reading a story and then presenting that story
without memorizing the dialogue was impossible
or nearly so.
Dramatic activities have been clearly
embedded in Thai schools, including their use in
English classes, but these practices did not include
improvised language activities. Regularly
the schools hosted English contests where students
presented plays; however, the dialogue was
written out, and the student dutifully memorized
and repeated their lines without necessarily having
any idea of the meaning of the words. Consequently,
the creative dramatics approach was not
effective; teachers and students did not have the
knowledge, skills, and confidence to perform.
Their belief that only one correct
response was possible limited their
abilities to participate in extemporaneous
situations.
Word poems proved to be the
most successful teaching strategy.
Teachers and students selected eommon
English words and drew a picture
of the object by writing the word
over and over in the shape of the object,
reminiscent of concrete poetry
of the 70s. These activities often began
with the Name Game: teachers
wrote their names in large capital
letters and incorporated drawings of
their favorite foods and hobbies into
the letters. Then the teachers wrote
sentences about their favorite activities
and foods using a repetitive pattern,
and then introduced themselves by reading
the sentences.
The Name Game worked because all
levels of teachers or students could participate,
using more or less sophisticated drawings to explain
their lives, and the pattern for writing was
simple.
Similarly, the repetition of using one word
or perhaps two or three words in a word picture
provided practice in writing and spelling without
the appearance of a drill. The pressure for perfection
was mitigated by the use of art work, which
required less conformity. All ages and all levels
of ability could participate once they had seen an
example and grasped the eoneept. At least, then,
one of the planned strategies fit the existing edu-