Firing the Imagination: Process Drama as Pedagogy for ‘Melting’ EAP Speaking Anxiety and Increasing Japanese University Students’ Confidence in Speaking

Abstract

Speaking can be very challenging for Japanese university students. This is partially because the high school curriculum in Japan is not generally focused on providing opportunities for students to speak their ideas. The requirement to speak in English, as an additional language, adds to the challenge for students. When university students are asked to speak spontaneously about issues and ideas, it appears they are often ‘frozen’ by an unfamiliar requirement of ‘speaking their mind’. This chapter reports on research undertaken during a winter intensive course in which drama was used as a pedagogical approach designed to overcome students’ mental obstacles to speaking as well as to teach them to be more global minded.

Implementing drama pedagogy for additional language teaching and learning has been researched amongst drama educators and language teachers. Educators in Asian regions such as Taiwan and Hong Kong are also actively utilizing the pedagogy as it has been proven to be an effective pedagogy for motivating students’ learning. However, very limited research is seen in Japan, in particular focusing on students who have reached a high level of language proficiency.

This research provides an example of drama used as the primary pedagogical approach in an EAP course in a Japanese international university context. Students’ English language levels tend to be relatively high, even though these students are still in the middle of their undergraduate studies. Nevertheless, students still feel hesitant to speak freely in English. Broadly, this research asked the question: ‘How can drama be applied as pedagogy to increase students’ motivation for speaking about complex ideas in EAP?’ At the same time, this research aimed to examine how drama pedagogy assists students’ conceptual understanding of some of the global issues raised. The educator/researchers describe their collaboration in designing and teaching this course and present findings from analysis of data including reflection on teaching, observation notes and student responses to pre- and post-course questionnaires.

The high level of engagement students demonstrated in class became evidence of the students’ increased sense of motivation to speak their minds and communicate complex ideas in English. Students reported that playing roles and exploring ideas together through the imaginative world of the process drama helped to melt anxieties and warmed them up for speaking more freely. Students also reported their surprise in finding that the relatively enjoyable approach of learning through drama expanded their minds, by demanding that they apply themselves critically and analytically to the content including complex global issues being introduced in class.