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Lesson of Drama in Language Education: Why do
We Have to Learn English Through Drama
Performance?
1st Meita Lesmiaty Khasyar
English Education Department
STKIP Muhammadiyah Bogor
Bogor, Indonesia
meitaismia@gmail.com
2nd Rudi haryono
English Education Department
STKIP Muhammadiyah Bogor
Bogor, Indonesia
3rd Ana Ratnasari
Department of Educational Administration
STKIP Muhammadiyah Bogor
Bogor, Indonesia
Abstract—The primary goal of this research is intended to
report how the implementation of Drama Performance as a
project based in learning English foreign language and
whether the lessons, the learning activity can motivate
students interest also encouraging students to use their
English language skills. Further, the discussion also takes into
the issues of the problem that may exist during drama
performance such as some students believe they cannot
perform in English and they may choose to withdraw from
the activity. The researcher is employing qualitative
methodology to investigate the research questions.
Observation and interview use as the instrument of this
present study. The participants are the students who take
Drama in Language Education course at the fifth semester of
English Education Department at School of Teacher Training
and Education (STKIP) Muhammadiyah Bogor. The students
have performed drama, and have experience in preparing the
session. The students are under the researcher supervision.
The participants from other Department to be interviewed
became the source of the data who watched drama
performance. The students are under the researcher
supervision. Activities are designed in accordance with the
course objectives to share information about the students, the
learning process and the phenomenon. The implementation of
drama performance as a project based learning has myriad
benefits for students and drama activities are a unique way of
enhancing students’ motivation and participation. Language
skills can be exposed to students not only through
conventional technique but also through drama performance.
Project based learning provides students with the opportunity
to explore the contents of Drama in Language Education. To
get into the outcome, the core activities focus on the elements
of drama, creative writing (composing a play script),
characterization, make-up character, providing students with
the information about drama in language education, and also
hope to give students the opportunity to perform a drama in
English. The lecturer’s role in the teaching learning process is
crucial. It can influence the students’ response towards
project based learning.
Keywords—drama performance, project based learning,
learning skills
I. INTRODUCTION
Drama activities have been used to foster the
acquisition of foreign language skills time after time.
Drama integrates English Foreign Language skills in a
natural way. There are also studies to support the
advantages of drama on students’ language skills[1]. Some
useful activities are suggested for encouraging students to
practice their English as follows. Firstly, students can be
encouraged to practice speaking outside the classroom
through rehearsal. Secondly, lecturers can help the students
by providing feedback on the activities they are working on
or assisting when they have language problems. Finally,
students should be engaged in good speaking activities
which can motivate them to play an active part in the
speaking class [2]. Project-based learning provides learners
with opportunities to focus on language functions through
various tasks in the project.
Drama performance is as one of techniques may be
used to motivate and create bond between the students and
their peer, and also between the students and their lecturer.
In fact, the prior research on drama in learning English
have been abundant. However, the focus on make-up
characters and drama performance as project based
learning has not been widely explored especially from
students’ view in School of Teacher Training and
Education (STKIP). Some of the previous research
additionally emphasize on experienctial learning through
interactive drama drama [3], the effect of performing arts
[4]. Another study, drama was used to teach English to
linguistically diverse middle school students [5]. In other
coutry, such as Brazil, the researcher point out the positive
effects of drama on students’ oral skills in the target
language [6]. Drama in language education has naturally
taken its place in English language learning. Since many
research have established that there are valuable influences
of learning English Foreign language through drama
performance. The researcher need to explore more the
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
Proceedings of the 1st Paris Van Java International Seminar on Health, Economics,
Social Science and Humanities (PVJ-ISHESSH 2020)
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 175
implementation of drama performance as project based in
using English Language at School of Teacher Training and
Education. The specific research questions are as follows:
How the implementation of drama performance as
project is based learning in EFL class?
How project based learning and drama can be
integrated to promote students’ learning skills?
The primary goals of this research is to report how the
implementation of Drama Performance as a project based
in learning English Foreign Language (EFL) class. Next, it
aims to see how the use of project based learning focusing
on drama can be integrated to promote students’ learning
skills. Further, the discussion also takes into the issues on
the participant’s perspectives into drama performance and
the problem that may exist during drama performance.
II. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Drama in Language Education
This compulsory course provides students with the
opportunity to explore the contents of Drama in language
Education. To arrive at this objective, the core activities
focus on the elements of drama, creative writing
(composing a play script), characterization, make-up
character, providing students with the information about
drama in language education, and also hope to give
students the opportunity to perform a drama in English
Foreign language (EFL). Based on the topics to be covered
in the whole semester, the students are expected to perform
a drama as their project.
The teacher training curricula in school of teacher
training and education have hardly been adapted in a way
that would ensure the teachers in Elementary, Junior and
Senior High School have the skills to use educational
drama while teaching. In fact, drama performance in
language education depends on the initiative of the
teachers. In order for teachers to be able to use drama in
teaching learning English Foreign Language (EFL) in
school curriculum, they will need to be appropriately and
correspondingly trained [7], [8], and [9].
