using drama in english classrooms: the effects on

Yaratıcı Drama Dergisi 2021, 16(2), 191-206

www.yader.org

Using Drama in English Classrooms: The Effects on Vocabulary Gains in Very Young Learners

Enisa Mede1

Alvin Vardar2

Article Info AbstractDOI: 10.21612/yader.2021.012 The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of drama technique on the

vocabulary development while teaching English to Very Young Learners (TEVYLs). The study also attempts to find out the reflections of English teachers about using drama in their classroom practices. To meet these objectives, 23 very young learners (VYL)s and 7 teachers enrolled in an English program of a private kindergarten in Istanbul participated in this study. Data were collected from pre- and post- picture drawings to examine whether there was any difference in the vocabulary gains of the participants. In addition, observations and teacher’s field notes were used to find out the effectiveness of dramatization while TEVYLs. The findings revealed that dramatization led to vocabulary gains in VYLs. The teachers perceived this method and related techniques to be entertaining, motivating and engaging leading to an interactive and dynamic learning environment. Based on these results, the study provides pedagogical implications and suggestions about integrating dramatization in VYLs’ English classrooms

Article History

Received 06.05.2020

Revised 03.16.2021

Accepted 03.31.2021

Article History

Drama technique

Very Young Learners (VYLs)

Vocabulary Gains

Teaching English to Very Young Learners (TEVYLs)

Article Type

Research paper

1 AssociateProfessor,BahçeşehirUniversity,İstanbul,Turkey,e-posta:[email protected]:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6555-5248

2 MA., BahçeşehirUniversity, İstanbul,Turkey,, e-posta: [email protected] ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4736-1263

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Enisa Mede & Alvin Vardar - Yaratıcı Drama Dergisi 2021, 16(2), 191-206

İngilizce Sınıflarında Drama Tekniğinin Kullanılması: Erken Yaşta Kelime Kazanımı Etkisi

Makale Bilgisi ÖzDOI: 10.21612/yader.2021.012 Bu çalışmanın amacı drama entegreli öğrenmenin Türkiye’de bir özel anaokulunda

İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenen Türk öğrencilerin kelime kazanımlarına etkisini incelemektir. Çalışma aynı zamanda öğrencilerin ve öğretmenlerin bu öğrenme yöntemine karşı algılarını ve uygulama esnasında İngilizce öğretmenlerinin karşılaşmış oldukları zorlukları araştırmaktadır. Katılımcılar İngilizce başlangıç seviyesinde 23 altı yaş öğrencisi ve yedi öğretmenden oluşmaktadır. Çalışmadaki nicel veriler, resim çizme tekniği aracılığı ile ön-son kelime bilgisi testi ve gözlem kontrol listesi ile elde edilmiş olup çalışmanın başlangıcı ve sonucunda anlamlı bir fark ortaya çıkmıştır. Öğretmen yansıtıcı kağıtlarından elde edilen nitel veri ve öğrenci mülakatlarından açığa çıkan sonuç drama temelli öğretimin uygulama zorluklarının yansıra eğlenceli, motivasyonu arttırıcı, öğretici, dinamik, etkileşimli, doğal ve derse katılımı arttırıcı olduğunu gösterirken öğrenci mülakat sonuçları drama yönteminin entegre edilmiş öğretimin keyifli ve öğrenci açısından uygulaması kolay olduğunu göstermiştir.

Makale Geçmişi

Geliş tarihi 06.05.2020

Düzeltme 03.16.2021

Kabul 03.31.2021

Anahtar Sözcükler

Drama

Erken yaşta dil edinimi

Kelime kazanımı

Yabancı dil olarak İngilizce

Makale Türü

Araştırma Makalesi

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Introduction

Interest in the teachingofEnglish toyoung learners (TEYLs)hasbeen steadilygrowinginrecentyearsparticularlyinthefieldoflanguageeducation,whichiscausingchangesinvariousteachingapproaches,andtechniques(Kırkgöz,2007;Creminetal.,2009;Demircioğlu&İspir,2016;Shin,2006).Englishteachersputasidethetraditionalteachingtechniquesandpreferdifferenttypesofteachingtechniquestomaketheiryounglearners(YLs)acquirethelanguageinamorenaturalandmeaningfulway.Therefore,teachersbecomeincreasinglyawareofthefactthatinordertodeveloptheiryounglearners’foreignlanguageskillsandvocabularyknowledgeitisvitaltoplanattractive,creativeandengaginglessons.(Heathcote&Bolton,1994;Warren,2013;Rui,2017).

