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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama

Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii College Of Education ABSTRACT Visual aids are very significant in teaching English as a foreign language in general and in teaching literature in particular. These aids will assist both the teacher and the student in the process of teaching. They will clarify many sides and simplify many ideas, actions, setting, the characters behaviour and the whole atmosphere of the literary work. Visual aids will make the students understanding and mastering of the literary work easier and quicker. They will also develop the students' awareness of the foreign culture in addition to the enjoyment the students get. As a result, this paper attempts to help the teachers of literature and especially drama teachers to utilize visual aids to enrich their teaching and solve some of their problems.

Why Study Literature ? Literature is one of the important elements in the syllabus of teaching a foreign language for many aspects : the linguistic aspect which is the main concern in learning a foreign language i.e. the four language skills : listening, speaking, reading and writing; Younis (1998 : 21) explains that "teaching literature and language is interdependent. In order to have a better grasp of literature, the student must have a proper training of these skills " because "literature demonstrates language in use as its best (Ibid:13). Also 2

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Quirk and Widdowson (1985 : 185) claim that " a study of literature is in fact analogous with the study of language ". Moreover, teaching literature is important and useful for the cultural and comprehensive aspects in addition to the linguistic aspect. To achieve the aims of teaching a foreign language through literature, visual aids in any of their forms may be used to make the process of teaching easier and quicker, since" language teachers have been quick to seize upon the possibilities opened up by the easy availability of recording equipment, both, audio and visual" (Rivers, 1981 : 398 ).

How do aids help the process of teaching literature ? One may ask why the visual aids are used in teaching a foreign language. Lee and Coppen (1971 : 1) explain that the visual aids can be helpful for the teacher of a foreign language in a number of different ways : ( i ) they can brighten up the classroom and bring more variety and interest into language lessons ; ( ii ) visual aids in particular can help to provide the situations ( contexts ) which light up the meaning of the utterances used ; ( iii ) aural aids in particular help the teacher to improve his / her own grasp of the foreign language and to prepare more effective lessons ; ( iv ) both aural and visual aids can stimulate (the student) to speak the language as well as to read and write it ; ( v ) they can help in giving information of one kind or another about the background of literature and about life in the foreign country concerned .

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii Visual aids may be of various types of educational equipment such as tape and cassette recorders, language laboratories, filmstrips, slides, overhead projectors, television, films, all kinds of pictures, charts, and diagrams . Al- Jibouri ( 1978 : 107 ) explains that " any material program or machine used to help the teacher explain his lessons better is included under learning aids " . Teaching a foreign language through literature has always been a talent more than anything else, because the talented teacher may use anything as an aid in his teaching .Kerop ( 1978 : 126 ) states that " a simple blackboard or a picture or a chart may well be used to reinforce the idea behind the words used in a language " . Visual aids in teaching a foreign language through literature are very useful because they will improve the intellectual development of the learners, which is to be fulfilled through the employment of dramatic literature .This employment rests upon enjoyment since without enjoyment learning would hardly or would never take place because literature is to be enjoyed" (Mayhead , 1965 : 9 ) . The usefulness of visual aids in teaching a foreign language is very clear and in spite of its clarity Lado ( 1964 : 194 ) states that " visual aids must remain aids " which assist to improve the process of teaching a foreign language . Drama, as a literary form, is different from the other literary forms since "drama is not just the description or discussion of events from real life, it is the re-creation of real life and making use of all the constituent elements of real activity. These obviously include language as well as things like movement, position, gesture and facial expression". So, in teaching drama we are concerned with the 4

