Abstract

The need for communicative skills in English has been increasing. Literature is one of the best resources for prompting these conversational skills .Therefore, using drama as a genre of literature has a constructive role to play in EFL classes. Drama-oriented activities require the involvement of learners in the dynamic and interactive process of communication. The use of drama techniques and activities in the classroom provides exciting opportunities for second language learners to use the language in concrete situation. Moody (2009) indicates the aim of using drama is to bridge a gap between the classroom and outside world. Drama is a useful medium in the communicative language classroom where the focus is placed on the meaning of the language rather than the form. Drama is also a powerful language teaching tool that can foster and maintains students' motivation by providing an atmosphere which is full of fun and entertainment. In so doing, it engages feelings and attention and enriches the learners' experience of the language. This study mainly explores the effects of using drama on improving conversational skills. Conversational skills were analyzed in terms of accuracy and fluency. As a part of an effort to understand the possible effect of drama on intermediate L2 learners' oral performance, two groups (one as a control group and the other as the experimental group) were studied. All teaching situations and procedures were identical except for that the subjects in experimental group were exposed to drama. An interview instrument was used in this study. Data were analyzed by independent t-test. Results obtained from pre and post tests showed that the fluency of performance is strongly affected by drama; using drama led to more fluent language. This can be hypothesized that drama allows l2 learners to focus on form and improve the accuracy of their L2. Therefore, using drama can be proven as an effective methodological procedure in EFL classrooms.

Highlights

  • Many leaders in the field of second/ foreign language education including Savignon (1983), Halliday (1985), Chastain (1988), etc emphasize that the goal of second /foreign language teaching should be interactive abilities which implies that the learners will be capable of producing sentences in the target language and know how to use them appropriately in social situations

  • Research question 1: What effects does drama have on the oral accuracy of adults L2 learners' production? To examine the primary homogeneity of the participants' oral ability, the researcher conducted an oral pre-test and subjected the data to an independent samples t-test

  • The purpose of this article was to analyze the various impacts of drama on conversational skills of average students’ verbal performance

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Summary

Introduction

Many leaders in the field of second/ foreign language education including Savignon (1983), Halliday (1985), Chastain (1988), etc emphasize that the goal of second /foreign language teaching should be interactive abilities which implies that the learners will be capable of producing sentences in the target language and know how to use them appropriately in social situations. There are many techniques for creating meaningful context in EFL classes. Using drama as a genre of literature can be useful for EFL students. Many researches are conducted so as to show the impact of drama practices in second/ foreign language courses. Zyoud (1999) focuses on the significance of acting and drama in EFL courses. Some research studies (Richards & Rodgers, 2001; Tuan & Doan, 2010, Fuentes, 2010) advise that drama practices may grow up good methods of provoking language students and tutors. Most researchers (Gaudart, 1990; Moore, 2004; Yasar, 2010) suggest the use of drama in the EFL classes for providing thrilling chances for EFL students to use the foreign language in tangible contexts

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