Exploring learners’ perceptions towards collaborative work through drama in foreign language learning: A view from a mandatory Italian high-school curriculum

Abstract

This article focuses on learners’ perceptions related to the collaborative work through a drama project undertaken as part of a rather rigid high-school mandatory curriculum. The project aimed to offer a dynamic and safe learning environment in which learners could acquire language in an interactive and collaborative way and to help the learners to develop their oral skills and increase their motivation towards learning a foreign language. A class of final year Italian students (n=10) with a level of language ranging from low intermediate to upper intermediate took part in the drama classes which were implemented longitudinally over two academic terms (20 weeks): self-standing play excerpts combined with drama games in the second term followed by a full-scale performance of a single play in the third term. Data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire, follow-up interviews and researcher’s field notes. Findings revealed that learners perceived that collaboration and interaction through drama were important elements for promoting a positive attitude towards learning a foreign language and their oral production despite the challenges that a full-scale production may pose when subjected to the various constraints of time and the syllabus requirements of a compulsory curriculum.