Drama activities offer a framework for successful
language learning because they provide a stimulating and
positive learning environment and can help reduce
classroom anxiety which can increase student motivation
and participation.
English is a foreign language which is used by people
who speak different first languages in order to
communicate with each other. Various activities have been
used to develop students’ speaking skills. There are studies
to confirm the effectiveness of project-based learning and
drama instruction on learners’ communication [10] and
[11]. The results suggest that drama activities can be used
to enhance learners’ language skills. Moreover, the drama
activities can motivate them to use the target language. In
another study, the researcher determined the results of
using drama for teaching and learning language and
communication [12], [13], and [14].
B. Project Based Learning
It has been explored in various contexts and in different
phases of schooling, from primary to higher education. The
uniqueness of project based learning is the construction of
an end product, a ‘concrete artifact’ which represents
students’ new understandings, knowledge and attitudes
regarding the issue under investigation often presented
using videos, photographs, sketches, reports, models and
other collected artifacts [15]. Project-based learning (PBL)
is an active student-center form of instruction which is
characterized by students’ autonomy, constructive
investigations, goal-setting, collaboration, communication
and reflection within real-world practices [16].
Social media sites have become invaluable tools in
education. The Fifth semester students of English
Education Department were promoting their drama project
using social media, such as Instagram, YouTube and
Facebook. They were creating their drama trailer on social
media platforms. Modern digital technology is a major
enabler for students to comfortably engage with the process
of designing and developing their project as they can
document the whole process and easily share their
creations in a digital format [17].
Fig 1. Drama Performance
III. METHODOLOGY
The researcher is employing qualitative methodology to
investigate the research questions. Observation and
interview use as the instrument of this present study. The
participants are the students who take Drama in Language
Education course at the fifth semester of English Education
Department at School of Teacher Training and Education
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
176
(STKIP) Muhammadiyah Bogor. The students have
performed drama, and have experience in preparing the
session. The students are under the researcher supervision.
The participants from other Department to be interviewed
became the source of the data who watched drama
performance. Activities were designed in accordance with
the course objectives to share information about the
students, the learning process and the phenomenon.
The researcher used non-probability sampling
technique. This technique was chosen because the
sampling data collection did not give same opportunity to
all individual of population. Then, the sampling technique
in non-probability was used is purposive technique.
Purposive technique was used based on the researcher’s
assessment of knowledge or prospective participants or
respondents to answer research questions. The assessment
that the participant had knowledge is done subjectively
based on the observation of the researcher. In general,
samples that were considered capable of answering
research questions people who were experienced or have
knowledge related to the focus of the study.
C. Data Collection
1. Observation
Observation, particularly participant observation, has
been used in a variety of disciplines as a tool for collecting
data about people, processes, and cultures in qualitative
research [18]. The observation on this study was done with
the objectives to:
Observe the students’ learning process in learning
English through Drama in Language Education;
The rehearsal Process in Drama Performance;
Investigate the problems appeared during the
implementation of project based learning; and
Observe the students’ drama performance
The time duration of observation was 3 months. The
observation was done in the classrooms and at Aula of
STKIP Muhammadiyah Bogor based on Drama in
Language Education schedule, rehearsal schedule and
drama performance.
2. Interview
The next step was interviewing the participant about
drama performance as project based learning. The
interview is The process of obtaining information for the
purpose research with questions and answers method while
looking at the face between interviewer with respondent
using interview guides [19]. The type of interview used in
this study is in-depth interview. The method considered an
appropriate to the research as this it will enhance a deeper
understanding on the study objectives.
3. Data Analysis
Data could be collected only in various ways
(observation, interviews, document digest, and tape) and
usually processed first before it was ready to be used, but
still used words arranged into text that compiled. The
process was systematically done to get the valid result of
data. In analysing the data, the researcher state that among
qualitative analysis methods, thematic content analysis is
perhaps the most common and effective method in this
study. It can also be one of the most trustworthy, increasing
the traceability and verification of an analysis when done
correctly [20]. The following are the six main steps of
thematic analysis of the transcripts. 1) read the transcript,
2) annotate the transcript, 3) conceptualize the data, 4)
segment the data, 5) analyse the segments, and 6) write the
results.
Every single step has its own function that connected
each other. The process was systematically done to get the
valid result of data. The data that had been analysed
became the elements to present the findings and discussion
of this research.
IV. FINDING AND DISCUSSION
This present research was purposively done to report
implementation of drama performance as project based in
learning English Foreign Language (EFL), and whether
drama performance encourage students to use their English
language skills. Additionally, the investigation was also
conducted to figure out the problem that may exist during
the learning process, the rehearsal process and drama
performance. In order to get the ideas of how the
implementation of drama in language education
performance as a project based learning in EFL, especially
on English language skills which was started from the step
of preparing the script, the learning process, the rehearsal,
the core activities done in the classroom until drama
performance, including the problems appeared during the
teaching learning process and the lecturers’ solutions in
overcoming such problems.
