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ANIMATION AND EXPRESSION
TECHNIQUES AS A RESOURCE FOR
THE LEARNING OF FOREIGN
LANGUAGES. THE DRAMATISATION OF
EVERYDAY SITUATIONS AND THE
REPRESENTATION OF TALES,
PERSONALITIES, JOKES, ETC. GROUP
WORK IN CREATIVE ACTIVITIES. THE
ROLE OF THE TEACHER.
1. INTRODUCTION
2. LEGAL JUSTIFICATION
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE TOPIC
4. ANIMATION AND EXPRESSION TECHNIQUES AS A RESOURCE
FOR THE LEARNING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
5. THE DRAMATISATION OF EVERYDAY SITUATIONS AND THE
REPRESENTATION OF TALES, PERSONALITIES, JOKES, ETC.
6. GROUP WORK IN CREATIVE ACTIVITIES
7. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER
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8. CONCLUSION
9. DOCUMENTAL REFERENCES
1. INTRODUCTION
“Tell me and I forget.
Teach me and I remember.
Involve me and I learn”
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
In Primary Education, most students are not able to find the reasons
to appreciate the school, feeling overwhelmed by so much homework.
Studying is no more a funny subject, with students playing less and
external motivation taking place over intrinsic motivation, and with
students willing to pass the exams for fear to fail.
Actually, most students do not really assimilate the change from
Infant Education to Primary Education, moving on from learning by
plying to learning by suffering.
In fact, sometimes by mistake we believe that Primary students
should no longer okay or have fun
2. LEGAL JUSTIFICATION
Este apartado está desarrollado en el documento “TEMA 0
LEGISLACIÓN AUTONÓMICA TEMAS”.
3. OBJECTIVES OF THE TOPIC
At the end of this topic, we will be able to:
Consider the different benefits regarding dramatization.
Recognize the elements present in any drama lesson.
Identify the main stages of a drama lesion and the time devoted
for each stage.
Consider relevance of group work.
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Adress the different roles of the teacher.
4. ANIMATION AND EXPRESSION TECHNIQUES AS A
RESOURCE FOR THE LEARNING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
After this brief introduction, we will develop the first part of this topic,
that is, the concept of drama and some general considerations about
it.
Drama can be understood as a prose or verse composition that us
represented by actors impersonating the characters and performing
the dialogues and actions. According to Charlyn Wessels, drama
means, literally, “doing”.
This simplified but accurate definition illustrates drama as the
involvement in learning through direct experience, which
means that, rather than just listening and remembering, or seeing
and explaining, when using drama techniques, children become
actively involved in a text and this personalization makes language
meaningful and memorable.
Therefore, drama is not just the performance of a play, but it is a part
of the process of language learning.
As in real life communication, drama involves using both verbal
and non-verbal language. As we know, non-verbal language
includes aspects such as body position and movement, gestures,
facial expressions, accent, intonation, or auditory and visual aids. In
this regard, drama is very suitable to train students in the use of
verbal and non-verbal language in interactions. In addition to
that, children feel at home in imaginary worlds, where they can act
out a role, dress up and, for a moment, become another person.
Because of this, that enjoy the use of drama techniques.
Once having analysed the concept of drama, we will present some
general considerations, such as its benefits for Foreign Language
Teaching, the elements required for a drama lesson, how to plan and
time a drama lesson and the theoretical support for its use in the
Foreign Language classroom.
All in all, students learn more about the language and discover more
about the world that surrounds them, owing to the following benefits:
Regarding linguistic reasons, students gain new vocabulary and
syntax structures, improving phonetics and phonology (segmental
and suprasegmental phonemes), considering both verbal and non-
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vernal means of communication, being of great help for introducing,
reinforcing, and recycling the language structures.
Besides, students develop the 4 linguistic skills through skills
integration, achieving real communication, using the language from
outside the classroom and acquiring the well-known communicative
competence.
Regarding pedagogical reasons, drama is a natural way to
introduce the second language to students (based on real-life
situations), being an enjoyable way of learning, having fun and being
motivated while learning, catching the students’ attention, breaking
the usual routine of the classroom, making students more receptive
to the new language.
Besides, drama fosters meaningful learning, with students being more
likely to remember the language it contains, from the short to the
long-term memory, encouraging unconscious learning, teaching
students subliminally, as students unconsciously pick up the hidden
structures of the language, with students’ attention focused on the
task, rather than the language, as language is not an aim, but rather
an useful tool to communicate. In addition, it creates a pleasant and
relaxed atmosphere within the classroom, according to the affective
filter hypothesis, with students participating and getting involved,
regarding to the students’ centres approach, being committed and
protagonists within the Teaching Learning Process, with the contents
being adapted to their individual features, increasing students’
confidence, especially when dealing with shy students, with students
developing the 8 multiple intelligences proposed by Gardner, apart
from just the linguistic intelligence.
