The Need for One-off, Stand-alone Drama Activities
Even though the effectiveness of drama in teaching ESL may not be doubted, it is but natural for someone who has no experience in it to approach it with hesitancy. There are so many things that have to be taken into consideration before one leaps into putting up a play. A teacher may come across several constraints such as an already prescribed text to "cover" in a stipulated time period, lack of space, a paucity of monetary funds or disinterest and worse, skepticism of colleagues. At times you yourself may not feel justified in putting up a full-fledged public performance specially if you yourself do not feel very comfortable with acting and have no experience in it. Would you be needing some coaching yourself? Would doing drama require a radical change in your relationship with the learners? Would it pose a number of organizational problems in an externally imposed strict timetable? These are just a few questions that could bother you. Do not let these questions prevent you from seeing the value of drama and exploiting it, specially in teaching ESL. To quote Gavin Bolton (in Dougill J. 1987), "drama is a unique tool, vital for language development" as it simulates reality and develops self expression. You need not go into a full-fledged production and public performance. You could begin with incorporating one-off and stand-alone drama activities stretching as less as five minutes in your class where students perform for each other. Drama activities or techniques are equally successful in making learners experience language in operation and provide motivation to use language embedded in a context and a situation. The simple "acting- out" requiring the learners to adopt a new position involves them creatively.