A. The Observation
The data gained from all of the observations were
expectedly representative to the findings of this research.
The researcher obviously saw the students did it really
well. They enthusiastically learnt to write the play script
which was stimulated by some slides and examples the
lecturer made in digital presentation also videos. There
were some play scripts shown to students, and then they
discuss it, analysed and elaborated the scripts with their
classmate. Some common technical problems appeared in
the middle of learning process; the main problems were
finding students who were interested in directing and
motivating their friends in drama project, who had the time
to commit to it and willingness to work on English foreign
language drama production. Another problem that was
encountered was scheduling rehearsals so that all students
in the particular scene were available. Every week, the
director attempted to find a time that would work for all
students involved but it was a bit impossible and resulted
in much frustration. Many conflicts happened between
students. To allow as many interested students as possible
to be a part of the production, scheduling rehearsals based
on student availability seemed to be the only solution.
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
177
Fig. 2. The Rehearsal
Since students were using English language, they often
could not remember their dialogues. The time constraints
of only two months made it difficult for students to
memorize their script and lines. The first month of
rehearsal until the last few rehearsals before drama
performance, several students still had not memorized their
dialogues and not only were this worrisome but it also
made rehearsals difficult. It also caused conflict. Some
students were crying during rehearsal. Some students
believe they cannot perform in English language and they
may choose to stop and withdraw from the activity.
Without being tied to the project, another problem that was
met was lack of budget. Even though this was a small
performance (only two groups), a few properties and
wardrobe had to be purchased to enhance drama
performance. There was a need for an operator and
technician to work the lighting, but finding a volunteer
with enough time to attend some rehearsals and become
familiar with the technical aspects of the stage in drama
performance was not easy. Luckily, the theatre
communities at campus were able to support and
contribute the purchase of some properties, and the
students communities at English Education Department
was another communities from which some support
could be obtained. Here, too, reaching out cross-
department at campus may be the key to find the students
were interested in participating drama performance project
based.
The last, performing a drama in English language
produces additional challenges that cannot always be
foreseen when planning, preparing and performing for
such a project. Some students have strong learning skills
and have minimal problems in acting. Other student,
however, need a lot of help in acting, improvisation,
pronunciation and intonation. An awareness of their
shortcomings in some cases may lead decrease their self-
confident, speaking anxiety, low motivation in performing
drama. Thus, an appropriate way must be found between
correcting and helping students improve their language
skills and not demotivating them and decreasing their self-
confidence. Observing students project on drama in
language education performance for three months made it
clear that through intense work and teamwork, the students
were able to improve their language skills, especially in the
area of speaking skill, reading skill, pronunciation and
vocabulary knowledge. The student learned many words,
new vocabulary that they would not have encountered in
their regular classroom instruction and were able to expand
their grasp of English foreign language (EFL). In fact,
producing a drama project with students helps to strengthen
student relationships. It improves the atmosphere between
the lecturer and the student, togetherness. Finding an
appropriate way to increase students’ interest in learning
English foreign language and attract students is thus an
important task for a majority of foreign language
department today. Performing plays in English language
can be one such way to reach the learning outcome and
students’ motivation in learning English Foreign Language
(EFL).
Fig. 3. Make-Up Character
B. The Interview
The data gained from the interview with the students
from English Education Department as the participants.
They were interviewed by the researcher with several
questions to verify; Students’ feeling (Number 2, 3, 4, 7),
the core activities: Project based learning (Number 1, 6)
Language skills (Number 5). The data of the interview
were recorded as audio files and digital data. The
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
178
participants stated their thoughts as follows (echoing the
majority, not edited):
1. Please describe your feelings about Drama in
Language Education Class.
My feelings when the drama in language education
yesterday, first I felt nervous when I wanted to perform,
there was worry, fear of something undesirable happening,
but I thought I could do it and finally I can also display a
character that is not my own character and that I admit is
indeed difficult, but we can do it with pleasure. (p.1), My
feelings when the drama class, very impressive, have many
extraordinary experiences, know the character of all the
classmates in class, tired of practicing, draining money,
dividing time between lectures and drama practice.
Changing from not confident to extraordinary confidence.
(p.2), Drama in the education class is very useful for
mental testing, adding vocabulary and giving a lot of
experience in it. (p.3), When drama, I feel happy and get a
lot of knowledge about theatre, about the cohesiveness of
friends, about togetherness and everything becomes an
experience. (p.4), I am very happy with this drama course,
because with this drama we can get more experience than
just sitting for presentations, drama also makes students
practice cohesiveness to get good teamwork. (p.5), I am
very happy to be able to take a Drama language Education
class because in this class the way of teaching is very
different from the others. Somehow whatever is taught by
the lecturer are very interesting and many lessons and
experiences of course. Very happy and grateful. (p.6).