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fundamental process of converting a printed text into a live performance whether in the realm of our imagination as we read or for an actual stage production". ( Moody, 1971 : 67 ) . Teaching drama, more than other literary forms like poetry, the novel or short story, needs the use of any kind of visual aids because of its complex and difficult (and some times poetic) language in addition to the fact that there are many actions which cannot be explained through speech only because of their complexity which might cause misunderstanding to the students. Furthermore, the difficult language of the play or its length can be an obstacle to the students understanding of the play .So, by using any kind of visual aids the process of teaching will be more obvious since it is certainly highly desirable to start from visual or aural presentation rather than from the printed word" ( Bright & Mcgregor, 1970 : 215). There are many different styles of drama writings according to the writer and time of writing. Shakesperian style is one of the important and difficult forms of drama writing because of its difficult language. Bright and Mcgrogor ( 214 ) confirm this saying that " Shakespeare's language is very difficult, impossibly difficult if we make the absurd demand that every word shall be fully understood. So the teachers " intending to teach drama have a responsibility to ensure that their students gain this kind of familiarity (Moody, 1971 : 63 ) .The words or the sentences of the dramatic text may have more than one meaning, learners may misunderstand the central or main idea if it is not clarified for them .

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii Shakesperian language in particular will cause ambiguity more than difficulty to the learners because if they [the learners] give the language their full attention, they will find more meanings than they have ever found before, because Shakespeare, more than any other poet, was exploring the possibilities of language - making words as much as possible" (Bright and Mc Gregor, 1970 : 216). Subsequently, language adds a considerable element of complexity to drama. Besides language, the theme of the play may cause a difficulty for the students, especially those who are beginners in reading drama. The strange and complex theme and actions of Marlowes Doctor Faustus for instance may cause difficulty to the learners and in order to make the ideas vivid, visual aids may be used to draw a picture in their minds about the play. Using aids is not useful in teaching the long plays only, but even the one-act plays, sometimes need aids to make the ideas understandable to the learners. Moreover, because of the intensity of the actions, the one act play may be more difficult for the student to understand than the full-length play. For example in Samuel Backetts one act play Act Without Words there is only one character and the whole play is without dialogue, but there is only the movement of the character and the things round him. Consequently any visual aid may be used in clarifying the ideas of this play, and if there are none the teacher may use the chalk to draw a picture on the blackboard about the cubes size or how the character moves on the stage to help the students get an impression of what is going on . 6

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Using visual aids in teaching drama may simplify and clarify the cultural difference which appears through teaching drama since "through drama we recreate and examine peoples actions , see how(the actions) might have come about and where they might lead" (Taylar, 1991:9). Literature in general is like an ideal vehicle for illustrating language use and introducing cultural assumptions because " one of the major functions of literature is to serve as a medium to transmit the culture of people who speak the language in which it is written " ( Valdes, 1986 : 137 ) . What will the teacher do to help his students overcome the difficulties they face and to make the process of teaching drama successful? The best solution for that is to use any visual aid available for the teacher. For drama more than any other form of literature, films and pictures are very useful for the process of teaching . These aids can be explained as follows :

Films : Films can be considered as one of the most effective visual aids in teaching literature in general because films offer the students an opportunity to witness behaviours that are not obvious in texts . Massi & Merin (1996:21) state that there are such obvious advantages in using films that: They allow for constant reinforcement in their acquisition of a foreign language, they provide a good medium for self study ; they offer the learners the possibility of thinking critically as well as using their imagination .

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii Besides, a " film is an excellent medium for explicit teaching of syntactic, morphological, semantic and pragmatic aspects of the foreign language (Ibid.). Films are always one of the current and comprehensive means to mix the look, feel, image and rhythm of a culture . Stephens ( 201: 22 ) claims that " films also connect students with language and cultural issues simultaneously " since " students can identify the person depicted in a living experience in the other culture and hear and observe the total response, with facial expressions, gesture hesitations and pauses" (Rivers,1981: 211). " Imagination " is the remarkable and distinguished basic feature of literature which is going to be enriched by the studying of different kinds of literature especially when the students see a film; because " the ultimate goal is to arouse sensitivity in the learner and to provide a stimulus to stretch his / her imagination and creativity " ( Massi and Merino, 1996 : 20 ) . When the learners see a film of any play or even a novel, they are going to understand many aspects clearly with more ideas about the plot of the play or the novel . Thus films are very useful in learning a foreign language through teaching literature in general because " one possible use of films in language programme is to promote new ideas, and expand the learners horizon" (Ibid. : 20). Films will provide a clear picture about the action in all its aspects, in view of the fact that a " film can be used vividly to illustrate situations which are unfamiliar or inaccessible and provide the learner with a stimulus which serves as a spring board for further discussion of an issue " ( Ibid. ) . 8

