Top 10 Reasons to Use Drama Games in the EFL Classroom

Hello everyone,

Last month I was in Exeter, UK for a two-week course on “Drama Techniques in The English Language Classroom”. We were 19 teachers from 10 different countries.

Here we are!

X Center (our school building)

How it looked like years and years ago 🙂

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Richard Clark, our instructor at IPC, for sharing his ‘Bible’ with us which made it possible for me to start this blog. Almost all the content in this category  will be taken from the ‘Bible’.

Our dearest teacher

At the beginning of the course, we all had a vague idea on how and why to use drama in our classrooms. On the very first session, we talked about why we should use drama games in our teaching.

Here is my top list:

• Drama games combine elements of creative drama, improvisation, pantomime, creative movement and storytelling. These games are a versatile teaching tool that reaches multiple learning styles, content areas, age groups and levels of language and experience.

• Drama games are an ideal strategy for differentiated instruction. From the shy to the confident, from the ELD/LEP to the linguistically gifted and from the inexperienced to the advanced student, drama games include all levels of differentiated abilities in a positive successful creative experience.

• Drama games transform the traditional teacher-student relationship from one of authority-recipient to one of shared experience of discovery and creative exploration.

• Emotion, gestures and imitation are universal forms of communication understood in all cultures.

• Drama teaches students to imagine, explore, create and share in front of others. It develops interpretation skills, personal creativity and new ways of looking at the same information.

• Imagination is at the core of innovation, invention, problem solving, science and the arts. It develops students’ writing, speaking and creative self-expression.

• Bodies are alive and moving, energy is created and released, and muscles are exercised during drama games. All these factors increase the students’ motivation and attention for learning.

• Drama is hands-on, experiential learning that engages mind, body, voice and emotions to interpret and convey information and ideas to others.

• Drama is a kinaesthetic teaching method. Not only does movement reach the kinaesthetic learners in the group, it refreshes and energizes all participants.

• It’s fun!!