When the participants were further questioned about
Drama in Language Education project based learning,
mostly all participants’ mentions that the y felt happy in
doing drama project.. The participants answers above were
given in order of the number of the citations from the
interviews (not edited version). For the purposes of this
research, the researcher use the terms project based
learning and language skills in EFL to refer to drama
performance. Drama involves such activities as role-
playing, mime, simulation, and improvisation [21]. The
impact of creative drama has been shown to have on
literacy and language development. By using their bodies
and voices to dramatize the characters’ words and actions,
children gain a sense of how interactions among the
characters shaped the events described in the story. “In this
way they can touch, see, and experience the meaning of the
words in the text” [22], [23]. Some views of the
participants were associated with including core activities,
drama performance project task in order to make all
students be actively involved in the lesson. Drama
activities offer a framework for successful language
learning because they provide a stimulating and positive
learning environment and can help reduce classroom
anxiety which can increase student motivation and
participation [24].
Project drama is an annual project in the English
Education Department. In my opinion, this project is the
most anticipated project because every process in this
project is never easy, really out of the box. (p.8), When I
listen about drama of course it’s rare for me, the first I felt
so sad, why? Because in drama I’ve to practice more and
of course the techniques of drama is not easy, I’ve to spend
my time for thinking more what kind of drama that I’ve to
choose and then is there drive for our group and how to
connect each other and many more. Besides that, I was
really happy because one of my experience for drama that
ever after we begin practice every time. (p.9)
2. Please tell me what disturb you the most in Drama in
language Education Class.
I don't think anything is disturbing, because indeed this is
our learning, but maybe because in the drama in language
education it must show a drama; maybe what is disturbing
is the training process, especially in managing the time
practice and processed this is a lot of problems that arise.
(p.1), The most disturbing thing is the habit of arriving
late and the number of absent members, makes the practice
not conducive. (p.2), The interferes in drama is time and
gets nervous. (p.3), The most disturbing is the training
ground. (p.4), I think that is disturbing, because I have a
long distance from home, while if we practice having to go
home that night, it makes me very constrained because
transportation is not available at certain hours. (p.5),
When the practice, often coming late. When we’re
practice, there is person who’s always coming late. Of
course I ever do that and I don’t know they couldn’t begin
the practice without me because I’m the director. That’s
annoying but sweet. (p.7), I don't think anyone is
bothering me because this is an assignment in English
education so far. I really enjoyed the process and I am
happy that this course has made me able to make up and
act as another character or role. (p.8), Because we are
divided into two groups, I honestly get disturbed by the
competitive feeling in the drama class, yeah.. Indeed not
everyone looks competitive but some people show it
clearly. I feel uncomfortable with that, but everything be
better from time to time and I realize that is the part of the
process too. (p.9)
Problems arose for the class when some of the students
did not want to participate, the student found some
difficulties that they encountered while doing rehearsal in
Drama performance. The big problem that was encountered
was scheduling rehearsals so that all members in the
particular drama scene were available. Every week, the
director (a student) attempted to find a time that would
work for all members in their group involved but it was a
bit impossible and resulted in much frustration. In contrast,
some of the students mention that they did not find
problems. They were enjoying the core activities and
learning process.
3. Describe what it was like to work with your group. Did
you get along with them? Why or why not?
Initially a lot of problems, especially in dividing the time
to practice because maybe each of us has different
schedule activities, that's where sometimes we don't get
along well, but a matter of time we have deliberated with
the agreement of us all and so far Alhamdulillah we finally
get along well and remind each other, support each other
and understand each other, even sharing (p.1), Not all
good, there are obstacles and problems in drama, from the
characteristics of different friends, spurring the difficulty
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
179
to unite one idea. (p.2), It feels amazing, so very
harmonious, because time, place, sacrifice, cash, and
feelings of various characters in the group taught us the
meaning of togetherness. (p.4), I am very proud of my
group because they are always compact and look tough
even though we know our group does not get extraordinary
help from other parties which sometimes makes our group
down, actually before appearing our group was a little
disappointed with some parties and some were crying
because not confident, but we strengthen each other to be
sure even though we will be proud of our own results
without outside help. (p.5), When I work with my group
there are certainly things that don't get along, but only for
a short while we try to reduce each other's egos. The thing
that keeps us from getting along is it's always too late to
practice. (p.6), Very extraordinary, my feeling like
rollercoaster up and down, with various dynamic of
discussion that appears, try to unite ideas from different
people of course not easy but everything change as we go
through the process until finally I become more aware on
the personality of each member of my group and began to
care each other. (p.7), I love my team, I don’t know why.
The feeling is so much, sometimes I feel angry,
disappointed, satisfied, all of that feels make us near just
like a true friend who always there for you, togetherness is
number one for us. (p.8), Initially not get along well but
over time we get along well and can practice seriously and
focus. (p.9)
It has been argued that the freedom and challenge that
students experience as a result of solving the problems that
arise in designing and building their projects result in high
levels of student engagement [25]. The above comments
may indicate how project based learning is a student-centre
form of instruction which is based on three constructivist
principles: learning is context-specific, learners are
involved actively in the learning process and they achieve
their goals through social interactions and the sharing of
knowledge understanding.
