Project-based Drama Learning:

A Model for Improving Students’ Reading Achievement

Fiftinova

1,a

and Muslih Hambali

1,b

English Education Department, Universitas Sriwijaya, Inderalaya, Ogan Ilir, Indonesia

Keywords: Project-Based Learning, Project-Based Drama Learning, Reading Achievement, Drama in ELT.

Abstract: This study aims to find out whether or not Project-based Drama Learning could improve students’ reading

achievement. Project-based Drama Learning allows the students to learn cognitively, affectively and

physically because they did critical reading, character analysis, class discussion, essay writing, script-writing,

casting and team formation, hot-seat interview, team presentation, drama practices, rehearsal, and drama in

stage. One pretest post-test experimental group design was used with the intention of finding out the difference

of reading achievement before and after the students learned through Project-Based Drama Learning. The

sample was 20 students enrolled in Literature in ELT course at English department at one state university in

Palembang. To collect the data, reading test was given to sample before and after the treatment. The results

showed that the average score for pretest was 56.05, and the mean score for the post-test was 62.40. T-obtained

was 5.146 while Df = 19, with a significance value of 0.000. With a significance value of 0.000 which was

lower than 0.05, it can be concluded that there was a significant improvement in students' reading achievement

through Project-Based Drama Learning. Conclusively, Project-Based Drama Learning can be an alternative

in teaching reading to EFL students.

1 INTRODUCTION

Language and literature learning is a unity. When a

teacher teaches a language, there is obviously a

learning material in the form of literary works, such

as poetry, short story, drama, or novel. Conversely,

when teaching literature, the language aspects should

also be explained for literary appreciation, literary

analysis or criticism. Exploring aspects of language

in literature classes can be done by analyzing the

language used in literary texts or by using language

(speaking and writing) to discuss literature.

Therefore, language skills such as listening, speaking,

reading and writing are not separate parts of literary

teaching. When there is separation of language and

literature, the result is that literature will be neglected.

Yet, many benefits that can be obtained from learning

or teaching literature.

There are several benefits of literature learning

that can be achieved. In general, these benefits

include: 1) cultural enrichment, 2) language modeling

of authentic material, 3) language enrichment, 4) self-

reflection or character building (Parkinson & Thomas

, 2000; Hismanoglu, 2005; Musthafa, 2008;

Alwasilah, 2014). Concisely, by studying literature,

students will involuntarily and intentionally

recognize new vocabulary, sentence structures, tone

and different language styles which can then be used

as the models and can be applied in interaction. In

addition they also benefit from experiences such as

cultural experience, ways of thinking, emotional

experience, which allows the occurrence of mindset

or character building.

In this manner, literature learning provides an

important role to all learners from the level of

kindergarten to college. As Mustafa (2008, p. 201)

states "At the global level literature has at least a dual

role: as a vehicle for students to compete

internationally as well as national and even local or

regional identity". This means that literature learning

actually will not be cracked with the times and can be

used as a means of character building of learners.

As a result, research in the field of literature has

been in great demand and conducted by scholars

including those whose interest is in the field of

foreign language education, such as English. They

attempt to examine how literature can be used

optimally in improving English proficiency. In their

efforts, they use one of several literary genres, such

as poetry, short stories, legends, novels, fables, and

Fiftinova, . and Hambali, M.

Project-based Drama Learning: A Model for Improving Studentsâ

Z Reading Achievement.

DOI: 10.5220/0009994900002499

In Proceedings of the 3rd Sriwijaya University International Conference on Learning and Education (SULE-IC 2018), pages 60-65

ISBN: 978-989-758-575-3

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

dramas each of which has its own uniqueness.

Ganesan et al (2016) explain that the use of novels as

learning materials in the language class makes

learners rich in language, personal or emotional,

intellectual and cultural experience. This can be done

with extensive reading and or close textual analysis.

With certain techniques, short stories can also

develop the ability to speak and listen in English

(Khorashadyzadeh, 2014). Meanwhile, Erkaya

(2006) states that reading short stories can improve

almost all language skills, such as reading, listening,

speaking and writing, including vocabulary

development. Erkaya also mentions that short stories

can increase motivation, critical thinking, and cultural

enrichment. Pourkalhor and Kohan (2013) conducted

a 10-week experiment with a group of short story

reading and another group reading other texts. The

results showed that groups who read short stories get

better results. Another influence of the use of short

stories in English learning is that students can

improve critical thinking skills (Young (1996) cited

in Pourkalhor & Kohan, 2013). Similar to short

stories, poetry, and novels, drama also has a positive

effect on English learning.