In regard to cognitive reasons, drama enriches the children in all
aspects of their personality (intellectually, affectionately and
emotionally), contributing to a whole development, favouring
concentration, memory and coordination, increasing the attention
span of students, improving critical-analytical thinking and reasoning,
enhancing creativity, spontaneity and imagination.
As far as social-affective reasons are concerned, drama enhances
collaboration, group work, socialization and communication, helping
inn the students’ development of the social skills, widening the
students’ understanding about real-life situations, considering other
people’s feelings or social values, improving the teacher-students’
relationship, reducing the distance among them.
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According to cultural reasons, students develop curiosity and
positive attitudes toward the target language and its culture, avoiding
prejudices and negative attitudes, with students being aware of the
differences and similarities among the different cultures, being part of
the cultural heritage, bringing history to life, with students improving
their cultural awareness, identifying the socio-cultural aspects of the
target language and its community.
In order to achieve all these benefits, there are some elements that
must be present in any drama lesson. In what follows, we will point
out the most relevant elements:
In first place, relationships. In general, students love working
in groups. Therefore, a pleasant atmosphere must be created
encouraging both positive comments and healthy criticism,
always with respect.
In second place, the physical environment. In order for a
drama activity to work, a right physical environment is
essential, which might involve putting tables and chairs against
the wall, leaving enough space for the actors or arranging
students into groups.
In third place, warm-ups, such as songs or games related to
the main activity. These are useful techniques to get students
ready and create expectation about what will come next.
In fourth place, goal orientation. Students are given a limit of
time, and they must reach a concrete goal in this time. To do
so, they need to concentrate and organise their group to work.
In fifth place, the most outgoing students can be used to
demonstrate activities and to help with group work. Therefore,
it is highly recommendable to include one in each group.
Lastly, background role of the teacher. Teachers are no
longer the centre of the class, but they will only help when they
are asked, letting students to cope with minor difficulties that
may come up.
In addition to these essential elements, the success of any drama
lesson also depends on careful planning and timing, which involves
defining carefully the main stages of a drama lesson and the time
that will be devoted for each stage:
1. The first stage is the warm-up. The focus will be on mental and
physical preparation of students, and it should not be longer
than 5’.
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2. The second stage is setting the context for the main activity.
The focus will be on developing perceptions and interest by
setting a particular context for the story so that students feel
closer to it. This should take about 10’.
3. The third stage is making questions about the characters.
The focus will be on creating empathy towards them so that
students can link their experiences to the characters. This
should take another 10’.
4. The fourth stage is improvisation, mime and role-play. Once
the students are aware of the context, the characters and the
linguistic components, they will proceed to the performance,
which can be either prepared beforehand or improvised,
depending on the students’ level of competence in the Foreign
Language, taking about 30’.
5. The last stage is feedback. The focus will be on talking
critically about the activity orientating the comments to
encourage students and gentle correction of mistakes. This
should take about 5’.
5. THE DRAMATISATION OF EVERYDAY SITUATIONS AND
THE REPRESENTATION OF TALES, PERSONALITIES, JOKES,
ETC.
Once having analysed the concept of drama and some general
considerations about it, we will focus now on some drama
techniques such as simulations, role-plays and representation of
tales.
Regarding simulations of everyday life situations, children act
out scenes and stories from the age of about three or four. They
pretend being adults in situations like shopping and visiting the
doctor, which are part of their lives. We can use this natural desire of
students to act out since by encouraging them to dramatize everyday
life situations in the Foreign Language classroom, we are somehow
preparing them to use the Foreign Language to communicate in real
life.
This dramatization can be carried out through two different
techniques, which are simulations or role-plays. Both techniques are
useful oral activities because: students learn to interact in a
respectful way, they use complete chunks of language rather than
words and they make use of non-verbal communication like stress,
intonation and facial expressions.
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On the other hand, simulations involve pretending but students are
asked to be themselves in an imaginary situation in which they need
to solve a problem and rely on improvisation. For instance, we can tell
students: “imagine that an English family has moved next door, your
parents speak no English, and you have to act as an interpreter to:
invite them for dinner, ask them for some salt…”
On the other hand, a role-play is a type of drama activity in which
students take roles and pretend they are someone else in particular
situation. When the students’ competence is not very high, the
teacher might provide them with the language to use whereas older
students can be given some useful structures, but they use the
language more freely. For example, Student A telephone Student B to
invite him/her to play tennis.