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Moreover, Films present slices of life and add fun and involvement to the language classroom . Rivers ( 1981 : 24 ) claims that films give a vivid representation of the life of the people and the places where they live, thus providing much useful information as a background to reading and as a basis for oral discussion ". So, the best start in teaching drama is to see a film for " it would

certainly be helpful for students to see a good stage performance of a play " ( Moody, 1971 : 68 ), but absolutely in teaching drama " the best solution is to make use of a good recorded performance on disc or tape(Ibid.) . As a result, films assist to improve the process of teaching a foreign language through teaching drama because the learners are going to see, imagine, analyze, criticize and comment on an action or the whole actions of the play i.e. the learner is going to see something he has heard about and he may have different impressions about it, then he compares between what he had heard and what he has seen .After that he will have many ideas and images in his imagination, about the whole story, which enable and give him self confidence to speak, discuss and criticize through the discussion, if and only if he has understood the plot of the play .For example, when anyone reads Shakespeares Twelfth Night, he may have certain images in his mind about the whole situation and about the characters behaviours, but definitely with confusion about certain actions such as the disguise of Viola which causes many ironies as a consequence of her similarity to her twin brother Sebastian, and the misunderstanding and development of actions become a result of this disguise . 9

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii Pictures : A picture is the simplest aid used inside the classroom to clarify the actions of the play and characters behaviours because it is the representation of real life . Usually pictures are used to explain an action or important movement of the character which cannot be explained by speech because " a picture is better than a thousand words " ( Kerop,1978:129). Through pictures the learners imagination will be enriched to let them have a clear image of the action at their minds. And the pictures will be a clear mirror which reflects what they have in their minds about the plot, setting and characterization etc. of the play . In addition, pictures may stimulate the student to discuss, criticize and even analyze what he has seen through them .They will cause a unified image inside the minds of all the students about an action, behaviour or character, but they will be somehow different in their analysis and impressions through the discussion . In teaching Hamlet, for example, there are many situations that are going to be more obvious for the students if they are compared with pictures; such as the play " mousetrap " in Act 3 scene 2 when the players act in front of Claudius and Gertrude, Hamlets uncle and mother, the murder of Gonzago which takes its toll on Claudiuss conscience without assistance and lets him know that Hamlet knows how his father had died . The picture of " the mousetrap " also shows how the writer explained the play in a stage within stage which can be considered a theatrical technique used in this play and the pictures assist the students to have a clear image about the situation . In this picture we have the real audience of the play and the other audience inside the play " the mousetrap ": 10

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The following picture shows the first appearance of the ghost in Shakespeares Hamlet which contains five scenes for his appearance ; it will give the students the chance to have an image in their minds about the shape and clothes of the ghost .In addition to that it shows a good explanation about his hiding under the stage to let them imagine how the actor will act as a ghost :

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii

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In the following picture, the student will see clearly how Hamlet fights Learts at Ophelias grave. The grave is there, and it gives a feeling of sorrow and horror. That is exactly what happened after the fighting :

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In Othello the next picture shows Othellos character and Desdemonas father. Through this picture the learners will have a picture at their minds about the Elizabethian stage :

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And this picture, which contains five scenes, explains the climax of Othello :

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The following picture shows the Elizabethian costumes in Twelfth Night :