Drama has been applied by many scholars for

English language teaching. They use it for the sake of

improving students’ English ability (Shokri & Philip,

2013; Bengtsson, no date; Rew & Moon, 2013).

Drama offers students opportunities in making better

their reading and speaking skills (Hismanoglu, 2005;

Miller, 1996 cited in Gungor, 2008). In addition,

students’ English language skills might be improved

because the features in drama allow them to learn

affectively, cognitively and physically (Bengtsson,

no date).

Reading skill is one aspect of literacy. Literacy is

basically defined as the ability to read and write, in

addition to definitions referring to openness to the

development of science and technology. Reading skill

has a major contribution to students competence in

society. To achieve this, one must be able to

recognize letters, words, sentences and the

interrelationship among them in order to create

meaning. California Task Force (2002, p.2) reports

that reading is the most superior academic skill and is

the foundation of other academic skills. Furthermore,

reading is a meaningful activity that does not only

involve visual symbols but also knowledge of the

world and linguistics (Hood, Solomon, Burns, 2005,

p. 3). In this case, past knowledge and experience

influence the development of meaning. Because of

this, the reader also has the right to show

disagreement and or agreement on the text s/he reads.

The concept ultimately leads to the fact that actually

reading activities are cultural activities and social

practices.

Reading literary works (narrative) requires

different skills with other text reading skills. In

literary works, there are figurative language, diction,

literary device, symbol, which cause the readers to

respond, think and interpret critically in accordance

with the knowledge and experience they have. In

addition, reading literary works usually involves the

emotions or feelings of the readers to what happens

in the text.

Reading skills of the students of English

department, Sriwijaya University, according to the

writers’ observation, was quite good. They can

comprehend texts well. But they got problems when

it involves deep analysis and critical thinking. In this

case, practice is needed to improve their achievement,

especially with regard to reading and responding

orally to literary works. Reading and responding to

literary works requires thinking critically,

understanding hidden meanings, recognizing

language styles, and literary devices. To determine

level of reading skills of the sample students, reading

achievement is used as the the basis for measurement.

Since drama can be a good option for teaching

language, the writers have started to apply it in the

classroom from 2011 to 2015. At those times, the

writers observed that the students gave a positive

attitude to dramatic activities. Generally, students

enjoyed it; they were motivated; they read in details

drama materials or novels; they recognized new

vocabulary and sentence structures; they discussed,

thought critically, learned to define good characters,

expressed opinions on the basis of their knowledge

and life experience. Moreover, they felt excited and

challenged because their drama (as a class project)

should be performed and watched publicly. However,

it was quite hard to guide the students as the

instructions for teaching through drama in several

references is more focused on language development

denying other skills such as performance skills and

teamwork skills.

To solve this problem, Project-Based Learning

was chosen as the method which can create natural

contexts for developing performance as well as

teamwork skills. Project-based learning allows

students to actively explore topics or problems that

exist in everyday life so that they will get maximum

results. Project-based learning is an easy way for

students to overcome a problem with their own

experience with "know" and "do". Moreover, Project-

based Learning can help lecturers to improve classes

with high performance where lecturers and students

form learning communities that focus on

Project-based Drama Learning: A Model for Improving Studentsâ

Z Reading Achievement

achievement, personal understanding, and

contribution to the community. Through Project-

Based Learning, students will find many new things

about themselves and the world around them.

In language education, Project-based learning

provides benefits in the form of a learning process

that produces products. In the process, students

practice self-confidence and self-esteem, and practice

collaborating. Through learning method like this,

students have the opportunity to improve language

skills. This was stated by Haines (1989) cited in

(Fragoulis & Tsiplakides, 2009) that in Project Based

Learning "Students engage in purposeful

communication to complete authentic activities, they

have the opportunity to use language in a relatively

natural context".

Figure 1: Project-Based Drama learning frameworks.

