ET9E1-20 Specialism in Drama and Literature for TESOL

Department: Applied Linguistics
Level: Taught Postgraduate Level
Module leader: Steve Mann
Credit value: 20
Module duration: 8 weeks
Assessment: 100% coursework
Study location: University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

Introductory description

Module aims

This optional module is designed for MA TESOL students and MA Drama Education and English Language Teaching (DELT) students who wish to develop specialist expertise in teaching English as a foreign/second language through drama and literature. The module aims to provide a thorough grounding in relevant theories, concepts and methodologies relating to use of drama and literature for English language teaching. More specifically, the module aims to explore, for example, digital options for teaching English through literature and drama (e.g. digital storytelling), as well as the value and use of engaging learners in improvised drama work. In terms of the literature focused module component, an aim will be to engage students in exploring the value and use of a variety of types of poetry (e.g. Haiku) and fiction (e.g. short fiction; 'fan fiction') as resources for the TESOL classroom and the development of learners' writing, reading, listening and speaking/communication skills. The value and use of song for English language teaching and learning purposes will also be considered (e.g. in connection with teaching young language learners). The module further aims to 1) raise critical awareness of contextual factors affecting drama and literature use in foreign/second language classrooms; 2) provide pedagogical insights into how to manage these contextual factors; 3) promote effective English language teacher CPD; and 4) to highlight issues for possible dissertation research or areas for future professional inquiry.

The module will also have a strong focus on raising awareness of teacher/drama practitioner personae, presence and voice in the classroom. In other words, an important element of the module will focus on the building of teachers' presentation skills and confidence.

In more specific terms, it aims to have students develop the following:

An understanding of the links between drama and literature use and key aspects of SLA. In particular, the module will feature empirical research that has established findings around the development of fluency, confidence, engagement and motivation when literature and drama are used in active ways.
an understanding of the theoretical and educational underpinnings of a variety of approaches to drama (e.g. process drama and theatre in education) and use of literature for TESOL in various educational contexts (e.g. active approaches to literature use; task-based and content-based (e.g. CLIL) instructional approaches).
This will include developing in students
the ability to reflect on innovation drama and literature use in educational contexts;
the ability to create suitable activities and materials and make effective use of practical opportunities for reflection on drama and literature based classroom activities through loop input.
the ability to construct an appropriate research plan for monitoring drama and literature materials, activities and outcomes as well as the monitoring of language learning programmes;
a strong understanding of the need to accommodate to particular learner needs and particular cultural, educational and language contexts. The need to accommodate particular learner needs and the effects of cultural, educational and language contexts will be emphasised, as well as approaches to differentiation and learner choice and autonomy.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This option module is intended for students who would like to explore the use of drama and literature in their English language classrooms. The emphasis will be on drama and literature as a resource for English language learning, and we will be making explicit links to the Term 1 module on SLA. We will cover a number of different aspects of making drama and literature motivating for learners of English.

The main concern of the option will be how we can choose, adapt and use tasks, activities and material in TESOL classrooms in order to help develop our learners’ language skills, engagement and imaginative response.

The following is an indicative syllabus . There are two sessions per week (A and B). It shows the anticipated topics to be covered in the new 20 CAT module. :

Week 1A: Introduction to the module. Issues surrounding the teaching of Literature and Drama across languages and cultures. Different representations and genres of literature and drama.
Week 1B: Improvisation, creativity and fluency. Games and Warm-ups
Week 2A: What is ‘Response-based teaching’? Rationales for using Literature in TESOL
Week 2B: Literature as TESOL resource (I): Using [short] fictional texts
Week 3A: Integrating drama and TESOL. Key aspects of SLA and their relationship with Drama
Week 3B: Active drama and process drama. Exploring identity in drama and video
Week 4A: Literature as TESOL Resource (II): Using poetry for TESOL
Week 4B: From literary text to drama (The LEAD project Lincoln Centre NY)
Week 5A: Approaching the second language novel in the L2 classroom
Week 5B: Preparing students to see a theatre production
Week 6A: Teaching Shakespeare
Week 6B: Exploiting a theatre production (extension tasks)
Week 7A: Online drama and theatre (The HandsUp project)
Week 7B: Digital tools for the teaching of literature and drama
Week 8A: Literature and communicative language teaching: TBLT & CLIL
Week 8B: Film and songs for TESOL (short film; film scripts; lyrics; Karaoke)

The following is an indicative syllabus:

Reasons for using drama & literature for English language teaching;
Process drama;
Improvisation in the TESOL classroom;
Exploring digital options for teaching English through literature and drama (e.g. digital storytelling);
The importance of active approaches in teaching L2 literature & drama;
The importance of teacher and learner response;
Shakespeare for TESOL: Approaches to the teaching of Shakespeare to English language learners; intercultural Shakespeare (including an introduction to intercultural / performative language education);
Intercultural drama;
Working with texts – general principles for preparing materials;
Literature for TESOL: fiction, poetry, film and song as teaching & learning resources - - with focus on e.g. language & culture learning opportunities; intercultural language learning & development of intercultural competence; facilitating/nurturing learner personal response to literature (reader response); materials design, materials evaluation & critical consideration of various foreign language teaching methodology options (e.g. TBLT, CLIL, intensive & extensive reading).

