- Reflection 8 -

This week we have dealt with the different dramatization techniques. Firstly, we have
stated that the use of drama is necessary because of some facts as the following: it allows us
to use language in real life contexts; it creates fun and a certain atmosphere. Moreover, it
gives us opportunities to do group work and to practice the use of body language and voice.
Next, we have discussed the musts for effective drama activities. These were event,
setting and characters. These points can be easily remembered by thinking of ESC (the escape
button). Then, we talked about these musts in a more detailed way:
1. It was stated that events should be easily understood by the learners, give some
opportunities for improvisation, be short and simple, include interesting characters,
culturally appropriate for the learners, repeat the lexical item or structure and they
should be easy to conduct and control.
2. Furthermore, we emphasized the importance of the setting and of the accessories.
Teachers in general do not need a great setting but probes and accessories are
important in order to create a credible character. In addition, learners should be given
enough freedom.
3. Finally, we stated that there should be some role-cards used in the characterization
part. Another point was creating opposite characters and using appropriate language
for each character.
Lastly, we have learnt how to apply a drama activity. We discussed about some points to
consider during such an activity. The aspects to take care of while applying drama activities
are:
- the necessity of leading the class
- using role-cards to set the story, the characters, and procedures
- using a narrator to make things easier
- using accessories
- giving learners adequate time for preparation
- never interrupting a drama activity
- using fun elements to increase participation and learning
- using drama as group homework
- making it as kinesthetic as possible
- monitoring and assisting.
To conclude the lesson, we worked with a cartoon whose message - in my opinion -
summarized the whole lesson: NO DRAMA NO COMMUNICATION! This message showed
me that drama is a very important tool to consider in order to create an effective teaching and
learning environment. I think without communication between learners and the teacher
learning would not take place. So drama can be seen as important and useful as other
exercises done during different courses.
Then on Wednesday we learnt how to design our drama presentation. We discussed
how to give feedback to the observed trainee, how to create a lesson plan for drama and
finally we examined a sample of integrated drama lesson plan. Then, we talked about some
points to consider during the presentation: TTT (teacher talk time), STT (student talk time),
different interaction types, participation, skills involved, creative thinking, the type of the
drama activity, task or practice, meaningful repetition, the function of role cards, grammar
and vocabulary teaching and about the lexical approach.
It was stated that TTT should not be more than STT in order to give students the
possibility to use the target language. Between the different interaction types (teacher-student,
student-student, student-teacher) we emphasized student to student interaction because of its
communicative value. In using this type of interaction students will be given the opportunity
to discuss and share their own thoughts with each other which will render learning easier. For
the different types of drama activities we proposed storytelling, pantomime, improvisation,
role play and simulation. It was also mentioned that the repetition of newly learnt items
should not be done mechanically but in a meaningful way which means that repetition should
have a reason. Moreover, grammar and vocabulary teaching should be done inductively in
order to activate the students. The most emphasized technique was the use of role cards. Role
cards have multiple functions. They automatically divide the class into groups. Each role card
represents another group because each card contains different characters and in that way
divides the class into different types of characters. Furthermore, role cards provide a story for
the students and creates an authentic learning environment so that the students are motivated
to learn and participate in the lesson. Finally, they also include an information gap because
not every student has every card and this leads to the creation of suspect which helps to
maintain the students’ attention.
To conclude, this lesson helped me to realize the importance of role cards. I did not
know that role cards have so many functions. In addition, I was glad that we were shown a
sample lesson plan and a sample of integrated drama lesson. These allowed me to feel better
because I had the possibility to see how to organize my own drama presentation.