4. Describe what it was like to perform your scene. Did
you feel prepared? Did you feel nervous?
Before appearing in my scene, I felt nervous, but when the
performance took place in my part of the scene, I felt ready
and not nervous. (p.1), I was appointed when the drama
became the main character, initially I refused, because this
is the first time I became an actor in a performance, did
not have the skills, but all of them always supported and
encouraged me to be able to do it all, finally I was ready
and serious really practice, and the results are very
satisfying, because the process will not betray the results.
(p.2), As soon as I do the scene, I feel ready but a little
nervous because seeing the audience turns out to be a lot.
(p.3), I feel quite happy, I display as much as I can and I'm
not nervous at all. (p.4), I’m the main character, so that’s
wonderful feeling for me because my group is the second
group, when I watch the first group, I really nervous but
when I go on the stage and try to get reach out the feeling
and do the best that I can. With the practice that I’ve done
I feel ready. When on the stage there are link that
happened that are beyond our prediction that affects the
flicker (p.6), Actually my performance is become a
narrator. I’m not as the one of the actor there. My feeling
of course nervous and I think I prepare well. (p.7), Yes
honestly I feel nervous when performing because this is
my first time performing with costumes like this in front of
many people and I am confident that I certainly can and
can show my best (p.8)
The researcher find out that in order to perform a drama
project, the students must not only understand the material
of drama in language education but also find a way to
express their feeling, communicate it creatively and
effectively to the audience. Drama Performance is one of
alternative projects for students to imagine, explore, create,
and share in front of others. Apart from fostering language
skills, drama performance as project based have further
positive effects on a variety of social competences and
personal skills. One of the study finding is that, despite
initial resistance from the majority of the English language
learners about taking this mandatory class, the drama
pedagogy used in this classroom drew on students' personal
and cultural experiences in the creation of identity texts
and thereby provided room for a situated practice as well as
multimodal representations of meaning. This process of
creating performance-based identity texts, the author
argues, cognitively engaged students, provided room for
identity investment and, therefore, despite initial
challenges, helped many students with their linguistic and
social performances [26].
Fig. 4. Drama Performance
5. Did you learn others aspects in English language while
learning Drama?
Yes, from this drama I learned how to pronounce English,
intonation, then listen to English dialogue and so forth.
(p.1), Well, I learned it all. From writing dialogues,
practicing pronunciation, and listening to dialogues
between players. (p.2), By performing out their role in
drama performance, the students who have difficulty with
reading and writing can avoid struggling with pen and
paper, and may expose a previously unnoticed intelligence
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
180
or ability, Of course, before conducting dialogue we are
trained by the director for pronunciation of gestures and so
on. (p.4), I learned several aspects of drama, such as
writing drama scripts that must always be revised in every
scene, I also learned aspects of listening such as listening
to suggestions from friends and listening to each other
while talking in drama, I learned to learn good
pronunciation, and practice to get my confidence in drama.
(p.5), Yes of course when I study English drama I learn a
lot about that aspect, especially the listening and
pronunciation aspects. (p.6), Yes of course, I learn to write
when revising drama script, learn to correct pronunciation
when doing dialogue although there is someone who said
this to me it is enough to doing dialogue with Indonesia
accent to be easily understood, but I think it is a process
for me to learn more in the pronunciation aspect. So I
decide to use an English accent, I also learn to listen while
listening to other characters dialogue in drama (p.7), Of
course yeah, especially for the pronunciation. As the
narrator I’ve to read some of the paragraph of the text. It
is increasing my pronunciation (p.8), Yes, from this drama
I learned how to pronounce English, then listen to English
dialogue. (p.9)
Based on the interview, the students have shown that
they perceive many positive effects from engaging with
drama in their language classrooms. To explain this, some
students seem to enjoy repeated oral practice with a text
and having an opportunity to spend more time than usual
practicing and focusing on intonation pattern. Rehearsal is
useful for students in various ways. When the learners
rehearse, they were involved with various processes which
include the establishment of characters, personalities,
motives, and persona, thus creating a genuine purpose for
communication [10]. The atmosphere in drama
performance encouraged the students to speak with their
friends when they were playing their characters.
Furthermore, it allowed them to think about how they have
to respond to other characters in that situation. When
students performed in English drama, they had a purpose
for speaking. To work on a drama performance, students
took on various roles as researchers. The students in the
project gathered information about the theme. They studied
related information by themselves from various resources
such as texts, some books, Internet, YouTube, movies, and
so on. Those data were analysed and adapted into their
drama project. These encouraged them to be autonomous
learners. It is supportive with the result of the research that
the component of project based learning increases students’
research skills as the students are required to take some
responsibility for their own learning through the gathering,
processing, and reporting of information from target
language resources [27].