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

Participants will show a profound knowledge and critical understanding of good principles and theoretical constructs of drama and literature and their role in promoting appropriate input, output and negotiated interaction and associated paradigms (e.g. constructivism and sociocultural theory), in designing and developing drama and literature courses, and articulating key aspects of these in different contexts. Learning outcomes will include ability to evaluate materials and activities and adapt them to specific pedagogic and cultural contexts.
Participants will reflect on and articulate key aspects of their learning and training contexts.
Participants will be able to select appropriate input and text material, and critically evaluate existing published activities and materials.
Participants will be able to integrate appropriate digital resources into their teaching
Participants will be able to develop appropriate methodologies for Drama that include voice, mime, improvisation and script work
Participants will have the confidence to lead active tasks/activities for language learning through drama and literature with their peers

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Specific reading list for the module

Research element

Two of the sessions will include research data from projects which have been conducted by our associates, PhD students or other collaborators. For example, we would like to build in more time for engaging in Drama and Literature projects such as the HandsUp project, the outreach work of the Lincoln Centre in New York and the Inclusive Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina project. We have developed links with these projects and would like more space to connect students with this body of work. This would enhance the research skills of students, especially in terms of monitoring and evaluating such projects.

International

The module will feature contributions from several drama and literature projects around the world. Some of these have been mentioned in the 'Research' section above. For example, we would like to build in more time for engaging in Drama and Literature projects. It will be possible for our students to contribute to the HandsUp project (based in Palestine). We will also integrate some of the outreach work of the Lincoln Centre in New York and the Inclusive Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina project. We will also feature the Digital Stories Project at University of Durham. As we have PhD students and MA graduates from the DELT programme, we want to include some of their international teaching experiences as vignettes in future years.

Subject specific skills

Evaluate drama and literature materials and activities for different learning contexts.
Identify and justify drama and/or literature based activities for a particular context with reference to theory and research.
Build confidence and awareness of teacher/drama practitioner presentation skills, personae, presence and voice in the classroom.
Demonstrate understanding and basic application of research methods for evaluating learning outcomes from drama and/or literature based activities.

Transferable skills

Communicate clearly in, and contribute effectively to activities and discussions;
Give presentations, performances, use media and props appropriately;
Work collaboratively in teams;
Communicate ideas effectively in writing, using appropriate wording and structure;
Understand and use information technology for pedagogically appropriate drama and literature based activities;
Use library resources for research purposes;
Develop reflective skills;
Work independently;
Plan and manage time and workload to meet deadlines.

Study time

Type	Required
Seminars	16 sessions of 2 hours (16%)
Private study	108 hours (54%)
Assessment	60 hours (30%)
Total	200 hours

Private study description

Guided independent study and reading for each week’s sessions and for personal reflective project (assignment), equivalent to around 130 hours.

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You must pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Assessment group A

	Weighting	Study time	Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
Assignment	100%	60 hours	Yes (extension)
Option 1 Identify an English language teaching context and outline a module proposal (8 weeks x 1 hour a week) for this chosen teaching and learning context which relates in some way to our module focus on the use of drama and/or literature in English language teaching. You should also include with your proposal a sample lesson plan and related materials for a 1 x 60 minute English language lesson which will feature on the module and which will reflect in some way your approach to teaching and learning on this module. Drawing on the ideas, literature and issues discussed in this module, describe and critically discuss both your module proposal outline and the sample lesson you have designed (i.e. explain what you would do and why; identify possible limitations / anticipated difficulties with the proposed module and the sample lesson). Option 2 Choose an issue or topic related to the teaching and/or learning of literature and/or drama. What does the research tell us about this issue or topic? Detail how this topic or issue is related to a particular language teaching and/or learning context. What are the implications for classroom methodology and materials in this particular context? Option 3 In what ways does introducing drama activities make language teaching more active? Providing some examples from your own or others’ practice or experience, discuss how a drama approach can be managed. As well as discussing the advantages of such an approach, you should also consider any possible challenges and how these might be mitigated. Option 4 You are taking a group of learners to see a play by Shakespeare. Critically discuss your response to the following question: Which classroom activities would you use to help them engage with and respond to the performance, and why? You can include original activities as well as existing / adapted ones if you would like, but make sure you give a rationale for all of the activities that you are proposing. This should involve making reference to and critically discussing relevant literature on Shakespeare pedagogy (e.g. active Shakespeare, intercultural / anti-racist Shakespeare). Your assignment should also include clear descriptions of the activities and how they would be implemented (e.g. timings, different steps, materials etc.). If you wish, you can focus on the Shakespeare play we are going to see this term, but you can pick another play if you would prefer. Option 5 If you would like to suggest an alternative assignment focus, feel free to contact one of the tutors with a short proposal.
Reassessment component is the same

Feedback on assessment

Feedback on tabula. This will be a mix of annotated comment on the original submission plus an assignment feedback template that is standardised across the App Ling Dept.

Pre-requisites

N/A

Courses

This module is Core for:

Year 1 of TIES-X3BA Postgraduate Taught Drama Education and English Language Teaching

This module is Optional for:

Year 1 of TETS-X10A Postgraduate Taught TESOL
Year 1 of TETS-X9PR Postgraduate Taught TESOL
Year 1 of TETS-X9PS Postgraduate Taught TESOL (Part-time - 2 years)