Considering the benefits of conducting drama

activities and Project-based learning above, a learning

method called Project-Based Drama Learning was

designed. It is an integration between the use of

drama as a technique for English language teaching

and Project-Based learning. It is a learning process

through a classroom-based drama whose ultimate

goal is to stage a play after a series of activities like:

reading critically the texts, analyzing characters,

discussing, writing scripts, observing characters,

having auditions, forming team work, practicing

roles, and having rehearsal and performing in stage.

In one semester, students prepare everything for

staging dramas by forming a team work (players,

directors, scriptwriters, photographers, costume,

make-up character, music arranger). This method, as

can be seen in Figure 1, offers an effective and

systematic procedures for guiding students do the

project. Teachers and lecturers in college level,

especially teacher trainee will get advantages: 1) learn

all the four skills (reading, speaking, listening and

writing), 2) develop their personality, 2) learn how to

collaborate, 3) learn English in natural context, and 4)

develop their potential.

The Project-Based Drama Learning begins with

Critical Reading where students read novel or drama,

and build interpretation, analysis and evaluation to

the story. Lecturers will give some of the model

questions for critical reading and then they will ask

themselves about the facts in the story by comparing

it with their background knowledge, experiences, and

with other connected texts. The questions that might

appear: Why does the author write the story? What is

his or her purpose; who is the author’s intended

audience? Or will you do the same thing if it happens

to you?. The second step is character analysis. It is

when the students characterize major and minor

character’s personality by having questions: who is

the surgeon?; What kind of person he is?; Choose 3

adjectives that describe him?; Explain why do you

choose those 3 characters!; is there any evidence in

the story that support your argument?. The third

phase is class discussion. Class discussion is an

activity in which the students share their personal

response to their peers and find out that their

perception could be different with others. The fourth

stage allows the students to write their responses in

an essay and to write the script of the drama. The fifth

is to select major and minor players through cast of

characters and to form managing team such as

director, script writer, creative team, costume team,

photographer, camera man, publishing team, property

team and music arranger. The selected individuals or

team are responsible for the role they got and must

develop their roles during the preparation. To

evaluate students’ understanding, each role or team

should report the progress of their work. The last two

steps are drama practices in class and rehearsal. This

phase may take five meetings or more. They practice

roles in class and then practice at the stage before the

performance. The final step is performing drama in

stage. It is when the students show their work, talent,

and product to public.

By doing the procedures, there should be impact

to students’ language skills. This present study,

therefore, aimed at finding out the students’ reading

achievement before and after being taught by using

Project-Based Drama Learning and whether or not

there was significant difference of students’ reading

achievement before and after they were taught

through Project-Based Drama Learning.

CriticalReading

&Character

Analysis

ClassDiscussion

Writing(Script&

Response)

Castof

Characters&

TeamFormation

Hot‐Seat

Interview

Team

Presentation

DramaPractices Rehearsal DramainStage

SULE-IC 2018 - 3rd Sriwijaya University International Conference on Learning and Education

2 METHOD

To address research objectives, experimental research

method was used in this study. The selected research

design was one pre-test post-test experimental group

design. This design allows the writer to identify

whether or not Project-Based Learning Drama could

effectively improve students' reading achievement.

The Project-Based Drama learning was done to

compare students' reading achievement before and

after the treatment.

In this study, the population was all students of

English department in academic year 2014 2015.

Meanwhile, the research sample was 20 fifth semester

students who were chosen through purposive

sampling technique. That was the students who took

Literature in ELT (English Language Teaching)

course.

2.1 Data Collection

Data collection was done by giving reading test to the

experimental group. The test was administered before

and after treatment. In this reading test, the students

were asked to answer 30 items of non multiple choice

or essay test by comprehending three stories: The

Tales of the Three Brothers, Getups, and A Letter to

God. The items consist of three types of question.

They are interpreting (How did the author feel about

her clothes?), describing (Describe Lencho’s farm at

the beginning of the story!), and restating (Who were

the three brothers?). To assess the response, reading

comprehension/ or critical thinking questions rubric

was used. The rubric evaluated categories like general

description, language use, and topic development

with range of score 10 to 30 for each category.

