DRAMA and ROLEPLAY
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Drama is an excellent way to get Ss using the language.
It involves using the imagination to make oneself into one
character, or the classroom into a different place.
It can be a starting point for exciting listening and speaking work
It can be utilized as a tool to provide practice in specific
grammatical, lexical, functional or phonological areas.
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By bringing the outside world into the classroom in this way we can
provide a lot of useful practice ( in cafes, shops, banks, businesses,
parties, etc ) that would otherwise impossible.
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Success or failure of drama activities depends crucially on the
perceived attitude of the T and of the other Ss; without a certain
degree of trust, acceptance and respect the chances for useful work
are greatly diminished.
TYPES of common DRAMA ACTIVITY
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ROLEPLAY
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SIMULATION
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DRAMA GAMES
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GUIDED IMPROVISATION
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ACTING PLAY SCRIPTS
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PREPARED IMPROVISED DRAMA
ROLEPLAY
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Role play is a way of bringing situations from real life into the
classroom.
When we do ask Ss to roleplay, we ask them to imagine :
A role : in other words, they pretend to be a different person ( e.g.
a farmer );
A situation : in other words, they pretend to be doing something
different ( e.g. planning a holiday );
Both a role and a situation ( e.g. a police officer asking about a
lost bag ).
In roleplay, Ss improvise. The situation is fixed, but they make up
the exact words to say as they go along. ( So, reading a dialogue
aloud is not the same as roleplay ).
SUITABLE ROLES & SITUATIONS
for SCHOOL CLASSES
The situation we use for roleplay should as far as possible be within the
experience of the SS. In general, the more familiar a role or situation is,
the easier it will be.
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Suitable Roles :
People familiar to Ss from everyday life, e.g. parents, brothers,
sisters, teachers, shopkeepers, police officers.
Characters from the textbook, and from other books or from
television
Suitable Situations :
Situation which Ss see or take part in in everyday life, e.g.
shopping, holidays, using local transport, asking the way to
places.
“Fantasy” situations from stories they read, or from the textbook.
RUNNING A ROLEPLAY : some guidelines
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Make sure the Ss understand the idea of “Roleplay”. Do they know
what’s going to happen? Do they know what ir required of them ?
Are they comfortable to do that or not ?
Make sure the context or situation is clear.
Do they understand the information on their own card ? Allow
reading time, dictionary time, thinking time ( during which you can go
round and help if necessary ).
Give them time to prepare their ideas before the speaking starts;
maybe encourage note-making.
…but when the activity starts, encourage them to improvise rather
than rely on prepared speeches and notes. The preparation work
they have done will inform their roleplay, but could simply get in the
way if they over-rely on it. (It may help to take away the cards when
the roleplay starts.)
DRAMA GAMES
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Walking
2.
Making a picture
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Puppets and dubbing
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Interesting situations