Dramatic English Learning

Once upon a time, in the dense jungles of India, was a boy who lived with the wolves…

This was one of our primary school’s EAL (English as an Additional Language) drama performances, held last Friday March 1st. After nearly two months of preparations and rehearsals, four plays were presented to the school and parents – The Jungle Book, A Circus of Mistakes, The Pirate Talent Show, and Jack and the Beanstalk.

On Friday morning, the audience gathered, and the performances began! On the stage, the children’s acting and English skills were displayed for all to see. With clear English, and depth of emotion, you’d be forgiven for forgetting they are still primary school students! Ms. Molly, our primary school drama teacher shared, “After reading several times, students took part in different exercises to show their level of understanding. Through acting out audio versions, creating story boards and doing group one word stories, students of all levels were able to comprehend their chosen script. All the grades also participated in rigorous speech exercises, to work on projection, pronunciation and articulation.”

For us at BWYA, English learning is not limited to the everyday classroom experiences. Combining English and drama is an excellent way to help the children more deeply understand words, and their meanings. Ms. Molly’s final encouraging comments of praise for the students were, “The students performed fantastically. Through their performance, it was clear to see how much the students’ confidence and fluency has grown in speaking English. Students were also able to enhance their creativity skills as well as working as part of a team.”