ItisobviousthatteachingEnglishmayvaryaccordingtotheage,level,needsandinterestsofthelearners.Consideringtheprocessoflanguagelearning,Haynes(2007)statesthat,foreignlanguageeducationiscomplicatedandhasitsownstagesdifferingacrossagegroups.Toexemplify,foryounglearners,itcoversasilentperiodandearlyproductionperiodduringwhichtheyareexpectedtolearn1000wordsintotal.Althoughtheycanproducesomeofthemincorrectly,theyareexpectedtostartproducingthosebasicformsandwordsintheearlyproductionstage.Theresearcherdescribesthatafterthesetwostagescomesthe“speechemergence”periodinwhichlearnersareabletoproduceshortstructuresorphrasesfromaselectionof3000vocabularywords.Learnerscanalsoaskbasicquestions,interactandunderstandillustratedstories.Next,the“intermediatefluencystage”comes,wherelearnersareabletouse6000words.Theycanformcomplexspokenandwrittensentencesaswell.Finally,inthe“advancedfluencystage,”theresearcherstatesthatlearnerscanbecomenative-likeintenorfifteenyearsoflanguagelearning.Furthermore,thesestageshighlighttheimportanceofvocabularyexpansionwhichaidtocommunicatewiththespeakersofthatlanguage.

Apartfromthelearningprocess,Wilkins(1972)statestheimportanceofvocabularyandformteachingbysaying“…verylittlecanbeconveyedwithoutgrammar,andnothingcanbeconveyedwithoutvocabulary”(pp.111-112).Consideringthisquotation,teachingthenecessarystructuresandtargetvocabularyiscrucialinlanguageclassroomsandtherefore,itshouldbeintegratedinlessonplansusingenjoyableandcommunicativeactivities.StewingandBuege(1994)pointoutthatchildrencanunderstandthemeaningsofvocabularyandtheirfunctionssuchasnouns,verbs,adjectivesandadverbswhenphysicallyactingthemoutinforms.Therefore,dramatizationtechniqueshavealastingeffectonthewaystudentslearn,understand,andinternalizethemeaningsofEnglishvocabulary.

Oneof themosteffective in-class techniques,whichhelpsVYLs todevelop theirabilityto understand, learn, and produce English is through dramatization. Specifically, dramatizationin education has been developing for the past twenty years, and it is one of the oldest teachingtechniques(Brown,19933;Boudreault,2010;Dal,2017;Kocaman,Dolmacı&Bür,2012;Wessels,1987;Zafeiriadou,2009).AccordingtoBrown(1993),dramatizationisapowerfulwayofhelpingyounglearnersexpressthemselvesandgainmoreconfidence.Throughdramatization,younglearnersbecomemore interested in the lessonsbecause they feel like they areplayinggames rather thanlearningasubject.Specifically,thistechniqueisusefulforYLs’becauseitreplicatesthethingthatmakespeoplelearnlanguagesthefastest:necessity.Barnett(1998)statesinEducationalDramaandLanguageArtsthatifachildneedstospeakalanguagetocommunicateandtobeinvolvedinan

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interactive,tangibleway,theywillbemoreengagedwiththelanguageandtherefore,willpickitupquicker.

Several studies emphasized that children’s participation and interest is higherwhen theyareexposedtodramatizationtechniquesinEnglishlessons.Theyalsoperceiveddramatizationfun,enjoyableandfeltmoreconfidentwhilelearningEnglish(Gardner,1999;Fuentes,2010;Yılmaz,2010;Rew&Moon,2013;Hazar,2015).Toexemplify,accordingtothestudyconductedbyFuentes(2010), twoequivalentgroupsofprimary levelGalicianstudents’vocabularyexpansion is testedthroughanexperimentalresearch.Thepurposewastofindoutwhetherdramatizationexercisesaremoreuseful to teach topic-basedvocabulary thandidacticmethodsornot.Theusefulnessof sixdramatizationtechniqueswereexaminedandhowbeneficialdramatizationistoteachandtolearnaforeignlanguageisdetermined.Theresultsindicatedthatthelearnerswhoareinstructedthroughdidacticmethodsshowedlowersuccessinlearningvocabularythanthelearnerswhoareinstructedthroughdramatization techniques. Itwasalsoobserved thatdramatization techniquescontributedhighlyinlearners’vocabularyexpansion.

InanotherstudycarriedoutbyYılmaz(2010),theeffectofcreativedrama-basedactivitiesonseventy-eightyounglearners’Englishvocabularyacquisitionwasinvestigated.Avarietyofdrama-basedactivitieswereadministeredtothetreatmentgroupforadurationofeightweeks.Additionally,the feelingsof theparticipantsaboutdrama-based lessonsweremeasured followingeachdrama-basedlesson.Theresultsreportedthatdrama-basedactivitieshadasignificanteffectonenhancingvocabulary development.Moreover, the responses of the participantswere supportive of drama-basedactivities.

Rew andMoon (2013) looked at the direct effects of a specific dramatization techniquethroughanexperimentmethodstudy.Forty-nineprimary studentsparticipated inEnglishdrama-based(role-play)lessonsforeightweeks.Theobtainedresultsdemonstratedthatthespeakingabilityoftheparticipantswashighlydeveloped.Similarly,Hazar’s(2015)studyindicatedthateveninaverylimitedtimethespeakingskillsofyounglearnersdevelopedafterpracticingEnglishthroughdrama-basedactivities.TheparticipantsexibitedpositiveattitudestowardstheuseofthistechniqueinEnglishlessonsaswell.

