A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Drama-Based Activities in the English Classroom

Abstract

This study aims to explore Norwegian EFL- teachers’ attitudes towards drama-based activities as a method in teaching English as a foreign language. It also investigates the teachers’ thoughts and experiences on drama-based activities in TEFL. The following research question was thus formed: “How do upper primary level and lower secondary level teachers experience drama as a teaching method in the English classroom?”. Based on our research question, we used qualitative method in form of interviews to collect data that would help us answer our research question. The interviews were conducted to get insight into the teachers’ attitudes, thoughts, and experiences regarding the use of drama- based activities within TEFL. We used the interviews to compare the attitudes, thoughts, and experiences to see if there were similarities or differences in what they said. The results from this study showed that all of the teachers used drama within their teaching because they believed that drama has a value within TEFL, that it contributes to learning through life-like scenarios, and that it can contribute in a positive way to the pupils' motivation for learning English. The results also showed that the use of drama depended on the teacher’s personality, that the teachers who have a genuine interest in drama will most likely choose to use it more in their teaching than those without that level of interest.