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii Not only the pictures of the actions are important to clarify the play for the learners, but also the pictures of the characters which explain the characters image in the learners mind and his clot hes and appearance . The following picture exemplifies the clown in Twelfth Night to give the learners an idea about the appearance of the clown in the Elizabethan age :

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If there are no pictures, films or any other visual aid, the talented good teacher might use the chalk and the blackboard to clarify anything. For example in Arther Millers Death of a Salesman, through the explanation the teacher may draw such as the 16

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following diagram to explain the stage for the students and how the technique of flashback is used :

Stage
House Bedroom

Stage

House kitchen door

livingroom

X spot
1 (1) (2)

In diagram number (1) we have only lines and no real walls, to be able to explain the technique of the flash back as it is used in this play ; but in diagram (2) we have a spot on the stage, it is sometimes lit and sometimes dark. When Willy remembers events from the past, he comes to the spot and then it is lit but when there is no action happening there it will be kept dark with the inside of the house being lit . These simple diagrams will assist the students to imagine the actions and the plot of this play . In the explanation of the structure of any play the teacher may also draw the following diagram to explain the structure of the plot

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii Middle ( climax )

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Beginning ( Exposition )

End ( Denouement )

In Becketts Act Without Words for example, we have no development in the actions, so, in the explanation of the structure, the teacher may draw the following digram to explain its structure ; showing that it is circular and not linear:

The Conclusion Visual aids in all their kinds and especially the pictures and films are of great importance in developing and improving the process of learning a foreign language through teaching different forms of literature . For drama, they are very essential and important means to let the learners have a full, complete and unified idea about the actions which cannot be explained thoroughly without watching them either by pictures or films which are going to enrich their 18

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imagination with more, different and apparent ideas which they might not grasp through reading only .As a result, these aids will help the learners imagine and think and will stimulate them to take part in the discussions held inside the classroom. Because when one reads any literary work whether it is a story, novel or a play, she / he may forget it or some of its details or even misunderstand some of its actions visualizing the elements of characters and action can be of great help to fix them in the learners mind for a long time which gives him the opportunity to make suggestions and conclude relations between the actions of the work and the characters behaviours or reactions . After the student gets a clear idea of what is going on in the literary work he might have the courage to discuss with self confidence. Bibliography Al-Jibouri, Najat, " Pictures in Teaching A Foreign Language " in IDELTI Journal No. 10,1978, pp 107-118. Bright, J.A. & Mc Gregor, G.P. Teaching English as a Second Language, London : Longman Group Ltd,1970. Kerop, Daniel, " Audio Visual Aids And The Language Teaching " in IDELTI Journal No. 10,1978, pp 126-129. Lado, Robert, Language Teaching, NewYork : Mc- Graw Hill Inc,1964. Lee, W.R. & Coppen, Helen, Simple Audio Visual Aids to Foreign Language Taching. London : O. U. P., 1970. Massi, Maria Palmira & Merino, Adriana G " Films and EFL " in ETF Vol. 34 No. 1, 1996, pp 20-24 .

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Visual Aids and Teaching Drama Istabraq Tariq Al-azzawii Mayhead, Robin Understanding literature Cambridge: the U.P., 1969. Moody, H . L . B . The Teaching of literature . London: Longman Group Ltd ., 1971 . Quirk, Randolph & Widdowson, H . G ., English in the word Teaching and learning the language and literature.

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Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1985. Rivers, Wilga M, Teaching Foreign Language Skills, Chicago and London: The university of Chicago press,1981. Stephens, J.L. Teaching Culture and improving language skills through cinematic lens : A course on Spanish curriculum . ADFL. Bulletin,2001. Taylar, Ken. Drama Strategies London: Athenaeum press Ltd,1991. Valdes, J. (ed.) Culture Bound. Bridging the Cultural Cap in Language Teaching. Cambridge : the C.U.P., 1986. Younis, Nahla Teaching English literature at the Primary Teachers Institute. Teachers College Bulletin No. 15, 1998.

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