In addition, Gardner (1999) argued that children gain more self-confidence throughdramatizationandfeelmoreflexibleinrole-playing.TheygetasafespacetopracticetheirEnglishand test-outdifferentphrasesorwords.Theyalsobecomemoreeager tospeakduring the lessonwhich aids with the development of their overall communicative competence (Heinig, 1993;Üstündağ,1997).

Basedontheseoverviews,buildinganauthenticclassroomatmosphereinEnglishclassesisessentialinorderforteacherstosucceedinthelanguageteachingprocesswithyounglearners(Pinter,2017).Whenyounglearnersfeeltheyarenotenjoyingwhiletheyarelearning,theycaneasilyloseinterestintheactivitiesbeingimplementedinclass(Chou,2014).Insuchaclassroomenvironment,thelanguageteachingandlearningprocesscanbecomeharder.Asteachersturnawayfromtraditionalteachingtechniquessuchasvocabularymemorizationandrepetition,theyfocusonactivelypreparingchildrentoproducethelanguageduringlessons.Dramatizationtechniquesbecomeeffectivetoolsparticularlyfordevelopingcommunicativecompetenceandvocabularyofyounglearners(Hapsari,

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2015).Inthisregard,teachersareexpectedtoplanmorecreativeandparticipatorylessonsandbringactivities that canpromoteYLs’ self- learning,peer andgroup interaction in authentic situations(Edelenbos,Johnstone&Kubanek,2006;Warren,2013).

Inlightoftheseobservationsandtheconciseliteraturereview,dramatizationhelpsteachersandlearnerstorecycleandconsolidatethepreviouslyornewlylearntvocabularyandformswhenappliedtoclassroomenvironment.Byincreasingthenumberandtypesofdramatizationactivitiesin English lessons, teachersmay create amore natural learning atmospherewhich increases themotivation, participation and confidence inVYLs. The present study, therefore, emphasizes theconsistentuseofdramatizationbyusingthetechniques,warmups,miming,puppetry,simulationsandrole-playinVYLs’Englishlessons.Specifically,thisstudyexplorestheeffectivenessofthesetechniques on the vocabulary gains while TEVYLs. Finally, this study attempts to reveal thereflectionsoftheteachersabouttheintegrationofdramatizationinVYLs’Englishclassrooms.

Tomeettheseobjectives,thefollowingresearchquestionswereaddressedinthisstudy:

• Is there any significant difference in the vocabulary gains of theVYLs after theincorporationofthedramatechnique?

• What are the reflections of English teachers about drama-based lessons whileTEVYLs?

Method

Research Model

Teachingcanbeconsideredtobeacraft.Itcanbebothdescribedasanartandascience,whichiswhygreatteachersalwaysexperimentandmakesomemistakes(Johnson,2017).However,teacherswouldliketoknowhowandwhattheyareteachingisactuallyusefulfortheirlearners.Oneoptiontofindthisoutisthroughcasestudies(Yin,2009).Mostsimply,casestudyisdefinedas“anempiricalinquirythatinvestigatesacontemporaryphenomenon(the‘case’)in-depthandwithinitsreal-worldcontext”(Yin,2009,p.16).Asthepresentstudyattemptedtogatherin-depthinformationaboutaparticularsampleandcontext,casestudywasadoptedasaresearchdesignofthisstudy.

Setting and Participants

The present studywas conductedwith 23YLs (13 female and 10male) ofEnglish at aprivatekindergarteninIstanbul,Turkey.Theywereall6yearsoldandtheywereatthebeginninglevelofproficiency(pre-A1level).

ApartfromtheVLYs,7Englishteachersparticipatedinthisstudy.4teacherswereTurkish,2AmericanandoneBritish.Allteacherswerefemale,andtheiragerangedfrom29to34yearsold.Theyhadteachingexperiencebetween5to9yearsandhavebeenworkinginthesameschoolforthelastthreeyears.Theparticipatingteacherswereteaching25hourseachweek.Thelessonswere40-minutelong.ThelessonswerebasedontheContentBased(CB)Approachincludingwarmup,circletime,activetimeandtabletimeactivities.

The teachers met each day after school, and they prepared drama–based lesson planscollaboratively.Specifically,theaimofthelessonswastoimprovethevocabularyofthelearners

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byengagingtheminvariousactivitiesForexample,alessonplanoftheunit“AttheCircus”wasdesignedbasedondramatizationandactivitiessuchasgames,storiesandcraftworkwereintegratedtohelplearnersimprovethetargetvocabularyrelatedtothetopic.Duringthelesson,theteacherscreatedfunandenjoyableclassroomenvironmenttogenerateinteractionamongVYLs.

Data Collection Tools

Inthiscasestudy,datawerecollectedfrompicturedrawingstoexamineiftherewasanydifference in the vocabulary gains of theVYLs after drama-based lessons.As for the teachers’reflectionsaboutusingdramatechniqueswhileTEYLs,dataweregatheredfromobservationsandteacher’sfieldnotes.Thefollowingsectiondescribeseachdatacollectiontoolindetail.

