ESL, English as a Second Language, refers to teaching English to students whose native language is not English. ESL students come from a variety of countries and have varying abilities in the English language. Some school districts provide a special class for these students while other districts place the students in regular classes with a special teacher instructing them as a group during the week. In either case, drama is an effective tool for teaching English to the ESL student.

Using Drama for ESL Classes

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Using drama with ESL students helps them learn English and enriches their learning experience by building confidence. They realize they can learn new vocabulary words and are able to accomplish an assignment. Provide worthwhile activities that enable them to express themselves clearly and develop their imagination. Motivate students by using drama assignments that are fun and easy to accomplish. They benefit from working with others as well as learning concepts of literature.

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Introduce pantomime into the classroom. Have students become involved through physical movement, which helps them learn to express themselves without using words. Prepare topics on slips of paper and place them in a bag. Instruct students to select a topic. Call each student to the front of the room and have him do a pantomime illustrating the topic. Ask the rest of the class to guess what is portrayed. Use items such as playing in the rain, planting a garden or running to catch a bus. Then tell each student to select a partner, and have the partners pantomime a situation that uses two people, such as buying an item, having a phone conversation or playing a sport. Instruct the class to guess the subject being portrayed.

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Have students advance to role-playing. Take the same topics, and assign partners to add words to their pantomime, so that it becomes a verbalized skit. Ask the class for suggestions of words that could be used to make the presentation more descriptive. For example, if they are recreating the purchase of a shirt, they may mention words such as colorful, large, summery or light. Correct errors in grammar. Evaluate their progress in learning the English language as you observe them in the classroom.

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Continue with more advanced role-playing for the next assignment. Select several students to play the part of children reacting to a dominating parent. Suggest that a student may play the role of a policeman while others are witnesses to a crime. Another can help a niece communicate with a deaf grandma. Suggest words for students to incorporate in their improvisation.

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Assign storytelling as the next step. Explain to students that a story needs an introduction, body and conclusion. Ask several volunteers to tell a story about their own culture. Check for grammatical errors. Develop this dramatic presentation into an oral discussion, and invite students to analyze the structure of the story, add something to it based on their own experience and ask questions or comment on the presentation. Point out the improvement they have shown so far in their knowledge of English.

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Read a simple piece of literature to the class. Ask the advanced students to try to determine the setting and physical appearance of the characters. Question them on what the story is about and what the resolution is, if applicable. Select students to act out the story, adding their own interpretations.

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Suggest that the more advanced students write a simple short script. Give them a list of vocabulary words that they should incorporate in the script. Discuss sequence of events, and check whether they developed the events in logical order. Select students to act out the script. Use props where possible. Commend them on their progress.

Provide extra help for students who cannot keep up with the pace of the class.