A Study On The Function Of Drama In English Teaching

Traditional teaching method named "cramming teaching" is still prevalent now in some English classes, and it is less effective and practical way to improve the students’ ability of communication in English teaching. The utmost goal of language learning is to communicate freely in the target English, however, the fact is that the process of learning English is inefficiency since most of students feel bored in English class. The drama theories for language teaching, are not limited to the form of professional drama, but apply it as techniques into daily language teaching.Drama teaching method, which stems from the mother-tongue teaching, in the aim to make learners get fun from learning the mother-tongue, are gradually being put into use in the field of English as the second language foreign language learning. The aim of this thesis is to discuss the application of drama in English teaching such as simulation, role-play, tackling in thought, improvisation and so on. And it especially studies the positive effect of drama teaching in English teaching for both teachers and students by comparing experimental class and control class.Constructivist theory, Cooperative learning principle, Task-based Language Teaching and Learning, and Communicative language teaching all contribute to support drama teaching. By presenting literature review and questionnaire investigation and by the means of pretest and posttest, the author analyzes the experiment results of students’ language proficiency, their communication competence in class and their attitudes in learning English. Hence, conclusions are drawn that drama teaching can definitely help develop students’ self-confidence, motivate students interest in learning English, boost students’communicative competence and improve their academic achievement. Moreover, to some extent, drama teaching provide a communicative stage to "learn by doing" collaboratively, creatively and imaginatively. Further, drama teaching gives students a rare chance to closely connect to the real language environment.Along with the new round of national curricula reform for basic education, drama teaching method is vivid, lively and funny, it effectively helps to develop and realize the ultimate objective of communication.Some of teachers have realized that drama teaching play a powerful and effective role in foreign language teaching. People believe that drama teaching style will be further studied and will become popular in the near future.