The effects of dramatization in foreign language teaching

The present study claims that the unsuccessful results of forign language teaching in our country can be solved by applying dramatization and the real language learning will occur thanks to this technique. The application of dramatization in foreign language teaching is explained with sample exercises. Furthermore, the things the teacher has to do before, during and after application, the probable problems and their solutions are described.To support the study a research was carried out. The research investigates the effect of dramatization technique compared to that of the traditional method on the achievement in teaching English at elementary school, fifth grade level and quasi-experimental method was used and pretest and posttest results were compared. The research was carried out in İstanbul Sarıyer Alpaslan Elementary School during the spring semester in 2008. Among the fifth grade students, 30 female and 30 male were distributed to the control or the experimental group. Then the unit of health problems was covered in experimental group using the dramatization technique, on the other side the traditional method was applied in teaching the control group. The results of pretest and posttest were analysed and interpreted via SPSS.The results of the study indicates that the mean score of the students in the experimental group, on which the dramatization technique was applied, was higher than that of the students in the control group. However, according to the scores there is no correlation between sex and the achievement level. These findings assert that using the dramatization technique in teaching English at elementary school level yields a more effective learning compared to the traditional method, addressing the course book authors, curriculum developers and especially the teachers of English.Key Words: Foreign Language, Teaching a Foreign Language, The Technique of Dramatization, Dramatization Technique in Foreign Language Teaching.