Tema 19.

- Técnicas de animación y expresión como recurso para el aprendizaje

de las lenguas extranjeras.
- La dramatización de situaciones de la vida cotidiana y la
representación de cuentos, personajes, chistes, etc.
- El trabajo en grupos para actividades creativas.
- El papel del profesor.

The profile of the students in Primary Education demands the use of

communicative elements. Their immature minds make it almost impossible
for them to cope with abstract concepts. In addition to that, the
Communicative Approach highlights that the learners’ needs, interests,
likes and knowledge must be always considered. Therefore, Educational
Authorities have fostered the use of authentic, stimulating and familiar
materials and techniques, such as drama, to motivate students and
encourage them to participate in the classroom.

Based on this view, the present essay aims to study the use of drama as
a resource to foster FL acquisition in the classroom. For this purpose, I
will divide this topic into four main sections. In the first part, I will briefly
define the concept of drama and I will provide some general considerations
about it. In the second part, I will analyse some drama techniques such as
simulations of everyday life situations, role-plays and representation of
tales. In the third part, I will focus on group work in creative activities
and finally I will explain the role of the teacher when using drama
techniques.

We deal with an essential topic since students’ motivation and interests

are among the most important factors when learning a FL, and drama
contributes to create positive feelings towards English due to its
connection with real life. In addition, The FL Curriculum for Primary
Education emphasizes the significance of this topic by including in its first
block of contents the production of oral texts, previously known through
active participation in dramatization. In this regard, it is important to note
that the four blocks of contents aim to the development of the students´
CC which is one of the general objectives in Primary Education established
by The Organic Law of Education 2/2006 passed on the 3rd of May.

FIRST
After this brief introduction, I will develop the first part of this topic,
that is, the concept of drama and some general considerations about it.

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 We understand drama as a prose or verse composition that is represented
by actors impersonating the characters and performing the dialogues and
actions. According to Charlyn Wessels, drama means, literally, “doing”.
This simplified but accurate definition illustrates drama as the involvement
in learning through direct experience. This means that, rather than just
listening and remembering, or seeing and explaining, when using drama
techniques, children become actively involved in a text and this
personalization makes language meaningful and memorable. Therefore,
drama is not just the performance of a play: it is part of the process of
language learning.

As in real life communication, drama involves using both verbal and non-
verbal language. As we know, non-verbal language includes aspects such as
body position and movement, gestures, facial expression, accent, intonation
or auditory and visual aids. In this regard, drama is very suitable to train
students in the use of verbal and non-verbal language in interactions. In
addition to that, children feel at home in imaginary worlds, where they can
act out a role, dress up and, for a moment, become another person. Because
of this, they enjoy the use of drama techniques.

Once I have analysed the concept of drama, I will present some general
considerations, such as its benefits for FLT, the elements required for a
drama lesson, how to plan and time a drama lesson and the theoretical
support for its use in the FL classroom.

Among the main benefits of using drama techniques in FLT we find:

 Firstly, according to Bolton, drama is a unique tool in language

development. It encourages unconscious learning since the students’
attention is focused on acting rather than on the language; therefore
acquisition is fostered. It also enables the teacher to introduce, reinforce
or recycle any aspect of language, such as vocabulary, grammar or
pronunciation. In addition to that, the four linguistic skills are developed
in an integrated way.
 Secondly, drama creates a pleasant atmosphere in the classroom and
motivates both strong and weak students helping to develop positive
attitudes towards the language
 Thirdly, it is useful to develop social skills since acting together is a
shared social experience that develops the class identity. It also improves
the relationship between the teacher and the students, because the
distance between them is reduced by the use of fun activities like drama

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  Lastly, we find that some of the plays or stories to be performed are
authentic resources. Consequently, they provide examples of the way in
which language is used by its native speakers, developing both the
students’ socio-cultural competence and Cultural and Artistic B.C.,
fostering attitudes of respect towards foreign cultures and creativity.

In order to achieve all these benefits, there are some elements that
must be present in any drama lesson. In what follows, I will point out the
most relevant ones:

 In first place, relationships. In general, students love working in

groups. Therefore, a pleasant atmosphere must be created encouraging
both positive comments and healthy criticism, always with respect.
 In second place, the physical environment. In order for a drama
activity to work, a right physical environment is essential, which might
involve putting tables and chairs against the wall, leaving enough space for
the actors or arranging students into groups.
 In third place, warm-ups, such as songs or games related to the main
activity. These are useful techniques to get students ready and create
expectation about what will come next.
 In fourth place, goal orientation. Students are given a limit of time
and they must reach a concrete goal in this time. To do so, they need to
concentrate and organise their group to work faster.
 In fifth place, the most outgoing students can be used to demonstrate
activities and to help with group work. Therefore it is highly
recommendable to include one in each group.
 Lastly, background role of the teacher. Teachers are no longer the
centre of the class and they will only help when they are asked, letting
students to cope with minor difficulties that may come up.

