How Can Drama Improve Language Learning?

Sean Hughes October 24, 2021

Drama is a naturally expressive and creative medium that is centered around the
communication of thoughts and ideas. It seems obvious that the practical and
communicative nature of drama is a natural companion to language learning, yet it is
seldom a key component of any language curriculum. Drama has a much greater role to
play in language teaching than it currently occupies in classrooms around the world. As
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve
me and I learn.”

A vital component of learning a language is repeated exposure to words and sentence

structures in the target language. The actual number of times a learner must be exposed
to a new word or structure before retaining it will differ from learner to learner, as this is
impacted by their natural abilities as well as the size of their existing vocabulary within
the target language. However, what we can say for sure is that repeated exposure to new
language is essential in order for that language to be retained by the learner.

Countless language educators worldwide recognize this need and ensure that their
students have the opportunity to learn a wide range of words and sentence structures.
Unfortunately, having a large vocabulary and knowledge of sentence structures will not
facilitate effective communication in another language. This is one of the key downfalls
of traditional English language learning, which tends to focus on increasing vocabulary
and sentence structures but does not give students an opportunity to apply what they
have learned in practice. By failing to do this, we create an illusion of learning. Students
might be able to recall all of the new words and sentences they have learned after class,
but without having the opportunity to apply what they have learned over a period of
time, students are likely to forget much of what they have been taught.

Taking this into consideration, it can be said that there are two major challenges we face
when teaching language.

1. How can we make learning more memorable for students?

2. How can we improve students’ functional communication skills?

Drama education can be the solution to these challenges. Through drama education, we
can actually improve the existing aspects of language teaching where we are already
doing well.

By introducing students to new language through the context of stories, which is the
traditional way we have always passed on knowledge, we can create a connection
between the learning content and the students. Through drama, we have the opportunity
to give students a real-life context for their learning, and by doing this, we can make
learning experiences more impactful. By varying the content of these stories in terms of
locations, characters, themes, and so on, we can manufacture a wide and varied diet of
language input for students to engage with, all within a natural and immersive context.
This makes the learning experience more meaningful for students and ultimately more
memorable. As students recall the events of a particular story or the feelings it provoked
within them, this acts as an effective memory trigger, and the students are able to build
connections between the stories they have engaged with and the language learned
within.

While it is true that stories and drama are already being used in language classrooms
around the world, to unlock the full potential of drama within English language
learning, it is essential to write stories with the purpose of improving language skills.
Rather than engaging students in incidental language learning, we can purposefully craft
an interesting and varied language curriculum that integrates key target language into
our stories and scripts. This makes the learning process much more effective because we
can pitch stories and scripts to meet the specific needs of our students.

If we consider the benefits of varying not just language input for students but also the
learning process and output, we can really start to recognize the key role that drama can
play in language learning. Motivation and perceived importance are key factors in
successful learning and retention of knowledge. By getting language students involved
with the preparation for and production of a live drama performance in front of an
audience, we can provide students with an unparalleled “need” to improve their
language and communication skills. This will ultimately have a much greater impact in
terms of language attainment than anything else we do in the classroom, because if we
can motivate students to take ownership of their learning outside of the classroom, we
can accelerate their progress much more. By incorporating key target language into
drama rehearsals and performances, we are not just equipping students with the raw
language input but also giving them the opportunity to practice and apply this language
in real-life contexts.

Another benefit of using drama to facilitate language learning is that it can meet the
needs of a wide range of preferred learning styles, not just in terms of teaching input but
also student output. By giving students an opportunity to showcase what they have
learned through a wide range of theatrical games and activities, we give them the
opportunity to demonstrate their language skills in a natural and communicative format.

The collaborative nature of these theatrical games and activities also ensures that
students have an opportunity to engage in a wide range of group tasks, requiring them to
communicate with their peers and take on a variety of different group roles. Through
these games and activities, we can also revisit the target language, giving students an
opportunity to engage in “spaced learning,” which involves reintroducing learning
objectives after set periods of time to help transfer this knowledge into students’ long-
term memories.

The end result for students—showcasing all of their hard work on the stage—can be a
profound experience for them and can be a truly effective motivation for them to
continue their ongoing language-learning journey. Ultimately, it is our responsibility as
language educators not just to teach students individual words or sentence structures but
rather to create a natural curiosity and desire in them to improve their own language
skills. This will have a much longer-lasting and more profound impact on their language
progress going forward. Drama can be a vehicle to empower students and educators
across the world, shifting the focus away from learning for the sake of learning and
toward a model where students are actually being prepared to express themselves
naturally and creatively in another language.
Sean Hughes (shughes@edunionuk.co.uk) is director of education at Edunion UK,
which specializes in teaching English through drama and has created a comprehensive
drama English language curriculum based on the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages. The Edunion English Play—Play English curriculum features
28 original stories and drama scripts across six different language levels for schools and
educators around the world (www.edunionuk.co.uk).