Picture drawing. Picturedrawingasamethodofdatacollectionhasbeenusedinanumberofstudies(DeLange,Olivier,Geldenhuys,&Mitchell,2012).Thetechniqueisalsoknownasthe“drawandwrite”approach.TheteachersinthisstudyadaptedthismethodtoallowveryYLsdrawandsaythevocabularytheyhavelearnedthroughdrama-basedlessonssincetheirwritingskillswerenotdevelopedyet.Specifically,inthisresearch,thelearnerswereaskedtodescribeanddrawpicturesaboutsevenwordsrelatedtocircusperformersinordertofindouttheirvocabularygainsbeforeandafterdrama-basedlessons.TheYLslookedatthedisplayedpictureonthesmart-boardanddrewtheperformerstheycannameaspre-test.Aspost-test,bylookingatthesamecircuspicturedisplayedonthesmartboardduringpre-test,theparticipantsdrewandcoloredtheperformerstheycouldname.Then,theysaidthenamesoftheperformersbypointingtothevisualsontheirownpapers.

Teacher field notes. Duringthedrama-basedlessons,theteachersobservedtheirlessonsandtookfilednotes(Dewey,1993).Keepingfieldnotesaftereachlessonprovidedtheteacherswiththe opportunity to get in-depth information about the effectiveness of using dramatizationwhileTEVYLs.

Data Collection ProcedureThissectionoutlinestheproceduralstepsofthestudyincludingsampling,qualitativeand

quantitativedatacollectioninstruments.Toprovideanoverviewoftheprocedureofthestudythefollowingtablepresentsthedatacollectionprocedureappliedinthisstudy:

Table 1. Overview of Data Collection Procedure

Week Unit Name: At the CircusWeek1 Pre-picturedrawing

Week2Drama-Basedlesson1includingwarmup,songs,puppetry,role-play,drawings,observationandfieldnotes

Week3Drama-Basedlesson2includingwarmup,songs,puppetry,role-play,drawings.Teacherobservationandfieldnotes

Week4Drama-basedlesson3includingsongs,warmupgames,miming,Role-playsimulations,drawings,observation,andfieldnotes

Week5Drama-basedlesson4includingsongs,warmupgames,miming,Role-playsimulations,drawings,observationandfieldnotes

Week6 Post-picturedrawing

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Data Analysis

In the present study, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analyzedsuccessively.Thequantitativedatawere collected frompre- andpost-picturedrawingwhile thequalitative data were gathered through observations and filed notes.As for the analysis of thevocabularygainsobtainedfrompre-andpost-picturedrawings,thedatadidnotmeettheassumptionofNormalityDistribution for parametricmeasurement (p>.05).Therefore, a non-parametric test,WilcoxonSigned-RankTestwasusedtocomparewhethertherewasadifferenceinthevocabularygainsofVYLsafterdrama-basedlessons.

Apartfromthequantitativedata,thequalitativedatagatheredbymeansofobservationsandteacher’sfieldnoteswentthroughthematicanalysistoidentify,analyze,andreportthethemesrelatedto using drama-based lessons inVYLs’English classrooms.The six-phase approach to thematicanalysiswasfollowedinthestudy(ClarkeandBraun,2012).First,thedataweretranscribedbytworaterswhohadwereoneoftheresearchersandanMAstudentexperiencedinqualitativeresearch.Thetranscribeddatawerereadandre-readforfamiliarizationpurposes.Then,initialcodesthatwererelevanttotheresearchquestionsweregenerated,andthecodesandtheassociateddataextractswerecollatedtogether.Afterthat,theidentifiedcodesweregroupedintomainthemes.Finally,theobtainedthemeswerereviewedbythetworaterstoensurethattheyworkedwelltoidentifythedataparalleltotheresearchquestionsandfinalizedthedataforreportingpurposes.Theoverallinter-coderreliabilitywasfoundtobe.83,whichindicatedhighreliabilitybetweenthetworaters(McHugh,2012).

Findings

ThefollowingsectionofthisstudyfirstreportsthevocabularygainsofYLsbeforeandafterdrama-basedlessons.Then,theteachers’reflectionsarepresentedinthestudy.

Tobeginwith,duringthedrama-basedlessonstherewereseventargetwordsrelatedtothecircusperformerstheYLswereexpectedtolearnandmakeuseofduringthelessons.Thevocabularygainswereexaminedpre-andpost-picturedrawings.Table2belowreportstheobtainedfindings:

Table 2. Vocabulary Gains Pre- and Post- Picture Drawing

N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks z pNegativeRanks 0a .00 .00

-4.250 .000*PositiveRanks 23b 12.00 276.00Ties 0cTotal 23 a.post<preb.post>prec.post=pre

Table 3. Descriptive Statistics of Pre- and Post-Picture Drawing

(N=23) Min. Max. M SDPre 0 1 .09 .288Post 4 7 6.09 .996

According to the Wilcoxon Test results, the difference regarding very young learners’vocabularygainswerestatisticallyata95%confidencelevel(Z=-4.250;p=.000<.05).Inaddition,whenthevocabularyratewasanalyzed,itwasfoundthattheratebeforetheimplementationwas0.9

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and6.09aftertheuseofdrama-basedlessons.Inbrief,thefindingsindicatedthatthevocabularygainsofstudentsincreasedduringthedrama-basedlessons.