6. Describe the audience response to your acting. Were
you surprised? Did the responses happen as expected?
Hahaha yes the audience response was shocked and that is
what I expected because at the end of the story I became
Zen's wife even though Snowhite loves Zen. (p.4),
The researcher report that EFL drama performance
fosters and maintains students’ motivation by providing an
atmosphere which is full of fun and entertainment.
Interestingly, from the results of the study, it was found
that the audience was one important factor that motivated
the participants of the study to perform with enjoyment.
One of the students mentioned that she and her friends felt
little nervous when acting on the stage in front of an
audience; however, it positively encouraged them to do
their best and put in their best effort to play the characters.
I was very surprised, so many gave positive responses,
until others did not think that I was said to be able to do
extraordinary acting, according to them. (p.2), The
response from the audience is that good and suitable to
play a role as a mother who is angry with her child and I
didn’t expect that, thank the response was good. (p.3),
It is obvious that the audience is one important factor
which motivates learners to perform in English. From the
researcher’s observation, it seemed students were a little
nervous when they worked on make-up characters
performance; however, they looked more relaxed and
confident on the day of the actual performance on the
stage. Students tried their best and showed great effort in
their actual performance.
I was very surprised when the audience laughed at me,
because my role as an informant had to be funny and
strange. At that time I realized that I had managed to
portray a strange and funny informant. (p.5) , The
audience response when I was acting was, when Mrs. ____
commented that I was very happy and confident. She said
that "waaaaah so cool like auto of the box did not expect to
be like a guy so A with F just lost with maleness L" Haha I
think I still remember his words like that. Many of my
friends also like my acting because their words are like my
real character even though it's a joke they are very
annoying, there are also people who like my moustache.
(p.6), personally I feel that the audience not really
satisfied. I do not know why, even though when I sing a
song I feel better, I was surprise when I was singing the
audience give applause. I almost forgot my next dialogue. I
didn’t expect too high however the response was given by
audience I really appreciate it. It’s happy enough for me
when they can attend to watch our drama. I’m grateful.
(p.7), I’m not really feeling something special from the
audience, because I’m a narrator, but when the make-up
character performance, as Valak, all the audiences were
scare of me, I don’t know why, I just Hahaha (p.8)
In terms of evaluation and feedback which are
important processes at this stage, the students’ drama
performance was evaluated based on the elements of
drama, verbal language, non-verbal language, learning
lines, and staging. They were provided with feedback after
finishing the performance. The students were expressing
their feeling at the end of their performance. The audiences
give comments directly; some of them asked several
questions to the students as the performer.
Based on the observation and interviews, the researcher
point out that the students participated in various tasks of
the project based learning, such as make-up character
performance, script writing, setting design, costumes, text
analysis, cast, poster publicity, sounds and effects
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
181
integration, producing trailer, promoting their drama using
social media and rehearsal. Students independently chose
to work on different tasks according to their knowledge,
abilities and preferences. Moreover, they were allowed to
take on different characters and roles. In this study, the
lecturer was seen as a facilitator who assisted students and
approved the content. Moreover, the lecturer assisted
whenever the students could not reach a common decision
or when the students needed help to discuss important
issues.
7. How do you feel now after performing your drama?
Actually in the show there are some things that we really
want to get angry, the stage setting is not in line with our
group's expectations. Lots of frustration with the team that
helped group one. Maybe there was no further
communication that caused it. After the show also in the
whatssapp group some people got on their emotions. But
yes, everything has been done okay. (p.6), The audience
can clearly hear every dialogue that is carry up, but I think
it was not optimal because the character’s voice sometimes
small (not too loud) (p.7), I just wish please not raining
and all the actors of my group, their voice are loud, that’s
my wish. (p.8), I want during the drama to run smoothly
from the beginning to the end and there is nothing I don't
want (p.9), my feeling now must be happy because in my
opinion the existence of a program like this is very fun even
though the process is not very easy because they have to
prepare this and that. not only mental retention but all
property as well everything must be prepared carefully and
it's not easy. (p.1), More confident, it turns out that thing
that I might not be able to do with real can I do. (p.2),
Certainly relieved and have a lot of experiences to be had.
(p.3), I feel happy and everything becomes a distinctive
memory for me. (p.4)
The end-product of this study was a drama performance
on stage. The performance lasted approximately one hour.
The students performed in front of an audience with all the
elements of a drama production. A dramatic performance is
beneficial to students in various ways: linguistic
reinforcement, pronunciation practice, becoming more
familiar with the text, self-esteem development, discussion
skills, and meaning-focused [28].
The drama was a success even though there were a few
minor obstacles but I am very grateful to have a very
extraordinary experience. (p.5)
The participants’ views support that the implementation
of drama performance has positive effects on the
development of individual or group work skills. Since
drama performance as project based learning activities
enable students to promote their team work skill and
building personal relationships students’ individual
participation or group cooperation in drama enhance their
interaction and build positive social relationships. Enabling
the engagement of whole class in a drama performance was
suggested by the participants of this research, as well.
