{"id":{"repo_id":"essex","oai_identifier":"oai:repository.essex.ac.uk:21287"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/essex/oai:repository.essex.ac.uk:21287","repository":{"repo_id":"essex","name":"University of Essex","base_url":"https://repository.essex.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Beyond the mere word. Exploring the language of Drama through text- and performance-based approaches for developing L2 oral skills","abstract":"This study explores the effectiveness of drama by using contemporary plays both as self-standing extracts and as a full-scale performance for developing learners’ oral skills in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency and their positive attitudes towards foreign language learning within a high school compulsory curriculum in an Italian context. The rationale for undertaking this investigation lies in the heartening results obtained when dramatic approaches were implemented predominantly within a university context or as an extracurricular activity in the language classroom. A class of final year high school Italian students with a lower-intermediate to upper-intermediate level of language was exposed longitudinally to a text-based approach followed by a performance-based approach conducted over a term each for a total of 20 lessons. A control group was taught through a communicative traditional approach. Quantitative data were collected through an oral pre-test, a mid-test and a post-test by using three tasks, both monologic and dialogic: oral proficiency interview, story-retelling and guided role-play. To elicit learners’ attitudes questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used, thus affording me deeper insights into learners’ preferences, reasons for enjoyment, their usefulness for developing language skills, problems and difficulties encountered. The results show that drama-based approaches improved significantly learners’ pronunciation accuracy, speed-fluency, breakdown-fluency, repairs-fluency, MLR, phonation time ratio, and syntactic complexity. There was no significant statistical result on accuracy between the two groups. When comparing the two types of approaches, findings revealed that the text-based approach led to a higher syntactic complexity, breakdown fluency and phonation time ratio whilst the performance-based approach led to a higher level of accuracy both on the global scale and pronunciation accuracy, and speed fluency. Neither of the two drama-based approaches led to a significant score on the MLAS, MLR and repairs fluency. The qualitative findings display mixed but fundamentally greatly favourable attitudes towards the employment of drama approaches.","abstract_html":"This study explores the effectiveness of drama by using contemporary plays both as self-standing extracts and as a full-scale performance for developing learners’ oral skills in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency and their positive attitudes towards foreign language learning within a high school compulsory curriculum in an Italian context. The rationale for undertaking this investigation lies in the heartening results obtained when dramatic approaches were implemented predominantly within a university context or as an extracurricular activity in the language classroom. A class of final year high school Italian students with a lower-intermediate to upper-intermediate level of language was exposed longitudinally to a text-based approach followed by a performance-based approach conducted over a term each for a total of 20 lessons. A control group was taught through a communicative traditional approach. Quantitative data were collected through an oral pre-test, a mid-test and a post-test by using three tasks, both monologic and dialogic: oral proficiency interview, story-retelling and guided role-play. To elicit learners’ attitudes questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used, thus affording me deeper insights into learners’ preferences, reasons for enjoyment, their usefulness for developing language skills, problems and difficulties encountered. The results show that drama-based approaches improved significantly learners’ pronunciation accuracy, speed-fluency, breakdown-fluency, repairs-fluency, MLR, phonation time ratio, and syntactic complexity. There was no significant statistical result on accuracy between the two groups. When comparing the two types of approaches, findings revealed that the text-based approach led to a higher syntactic complexity, breakdown fluency and phonation time ratio whilst the performance-based approach led to a higher level of accuracy both on the global scale and pronunciation accuracy, and speed fluency. Neither of the two drama-based approaches led to a significant score on the MLAS, MLR and repairs fluency. The qualitative findings display mixed but fundamentally greatly favourable attitudes towards the employment of drama approaches.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Bora, Simona Floare"],"institution":"University of Essex","degree_name":"phd","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-11","date_published":"2017-11","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:18:18Z","subjects":["PE English"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Bora, Simona Floare"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2017-11-10"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2017-11"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Language and Linguistics"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Essex"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://repository.essex.ac.uk/21287/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["phd"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["PE English"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://repository.essex.ac.uk/21287/1/Final%20PhD%20thesis%20Simona%20Bora.