The Effect of Drama on Students’ Anxiety of Speaking in English

Abstract

This study aims to examine the language anxiety levels of 27 university students, and investigates the effects of drama activities on their levels of speaking anxiety as well as possible factors contributing to their anxiety during the drama activities. The data were gathered by means of a questionnaire, and a reflective journal. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the level of anxiety. The results revealed that a majority of students felt anxiety when speaking English in class. Most students’ anxiety has been reduced to a low level through the use of drama activities. In addition, students expressed positive opinions about using drama activities in speaking English. Based on these findings, some useful classroom implications for using drama based activities for decreasing EFL learners’ speaking anxiety. However, due to small scale research it has limitations to be generalized. Thus, larger scale research could be suggested for future research