Some were recommended all the students, even the passive
ones, be engaged in drama project.
What I feel after doing the drama is certainly a relief
because I have already completed this assignment. In
addition, our longing for our habits that always gather,
joke, eat, discuss, like having new friends and family. We
also know each other with their respective characters, our
ignorance becomes discovered. The point is togetherness
that will not be forgotten. Gratitude is grouped with them
with our own efforts, our own efforts, without the help of
others. yes we are proud, we are happy. (p.6)
I’m lucky have a friends who have a high togetherness and
compactness in drama class, I love them. And I’m lucky too
because have a good lecturer who always give a good her
experience and knowledge. (p.7)
Very happy and calm (smiling) because free from
nervousness on the day after the show, free from practice
schedule that often come home late at night, hmm.. but I
realize through this drama project so many memories that
we’ve made. Even now there are many small things that
often make me remember again. When I practice dialogue,
singing, praying in the hall, eating together, going to
tourist attraction to make trailer, making trailer two times
because of Aji’s hand phone incident. I’m very grateful to
be able to go through of all this process. Like that.. so the
last is, thank you for the opportunities that you give for us
to proceed, this project is more than just a drama, but
there is a drama in drama with a variety of dynamic.
Thank you M… (p.9), Alhamdulillah I feel satisfied
although our performance it was not really good but I feel
satisfied because all that’s our effort. Anyway I got special
feeling, that is togetherness. Togetherness is the expensive
feeling that we found in drama. (p.10)
The participants shared their views on drama
performance. They state that the learning activities can
improve their language skills and academic performance of
the students who participate in drama due to their being
more engaged in lessons than their nonparticipant
counterparts. The views regarding the implementation of
drama performance as project based learning yield positive
environment for students from different background so that
they provide not only lecturer and peer support at campus
but also parent involvement in their life.
The next step was interviewing the audience from
different background. The participants were some students
from department of Educational Administration, students’
parents and High School students. Interview was done to
verify what had been obviously witnessed in the process of
observation [19]. Interview is important to do in this
research to get the verified data through the communicative
competence between interviewer and the respondents. The
definition of communicative competence as: “that aspects
of our competence that enable us to convey and interpret
messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within
specific context” [29]. The data of the interview were
recorded as digital data.
a. Have you ever seen English Drama Performance of PBI
STKIPMB?
Well, I've seen it, starting from memorizing the
dialogue script to acting practice (A.1), Yes, I've
always been a great viewer in that event, so I like to
watch the Drama Performance of PBI at our campus.
(A.2) Several times I had seen a performance during a
training session, their performance was extraordinary
to display the drama. (A.3), Sering, setiap ada drama
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
182
di kampus pasti saya nonton (A.8), Pernah, ketika
mereka akan mempersiapkan pertunjukan drama
mereka bersungguh sungguh latihan (A.9), Yes, I have
ever seen English Drama Performance. I remember the
first drama performance I’ve seen drama from Ka M
and Ka Y and ka D but I forgot the title and the last
semester I watched Cinderella and Rendezvous. (A.12)
It’s my first time (A.13)
b. What do you think about their performance?
My opinion about their performance is that they are
very hard working and never give up and keep trying to
show the appearance as much as possible (A.1), I think
they are doing a character with seriously and like a
reality, when I see that performance, I feel that must be
able to be best actor of drama. (A.2) , their
performance was extraordinary to be able to satisfy the
audience when they saw the drama they performed
(A.3) , I think their performance so great for me. (A.4),
I think performance it’s so natural (A.5), very good
especially in the narration of the drama, easy to
understand (A.6), I like their performance and good
enough for newbie who learn English. (A.7), Bagus,
sangat kreatif dan memang selalu totalitas dalam
penampilannya (A.8), Pernah, ketika mereka akan
mempersiapkan pertunjukan drama mereka bersungguh
sungguh latihan. Semangat dan sangat memaksimalkan
kemampuan Bahasa inggris dalam pertunjukan drama
dan tidak gugup ketika menampilkan pertunjukan
drama (A.9), very good (A.10), Their performance is
amazing; I can't imagine how they're making a script in
English language, practice their script performance,
and make video for the trailer. (A.11), I think that they
are so great. It seems like I got into the story (A.12),
They performance so great. They make me laugh and
feel like watch movie in TV (A.13)
c. How does Dramatization (Drama Performance) help
students in learning English language?
