5. ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING THROUGH THE LITERATURE: DRAMA- T.PARUSU RAMUDU & S.NAWAZ HUSSAIN

Abstract

Drama requires classroom or stage performance of scripted materials. Students can make up their own scripts for short stories or sections of novels, adapting them as possible to the real text. Students should attentively read assigned sections of dialog in advance and be able to answer questions about characters and plot. They should indicate vocabulary, idioms, or dialog they don’t understand and words they cannot pronounce. Students next rehearse the scene with their partners. Although they don’t memorize it, they learn it well enough to make eye contact and say their lines with meaning of feeling. Facial expressions, gestures, and the physical aspect. As an English teacher, I have often been amazed at how effective drama is to capture the attention of the students in the classroom.

Key Words: Drama, students, expression, effective, learning

Introduction

We need to use drama more in the schools. Using drama is one of the classroom is one of the oldest concepts. In the midi vial period Baratha Muni emphasized about the importance of drama in the Natya Sastra. Drama provides an excellent platform for exploring theoretical and practical aspects of the English language. The improvisation aspect of drama gives students opportunities for developing their communicative skills in authentic and dynamic situations. By using drama in the English classroom, we can use English with our students in useful ways. The language can be used in context and makes it come to life. Drama has the potential of making the learning experience fun for the students and even memorable because it is interactive and visualizing what character performing and speaking while acting.

There are many studies about using drama to learn English. Drama helps to learn new vocabulary, builds confidence, motivates the students and helps it to learn various grammatical parts in English language .Drama is a special communication situation which makes considerable demands on the flexibility and skills of the teacher to teach English language in easy method through the drama.

Role of Dramas in Language Teaching:

Using drama in a language classroom is a good resource for English language teaching. It is through the use of drama that learners can easily identify grammatical structures in contexts and also learn about how to use the language to express, control and inform. The use of drama raises the students’ awareness towards the target language and culture. In this context, the use of drama as a tool rather than an end gains importance in teaching a foreign language. The language learning should be cultured-free, that is the context of the drama should fuse into a language learning process with high interest, relevance and enjoyment. Learners should make use of drama to promote their comprehension of life experiences it reflects reality of a life. The educational benefits of drama:

· The broadening of students’ horizons by giving them a knowledge of the classics of literature;

· The student’s improvement in general cultural awareness;

· The students’ creativity and literary imagination and to develop their appreciation of literature;

· The psychological stress and attitude of the mind

· The historical truths of life.

· The philosophy of life.

· The innate, inborn goodness of man.

· The required changes in individual, society and even in history.

· The masterpieces in British and American literature as an educational experience, and to add to students’ knowledge of the world at large.

· The student’s improvement in general cultural awareness;

· The students’ creativity and literary imagination and to develop their appreciation of literature;

· The psychological stress and attitude of the mind

· The historical truths of life.

· The philosophy of life.

· The innate, inborn goodness of man.

· The required changes in individual, society and even in history.

· The masterpieces in British and American literature as an educational experience, and to add to students’ knowledge of the world at large.

Benefits of Using Drama

We can get some benefits from drama in a language teaching as follows:

• The acquisition of meaningful, fluent interaction in the target language;

• The assimilation of a whole range of pronunciation and prosodic features in a fully contextual and instructional manner;

• The fully contextualized acquisition of new vocabulary and structure;

• 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.

Drama for second language learners can provide an opportunity to develop the imagination of the students. The students can go beyond the here and now and even 'walk in the shoes' of another. It provides an opportunity for independent thinking students are encouraged to express their own ideas and contribute to the whole. Creative drama will offer exercises in critical thinking and the chance for the students to be creative. A good example of this is role-playing in small groups The ESL/EFL group will have many situations where they can develop their own ideas as well as skills of cooperation when interacting with classmates. The group work builds social awareness and understanding as we walk in the 'shoes of another'. Drama gives an excellent method for studying human nature and working in harmony. The play acting provides the opportunity for a healthy release of emotion in a safe setting which can work to relieve the tension of learning in a second language.

Drama Brings Literature to Life

Most teachers see the value of drama in offering training in speech. What is not obvious is how even abstract learning is easier when acted or demonstrated. Drama can also be used to bring literature to life for the students. It is more dynamic than simple text and helps the visual learners as well as recycling new vocabulary. While drama does have a characteristic of recreation, the fun aspect should not be under-estimated. When the students are enjoying an activity, they are learning and letting their guard down. The shyness and fear of using English very often blocks learning. When the students are submerged in an active, fun activity, they are more open to new concepts and learning will occur. When the students are having fun, they let their second language guard down and become less inhibited. The student will tend to relax and stop blocking out the new language. They will forget how hard it is and start absorbing the ideas presented. Changing the students’ perception of the language learning from a negative to a positive is a huge plus for the learning process.

