TOPIC :SKIT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
Most English language teaching teachers nowadays advocate some elements of a
‘Communicative Approach’ and therefore recognize and appreciate the value of Skit
in English language teaching . Skit can
be defined as short comedy sketch or piece of humorous writing,
especially a parody and it activity involving people in a social context and
there is no doubt that effective communication in social situations involves
other forms of communication that go beyond language competence and includes
the use of gesture, body posture, intonation and other prosody features.
However the inclusion of skit based activities is not so evident in current English
language teaching course books, resource books, supplementary materials and
teacher training courses. Teachers clearly need practical step by step
guidance on how to incorporate skit more comprehensively and cohesively
into their teaching.
One
of the main aims of using skit in a language course is to provide an active,
stimulating, fun and creative environment in which to develop the student’s
language learning potential. Students are encouraged to explore English through
their imagination and creativity and to express this through language, and
other forms of communication, that may include: movement, action, and role-play.
These activities aim to develop:
· Confidence, motivation, trust and participation
· Oral and written communication skills
· Awareness of interpersonal and socio cultural communication skill
· Confidence, motivation, trust and participation
· Oral and written communication skills
· Awareness of interpersonal and socio cultural communication skill
·
Accuracy and fluency of expression
· Rhythm and pronunciation
· Linguistic intelligence
· Social interactive skills
· