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creative thinking and participation. This holistic, integrated nature of the learning which is experienced in drama allows learners to take opportunities to make
connections across other areas of learning Brauer, 2002. To be more specific, there are varieties of drama techniques that lead to
creative thinking and can be used to develop language skills. The strengths of each drama which is possible to support language learning are explained by some
experts as followed.
a. Role play
The shared experiences and engagement in a role play and acting help pupils to develop the essential language skills of speaking and listening Line,
1997 in Evans Thompson, 2010, p.16. In the same way, Brauer 2002 believes that a role play gives students more opportunity to use language in elaborate
dialogues within culturally relevant and significant contexts p.228. These explanations indicate that role play is closely related to the ability to
produce language in authentic conversation. In addition, role play demands the cultural awareness and allows students to act out their knowledge. In this context,
the knowledge about English as the target language is the main focus of role play drama.
b. Improvisation Drama
As noted in Brauer 2002, improvisation drama expresses emotion and ideas through gesture, posture, and facial expression. It provides practice for
students to develop spontaneous speaking skills and greater fluency, but it has
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value beyond this in its capacity to facilitate an environment for language learning p.193.
Improvisation drama is closely linked to the repetition, basic knowledge, and memory of the students. For instance, in this drama, students are given certain
situations to react spontaneously. Thus, this kind of activity can also develop students’ listening and speaking ability, and also the improvisation skills.
c. Hot Seating
According to Evans Thompson 2010, hot seating activity gives children the opportunity to use their imagination and step into the footprints of a
well-known character from a familiar story. They will have some prior knowledge of the character from their previous contact with the story but they can then let
their own ideas take over and the story can develop in a totally original direction. The activity of hot seating can vary each time. The activity like sitting
around and reading the text aloud can affect how loudly students speak, how much eye contact they made, and how confident they appeared. Most importantly,
hot seating drama improves students’ pronunciation in English Brauer, 2002.
d. Puppetry
Puppetry drama can provide opportunity for students to develop personal and workforce skills like team work, sharing, taking turns, negotiating, reaching
compromise, and brain storming. Related to language learning, shadow puppetry can be used to enhance understanding of literature or as a means of demonstrating
what has been learned by students Fontichiaro, p.171. In other words, puppetry
