Reflections on a teacher-in-role approach in the classroom

Abstract

This project investigates children's responses to visual communication in an English primary classroom in an EFL context. A teacher-in-role approach was adopted to introduce drama into the classroom. Children of primary school age, from a range of backgrounds, studied English vocabulary and sentences with eight student teachers utilising drama techniques to facilitate the teaching of English. Student teachers designed a play based on a famous tale to attract young learners' attention and with an interactive approach to learning. The results show that young learners were better able to understand better items of English. Moreover the experiment was of considerable benefit to the eight student teachers in their understanding of pedagogical issues as they grappled with the challenges and implications of using drama and sketch books in the classroom.