Effect of Drama-Based English Classes on Iranian EFL Learners’ Speaking Fluency, Class Engagement, and Self-Esteem

Some challenges L۲ teachers face in L۲ classrooms can be eliminated through some techniques, like using drama and theater. The goal of this study was to investigate the (possible) effects of theater on Iranian L۲ learners’ speaking fluency, classroom engagement, and self-esteem. For this purpose, ۶۰ intermediate L۲ learners were selected from Safir Institute of Shahrekord, using a placement test, and were divided into ۲ groups: Those interested in theater made up the experimental group, and the rest formed the control group. The participants answered ۲ speaking questions orally and ۲ questionnaires for class engagement and self-esteem as the pretest. After ۱۲ hr of treatment, they answered ۲ other speaking questions and ۲ questionnaires for class engagement and self-esteem as the posttest to investigate whether they had improved during the treatment. After collecting the data and running one-way ANCOVA, the results revealed that using theater improved the participants’ L۲ speaking fluency and class engagement. However, there was no significant difference between the performances of the experimental participants and the control participants in terms of self-esteem. Implications of the findings of this study are that L۲ teachers can take advantage of theater to make their L۲ classrooms more entertaining and effective.

کلیدواژه ها:

Class Engagement ، Drama ، fluency ، Self-esteem ، Theater