DRAMA IN THE EFL CLASSROOM

Benefits of Using Drama 

Since drama is essentially an act of communicating meaning,  students  are  actively engaged while learning through drama. They take part in conversations or practices that require them to use their imagination and foreign language in contextualizedsituations. When  such  activity  is  planned  well  enough,  students  will  also  find  it  interesting. 

Such motivating learning activity will surely encourage and help them develop their language skills and to acquire the language more deeply and naturally. Owensand Barber (1998) argued that drama is not the only right technique to learn, but it is one of the ways that keep  the  lessons  interesting  because  it  attracts  students'  attention  so  that  they  do  not remain  quietly  seated.  It  also  facilitates  variation  in  the  learning  process  since  it  can employ  different  learning  styles,  functions  and  group  work  forms.  Clipson-Boyles (1998)  accentuated  that  although  teaching  English  with  drama  mostly  assists  listening and  speaking,  it  also  produces  processes  related  to  writing  and  reading.  In  short,  the employment  of  drama  in  the  classroom  provides  the  students  with  an  opportunity  to learn by doing and experiencing rather than only inactive listening and repeating.

Challenges of Using Drama

Just  like  any  other teaching methods,  apart  from  the  significant  advantages  described previously, the  use  of  drama  can  also  have  some disadvantages.  Even though  these disadvantages   are less  in   number   compared   to   the   advantages,   they   are   worth considering  as  anticipation  so that  they  can  be  prevented  or  be  properly solved.  First, shy students may find drama frustrating. To solve this problem, the teacher should find a way to help such students overcome their fears and shyness so that they are willing to actively participate.  Second,  the  teacher  often  needs  extra time to plan the lessons rigorously. Wessels asserted: "... drama requires meticulous planning and structuring." and also "create a learning situation which will ensure a constant supply of stimuli to the students, which will keep them active and alert."  (Wessels, 1987:  15).  The teacher, therefore, must be always well prepared for the lessons.  They should anticipate if the drama happens to last too long or to end too early.

The  third  disadvantage  is  that  correcting  students'  mistake  during  a  drama performance could be difficult.  Mistakes  are  a  natural  part  of  language  learning.  Yet, they  should  learn  from  the  mistakes  they  make.  Concerning  this,  the  teacher  should employ  such  feedback  techniques  for  correcting  mistakes  which  do  not  interrupt  and discourage  the  students  during  the  drama  performance.  Finally,  discipline  should  be kept during lessons to avoid disorder and misinterpretation. During a dramatic activity, it  is  possible  that  the  class  becomes  noisy.  Some  students  could  possibly  scream  or shout.  To  anticipate  such  conditions,  the  teacher  should  have  techniques  to  settle  the students down and avoidthem to change the dramatic activities into a chaotic situation.