A Study On The Application Of The Drama Teaching Method To English Teaching In Junior High School

With the advancement of the new curriculum reform,the new requirements of strengthening language practice and cultivating students’ language application ability have been put forward for the junior middle school English teaching.The drama teaching method is that drama elements are integrated into the teaching process so as to create a process of language practice with drama characteristics.It can stretch and release students’ individual learning characteristics so as to improve their comprehensive language ability.Nevertheless,the application of the drama teaching method in Chinese junior high school English teaching is still at the early stage.This study intends to review the literature of the theoretical and practical research on the drama teaching method as well as the related theory at home and abroad,and analyze the origin,theoretical development process and application of the drama teaching method.Its theoretical framework includes the Constructivism Theory,the Whole Language Theory,the Multiple Intelligence Theory.It is expected to provide a certain theoretical and practical reference for the innovation on the junior high school English teaching reform as well as the promotion on students’ English learning interest and their academic achievement.In this study,three specific teaching methods with dramatic elements including the sentence pattern chanting,the situational dialogue and the short drama performance are applied to the English teaching of Grade 8.A one-semester teaching experiment was carried out in four classes,namely two groups of classes with the same learning status,including Experimental Class 1 & Control Class 3 and Experimental Class 2 and Control Class 4.In addition,the questionnaire survey about English learning interest of the four classes was conducted.Some students of the experimental classes were interviewed after the experiment.SPSS was adopted to compare the English grade of the four classes before and after the experiment.It is aimed to understand the influence of the drama teaching method on the English learning interest and the grades of students with different learning abilities.Based on experimental research as well as the results of questionnaires and interview data,the application of drama teaching can stimulate students with different learning abilities to improve their English learning interest,increasing their expectation of English class.The teaching method of recognizing and remembering words and sentences in a drama can enhance students’ interest in learning English and strengthen their confidence,playing a positive role in the process of collaborative learning.Meanwhile,according to the pre-test and post-test English scores of the experimental classes and the control classes,the results have shown that the application of drama teaching can help students with different learning abilities improve their English achievement and overall competence.