Furthermore,tofindoutthereflectionsoftheteachersaboutusingdramawhileTEYLs,the5themesnamely,entertaining,motivating,promotingparticipation,dynamiclearningenvironment,interactionwereinducedfromtheteacher’sfieldnoteswhileobservingthelessons.Eachthemeisdescribedinthefollowingpartofthestudy.

Entertaining. Theanalysisoftheteachers’fieldnotesshowedthattheyfounddramatizationentertainingforYLs.TeachersstatedthatYLswerecheerfulandhadfunduringdrama-basedlessons.Thisfindingissupportedinthefollowingexcerpts:

[…]Thestudentsarehavingfun.Theyarelaughingateachotherduringmimingactivities.(T1,Fieldnotes,12.02.2020)

[…]IcanseethattheEnglishteachercouldbuildanenjoyableatmospherebyapplyingdrama-basedactivities.Weshouldapplythesetypesofactivitiesmoreoften.(T2,Fieldnotes,15.02.2020)

[…]Childrenlikedtheactivities.Theyhadfun.Wealsohadfun.Theywatchedeachotherandtheteacherwithagreatinterest.(T7,Fieldnotes,19.02.2020)

Motivating. Consideringthistheme,theEnglishteachersexpressedthatYLswerehighlymotivatedduringthelesson.Theywerewonderingwhatcomesnextastheactivitieswereattractiveasdisplayedintheseexcerpts:

[…]Childrenarewonderingwhatcomesnext.Theyseemtobemotivatedenoughtounderstandthecontentoftheactivities.Thechildrencanunderstandtheteacher’sinstructions,too.Thereisnoneedforextraexplanation.(T3,Fieldnotes,12.02.2020)

[…]Theactivitiesaresoattractiveandeyecatchy.Nearly,allofthemarefocused.(T5,Fieldnotes,15.02.2020)

[…]Theactivitiesweresomotivating,andmylearnerslikedthemalot.(T4,Fieldnotes,15.02.2020)

[…]Duringtheactivities,studentsweremotivated,andtheylistenedtotheinstructionscarefully.(T6,Fieldnotes,19.02.2020)

Promoting participation. ThefieldnotesoftheteachersshowedthatincorporatingdramapromotedtheparticipationofYLsaswell.Theparticipantswereveryenthusiastictoparticipateintheactivitiesasdramaattractedtheirattention.Thisfindingissupportedbelow:

[…]Thekidswanttoparticipateinalloftheactivities.Theirfingersareupallthetime.(T2,Fieldnotes,12.02.2020)

[…]Someofthechildrenwantedtojointhesametypeofactivitymorethanonetimeinordertorole-playadifferentcharacterthistime.Theysay,“Teacher,againplease.”(T5,Fieldnotes,15.02.2020)

[…] Participation is high. Sometimes children are reluctant to wait their turn. (T1, Field notes,19.02.2020)

Dynamic learning environment. AllEnglishteachershighlightedthatdrama-basedEnglishlessonsencouragedadynamic,creativeandanenergeticlearningenvironmentasdisplayedinthesecomments:

[…]Theactivitiesofthelessonarenotpassive.Childrenareactivemostofthetime.Theysing,playgamesandrole-play.(T3,Fieldnotes,12.02.2020)

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[…]Thereislessteachertalk.Studentsaremorecreativeanddynamicwhileperformingdrama-basedactivities.Thisisexactlywhatweneed.(T2,Fieldnotes,15.02.2020)

[…]Theyarenotexpectedtositandlisteninsteadtheyruntothecentertopractice,speak,sing,playgames.(T6,Fieldnotes,19.02.2020)

[…]Mostofthetimetheyareactiveandenergetic.Theydolotsofactions,mime,sing,drawandcolor.Theylearnthroughmovement.(T5,Fieldnotes,22.02.2020)

Interaction. For the last theme induced from the field notes, the teachers indicated thatdrama-basedlessonspromotedinteractionbetweenstudents.Theytalkedwiththeirpeersandweremoreactiveduringthelesson.Consideringthisfinding,theysaid:

[…]StudentstalkedtoeachotherinEnglish.Allactivitiessupportedpeerwork.Studenttalktimewasmorethanteachertalktime.ChildreninteractedwitheachotherinEnglish.(T7,FieldnotesData,12.02.2020)

[…]Iobservethatchildrenaremoreactive.Theytalkmoreandinteractwiththeirpeers.(T1,FieldnotesData,15.02.2020)

[…]Kidsarelearningandpracticingmoreandmore.Dramapromotedinteractioninmyclass.(T2,FieldnotesData,19.02.2020)

[…]Theytalkedviapuppetsinpairs,theywerelikeplayingathome.Theclassroomatmospherewasmoreinteractive.(T4,FieldnotesData,26.02.2020)

Tosummarize,basedon the reflectionsof theparticipants, it canbe inferred thatdrama-basedEnglishlessonsresultedinhighermotivationamongYLs,whichenabledthemtopaymoreattentionandactivelyparticipateinthelesson.Thelessonswereentertainingandinteractivewhichcreatedadynamiclearningenvironmentintheclassroom.

