Copyright © 2017, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Encouraging Students’ Involvement in DramaPerformance

Elis Homsini Maolida, Liana SavitriUniversitas Suryakancana, Cianjur

lisnida_ok@yahoo.com

Abstract - This study explores the implementation of variousstrategies to encourage students’ involvement in dramaperformance. The present study employed a case study byobserving the teachers’ and students’ process of dramapreparation and performance. Teachers’ and students’interview were also conducted to collect the data of theirresponses toward the strategies. In addition, students’ journalswere analyzed to support the data. The findings show that therewere at least three strategies implemented in encouragingstudents to take part in drama performance actively: characteraward, collaborating classes to perform a story, and dramaposters. The findings also show that the teachers and studentsgave various responses toward the strategies. From theresponses, the benefits and shortcomings of each strategy arealso revealed. Collaborating classes in regular rehearsal, forinstance, encouraged the students to have a good preparation forthe performance since other classes watched their performancefrom the beginning. Accordingly, the students competed to showa better progress. Furthermore, the findings uncover whatseems to be lacking in the implemented strategies such as theabsence of detailed indicators in assessing students’performance and attitude during the process of dramapreparation. The results of this study imply that to get theoptimal advantage of those strategies, the teachers need to havea more detailed preparation, a better time management, andconsistency in their implementation.

Keywords: Drama, student’s involvement, drama performance,drama preparation

1. INTRODUCTIONTeaching EFL seems to be challenging as it is shown

by poor participation of the students in classroom. Williams(1994) states that learning a foreign language involves farmore than simply learning skills or a system of rules or agrammar. Students are hesitant to participate because oflimited language. It leads them to be unmotivated learners.Regarding this, Phillips (1999) proposes drama to encouragechildren to speak and motivates them to communicate, evenwith limited language, by using non-verbal communicationsuch as body movement and facial expression. According toCelce-Murcia (2001), it is easier for learners to be engaged ina lesson through drama than through instructions orexplanations. It indicates that drama has the potential toimprove oral communication skills and facilitate languagethat motivates student to learn actively.

However, the differences in learning preferences andpersonalities make some students participate more than theothers. Previous studies have shown that personality of

the student influences the student’s participation in theprocess of learning, for example, students with high self-efficacy show better academic achievement and participatingmore in the classroom (Pajares, 1996; Schunk, 1995).Thus, ifstudents’ self-efficacy is high, it will enhance theirconfidence level to become more active and speak more inthe classroom. The teaching objective actually is not to haveevery student participate in the same way. It is more to createan environment where all participants have the opportunity tolearn. Therefore, teachers should create conditions that enablestudents of various learning preferences and personalities toengage and contribute. In this regard, student engagement isdescribed as the tendency to be behaviorally, emotionally,and cognitively involved in academic activities (Thijs &Verkuyten, 2009). Compared to less engaged peers, engagedstudents demonstrate more effort, experience, more positiveemotions and pay more attention in the classroom (Fredricks,Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). In this case, students learn bestwhen they are engaged and interested. Therefore, teachershould use the effective strategy to increase studentmotivation since it represents student’s willingness, need,desire and compulsion to participate in, and be successful inthe learning process (Bomia et al, 1997).

One of strategies to improve student’s motivation isby giving rewards. It is a way for students to understand thattheir performance is adequate or deserving of praise. In linewith this, Cameron, Pierce, Banko, and Gear (2005, p.654)state, "Giving rewards for successful achievement on anactivity leads individuals to express high task interest and tobe motivated to perform the activity and other similar tasks inthe future". Akin-Little & Little (2004) also add that rewardsystems are often used by educators to enhance studentacademic performance and appropriate behavior.Furthermore, Zlomke & Zlomke (2003) found that negativebehaviors were reduced when students earned points fordisplaying positive behavior and then exchanged these pointsfor a reward.

Another strategy that is considered as having abilityto improve students’ motivation in learning, especially in oralskill oriented activities, is collaborative learning. The successof collaboration in increasing students’ motivation to makestudents participate actively and facilitate passive students tobe more communicative is shown by Saefurrohman (2004) inhis action research. In this case, collaborating classes torehearse and understand dialogue in drama preparation wasexpected to increase students’ motivation and involvement

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since the success of a solo show depends upon a team ofpeople working to make a larger performance happen.

Furthermore, poster that is defined as colorful,attractive learning media which can enhance the learningenvironment (Osa, 2004) was utilized to motivate students toinvolve actively in drama preparation and performance. Inthis case, drama posters were used to catch the students’attention and it was hoped that this poster strategyencouraged student’s active engagement in their learningprocess through drama.

Regarding the implementation of those strategies,previous studies were dominated by the discussion of theeffectiveness and implementation of the strategies inclassroom learning context, not specifically in dramapreparation and performance as a learning context. To fill thegap, there is a need to discuss how those strategies areimplemented as attempts to solve students’ poor participation,especially passive students, in a more specific context such asdrama preparation and performance. Therefore, this studyattempts to reveal the implementation of various strategiessuch as character award, collaborating classes, and dramaposters in encouraging students’ participation in dramaperformance. It also explores teachers’ and students’responses toward those strategies.

2. METHODSThis study applied a qualitative approach embodying thecharacteristic of a case study. The data were collectedthrough observation, interview, and students’ journalanalysis. The observation was conducted once a week duringdrama rehearsal session (approximately 60 minutes) for fourmonths and during the drama performance. There wereeighteen classes participated in drama show which wereguided by seven female teachers. Each class consisted of tenstudents. The students were about seven to seventeen yearsold collaborated in some groups to perform stories. Thecharacter award, collaborating classes, and drama posterswere implemented to encourage students’ involvement indrama performance. After the drama performance wasfinished, several students and teachers were purposivelychosen to be interviewed to explore their responses on theimplementation of character award, collaborating classes, anddrama posters to find the benefits and shortcomings of thestrategies.

3. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS3.1 The Implementation of Various Strategies toEncourage Students’ Involvement

Based on the result of observation, there were atleast three strategies implemented to encourage students’participation in drama performance, those were characteraward, collaborating classes, and drama posters.3.1.1 The Character Award

At the beginning of the semester, a blank bookmarkwas given to every student to be completed by the stickers.The teachers explained the targeted behaviors that would

allow students to earn a sticker. When students demonstratedthe behaviors, teachers handed out the stickers as rewards.

The rules applied for this character award wasalmost similar with description from Zlomke & Zlomke(2003) that students earned points for displaying positivebehavior and then exchanged these points for a reward. Inthis case, the teachers observed the students’ involvement indrama preparation based on the criteria on the bookmark andput a sticker of a positive attitude when the students showedthe targeted positive attitudes during drama preparation.

In the show time, some students were chosen to get acharacter award based on the result of teachers’ observationand the number of stickers that the students got on theirbookmark. The pictures below are the pictures of the stickersand the bookmark:

Figure 1. The stickers and the bookmark

3.1.2 Collaborating ClassesIn implementing class collaboration, the teachers

mixed eighteen classes into seven groups. Every two or threeclasses performed a story. The young learner classes wereblended with teenagers’ class so that they could learn fromtheir seniors. The students were involved in the process ofstaging, costuming, scripting, and makeup of their dramaperformance. The stories took various themes such as horrorstory, traditional legend, detective story, fairytale and adaptedstories from movies such as ‘Brave’. The studentscollaborated to present their performance from dramapreparation for about four months to the show time.

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Figure 2. The drama performance

3.1.3 The Drama PostersThe drama posters were designed to attract students’

interest and boost the students’ excitement in welcoming theawaited event. They also functioned as gentle reminders thatthe date was getting closer and that the students had to bewell prepared. The students also could figure how they wouldlook like when they were performing the drama since theposter showed some pictures of drama characters.

Figure 3. The drama posters

The observation shows that the students wereexcited since their names were printed on the posters whichwere attached everywhere around the building of the course.In addition, the posters informed the parents who came to thecourse about their children’s performance so the parentscould get involved in motivating students’ involvement indrama preparation and performance.

3.2 The Teachers’ and Students’ Responses towardsStrategies

The result of observation, interview and journalanalysis shows that teachers and students gave variousresponses toward the strategies. Students’ interview, forexample, reveals that the character award encouraged thestudents to perform better in every classroom activity sincethey knew they were rewarded based on their performance inthe class. The students looked more enthusiastic andmotivated. For example, they came forward or answeredquestions from their teacher without being asked to. Inaddition, the teachers believed that implementing the rewardsystems helped with student participation and classroommanagement which gave positive impacts to the academicachievement. Moreover, awards put up positive feeling sostudents felt proud of their accomplishments and becamemore confident, as shown in the student’s journal below:

Figure 4. Student’s self-confidence and competitive feeling

However, some teachers stated that character awardseemed to work only with some groups but not with others.Some students were excited, while the other showed theopposite. Those who took the award seriously showedpositive responses as expressed in excitement, enthusiasm indoing required tasks. On the other hand, those who were notinterested in the award showed indifference. The characteraward also sometimes made students felt bad when they didnot get many stickers.

Since this award system was applied for four monthsso the students had to keep their bookmarks during theimplementation of the program. Some students reported theylost their bookmarks that had function as award charts. It ledto less excitement and enthusiasm of the students. Anotherproblem arose when the teacher could not assess the studentsobjectively due to the absence of detailed indicators to assessstudents’ performance and attitude during the process ofdrama preparation.

Regarding class collaboration, it is revealed that thisstrategy facilitated students’ learning of tolerating since theymet many individuals with different characters. The classsituations sometimes were hectic since some students werevery active. In collaborating classes, the students wereinvolved in dialogue about staging, costuming, scripting, andmakeup. The interaction between them looked more intensewhen they tried to give positive feedbacks for their friends’performance during the rehearsal. Furthermore, the result ofthe interview uncovers that working together as a group isessential that each of the students felt accepted and workedwell with others. This collaboration allowed students to findand understand different characters, different roles to expresswho they were. It encouraged them to show compassion andtolerance for others.

Figure 5. Student’s social skill

Collaborating classes also stimulated students toshare creative ideas and abilities for the best result. Thisrequired all students to take part to engage in discussions,feedback, rehearsing, and the performance. All creative ideaswere welcomed so that every student felt positive about his orher contribution, as shown below:

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Figure 6. Student’s engagement

On the subject of drama posters to stimulate studentsto be more interested in drama, this strategy was respondedpositively. It was because they were well designed, wellorganized, and attractive. Even when the drama performancehad finished, the students still had positive feeling about it.The posters reminded them about how they had tried hard togive the best performance in the drama. The picture below isone of the students’ responses when he was asked about hisopinion about the drama posters:

Figure 7. Student’s involvement in drama

4. CONCLUSIONThe implementation of character award,

collaborating classes, and drama posters are beneficial toencourage students to take part actively in dramaperformance. Those strategies have motivated students toperform better, both in preparation process and in the realperformance. However, various responses from teachers andstudents show that some improvements should be made suchas presenting more detailed indicators in assessing thestudents for character award. Furthermore, this study impliesthat the teachers play a crucial role in the success of theimplementation of various strategies to encourage students’involvement in drama performance.

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