In addition to these essential elements, the success of any drama lesson

also depends on careful planning and timing. This involves defining carefully
the main stages of a drama lesson and the time that will be devoted for
each stage.
 The first stage is the warm-up. The focus will be on mental and
physical preparation of students and it should not be longer than 5´.
 The second stage is setting the context for the main activity. The
focus will be on developing perceptions and interest by setting a particular
context for the story so that students feel closer to it. This should take
about 10´.

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  The third stage is making questions about the characters. The
focus will be on creating empathy towards them so that students´ can link
their experiences to the characters´. This should take another 10´.
 The fourth stage is improvisation, mime and role-play. Once the
students´ are aware of the context, the characters and the linguistic
components, they will proceed to the performance, which can be either
prepared beforehand or improvised, depending on the student´s level of
competence in the FL. This should take about 30 ´.
 The last stage is feedback. The focus will be on talking critically
about the activity orientating the comments to encourage students´ and
gentle correction of mistakes. This should take about 5´.

SECOND
Once I have analysed the concept of drama and some general
considerations about it, I will focus now on some drama techniques such as
simulations, role-plays and representation of tales.

Regarding simulations of everyday life situations, children act out

scenes and stories from the age of about three or four. They pretend
being adults in situations like shopping and visiting the doctor, which are
part of their lives. We can use this natural desire of students to act out
since by encouraging them to dramatize everyday life situations in the FL
classroom, we are somehow preparing them to use the FL to communicate
in real life. This dramatization can be carried out through two different
techniques, which are simulations or role-plays. Both techniques are useful
oral activities because: students learn to interact in a respectful way,
they use complete chunks of language rather than words and they make
use of non-verbal communication like stress, intonation and facial
expressions.
On the one hand, a role-play is a type of drama activity in which students
take roles and pretend they are someone else in a particular situation.
When the students’ competence is not very high, the teacher might provide
them with the language to use whereas older students can be given some
useful structures, but they use the language more freely. For example
Student A telephones Student B to invite him/her to play tennis.
On the other hand, simulations involve pretending but students are asked
to be themselves in an imaginary situation in which they need to solve a
problem and rely on improvisation. For instance, we can tell students:
“imagine that an English family has moved next door, your parents speak no
English and you have to act as an interpreter to: invite them for dinner, ask
them for some salt…”

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 Regarding the representation of tales and characters, this activity is
more suitable for older students, since it involves interpreting a story
orally. In it, the goal is for students to develop communication skills, not
acting sills, which links with Donn Byrne´s idea that the process is more
important than the product.
We must select a tale which is suitable in terms of language level and
length and in some cases we will have to adapt the vocabulary and
structures to our students’ level of competence. Moreover, the plot and
dialogues must be simple and the story interesting and amusing.
Before starting rehearsing, students must become familiar with the
text. After having spent time on preparing a play, it is important that
children give at least one performance which is encouraging for them,
since their motivation and self-esteem are increased.

Another drama technique is puppet shows. With it, students also act out
a tale or story, but instead of being the actors they use puppets and a
puppet theatre, which can be made by them.
It is important to notice that the use of puppets in the English classroom
is not restricted to puppet shows. They can also be used by the teacher to
introduce dialogues in the presentation stage or by the students to
practise different aspects of the language or to communicate freely.

Another interesting drama technique is telling jokes. Although this is

difficult in any language, it’s a common part of our daily lives, it brings fun
to the English class and it can be used for linguistic and cultural purposes.
Telling jokes in English has to be rehearsed to ensure fluency and the
right stress and intonation.

Lastly, we must not forget about miming as a drama technique. As we

know, according to LOE 2/2006 the main objective in Primary Education is
that children acquire C.C. which according to Hymes, refers to the ability
to use and interpret language appropriately in a variety of situations .
Miming is a non-verbal technique based on the Total Physical Response
Method developed by James Asher and it involves the representation of an
idea or situation through gestures and body language, which are used as
strategies in order to make communication effective . In this way, miming
contributes to the development of strategic competence, which according
to Canale and Swain is a component of C.C. As an example of this
technique, we can ask students to mime simple actions or feelings so that
the rest of the class can guess.

