The effects of using creative drama technique on student success in teaching folk stories in 10th grade Turkish literature course

The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of using drama technique in teaching folk stories that took place in 10th grade Turkish Literature courses both on the academic success of the students and retention of the stories by the students. Additionally, students opinions related to the process were gathered in order to examine students' perceptions in detail. The mixed method research design was adopted in the present study. Thus, the qualitative aspect of the study was the experimental design and its data, whereas, qualitative aspect of the study was the analysis of the semi structured interviews. The participants of the present study were 45 students who enroll in a 10th grade of a state high school in Kepez district of Antalya. In the process of the study, 3 folk stories in the 10th grade Turkish Literature course were selected and they were performed in experimental group through using creative drama technique concordantly with the curriculum. Throughout the process, the same stories were taught in traditional ways in the control group. The academic achievement test and interview forms were used as the data gathering instruments of the present study. Covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was used in order to examine the effects of experiment on students' academic success. Additionally, in order to define the retention levels, pre, post and delayed post test results were compared by means of a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The qualitative data of the present study was examined by means of descriptive analysis technique. The result of the present study revealed that when the creative drama technique is used in teaching folk stories in 10th grade Turkish Literature courses there is a significant difference on behalf of experiment group in terms of academic success of the students and the retention of the stories. Key words: Teaching Turkish Literature, Turkish Folk Stories, Creative Drama