Words into Worlds

In reading Words into Worlds by Shin-Mei Kao and Cecily O’Neil, I am recalling a lot of reading and exploration I made during my Masters Degree and while at Model Language Studio in Tokyo, Japan. I studied Process Drama in my drama degree and enjoyed the building of the narrative and taking participants through this process. Techniques such as teacher in role and mantel of the expert were definitively successful in moving the drama forward and engaging participants in the drama. The extended narrative and journey that you take with the students is powerful for both the teacher and the participants. The authors of Word into World (1998) talk about the continuum of open to closed drama activities, starting with the standard role-play at the closed end of the continuum and moving through to process drama at the open end. I was quite surprised at this, as I have been using role-play for a long time in the classroom and I know many teachers use role-play ineffectively thinking they are providing creative opportunities for their students to communicate. In this prescriptive manner, role-plays can be controlling, inappropriate and unreal.

So Drama Process it is going to be the focus of my reading for a while. I am interested in re-immersing myself in this medium and analysing which stages are effective in aesthetic engagement. I will be presenting a workshop in February 2011 at CamTESOL and look forward to receiving feedback about the beginning of the drama toolkit I hope to create. There is a list of key elements in creating effective process drama that O’Neil and Kao (1998) explore and I will include in my toolkit:

1.       Find an effective starting point for the drama, and if necessary, initiate the drama in role. This invites the students to enter the fictitious world of the drama, and inverts the assumptions underlying the traditional pedagogical context (ie teacher handing over power and empowering the students).

2.       Choose themes and topics appropriate for the social and linguistic abilities of the students. (I would suggest some linkage here about aiming the linguistic level to the i+1 level of the students, i.e. aiming the language level just above their current level to promote reach).

3.       Introduce a variety of roles in order to familiarise students with a wide range of language functions.

4.       Understand and foster the operation of tension in the dramatic situation, so that encounters continue to be unpredictable and authentic.

5.       Handle the class as a whole group as well as organising students into pairs and small groups.

6.       Release students from the constraints of language and provide them with fresh opportunities in incorporating non-verbal activities in the process. This is especially important for lower levels.

7.       Negotiate the development of the drama with students, and encourage similar positive interactions among students.

8.       Use a variety of forms of questioning to promote involvement, support students contributions and challenge superficial or inadequate responses.

9.       Reflect on the experience, both in discussion and through eh use of other modes of expression.

10.   Extend the drama experience beyond the limits of the classroom by making connections with society and the student’s own lives.