In my opinion drama can help to show their skills and
give lessons for acting that are not appropriate to their
original characters so they can be confident. (A.1) ,
I feel that the good dialogue, the best acting from the
actor and performance success, can be a motivation
and help a student to learning English language. (A.2) ,
very helpful, because students can see the performances
using English, so students definitely want to be able to
speak English correctly (A.3),
By the drama performance can practice speaking skills,
without dialogue, pronunciation and interaction to
audience. Etc (A.4),
Dramatization help student with dialouge body and
speakers English in performance (A.5), Through the
delivery of narration and gestures, so that delivery is
easy to digest. (A.6),
Because I like watching a movie, and the dramatization
is one of methods to learn English. and I thing drama
performance help students to learn English well (A.7),
Tentu saja sangat membantu, karna memang selama
saya melihat drama khususnya di luar dari lingkungan
kampus baru di STKIP saja (A.8) , Karena mungkin
ada pesannya saat pertunjukan drama, siswa dapat
melihat langsung pertunjukan drama dalam Bahasa
inggris. (A.9),
through the drama makes students more interested in
learning English because it looks more fun and makes
students curious to learn English (A.10),
The drama performance can help student in learning
English language, in drama performance their can
practice all material that has been studied in their
class. (A.11),
I think that drama performance, it can makes the
students more interested with learning English, they
can learn from the dialogue like how to pronounced the
sentences while enjoying the stories.(A.12).
Interestingly, from the results of the research, it was
found that the audience was one important factor that
motivated the participants of the study to perform with
enjoyment. Many family members came to see their
children performance. Some High School students watched
their teacher performance, and some students mentioned
that they were feeling proud being a part of the
performance. It is obvious that the audience is one
important factor which motivates students to perform in
English. From the researcher’s observation, it seemed
many students were a little nervous when they worked on
the rehearsal; however, they looked more relaxed and
confident on the BIG DAY of their actual performance on
the stage. Students tried their best and showed great effort
in their actual performance. When students know that
larger audiences wait for their work, they will be more
dedicated to their work.
Drama project based learning connecting students from
different background, language skill level, ages, and
department. Drama performance was able to create a
community of learners that helped each other in the process
of language learning. It also helps to connect the school of
teacher training and education (STKIP) Muhammadiyah
Bogor to the community in which it is based. It brings
together individuals interested in theatre or in the language
in which a drama is performed. Because of the positive
responses, the implementation of drama performance has
been suggested as effective ways to promote English
Education Department. In fact, performing a drama in the
target language can help to increase enrolments and its
department more visible on campus. The research shows
the benefits of project-based learning and drama
integration. The students had opportunities to improve their
knowledge and practice their language skills by
implementing a drama project based on their talents and
individual differences.
V. CONCLUSION
"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember,
involve me and I learn" (an ancient Chinese proverb)
The proverb reflected the process of drama
performance project at School of Teacher Training and
Education (STKIP) Muhammadiyah Bogor. The success of
any program is strongly connected to fidelity of
implementation [14].The implementation of drama
performance as a project based learning has myriad
benefits for students and drama activities are a unique way
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 535
183
of enhancing students’ motivation and participation.
Language skills can be exposed to students not only
through conventional technique but also through drama
performance. Project based learning provides students with
the opportunity to explore the contents of Drama in
Language Education. To get into the outcome, the core
activities focus on the elements of drama, creative writing
(composing a play script), characterization, make-up
character, providing students with the information about
drama in language education, and also hope to give
students the opportunity to perform a drama in English.
The lecturer’s role in the teaching learning process is
crucial. It can influence the students’ response towards
project based learning.
The researcher believe that the students are actively and
productively involve in drama project from planning,
preparing and staging the performance; the students feel
free to demonstrate their creativity in creating their ideas;
their drama performance incorporated a range of media and
forms of expression (written work, social media, and
performance). The majority of lectures like their students
to be motivated. When the students are motivated, it means
something. The students would be actively engaged in the
classroom activities. Therefore, the students’ participation
is something which is desirable by most lecturers. Based on
what the participants directly experienced that learning
English through drama performance is motivating, raising
their critical thinking, exploring their creativity and
improving language skills in English. Another important
point that students can get from drama performance is
togetherness. Therefore, it recommends the implementation
of drama performance as project-based learning to promote
students’ learning skills as it provides students with great
opportunities to speak English and express themselves.
Drama should become a greater part of learning language
instruction, not only encourages the students and improve
language skills but also fosters their social, emotional and
intellectual development. Suggestions for further study
might explore the collaborations between student and
lecturer from different subject or even other departments
can ease the workload for all involved and can make an
English language drama production as successful and
enjoyable experience for everyone.
Although the results were found, the research reported
here has limitations. The research relied on qualitative
analyses and future research could include quantitative
analyses from other aspects of drama in language education
to expand and confirm the results of our study. It is hoped
that the implementation of drama performance as project
based learning in learning English skills contexts is
recognized and further explored.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We would like to express our gratitude to the
participants, the audiences, English lecturer of STKIP
Muhammadiyah Bogor, student’s parents who were
voluntarily involved in the project. We are grateful to
STKIP Muhammadiyah Bogor for technical guidance and
financial support. This project was undertaken as part of
English Education Department annual Program.We are
also indebted to Dr Mujiarto ST, MT, LPPM Universitas
Muhammadiyah Tasik, for providing us with
administrative and technical support in all aspects.
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