Regarding the representation of tales and characters, this
activity is more suitable for older students, since it involves
interpreting a story orally. In tit, the goal is form students to develop
communication skills, not acting sills, which links with Donn Byrne’s
idea that the process is more important than the product
We must select a tale which is suitable in terms of language level and
length and, in some cases, we will have to adapt the vocabulary and
structures to our student’s level of competence. Moreover, the plot
and dialogues must be simple and the story interesting and amusing.
Before starting rehearsing, students must become familiar with the
text. After having spent time on preparing a play, it is important that
children give at least one performance which is encouraging for them,
since their motivation and self-esteem are increased.
Another drama technique is puppet shows, with students acting out
a tale or story, but instead of being the actors they use puppets and a
puppet theatre, which can be made by them.
It is important to notice that the use of puppets in the English
classroom is not restricted to puppet shows. They can also be used by
the teacher to introduce dialogues in the presentation stage or by the
students to practise different aspects of the language or to
communicate freely.
Above all, puppet can develop within our student’s communication
and social skills. For instance, hand puppets are ideal for developing
speaking and listening skills, with students often communicating more
easily with puppets, giving them confidence to express their ideas
and feelings. Besides, shy children are free to try on new personalities
and take them off again, with a puppet on their hand, broadening
their own in the process. Eventually, puppet play provides an
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opportunity to gain some control over their world by working out fears
and frustrations.
Besides, puppets can also help students develop creative skills. For
example, hand puppet play helps young children develop creative
skills by forcing them to use their imagination (making up the roles,
the rules, the situations and the solutions). Besides, it is through
imaginative play that children come to understand the differences
between fantasy and reality. As a result, the real world becomes more
real to children who have opportunities to pretend.
Another interesting drama techniques is telling jokes. Although this
is difficult in any language, it is a common part of our daily lives,
bringing fun to the English class and being used for linguistic and
cultural purposes. In fact, telling jokes in English has to be rehearsed
to ensure fluency and the right stress and intonation.
Lastly, we must not forget about miming as a drama technique. As
we know, the main objective in Primary Education is that children
acquire the communicative competence which, according to Hymes,
refers to the ability to use and interpret language appropriately in a
variety of situations.
Thus, miming is a non-verbal technique based on the Total Physical
Response Method developed by James Asher, which involves the
representation of an idea or situation through gestures and body
language, being used as strategies in order to make communication
effective.
In this way, miming contributes to the development of strategic
competence, which according to Canale and Swain is a component
of the communicative competence. As an example of this technique,
we can ask students to mime simple actions, situations, stories or
feeling so that the rest of the class can guess.
6. GROUP WORK IN CREATIVE ACTIVITIES
Up to here, we have concentrated on the use of drama in the
classroom, which will naturally lead students to work in groups, being
very useful specially in large classes, where students have few
opportunities to participate, involving the whole class working
separately, in pairs or small groups, at the same time.
Some activities in which students can work in groups are Project
Works, making surveys and games like Chinese Whispers or guessing
games.
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According to Donn Byrne, group work presents many advantages
since it increases the amount of speaking time of the students and
enables them to practice the four skills of language in an integrated
way. It also improves personal relationships because children have
the opportunity to help each other, and they can learn from one
another too.
The group composition will depend on the activity. If it requires an
ability level, it is better to group weak students with weak students
and able students with able students, so that children work at their
own pace. However, in cooperative activities, mixed ability groups are
recommended, since students can help each other, being always a
great idea naming a child the monitor or leader of the activity in order
to make sure that everybody uses English, being in charge of the
material or trying everyone to participate.
Before the activity starts, a short demonstration with one or two
students is advisable, so that children know exactly what they have to
do and the language they need to use. Then at the end of the activity,
feedback is essential, particularly in creative activities.
All in all, through the implementation of group work, our students will
benefit from the following aspects:
Regarding the ADVANTAGES, the first advantage would be that
students will talk, establishing students in groups gets them speaking
up and practicing the language that they are trying to learn,
minimizing the intimidation, and becoming a natural part of the class.
The second advantage is that students will help each other because,
when group work happens, collaboration is part of the process. Thus,
when students work in groups, we will see that students help each
other during the teaching and learning process.
Thus, when helping each other, it benefits both of the students
involved, as the students with the question will have it answered, and
the student with the answer will remember it better because they
have taught it to another, building knowledge.
The third advantage would be that students will challenge each
other. In this sense, students will be intentional about helping each
other when they work in groups, but they may not realize that they
will challenge each other as well. Studies show that speakers modify
their speech to be more like the people to whom they are talking.
