Teachers are being urged to use drama in language classes to encourage communication among students and boost their creativity.
Barbara Ridley, a lecturer in education and professional development at Britain's University of East Anglia, said drama education contributed to the holistic development of young people.
Ms Ridley, who taught English and drama for more than 10 years, said incorporating drama into English lessons would help students to communicate in a practical way.
'It's good for oral and aural skills which are often considered less important than reading and writing in an exam-oriented curriculum. They have to act and speak and learn to cope with unexpected dialogue,' she said.
'This allows experimentation with language and situations in the knowledge that there is a safe space for failure, whether in terms of language or in personal development through the exploration of characters and settings.' Current issues She said in Britain, drama was used extensively in primary and secondary school language classes and helped students to understand social issues.
Drama has been used to raise awareness of subjects such as Aids, environmental degradation, racial discrimination and war. It encouraged students to ask questions about current issues and reflect on themselves, she said.
In English classes, students are given a setting in which they are asked to act out roles. A teacher acts as facilitator to help the students speak and act. In order to stimulate students' creativity, teachers can encourage them to imagine and act out an ending to an unfinished story. By engaging in realistic conversations, students will learn to react and respond to new situations.
