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DOI: 10.15507/1991-9468.098.024.202001.098-110
Drama Techniques as Correlators of the Level of English Language Speaking Anxiety
Edyta Kwiecień-Niedziela
Lecturer of Chair of Neophilologies, University of Bielsko-Biala (2 Willowa, Bielsko-Biała 43-300, Poland), Ph.D., ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7944-2607, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Krzysztof Polok
Associate Professor of Chair of Neophilologies, University of Bielsko-Biala (2 Willowa, Bielsko-Biała 43-300, Poland), Ph.D., ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0283-9665, Scopus ID: 56242286500, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Eva Mala
Professor of Chair of English Studies, University of Ostrava (3 Frani Sramka, Ostrava 701 03, Czech Republic), Ph.D., ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5889-1075, Scopus ID: 56576140900, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Introduction. The study aims to investigate what factors strengthen and weaken personal speaking anxiety. With the use of selected standardized surveys, the research examines how drama techniques affect a learner’s level of English language speaking anxiety.
Materials and Methods. The research group includes 17 Polish primary school learners who attended drama classes and prepared two performances in English for other learners and their parents. The questionnaire with the stated research questions was applied, and the data ob tained were statistically analyzed.
Results. The research results show that the learners participating in English drama classes had a lower level of speaking anxiety than those who did not practice drama at all. As to the learners´ English language proficiency, the level of speaking anxiety dropped with the rise of academic level. No significant difference was observed either in the level of speaking anxiety between male and female participants or in the level of speaking among learners of different age. The impact of drama techniques implemented into the English language classes is discussed in the study. The research results indicate the influence of drama techniques on the reduction of the level of speaking anxiety. The decrease is very noticeable that should inspire teachers to use drama techniques while teaching a foreign language, especially speaking skills. The analysis also indicates a close correlation between drama classes and the inc reasing level of English proficiency.
Discussion and Conclusion. The topic of the article is to meet the interest of foreign language teachers and learners, would-be teachers of the English language.
Keywords: English language, primary school learner, speaking anxiety, drama techniques, questionnaire, correlation, drama classes
For citation: Kwiecień-Niedziela E., Polok K., Mala E. Drama Techniques as Correlators of the Level of English Language Speaking Anxiety. Integratsiya obrazovaniya = Integration of Education. 2020; 24(1): 98-110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15507/1991-9468.098.024.202001.098-110
Contribution of the authors:
Edyta Kwiecień-Niedziela – organizing the research activities; participating in the analyses of the research results; writing the research part of the paper.
Krzysztof Polok – participating in the discussion on the study materials; planning and supervising the research; writing the literature review.
Eva Mala – participating in the discussion on the study materials and study conception; reviewing research methods and analyses; checking and completing the text .
All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Submitted 18.10.2019; revised 29.11.2019; published online 31.03.2020.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
