JIONETTE ARAWIRAN (PAREF ROSEHILL SCHOOL)

HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH THROUGH DRAMA ACTIVITIES: A LEARNING DESIGN : METHODOLOGIES AND TEACHING APPROACHES

Despite the many benefits of drama activities on language fluency, wellbeing, empathy, and creativity of learners, English classrooms in the Philippines do not engage students as often in such drama activities. This might be due to the fact that teachers might not have had enough training or background in teaching drama. Drama activities are also time-consuming. This paper presents a learning design for teaching Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Grade Nine students, as well as the benefits of teaching and learning drama in the classroom. Teaching strategies include audiobook listening, improv and drama activities, and essay writing. Students also staged a play at the end of the semester. Students showed positive results in comprehension and perceptions of themselves and their classmates. Given the advantages of engaging students in drama activities, this paper argues for the place of teaching and learning drama in the English classroom.

Jionette Clyde Arawiran teaches English at PAREF Rosehill School in the Philippines. She took up English Studies-Creative Writing in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Her master's was in Values Education in the University of Asia and the Pacific. She specializes in teaching literature, creative writing, journalistic writing, and oral communication.