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study explores the effectiveness of drama by using contemporary plays both as self-standing extracts and as a full-scale performance for developing learners’ oral skills in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency and their positive attitudes towards foreign language learning within a high school compulsory curriculum in an Italian context. The rationale for undertaking this investigation lies in the heartening results obtained when dramatic approaches were implemented predominantly within a university context or as an extracurricular activity in the language classroom. A class of final year high school Italian students with a lower-intermediate to upper-intermediate level of language was exposed longitudinally to a text-based approach followed by a performance-based approach conducted over a term each for a total of 20 lessons. A control group was taught through a communicative traditional approach. Quantitative data were collected through an oral pre-test, a mid-test and a post-test by using three tasks, both monologic and dialogic: oral proficiency interview, story-retelling and guided role-play. To elicit learners’ attitudes questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used, thus affording me deeper insights into learners’ preferences, reasons for enjoyment, their usefulness for developing language skills, problems and difficulties encountered. The results show that drama-based approaches improved significantly learners’ pronunciation accuracy, speed-fluency, breakdown-fluency, repairs-fluency, MLR, phonation time ratio, and syntactic complexity. There was no significant statistical result on accuracy between the two groups. When comparing the two types of approaches, findings revealed that the text-based approach led to a higher syntactic complexity, breakdown fluency and phonation time ratio whilst the performance-based approach led to a higher level of accuracy both on the global scale and pronunciation accuracy, and speed fluency. Neither of the two drama-based approaches led to a significant score on the MLAS, MLR and repairs fluency. The qualitative findings display mixed but fundamentally greatly favourable attitudes towards the employment of drama approaches."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["text"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Beyond the mere word. Exploring the language of Drama through text- and performance-based approaches for developing L2 oral skills"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Bora, Simona Floare"],"dc:date":["2017-11-10"],"dc:date.issued":["2017-11"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study explores the effectiveness of drama by using contemporary plays both as self-standing extracts and as a full-scale performance for developing learners’ oral skills in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency and their positive attitudes towards foreign language learning within a high school compulsory curriculum in an Italian context. The rationale for undertaking this investigation lies in the heartening results obtained when dramatic approaches were implemented predominantly within a university context or as an extracurricular activity in the language classroom. A class of final year high school Italian students with a lower-intermediate to upper-intermediate level of language was exposed longitudinally to a text-based approach followed by a performance-based approach conducted over a term each for a total of 20 lessons. A control group was taught through a communicative traditional approach. Quantitative data were collected through an oral pre-test, a mid-test and a post-test by using three tasks, both monologic and dialogic: oral proficiency interview, story-retelling and guided role-play. To elicit learners’ attitudes questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used, thus affording me deeper insights into learners’ preferences, reasons for enjoyment, their usefulness for developing language skills, problems and difficulties encountered. The results show that drama-based approaches improved significantly learners’ pronunciation accuracy, speed-fluency, breakdown-fluency, repairs-fluency, MLR, phonation time ratio, and syntactic complexity. There was no significant statistical result on accuracy between the two groups. When comparing the two types of approaches, findings revealed that the text-based approach led to a higher syntactic complexity, breakdown fluency and phonation time ratio whilst the performance-based approach led to a higher level of accuracy both on the global scale and pronunciation accuracy, and speed fluency. Neither of the two drama-based approaches led to a significant score on the MLAS, MLR and repairs fluency. The qualitative findings display mixed but fundamentally greatly favourable attitudes towards the employment of drama approaches."],"dc:format":["text"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://repository.essex.ac.uk/21287/1/Final%20PhD%20thesis%20Simona%20Bora.pdf"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Language and Linguistics"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Essex"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://repository.essex.ac.uk/21287/"],"dc:subject":["PE English"],"dc:title":["Beyond the mere word. Exploring the language of Drama through text- and performance-based approaches for developing L2 oral skills"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["phd"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:18:18Z"}