Discussion

The aim of this studywas to investigate the effect of dramamethod on the vocabularydevelopmentofYLsofEnglish.ThestudyalsoattemptedtorevealthereflectionsofteachersaboutTEYLsthroughdrama-basedlessons.Tefirstresearchquestionfocusedontheeffectsofdrama-basedlessonsonthevocabularygainsofYLs.Thefindingsofthepre-andpost-picturedrawingsrevealedthatusingthedramatechniqueshelpedYLswiththeirvocabularydevelopment.ThisfindingisinlinewithDemircioğlu’s(2010)studywhichindicatedthatafterusingdrama,therewasanincreaseinthevocabularyexpansionofthemajorityoftheyounglearners.Similarly,Alqahtani’s(2015)studyreportedthatdrama-basedlessonsarebeneficialfortheexpansionofYLs’vocabularyknowledge.

Furthermore, the second research question attempted to find out the teachers’ reflectionsaboutdrama-basedlessons.Thefieldnotesshowedthat theYLsweremorewillingtoparticipateinthelessonastheyhadfunwhilelearning.Theywerealsomotivatedandtheirinteractionamongtheir peers increasedwhich created a dynamic learning atmosphere in the classroom. Similar tothese findings, Bouldreault (2010) stated that the benefits of using drama-based English lessonswerecountedasbeinganeffectivenaturalpromoterof interaction, communication,participationandmotivation. Therefore, it is noteworthy to point out that English teachers should considerincorporatingthistechniqueintotheirlessonstoestablishamoreeffectiveandinteractiveteachingandlearningenvironment.

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Inconclusion,thefindingsofthisstudyrevealedthatdramaisaneffectiveinstructionalmethodondevelopingvocabularyinYLs’Englishclassrooms.Drama-basedlessonsfosterparticipationandcreatedynamiclearningenvironmentwhichleadstoahighlymotivating,entertainingandinteractivelanguagelearningandteachingenvironment.

Pedagogical Implications, Limitations and Suggestions for Further Research

The present study has some pedagogical implications to be considered. First, this studyshowedthatdramaisaneffectivetechniquetobeusedwhileteachingvocabularytoYLsinEnglishclassrooms.Asthistechniqueisperceivedasmotivatingandentertaining,itcanalsobeimplementedwhileteachinglanguageskillssuchasspeaking.Asaresult,thefindingsofthestudystronglyconfirmthatusingdramatizationwhileTEVYLsresultsininteractiveanddynamiclanguageteachingandlearningenvironment.

On the other hand, this study has some limitationswhichmight be addressed by futureresearch.First,thenumberoftheparticipantswaslimitedasthesamplewasnotverylargeinthetargetsetting.Therefore,expandingthenumberoftheparticipantsmightleadtomoregeneralizableandcomparativeresults.Duetotimeconstraints,dramatizationwasusedonlyfor6weekswithaparticularfocusoncontentandvocabulary.Implementingthismethodforalongerperiodmightleadtomorein-depthfindingsrelatedtooveralllanguagedevelopmentofVYLs.Therefore,theresultsofthisstudyshouldbetakenassuggestiveforfurtherresearchersinterestedinusingdramatizationwhileTEVYLs.

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Appendix

Sample Lesson Plan

LEVEL Kindergartenage6 Duration 40min. Lesson hour 1-2Theme/Topic AttheCircusBook/Unit(s) Bebop3/AttheCircusTargetVocabulary Performersatthecircus

Clown

Ringmaster

Acrobat

Strongman

Magician

Juggler

Dancer

TargetStructure -Hello

-I’maringmaster/clown/dancer/acrobat/strongman/magician/juggler.

-Welcometothecircus.

Levelofthestudents BeginnerNumberofthestudents 23Theaimofthelesson Teachingthemerelatedvocabulary(i.e.,circusperformers).Materials Poster,flashcards,youtubesongsrelatedtothetopic,somecraftwork

materialsandworksheetsfortabletimeactivitiesandsmartboard.Primary&Secondaryobjectives

Teachingtargetvocabularyandcreatingasafeenvironmenttopracticethenewlylearnedvocabularythroughfundramaactivities.

Songs&videossharedwithstudents

Adayatthecircus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyLtMTNxjK8

203


Activity 1: Warm up- Let’s go to the circus today!!!

Sswillbeaskedelicitingquestionsabouttheplaceandtheperformerstheyseeintheposterbeforetheactivitiesofthelessons.

Tplaysathemerelatedsongfromyoutubelink.

Sswatchandlistentothesong.

Ssmakeatrainandgotothecircusalltogether.

Sswalkaroundtheclassandlistentothecircussong.

