Readers Theater 활동이 중학생의 영어 읽기와 말하기 능력에 미치는 영향

The effects of readers theater on middle school students’ English reading and speaking proficiency

This study investigates the effects of Readers Theater on middle school students’ English reading and speaking abilities. Readers Theater refers to a set of techniques in teaching language based on dramatic oral reading. One hundred and sixty eight students in their 3rd year in a middle school have participated in the experiment for 7 weeks. The teacher taught the experimental group using the Readers Theater techniques through small group work and the conπ01 group using the traditional grammar translation method. Pre-and-post tests were administered on the students’ reading and speaking abilities along with pre-and-post surveys to examine changes in students’ attitudes toward learning English. The post-test scores of reading in both groups showed improvement, but only that of the experimental group showed a statistically significant difference compared to the pre-test score. In speaking scores, the control group has decreased but the experimental group has significantly increased. The results of pre-and-post surveys showed that the attitudes of the experimental group toward learning English in general and toward reading and speaking have all grown to be more positive compared to the control group students. The results indicate that Readers Theater can be an effective addition to teaching techniques in the middle school EFL classroom.