Drama in ELT

Some ideas from COCKET. S, FOX G. Keep Talking! Learning English through Drama,
Storytelling and Literature. Krakow: Wydawnictwo Naukowe WSP, 1999.
Drama in the classroom avoids the distinction between actor and observer, for everybody
takes part at the same time. That is why it is important for everybody to understand that
when doing drama there will be no requirement for anybody to perform anything in front of
anyone else. Drama in the classroom works mainly through improvised role play, which in
form and purpose is quite distinct from action on the stage.
Role playing is not acting in the theatrical sense; rather it is the process of using parts of
oneself in different situations. We are skilful role players in real life.
What is important:
 There is full and active participation by all members of the class.
 Spontaneous talk flows freely in small groups with the teacher who is not a
language expert, but only an adviser, sometimes going from group to group
stimulating the work.
 There is friendly atmosphere of trust and cooperation.
 The drama uses a wide variety of situations, some set in the present, some in more
fantastic and exotic circumstances.
 The students take on a range of roles, switching from one to another as the drama
demands and when in role they speak and move as the character, not themselves,
changing intonation, communicating through gesture, facial expressions etc.
 There is a collective absorption in the drama, evident in the way they listen to each
other, take the initiative or accept another’s suggestions.

When setting up the drama, the teacher works rather like a storyteller, creating the scene,
painting pictures of the characters, suggesting action, but leaving space for the listeners´
imagination. Students´ imaginations respond to a tone of voice, a simple gesture or
mannerism, eye contact and timing - and the conviction that, right now, nothing is so
interesting as this particular story.

Poems that tell a story:

What has happened to Lulu?

By Charles Causley (In MALEY A., MOULDING S. Poem into Poem. Cambridge: CUP,1985.

Level: (Upper) Intermediate and above, age 14+

Time: this piece of drama requires a lot of time, but it is possible to deal with the story in
several shorter parts, one part in a different lesson, It can be also done as a one-day
workshop.
Language Learning Aims
Reading: the poem
Speaking: asking questions, describing a character, appearance, life experience, problems,
worries, wishes and plans.
Writing: suggested writing tasks:
 Lulu´s short message for her mother
 Description of Lulu´s appearance (for the police)
 A report on Lulu´s case written by a social worker (formal style)
 Magazine article: Lulu´s story (style appropriate to either quality press or popular
press)
  Lulu´s diary entry (personal style)
Materials
A copy of the poem What Has Happened to Lulu
A picture of Lulu ( a teenage girl)
Samples of magazine articles that demonstrate the style typical either of quality or popular
press.

Lesson Plan
Lesson 1

Read the poem: Students read the poem on their own. The teacher can explain the
unknown vocabulary” ( rag-doll, flap, crumple, gust of rain).
Brainstorming:
Who is talking? What can we deduce about the family?
Identify the characters in the poem, their problems.
What is the age of Lulu and her sibling (sister or brother)?
Why did Lulu leave her home? What is her relationship to her mother? What is mother´s
attitude to Lulu´s behaviour? What can mother do?
Does their father live with them?
Write the message that Lulu left for her mother.

2 Groups: policemen and mothers ( students are divided in two groups)

Policemen (policepersons) prepare questions that they will ask Lulu´s mother.
Mothers. Ss prepare a description of Lulu, and must be able to explain what has happened
to Lulu: (Frequent use of the present perfect: She has never done it before. She has
always been a good girl).

Pairs (one policeperson + one mother)

Role-play: Mother is at the police station and is reporting that Lulu is missing: The
policeperson asks questions, mother receives a form that she must fill in. ( This written task
can be done by all students before the role play as it can help them with the conversation).

All students (in role of Lulu) write an entry in Lulu´s diary - a description of what
happened and also Lulu expresses her feelings (This might be homework).

Lesson 2

Hot seating
(Hot seating involves taking a person out of a dramatic fictional situation and placing
him/her in the hot seat so that s/he may be questioned about events in the story, about
his/her feelings, thoughts. The rule is that the character must stay in the role from the point
where s/he enters to take the hot seat. On no account may the character slip out of role to
speak as him/herselves. Hot seating is a story building exercise.
The questioners should avoid tricky questions, they collaborate rather than interrogate.

The characters who will appear in the hot seat are:

Lulu, her mother, her sister,/brother (very naïve), possibly her father who does not live with
them. ( or her stepfather), also her boyfriend who waited for her.
All other students participate in asking questions. It can be in the form of an interview for
either a tabloid or quality press.

Possible written HW: An article for the newspaper or a report written by a social worker.

Still image, (tableau) Scenes from Lulu´s life when she was at home and after she left
home.
Still image is like a photograph taken at key moments from the story. Students must discuss,
of course in English, which these key moments are and then they decide which characters
participated in these scenes and how these pictures can be created. There is no movement
and no words. If students work in groups, each group shows their still image and the others
who view it discuss the meaning of the tableau.

Attachment: A police form

MISSING PERSON
Name:
Sex:
Occupation
Marital status:
Description

IF TH MISSING PERSON IS UNDER THE AGE OF 18, COMPLETE THE

FOLLOWING:

FATHER MOTHER
Name:
Sex:
Occupation
Marital status:
Description

OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT THE FAMILY:

BRIEF ACOUNT OF WHAT HAPPENED:

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR LEAVING