In this workshop, we will discuss how drama, including play scripts and theatre games, can help students improve their spoken communication skills. Too often our classrooms focus on grammatical accuracy and literal definitions of words, while neglecting pragmatics-the social and cultural rules that govern how we speak in different contexts and situations. Plays are a powerful tool for teaching conversation because they are written texts that can be analyzed, but are meant to reflect natural spoken speech.

We’ll look at a short skit and analyze how to use it in the classroom to raise awareness of how context, relationships, and goals can change the way we speak.

Next, we’ll look at a series of activities that can help students think about how non-verbal cues like intonation and word stress impact the meaning of our words. Even our grammar choices can reveal different attitudes toward what we are saying.

Finally, we’ll talk about how we choose rhetorical strategies and useful language to perform everyday functions. Get dramatic in the classroom, in a good way!

Presented by Walton Burns – Award-winning Materials Writer & Senior Editor @Alphabet Publishing.