The Use of Drama-Based Activities in Teaching Narrative Tenses to 6th-Graders

Abstract

The present master’s thesis aims to create materials for teaching the English narrative tenses (past simple, past continuous, past perfect) in the 6th grade using drama based activities. As grammar should be taught in context, while making sure that the lessons are engaging for the students, drama is a method that is worth considering and testing. The thesis focuses on the following research questions: 1) How does using the prepared materials that incorporate drama elements affect the way students perceive the concepts of past simple, past continuous and past perfect tenses? 2) How does using drama to teach these tense forms impact the students’ behavioural and emotional engagement during the lessons? 3) What improvements should be made to the materials based on the data gathered during the testing period? The thesis is divided into two main parts. The first part provides an overview of the benefits of and problems in using drama to teach English as a foreign language along with discussing the different drama-based activities that can be used to teach English as a foreign language and gives an overview of the concepts of emotional and behavioural engagement. The second part describes the research carried out, including the process of designing the lesson plans and conducting the lessons with 6th-grade students in an EFL classroom, gathering and analysing data. The conclusion summarises the main findings of the thesis.