Whenthesongfinishes,theTsays:“Weareatthecircusnow.”

TmakestheSssitonthefloorinasemi-circle.

Objective(s):

Tomakestudentsfamiliarwiththetheme.

Tofamiliarizethemwiththenewtopic.

Tomakeasmoothstarttothelesson.

TocheckwhetherSsknowtargetvocabularyornot.

Activity 2: Presentation- Mini Theatre- (10 mins.)

Ttalkswithtwopuppets.

Tsays:“Hello I’m a ring master, welcome to the circus.”

Thepuppetssay: “Hello I’m a clown/dancer/juggler/ acrobat/ ringmaster/ strongman, welcome to the circus.”

Toexposestudentswiththetargetvocabularyandstructures.

Todeveloptheirlisteningskills.

Topresentthethemewithafunactivity.

Activity 3 Practice- Puppetry

TasksSstodopuppetryasshedidduringpresentationsection.

TcallsthevolunteerSstopresent.

TcreatesadynamicclassatmospheresothatSsfeelsafe.

Ssdecidewhichperformertheywanttobeatthecircus.

Objective (s):

Ssinteractwitheachotherusingpuppets.

Ssusethetargetvocabulary.

Sstalktimeincrease.

Ttalktimeisreduced.Activity 4 Table Time

Thandsoutwhitepapersforthestudents

Tasksthemtodrawandcolortheperformertheywanttobeatthecircus.

Sstalkabouttheirpics.Theymakesentencessuchas,“Look! I’m a dancer.”

Objective (s):

Sslearnthroughaproductiveactivity.

Sshavefunwhilelearning.

Sstalkabouttheirperformance.

Yaratıcı Drama Dergisi 2021, 16(2), 204-206

www.yader.org

Uzun Özetİngilizce Sınıflarında Drama Tekniğinin Kullanılması:

Erken Yaşta Kelime Kazanımı EtkisiEnisa Mede3

Alvin Vardar4

Giriş

Erken yaşta yabancı dil eğitiminin önemi, farklı yöntem ve yaklaşımların geliştirilipuyarlanmasınayolaçmıştır(Kırkgöz,2007;Creminetal.,2009;Demircioğlu&İspir,2016;Shin,2006).Gelenekselyöntemlerinyerine,çocuklarınyabancıdiledinimsürecinindahadoğalveanlamlıolmasınısağlayangünceltekniklergeliştirilmiştir.Yabancıdileğitimindedoğalöğrenmeveöğretmensınıfortamıyaratılmasıönemlidir(Pinter,2017).Erkenyaştadilöğrenmesürecinieğlenceli,halegetirmekönemlidir(Chou,2014).Özelliklekelimeediniminiezberciyaklaşımınyerine,interaktifve eğlenceli hale getirmekgerekir.Bunu sağlamanınbir yoludramayöntemini kullanmaktır.Buyöntemerkenyaştailetişimbecerisivekelimedinimisürecinidesteklemektedir(Hapsari,2015).Busebeptenötürü,yabancıdilöğretmenlerinindramayönteminikullanarak,derslerinidahaeğlenceli,yaratıcıveöğrenciodaklıyapmalarıönemlidir (Edelenbos,Johnstone&Kubanek,2006;Warren,2013).

Yabancıdiledinimsürecinde,öğretmenlerderslerinidahaeğlenceli,yaratıcıvekapsayıcıhale getirmek için sınıflarında yeni yöntem ve tekniklere yer vermeye başlamıştır (Heathcote&Bolton,1994;Warren,2013;Rui,2017).Yabancıdildeanlamaveüretmeyetileriningeliştirilmesikonusunda drama önemli bir yöntem olarak bilinmektedir. Çocukların özellikle kendilerini dahamotive,rahatvegüvenlihissetmelerikonusundasınıflardadramakullanımınıyaygınhalegelmeyebaşlamıştır(Brown,1993).Dramayöntemikullanıldığındaçocuklarındilöğrenmesürecinindahaeğlencelivekapsayıcıolduğu,aynızamandabuyöntemindilöğretiminidedahaanlamlıveinteraktifhalegetirdiğivurgulanmıştır.

Erkenyaştadiledinimisürecindedramayöntemininönemibirçokçalışmadavurgulanmıştır(Gardner, 1999; Fuentes, 2010;Yılmaz, 2010; Rew&Moon, 2013; Hazar, 2015). Çalışmalarınsonuçlarına göre drama yöntemini aktif olarak kullanmanın, çocukların dil başarılarını, dersekatılımlarını ve eğlenerek öğrenmelerini desteklediği bulunmuştur. Ayrıca çocukların kelimehaznesiningelişmesindeönemliroloynadığıdavurgulanmıştır(Hapsari,2015).Dramayönteminiyabancı dil sınıflarında etkin kullanmanın öneminden yola çıkarak, bu çalışmanın amacı dramaentegreli öğrenmenin Türkiye’deki bir özel anaokulunda İngilizceyi yabancı dil olarak öğrenenTürköğrencilerinkelimekazanımlarınaetkisiniincelemektir.Çalışmaaynızamandaöğrencilerinve3 Doç.Dr.,BahçeşehirÜniversitesi,İstanbul,Türkiye,e-posta:[email protected]:https://orcid.org/0000-0002-