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 THIRD
Up to here we have concentrated on the use of drama in the classroom,
which will naturally lead students to work in groups. As we know, group
work is contemplated in LOE 2/2006 as it stresses the importance of
cooperative work in Primary Education. Also The Royal Decree 1513/2006
passed on the 7th of December, which contains the Official Curriculum
states the need to develop the ability to work, not only individually, but
also in groups as one of the objectives in Primary Education.
These techniques are very useful in large classes, where students have
few opportunities to participate. These techniques involve the whole class
working separately, in pairs or small groups, at the same time . Some
activities in which students can work in groups are Project Works, making
surveys and games like Chinese Whispers or guessing games.
According to Donn Byrne, group work presents many advantages since it
increases the amount of speaking time of the students and enables
them to practice the four skills of language in an integrated way. It
also improves personal relationships because children have the opportunity
to help each other and they can learn from one another too.
The group composition will depend on the activity. If it requires an
ability level, it is better to group weak students with weak students and
able students with able students, so that children work at their own pace.
However, in cooperative activities, mixed ability groups are recommended,
since students can help each other. It is also a good idea to name a child
the monitor or leader of the activity: he/she can make sure that
everybody uses English, be in charge of the material or try everyone to
participate.
Before the activity starts, a short demonstration with one or two
students is advisable, so that children know exactly what they have to do
and the language they need to use.
Then at the end of the activity, feedback is essential, particularly in
creative activities.

FOURTH
After having considered group work in creative activities, I will turn now
to explain the role of the teacher when using drama techniques.
As we know, in recent years the teacher’s role has changed greatly and it
is very far from the authoritarian figure of traditional teaching . This is due
to the influence of humanistic and communicative theories, which give
emphasis to learner-centred teaching. As a consequence, the teacher
takes a less dominant role in the classroom and learners are encouraged to
speak to a partner, to walk freely in the class, to use their imagination or to

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solve problems. The teacher’s role may change from one activity to another
or from one stage of an activity to another. These are the main roles of
teachers in drama activities:

One of the most important roles of the teacher is that of an organiser.

This involves giving the students information about how they are going to
do an activity, putting them into pairs or groups and finally stopping the
activity when the students have finished.
Once the activity has started, the teacher acts as an encourager, telling
students whether they are doing a good work. Sometimes children ask how
to say something or what a word means. In these cases, the teacher is one
of the most important resources they have, giving information about
vocabulary and structures. Teachers can also act as participants which will
contribute to create a pleasant atmosphere in the class.
Moreover, when students are practising or rehearsing a drama activity,
the teacher can correct mistakes since the focus is on accuracy. They also
observe in order to judge the success of the different materials and
activities so that they can, if necessary, make changes in the future.
Finally, teachers must monitor what students do in order to give useful
group or individual feedback.

Conclusion
To conclude, I would like to remark that, as I have proven in this topic,
it results evident that the use of drama techniques in the FL classroom
contribute to the students´ language development and it prepares them to
use the FL to communicate in real life. Moreover, when using drama,
students learn to interact in a respectful way, they use complete chunks
of language rather than words and they make use of non-verbal
communication like stress, intonation and facial expressions.

In this topic, I have briefly defined the concept of drama and I have
provided some general considerations about it. Then, I have analysed some
drama techniques such as simulations of everyday life situations, role-plays
and representation of tales. After that, I have focused on group work in
creative activities and finally I have explained the role of the teacher
when using drama techniques.

To develop this topic, the following bibliography has been used:

 WESSELS CHARLYN. Drama. OUP, Oxford, 1987.

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 BREWSTER, J. et al. (2003): The Primary English Teacher’s Guide.
Penguin English.
 HARMER, J. (2003): The Practice of English Language Teaching.
Longman.
 PHILLIPS, Sarah (2004): Drama with Children. Oxford University
Press.
 VARELA, R. et al. (2003): All About Teaching English. Centro de
Estudios Ramón Areces.

I have also used the following Legal Framework:

- Organic Education Act (LOE) 2/2006 of May 3rd.

- Royal Decree 82/1996 of January the 26th, which establishes the
Organic Regulation for both Infant and Primary Education Schools.
- Royal Decree 1513/2006 of December 7th, which establishes the
Minima Teaching Requirements and the Basic Competences for
Primary Education.
- Decree 22/2007 of May 10th, which establishes the Primary
Education Curriculum for the Autonomous Region of Madrid.
- Order 1028/2008 of February 29th, which regulates the evaluation
of Primary Education.

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