That means less accomplished students will become better speakers
just by talking to others more advanced than them, without help and
without pressure.
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The fourth advantage would be that students will encourage each
other, as encouragement between language learners can happen in
many ways. One way encouragement comes is when lower-level
students see the accomplishments of higher-level students. When
students share their experiences as well, one student’s story becomes
a blueprint for success for the other…
The fifth advantage would be that students will grow closer to
each other as, by working together, students will also develop
relationships with each other, sharing personal opinions and life goals,
talking about what they have experienced and what they want most
out of life in order to learn a language. When they do, they become
friends.
Another advantage would be that students will use language
creatively. Therefore, as communicative classrooms focus on getting
students to use the language, they know to get their meaning across.
This is when creative language happens, making communication
possible even when speakers may not know the perfect grammar for
what they are trying to say. Even when grammar takes a gap in these
collaborations, communication happens, and that will give our
students a go when they have to face communication in the English-
speaking world.
Another advantage would be that students will develop cultural
sensitivity, considering that some of our students may have never
know a person from another culture, and bearing in mind the diversity
found within our classroom, with students from different countries,
class will be an opportunity to know people from all over the world.
That means encountering individuals with different values,
expectations, and beliefs.
Another advantage would be that group work activates different
learning styles. In fact, part of teaching is reaching as many
different learning styles as possible. One of those learning style is
social, also known as interpersonal. Thus, students who learn this way
work well with others and benefit from working things out with
groups.
Another advantage would be that we teachers can get authentic
performance for assessments, because it can be hard for us
teachers to assess speaking performance in their students. However,
putting students in groups and listening to them is a perfect way to
see how much they are really putting to use, focusing on
pronunciation, spoken grammar, and the ability to communicate just
by listening in on some classroom group work.
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Eventually, the last advantage would be that we teachers can
appreciate what our students are getting right and what we
may need to clarify. In this sense, when we are teaching grammar
in isolation, it is easy for students to follow a pattern and sill in the
blanks. When we have our students working together, talking
together, using the right grammar is not as predictable as it is in
isolated exercises, so when listening to our students’ performance
during group work, we may be able to see what concepts they are not
getting and that we may need to explain again.
Regarding the DISADVANTAGES, occasionally, groups can run into
trouble, and it is useful to be aware of some of the problems and
difficulties from the very beginning…
The first disadvantage would be related to unfair division or take-up
of labour between different group members, which can lead to
resentment if someone feels they are doing all the hard work or if the
group thinks that one or more members are not doing their fair share.
We can use meetings to check that people are happy with their
workloads and discuss problems openly, making sure that issues are
addressed as a group concern rather than putting pressure on
individuals.
Besides, another disadvantage that may arise would be conflict
between different group members, which might arise for many
different reasons including two people competing for leadership or
simple disagreement about ways forward. We should not be afraid to
rotate leadership responsibilities or find ways of accommodating
differing opinions, considering flexible and democratic group practices
rather than rigid ones.
Furthermore, tackling inappropriate tasks as a whole group may
be another disadvantage, as groups are notoriously bad environments
for carrying out such activities as writing first drafts of documents or
carrying out detailed searches. That is why we should be aware of the
limitations of group activity, not being afraid to delegate responsibility
for particular tasks to individuals.
Regarding the STAGES IN GROUP WORK, in order to ensure a
successful group outcome, we may divide our activities into a series
of stages, as managing each of these stages effectively will greatly
enhance your group performance.
Stage One - Familiarisation
This is the stage when the individual members of the group get to
know each other and begin to understand the task they need to
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undertake. Time spent at this stage discussing individual areas of
interest and skills will be invaluable in helping the group develop a
sense of its own identify (including its strengths and weakness).
Stage Two – Planning and preparation
This is the stage when the group should plan exactly what needs to
be done, how it needs to be done, and who should do what, agreeing
the different elements of the task and agreeing the best way of
achieving these tasks by dividing areas of responsibility amongst the
group, making sure that roles and time commitments are as evenly
balanced as possible.
Stage Three - Implementation
Whilst the group carries out its tasks, we may need to preserve the
group’s sense of purpose, and here effective communication is vital,
particularly when the group
7. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER
After having considered group work in creative activities, we will turn
now to explain the role of the teacher when using drama
techniques.
As we know, in recent years the teacher’s role has changed greatly
and it is very far from the authoritarian figure of traditional teaching.
This is due to the influence of humanistic and communicative
theories, which give emphasis to learn-centred teaching.
