Why Use Plays In The

Language Learning
Classroom?

By
Achmad Zaini
REASONS FOR USING PLAYS:
 1. ORAL SKILLS
• Confidence
Students confidence improves by having written text/script in
their hands to develop their oral skills. Shy or unconfident
students will find script less threatening while doing a role
play
• Pronunciation & Fluency
Students get a chance to improve their pronunciation and
fluency by experimenting with different patterns of intonation
and practicing different sounds.
• Non verbal features
Analyzing and discussing non verbal features such as
gestures, body language, eye contact and etc. Students might
be asked to what extent these features reflect the relationships
of the characters in the play
 2. MEANINGFUL CONTEXT

• Acquisition & Memorization

Studying the dialogue of a play provides students with a
meaningful context for acquiring and memorizing new
language. Students often pick up new phrases or
expressions by studying how these are used by the
characters in a play
 3. EXPOSURE TO LANGUAGE IN
CONVERSATION

• What Does Someone Really Mean?

In order to make sense of a dialogue we need to move
beyond the surface meaning to an interpretation of what
is implied. In this stage a teacher can broaden the
students understanding of conversational discourse
• Ordering And Sequencing In Conversation As
Well As Identifying Status And Relationship
At the same time, a teacher will be exposing students to
other features of conversational language - how
conversations are ordered and sequenced in English,
what kinds of formulaic expressions it is appropriate to
use in different contexts, how and what people say in a
conversation reflects their relationship and relative status.
 4. INVOLVEMENT

• Motivation And Group Cohesion

Getting students to work together on a mini-production
of a play, or simply to read an extract from a play aloud
in class, is an excellent way of creating cohesion and
cooperation in a group. A strong sense of involvement is
fostered which helps to motivate students and encourages
them to learn through active participation.
 CONCLUSION

• Thinking about performance and text separately can

direct our attention to some of the benefits of using
plays in the ESL classroom
• The benefits are related to both literature and language
teaching
 NOTE IN ATTENTION

“You will not be teaching drama,

but using drama to teach”
• THANK YOU VERY MUCH