in general. For example, the teacher lacks the confidence or enthusiasm, he fears that the task will result in chaos, students show no interest to participate in the activity or the setting and spatial conditions are unsatisfactory. Undoubtedly, drama is not a universal or ideal solution for all the problems but its benefits by all means outnumber the risks connected with it. Moreover, these can be easily eliminated by proper management on the part of the teacher.
Yet, there is one significant factor that is closely connected with drama and that is motivation. In his book Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom (2001), Zoltán Dörnyei mentions several features of task content which make it more attractive for the learners and hence increase their motivation. According to him, the task should be challenging enough and it should include the novelty element (something new, unexpected or different), the intriguing element (ambiguous or controversial material which stimulates curiosity), the exotic element (unique setting or protagonists), the fantasy element (involving imagination, “let’s pretend”) and finally the personal element (related to the learners’ own lives). By close inspection of these elements, one discovers that drama activities accomplish all of them and have the potential to make learning stimulating and enjoyable.
3 Drama in action (Sample lesson: The Picture of Dorian Gray)
To provide a specific example of a drama-based lesson, let us describe one of the alternative ways of presenting and discussing Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The teacher may, for example, organize a press conference with main characters of the novel aiming at elucidating characters’ conflicts or dilemmas. Students thus face a unique opportunity to confront them with their questions and to clear up any opacities they have encountered during the reading. The class can be divided into two sections – main characters and journalists. At the beginning of the seminar, every student picks a piece of paper (a role-card) from an envelope containing the description of his role during the seminar. Thus, the teacher forms new pairs or groups of students and fairly distributes the roles among them. One group of students stands for characters from the novel, e.g. Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward, Lord Henry Wotton and Sybil Vane. Moreover, one of the students may even represent the writer himself. The rest of the class would act as journalists instructed to ask questions which would interest their readers..
In order to involve every student in the activity and to ensure a thorough analysis of the novel, the teacher may complicate the roles even more. Students-journalists would be divided into smaller groups, each representing a different kind of newspaper or magazine. For example, the artistic magazine would map the aesthetic features projected in the novel and characters’ opinions on art; the tabloid journalists would be interested in the private lives of the characters and by looking for stunts and affairs they would illuminate their inner motivations and feelings; a magazine of a homosexual community would point to unclear relationships between male characters in the novel and so on. The possibilities are endless. However, it is advisable that the role-cards contain some prompts such as key words which would help the learners to formulate their questions and direct the discussion. Moreover, classroom furniture may be rearranged to create a realistic setting – a special guest table with name-plates and bottles of water for refreshment may be placed in the front of the classroom.
Even though the learning is entrusted mainly to the learners themselves and the role of the teacher is a minor one, it is still very important. Despite the fact that he prepares and sets up the whole process, his official function may be that of a host who keeps the discussion within certain borders and provides background information or prompts when necessary. In addition, the teacher monitors the activity and the content of the discussion, ensuring that learners’ interpretation of the text is valid and their responses appropriate. At the end of the seminar, the teacher may sum up the most relevant pieces of information related to the literary work and he should also evaluate the activity as such. By providing students with the feedback or concluding remarks and praising their effort to take responsibility for their own learning, the teacher supports the collaborative and decentralized character of mutual communication.
There are numerous modifications and other drama-based activities the teacher of foreign language literature may implement in the teaching process. To mention just some of them, the classroom may be turned into a TV talk-show featuring famous writers or memorable characters; learners may be involved in a competition which would check their knowledge of selected literary periods; they may step into the roles of secret agents or investigators clarifying enigmatic actions; further, a trial (employing a team of lawyers) may be set up with characters defending and justifying their actions by giving a defense speech; students may seek to establish a personal relationship with a particular character by writing a letter containing personal questions or remarks and so forth. To make the setting even more realistic and attractive, there can be a prop box in the classroom containing some useful objects, such as old glasses, a piece of cloth, hats, wigs, puppets or artificial flowers. These would enliven the whole scene and help the learners get into the role more easily.
4 Conclusion
To conclude, not only teachers but also many students “share the belief that serious learning is supposed to be hard work, and if it is enjoyable, it is doubtful that it is serious or significant” (Dörnyei, 2001, p.72). This article aimed to demonstrate that this statement is not necessarily valid and that the change in thinking is in the hands of the teachers. It does not, by any means, exhaust the topic presented. There are other factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as selection of books, classroom atmosphere, manner of presentation, students’ and teacher’s personalities and relationships, etc. However, it aims to demonstrate the potential of drama in teaching foreign language literature and to encourage pedagogues to reach for an alternative way of teaching. Moreover, since there is no coherent theoretical and practical framework, it also attempts to point out that a continual research in this area is needed.
On the whole, adding excitement to learning tasks and creating learning situations which would increase student involvement might result in a better and more personal understanding of literary texts. Moreover, drama proponents claim that personal engagement with literature leads to its enjoyment. In words of Ronald Carter, “the greater the invention and enthusiasm of the literature teacher, the greater the likelihood that learners will like, or come to like, the literary text which has been presented, and from there proceed to look at further texts and teach themselves to like them too“ (1992, p. 23).
Bibliography
CARTER, R.& M.N. LONG. 1992. Teaching literature. Harlow: Longman Group UK Limited
DOUGILL, J. 1991. Drama activities for language learning. London: Macmillan Publisher Ltd.
DÖRNYEI, Z. 2001. Motivational strategies in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
HILL, J. 1986. Using literature in language teaching. London: Macmillan Publisher Ltd.
MALEY, A.& A. DUFF. 1992. Drama techniques in language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
ROBBINS, B. 1988. Creative Dramatics in the Language Arts Classroom. http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIC/Creative-Dramatics.htm, 11.12. 2005. Available on Internet.
SHORT, M. 1989. Reading, analysing and teaching literature. London: Longman Group Uk Limited.
WESSELS, CH. 1987. Drama. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