A good example of the attributes of drama being used outside the classroom is the game of theatre sports. Starting out in the Loose Moose Theatre Company in Calgary, Canada (Johnstone, 1999), this drama activity has grown to become an international endeavor, taken up by practitioners the world over, which involves the audience as much as the actors in creating a very spontaneous event. A theatre, sport demonstrates how powerful a motivating force role-playing can become for the actors as well as the audience. There are presently teams in many different countries using different languages who put on an unrehearsed game for countless spectators and the appeal is only growing.

Drama as a Powerful Teaching Tool

In the ESL/EFL classroom, role-playing is a powerful tool. It teaches cooperation, empathy for others, decision making skills and encourages an exchange of knowledge between the students. These aspects alone make role-playing beneficial because the students are learning from each other. Yet, there are many other positive aspects to the role-playing. Apart from the obvious development of communication skills, it encourages leadership, teamwork, compromise, authentic listening skills and practice with real life savior-fair. However, it does not stop there. It teaches cooperation, empathy, develop decision making skills, promotes the exchange of knowledge, builds confidence and self-esteem, refines presentation skills, encourages self-acceptance and acceptance of others, features of empowerment, pride in work, responsibility, problem solving, management and organizational skills, creates creativity and imagination.

A good drama teacher can use the practice with role-playing to contribute to the self-esteem of the students, build their confidence in using the target language (English) as well as develop many of the skills mentioned above which will carry over to real life. It is certain that self-acceptance can be encouraged in subtle ways and acceptance of others.

Drama has the potential to empower the students, give them many opportunities to have pride in their work, it teaches them responsibility, problem solving, management and directing proficiencies. The many activities of team work force students to develop organizational skills and to think on their feet. These are tools that can be used in all aspects of their lives. These skills will be useful in the future job market when the students need to work with others or even in the future job interview when the potential employer asks an unexpected question and you need to think quickly.

Drama, Reveals Aspects of the Human Condition

When you think about it, drama is a method to reveal aspects of the human condition; life is nothing more than a grand series of improvisations (Price 1980). Through the games, the students begin to realize the importance of shared space, time, attention, information and ideas. The games spark spontaneity and minimize self-consciousness which often inhibits learning. The games are also 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. The improvisation enables the students to flex their emotional, mental as well as physical muscles in a safe and controlled setting. A good example of this was a role-play one group performed where they displayed their displeasure with the school principal. There was no harm done and all the students were feeling the same.

Final Reflections on Improvisations and Benefits of Drama

'Improvisation, then, is an organic experience where skills are constantly being refined. In particular, students develop an increasing facility to meet changing or unknown stimuli with immediate responses. Ideally, improvisation leads to a blending; the students create the personality traits as he/she simultaneously identifies with the character as it evolves. Obviously, the teacher-director should never lose sight of the metamorphic and highly personal nature of improvisation; therefore, there must never be the question of success or failure' (Price, p.6).

Drama in its purest form gives the student several avenues to self-awareness. It is one of the closest literary forms of life itself. It is a dynamic process that reveals and examines aspects of the complicated lives; we lead (Price 1980). All of this leads me to believe that there are many subtle benefits to drama in the ESL classroom.

The benefits of drama to develop the imagination should not be undervalued. In our rote school routines of memorization and compulsory subject matter, we sometimes do not spend enough time on encouraging our students to use their imagination. It is the spark that makes the ordinary into something incredible. Imagination is the magic force that is beyond facts, figures and techniques which can inspire new ideas. It is with imagination that the ordinary is transformed into something significant. There is a need to cultivate this trait in our students. Imagination is closely linked to dreams and inspires us to get up every morning. Drama has the capability to keep this alive and/or rekindle what our routine daily lives are buried in ourselves. We need imagination to make a better world. In order to accomplish anything worthwhile, we first need to imagine and dream it. We should not neglect this facet of human sentience. It may seem like a trivial point, but dreams without imagination would be like life without color. We would all be worse off without it.

The Power of Transformation with Drama

We all present ourselves in everyday life as we want to be perceived. Erving Goffman (1958) talks in detail about how we present ourselves in everyday life from a sociological perspective. We are all acting out theatrical performances to present ourselves in regard to how we wish to be seen. When we are in the presence of others, we are to some extent on the stage. We will act and communicate in our own interests to influence the people around us to act voluntarily in accordance with the individual plans (Goffman,1959). We are in essence, recreating ourselves all the time as our social world evolves. In everyday life, first impressions are so very important. So, how we are perceived often depends on a blink of a moment, which may define us for a long period if not forever. Our communication skills are so important in how we are seen by others. Our words and body language project subtle messages to those around us and others respond in accordance to what they perceive as "us". In life, we are all playing many roles; therefore, we are wearing many masks.

