Exploring Drama as an Additional Language through Research-based Theatre

Abstract

This article explores the social, cultural, and emotional learning that occurred when drama was used with a group of native English speakers and English Language Learners (ELL) to build community. These learners consisted of university Drama in Education students who led a group of elementary students in an after-school drama program in Vancouver, Canada. University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers investigated the potential that drama has to build community with learners from multiple backgrounds and ages. The researchers also examined the potential that theatre methods have to analyze and represent findings discovered within the research data. In reflecting upon the learning that supported the community building, three themes were identified within the data: process and product, negotiation and conflict, and the building of community. ELL Program Leaders' journals were used as data to explore the Program Leaders’ perspectives of how the drama program influenced their language acquisition skills and cultural understanding. As the data were analyzed, the researchers transformed recurring themes and significant findings into a dramatic text. This text, created and performed by the researchers at multiple conferences, is integrated into the article. Reflections from the researchers are also shared, along with insights gained while developing and presenting their research-based theatre piece. This article explores the social, cultural, and emotional learning that occurred when drama was used with a group of native English speakers and English Language Learners (ELL) to build community. These learners consisted of university Drama in Education students who led a group of elementary students in an after-school drama program in Vancouver, Canada. University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers investigated the potential that drama has to build community with learners from multiple backgrounds and ages. The researchers also examined the potential that theatre methods have to analyze and represent findings discovered within the research data. In reflecting upon the learning that supported the community building, three themes were identified within the data: process and product, negotiation and conflict, and the building of community. ELL Program Leaders' journals were used as data to explore the Program Leaders’ perspectives of how the drama program influenced their language acquisition skills and cultural understanding. As the data were analyzed, the researchers transformed recurring themes and significant findings into a dramatic text. This text, created and performed by the researchers at multiple conferences, is integrated into the article. Reflections from the researchers are also shared, along with insights gained while developing and presenting their research-based theatre piece.

La recherche sur les pratiques théâtrales en éducation en France: contextes et enjeux

“…Tous ces éléments ont une incidence perceptivo-motrice 7 -y compris proprioceptive -qui modifie la disposition à apprendre des élèves (Deldime, 2002 ;Eschenauer, 2017), tout comme leur attention déclinée dans ses différentes natures. Ces éléments constituent en eux-mêmes un langage : le langage scénique, symbolique, rythmique, iconique, performatif (Sting, 2012 ;Wager et al, 2009). Ce langage compose une médiation entre les individus et les objets de connaissance qui se transforment progressivement l'un comme l'autre dans la relation.…”

Delineating a Spectrum of Research-Based Theatre

“…These didactic "scripts" may not be meant to entertain in the traditional theatrical sense but to simply inform (Beare & Belliveau, 2008). Scripts themselves may be sections of dramatized verbatim data (MacCleave, 2006), research dialogues about the processes of collecting, analyzing, or presenting data (i.e., Diamond = Mullen, 2000, sic) or even scenes based on significant findings in source data (Wager, Belliveau, Beck, & Lea, 2009). These types of performances may also be creative moments couched within a more traditional style of scholarly presentation, with the presentation as a whole designed to meet the expectations of the academic audience.…”

“…The creation of Drama as an Additional Language was motivated by a desire to explore a particular perspective in the data set theatrically. We began by extracting salient moments in the data and drafting short dramatic scenes that informed scripted improvisations performed for conference audiences (Wager et al, 2009). These dramatic scenes were performed in between sections of PowerPoint explanations of the research process (context, methodology, ethical issues, etc.).…”

A Spotlight on Research-Based Theatre

“…How could we explain RbT in a way that would speak to academics, theatre artists, research participants, and the general public? Following a presentation of our early work, Drama as an Additional Language (Wager et al, 2009), an academic in the audience stood up and said, "This isn't research." During a subsequent sharing of this work, another colleague said, "I don't understand what you are doing!"…”