Kathryn Ackley from Shotton Hall introduced our students to the none verbal communicative approach of drama techniques, by having the students engaged in ice breaking activities where the students wore masks to express emotions. This led to looking at famous fairy stories Razpunzel, Little Red Riding Hood where students reinterpreted the stories but combined the use of masks and their own scripts to learn new vocabulary, builds confidence, motivates the students and helps shift the focus from the teacher to the students The personal nature of improvisation provides many outlets for self-expression. We even hear that children need to play as an important developmental process.
Benefits of Using Drama
•the fully contextualized acquisition of new vocabulary and structure;
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an improved sense of confidence in the student in his or her ability to learn the target language.
Drama puts the teacher in the role of supporter in the learning process and the students can take more responsibility for their own learning. Ideally, the teacher will take a less dominant role in the language class and let the students explore the language activities. In the student centered classroom, every student is a potential teacher for the group.
the acquisition of meaningful, fluent interaction in a target language;