In a sense, and in so far as this mask represents the conception we have formed of ourselves- the role we are striving to live up to- this mask is our true self, the self we would like to be (Goffman, p.30).

We know that an individual will attempt to induce the audience to see them in a certain way. The more convincing we only in our own roles only help to create the persona that we wish for. The better we are at communicating our ideas helps us to become who we want to be.

Therefore, it makes sense that dramatic skills can help us become the person we want to be. In this way, drama has a wider reach than simply making us more fluent in a second language. It has the potential of making our lives better as we will be better understood and may help us become the people we want to be. Drama is all about how we present ourselves. If the student can communicate better, the more likely others will see him/her as he/she wishes to be seen. Therefore, the skills of drama can help the student become the person that he/she wants to be.

Literature and its indispensable role:

Literature plays an important role in teaching the four skills like Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Collie and Slater (1987: 3-6) support the inclusion of literature in the language classroom as it provides valuable authentic material, develops personal involvement and help contribute to readers’ cultural as well as language enrichment. These advantages, they move on to assert, can be achieved provided teachers use relevant and appealing material to learners through the use of activities that promote involvement, reader response and a solid integration between language and literature. Following this trend, Carter and Long (1991:2-3) propose three models to justify the use of Literature. The first model in their discussion is the CULTURAL MODEL which represents the Literature that brings into the picture as regards of the understanding and appreciation of different cultures and ideologies together with the development of one’s perception of feelings and artistic forms. The second model is the LANGUAGE MODEL. This model emphasizes the fact that language is the literary medium and that literature could be seen as an instrument to teach specific vocabulary and structures. Last, their PERSONAL GROWTH MODEL entails students engaging with the reading of literary texts, appreciating and evaluating cultural artifacts and, in broad terms, the understanding of our society, culture and ourselves as we function within. As English teachers, Literature that is the literary text is one of the tools ready in our hands to offer them language acquisition and contribute cultural knowledge and understanding. It acts as a catalyst to acquire and stimulate learning. It at once appeals to the feelings and to their thoughts which in turn pave the way for the students’ language enhancement and growth. It makes aware of:

Teachers are challenged daily with students who do not fit into the curriculum. In a classroom, there are many students with special needs, language differences and with different learning styles. It is in the hands of the readers to make their sources interesting. As such, Literature is an amalgamation of prose, poetry and dramas.

· Stimulates the imagination and promotes creative thinking,

· Develops critical thinking skills,

· Promotes language development,

· Heightens effective listening skills,

· Strengthens comprehension and learning retention by involving the senses as an Integral part of the learning process,

· Increases empathy and awareness of others,

· Fosters peer respect and group cooperation,

· Reinforces positive self-concept,

· Provides teachers with a fresh perspective on teaching,

· Transforms the classroom strict atmosphere into a humorous atmosphere.

· Exposing the learners to the target culture as well as to the social problems a Society may be undergoing,

· Helping learners improve their level of competence with respect to them Receptive and productive skills,

In other words, the use of drama seems to be an effective technique in today’s communication-based, student-centered foreign language teaching. Since it is an authentic material, it helps students to promote their comprehension of the verbal / nonverbal aspects of the target language they are trying to master. Particularly, teachers, who wish to make language learning more colorful, motivating and interesting, can make use of drama in their language classes.

Conclusion:

Drama plays an important role in the English language teaching. It provides benefits to the non-English speaking countries students to learn an easy way of learning English. However, there are some problems encountered by language teachers within the area of teaching English through literature. First, there are very few dramatically pedagogically-designed appropriate materials that can be used by language teachers in a language classroom. Second, there is a lack of preparation in the area of literature teaching in the classroom as a dramatic way. Third, there are, the less chances of teachers to put their efforts to develop drama lessons in the classroom. Another thing that is many schools rubbed a bundle of homework to the stunts to read and write, but not focusing on their personal interest and innovative method of teaching English such as drama, role play, mono action, etc. Nowadays students spend most of his time in the college they do not focus on the creative side. It is the teacher’s duty to understand the students’ ability and their personal interest then only a teacher can design useful curriculum for students. Drama not only teach English language, it provides creative thinking in the minds of students talk Literature is not only a tool for developing the written and oral skills of the students in the target language, but also is a window opening into the culture of the target language, building up a cultural competence in students.

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