Student activity is conditioned, in turn, by the activity of the teacher,
determining the type of organization of the class and, therefore, the
type of interaction. Therefore, the students’ activity cannot be studied
regardless of the teaching activity, as they need to go together, as
education is a two-way and multidirectional process in which the
teacher learns from the student to adjust their educational
intervention, instructing the teacher how to teach.
Regarding the MODELS OF INTERACTION between the teacher and
the students, we could find the following ones:
1. Organizer-inventor
In this model of interaction, there is a division of roles, as well as a
structured learning in which the teacher works as a transmitter of
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knowledge, presenting a dominant position, whereas students follow
a submissive and passive role, without having any specific role,
leading to a total lack of autonomy, following the teacher’s
instructions.
2. Observer-facilitator
This model of interaction considers free activity from students,
deciding what, how and when to develop the teaching-learning
process, following a spontaneous learning.
3. Observer-inventor
Among this model of interaction, we can find integrative relationship,
where the teacher decides what and when to study, with students
building knowledge, considering autonomy, initiative, and
participation, deciding how to study.
4. Communicative
Regarding this model of interaction, both the students and the
teacher are active participants in the communicative act, following a
continuous exchange of roles: sender-receiver and vice versa, leading
to a feedback process between the teacher and the student, as a
result, due to collaboration and social construction of knowledge.
Thus, the communication is transmitted in two directions (horizontally
and permanently), that is, EMIREC to EMIREC (Sender-Receiver /
Sender-Receiver).
We may also have to consider the following relationship
among the teacher and the students:
1. Cooperation, promoting a sincere and participatory approach in
the development of tasks.
2. Autonomy, allowing students to be able to make their own
decisions.
3. Empathy, considering an atmosphere of acceptance,
understanding, respect, security and mutual trust.
4. Activity, with participation and involvement of both the teacher
and the students.
5.Equality, being based on shared responsibility of both the teacher
and the students.
Hence, the teacher should no longer impose the learning rhythm,
being the centre of knowledge, having the last word, communicating
in an unidirectional way through monologues, but rather the teacher
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should become a guider-facilitator of the teaching learning process,
moving freely along the classroom monitoring the students,
controlling, but without dominating, motivating and keeping the
students’ enthusiasm high and, eventually, participating along the
different activities and tasks, establishing a horizontal relationship
with the students in which debate and dialogue arise as a result.
Eventually, let us consider the following roles of the teacher within
drama activities:
Resource, with the teacher being considered a kind of walking
resource centre (monitor) ready to offer help if needed or
providing students with whatever language they lack when
performing communicative activities, being always available so
that students can consult the teachers when they wish.
Assessor, with the teacher assuming this role in order to see
how well students are performing or how well they performed,
with feedback and correction, being organized and caried out.
Organizer, being perhaps the most difficult and important role
the teacher has to play, as the success of many activities
depends on good organization and on the students knowing
exactly what they are to do. Giving instructions in vital in this
role as well as setting up activities.
Participant, improving the atmosphere in the class when the
teacher takes part in an activity. However, the teacher takes a
risk of dominating the activity when performing it.
Tutor, with the teacher acting as a coach when students are
involved in project work or self-study, providing advice and
guidance and helps students clarify ideas and limit tasks.
8. CONCLUSION
In this topic, we have briefly defined the concept of drama and we
have provided some general considerations about it. Then, we have
analysed some drama techniques such as simulations of everyday life
situations, role-plays and representation of tales.
After that, we have focused on group work in creative activities and
finally we have explained the role of the teacher when using drama
techniques.
To conclude, we would like to remark that, as proven along this topic,
it results evident that the use of drama techniques in the Foreign
Language classroom contribute to the students’ development of the
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communicative competence, improving not only their communication
skills and pronunciation patterns, but also developing certain skills
and capabilities, like creativity and self-confidence, allowing them to
develop as whole and human beings.
However, drama activities can be a waste of time if they do not
provide both fun and educational meaning to students. Furthermore,
it should not be used permanently, as it would lead to boredom,
routine, and loss of enthusiasm. Instead, it should be introduced at
different stages of the lessons, changing the pace of the class and
arousing curiosity and interest of students.
Eventually, drama should not be used for the sake of using them, but
in order to introduce, practice or revise the language structures, as
we are not talking about time-filling activities, but rather drama
activities have a great educational and pedagogical value, with the
main aim of reaching the well-known Communicative Competence.
In this way, drama, carefully chosen, can open up and enrich the
language lesson, providing students with a window to new worlds and
engaging their intellect and emotions in a way that language study on
its own cannot.
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is
limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces
the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand”.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