2.2 Validity

To achieve research objectives, the test instrument

was checked for its validity. In this study, validity

testing was conducted by examining the relevance of

the objectives and materials about the reading test

with the curriculum, RPS (Semester Lesson Plan),

and SAP (Course Teaching Unit) used by the study

program where the research was done. Additionally,

the reading test was validated by examining the level

of difficulty and the appropriateness of the reading

test items. The results indicated that the test had a

degree of difficulty and conformity that was

proportionate and feasible to be given to the students.

2.3 Data Analysis

In analyzing the data, the calculation with t-test,

especially paired sample t-test was used. Paired

Sample t-test was used to find out whether or not there

was a difference in students' reading achievement

before and after being taught through Project-Based

Drama Learning. In addition, SPSS version 22 was

used for calculation. To convert raw scores, the

categorizations from Handbook of Faculty of Teacher

Training and Education, Sriwijaya University

2009/2010 was used.

3 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

After the calculation of raw scores using the rubric,

the maximum score that was possibly obtained by the

students was 90. The score was converted to a range

of 100 value by dividing the score of the true number

by the total number and multiplied by one hundred.

From the calculation, the frequency of students’ score

category was obtained.

Based on Figure 2, 45% of the students before

treatment were still classified as poor readers. After

treatment there was an increase, only 30% were

categorized as poor. There were about 40% of the

students who got average score during pretest, and

there were 35% of the students who got the average

score at post-test. Furthermore, 15% of the students

were categorized good readers at the time of pretest

and 35% were categorized good at post-test. In the

meantime, no student has the ability to read with a

very good predicate on the pretest and post-test.

Figure 2: Score category percentage of reading test.

3.1 Statistical Analysis

Table 1 shows the result of statistical analysis with

Paired Sample t-test. It was found that the average

score for pre-test was 56.05 and the average score for

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Pre‐TestPercentage Post‐TestPercentage

Project-based Drama Learning: A Model for Improving Studentsâ

Z Reading Achievement

the post-test was 62.40. T arithmetic obtained is 5.146

while df = 19, with a significance value of 0.000.

With a significance value of 0.000 lower than 0.05, it

can be concluded that there was a significant increase

of students' reading achievement because of the use

of Project-based Drama Learning method.

Table 1: Statistical analysis with paired sample t-test.

Test Pre-Test Post-Test

Mean 56.05 62.40

Standard Deviation 12.800 14.207

Standard Error Mean 2.862 3.177

t 5.146

df. 19

Sig. 0.000

3.2 Discussion

As revealed in the introduction section, Project-Based

Drama Learning is able to improve students' reading

achievement because it gives the students a chance to

critically examine the text in order to implement the

class project: drama performance. Students read,

responded, thought and critically interpreted the plot

or the theme, the symbol and especially the character

of the story in accordance with the knowledge and

experience they possessed. Specifically, in this study,

the students analyzed the character traits, and gave

reasons to explain these traits. Through such reading

skills, students could recognize and understand the

nature and personality of the characters and at the

same time help them how they should be later when

playing the story characters in the drama staging

project. In each activity of Project-Based Drama

Learning, students independently and continuously

referred to the texts

they read in order to have deep understanding so that

they can deliver the message to the audiences who

watched the drama performance.

The fact that Project-Based Drama Learning is

able to improve students' reading ability is supported

by Hismanoglu (2005) who states that the drama

activity "facilitate and accelerate the development of

the work's plot and a deeper comprehension and

awareness of its characters. Meanwhile, Miller (1996)

cited in Gungor (2008) states that ”students not only

read what is in the text but also 'live' in the text”, a

process that leads to a better understanding. The

advantage of learning method with Project-Based

Drama Learning is that students can practice language

according to context for a particular communication

purpose naturally (Haines, 1989 cited in Fragoulis

and Tsiplakides (2009).

Thus, it can be concluded that Project-Based

Drama Learning with a series of activities that include

critical reading, character analysis, class discussion,

essay writing, casting, hot seat interview, team report,

rehearsal, stage performance can improve students'

sample reading achievement.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Conclusively, there was an increase in students’

reading achievement when being taught through

Project-Based Drama Learning. Students initially had

the ability to read at low level, but after learning with

Project-Based Drama Learning, their ability

increased to average level. Project-Based Drama

Learning gives students opportunity to read and re-

read the literary texts selected from which they

develop their project.

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Project-based Drama Learning: A Model for Improving Studentsâ

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