Using drama in teaching the English Language to develop the speaking skills of ninth grade students in Taiz Governorate

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the effectiveness of acting drama in teaching English to develop the speaking skills of ninth grade students. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researchers selected (6) lessons from the course books and activity books according to the characteristics of acting drama. They also prepared a teacher's guide, prepared a performance test, and prepared a note card to measure speech skills. These included vocal, linguistic and cognitive skills. The study sample consisted of forty students from two schools from the schools of Al-Shamaytien Directorate in Taiz Governorate, i.e., Alshaheed Abdul Aziz Al-Azazi school and Abi Moussa Al-Ashaari school. The first group which consisted of twenty students was the controlling group, it was taught in the traditional way. The second group which consisted also of (20) students was the experimental group, and it was taught using the acting drama method. The study has two aims. First, to identify the speaking skills to be developed by the 9th grade students in Al Shamaytien schools in Taiz governorate focusing on three basic skills: Voice skills including (5) sub-skills, cognitive skills including (8) sub-skills, and linguistic skills including (7) sub-skills. Second, to prepare a teacher's manual and student's book in response to the drama; For the 6 chosen lessons for the experiment. The study showed the following results. 1- There are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of the pre-test for the speaking skills of the sample taken, compared to the test score, which is equal to 80%, in favor of the test. 2- There are no statistically significant differences at the significance level (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in the pre-test. 3- There are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in the post-test in favor of the experimental group. 4- There are statistically significant differences at the significance level (α = 0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental group students due to the gender variable (males - females), in favor of females. In the light of these results, the researchers presented a number of recommendations and suggestions, the most important of which are the necessity of using acting drama in teaching English, working on training English language teachers and holding courses in using acting drama in the teaching process, and suggested conducting more research and studies on acting drama in other subjects at different levels of education.