The plot thickens

One misty night, two motorists pick up a female hitchhiker on a highway only to see the girl vanish from the back seat of their car. That was the opening scene from the Vanishing Hitchhiker, used in a British Council drama workshop last month for about 20 primary and secondary English teachers.

The workshop - 'Don't like drama, la!' - was financed by the council's teacher development project network to introduce local educators to ways of integrating drama into English-language classes to enrich students' learning experience.

'I've been lost for five years already. Can you please give me a lift home?' said English teacher Franny Ng Mei-fan in a haunting voice, playing the hitchhiker. With long black hair covering her face, Ms Ng thumbed a lift standing under a dim street light - played by another teacher.

Teachers often find teaching English using drama intimidating, due to their lack of formal training. But they are being required to combat their stage fright before the new senior secondary curriculum is implemented at Form Four in September next year.

Schools will have to choose three modules from the language art and vocational language components of the English language curriculum, which will count for a quarter of the three-year course. The eight electives on offer include drama, poems and songs, short stories, popular culture, social issues, workplace communication, debating and sports communication.

'We are facing a challenge because most of the teachers in my school are not familiar with drama,' said Ms Ng, who teaches at Cheung Chuk Shan College in North Point.