6555-52484 BilimUzmanı,BahçeşehirÜniversitesi, İstanbul,Türkiye, e-posta: [email protected] ID: https://orcid.org/0000-

0002-4736-1263

205


öğretmenlerinbuöğrenmetekniğinekarşıalgılarınıveuygulamaesnasındaİngilizceöğretmenlerininkarşılaşmış̧olduklarızorluklarıaraştırmıştır.Eldeedilenbulgularsonucundadramayöntemininerkenyaştayabancıdileğitimveöğrenimindenasıletkilikullanılacağıyönündetavsiyelerdebulunmuştur.

Yöntem

Bu çalışma bir vaka analizi olup (Yin, 2009), Türkiye’deki özel bir anaokulun yabancıdil sınıfında yürütülmüştür. Katılımcılar 23 altı yaş öğrencisi ve 7 İngilizce öğretmenindenoluşmaktadır.Çalışmadaöğrencilerbaşlangıçdüzeyiİngilizceseviyesindedir.Öğretmenler,6 hafta boyuncaİngilizcederslerini(haftalık25ders)dramayönteminiuyarlayarakyapmıştır.Öğretmenlergüncelİngilizceprogramındayeralan“Sirk”konusunudramatizaysonile işlemiştir.Herhaftanınbaşındabirarayagelerekdersplanlarınınüzerindengeçip,konuyuveaktiviteleridramayöntemineuyarlamıştır.Ön-sontestteneldedilennicelverilerSPSSileanalizedilmiştir.Analizlersonucundaçocuklarınkelimekazanımlarındaçalışmanınbaşlangıcınanazaranönemlibirgelişmeolduğuveherikitestarasındaanlamlıbirfarkolduğuortayaçıkmıştır.Nitelverilerintematikanalizlerisonucundaisedramaentegreliöğretiminbirkaçuygulamazorluğununolmasınınyanısırabuyöntemindahaeğlenceli,motivasyonuarttırıcı,öğretici,dinamik,etkileşimli,doğalolduğuveöğrencilerindersekatılımlarını olumlu etkilediği gözlemlenmiştir.Ayrıca öğrenci mülakat sonuçlarına göre dramakullanımınınİngilizcederslerineentegreedilmesinin,eğlenceli,motiveediciolduğuveaynızamandaöğrenciodaklıöğrenmeyenedenolduğubulunmuştur.

Tartışma ve Sonuç

Buçalışmadaeldeedilenbulgularagöredramayöntemininerkenyaştayabancıdileğitimdeetkiliolduğubulunmuştur.Ön-sontestsonuçlarınagöreöğrencilerinkelimekazanımlarınakatkıdabulunduğu ve çalışmanın sonucunda kelime kazanımını önemli ölçüde artığı gözlemlenmiştir.Çalışmandaeldeedilenbulgulardahaöncekiçalışmalartarafındandadesteklenmektedir(Alqahtani,2015).Ayrıcadramayönteminikullanmanındersidahaeğlencelihalegetirdiği,motivasyonuartırdığıveöğrencilerinindersekatılımlarınıolumluyöndeetkilediğibulgularıdabenzerçalışmalartarafındandesteklenmiştir(Bouldreault,2010).Erkenyaşyabancıdilsınıflarındadramakullanımınınöğrencideolumlualgıgeliştirdiğiveadaylarıbuyöntemsayesindehemkelimekazanımlarınarttığıhemdeeğlendikleribulunmuştur.Ayrıcadramaentegreliderslerdeadaylarınfarklıkarakterlerebürünerekkendilerini daha rahat ifade ettikleri tespit edilmiştir. Bu süreçte adaylardamotivasyon ve dersekatılımınarttığı,dramasayesindesınıflarındahainteraktifolduğusonucunavarılmıştır.

Tüm bu bulguların sonucunda, erken yaşta yabancı dil eğitimi sürecinin drama yöntemikullanılarakdesteklenmesivedersplanlarınınonagöretasarlanmasıgerektiğiönemlevurgulanmıştır.Drama yönteminin erken yaşta yabancı dil eğitimi sürecinde etkili kullanılması sonucundaçocukların kelime bilgisine artış olduğu ve öğrenme sürecinin daha eğlenceli ve kapsayıcı halegetirdiğigözlemlenmiştir.Hemöğretmenlerhemdeöğrencileriçindramaentegreliderslersayesindedahadoğalveeğlenceliöğrenmeveöğretmeortamıyaratılmıştır.Ayrıca,dramayöntemininetkinkullanılmasınındinamik,motive,eğlenceliveinteraktifsınıfortamıyarattığıveözellikleerkenyaşyabancıdilsınıflarındaaktifolarakbuyönteminkullanılmasıgerektiğisonucunavarılmıştır.

using drama in english classrooms: the effects on

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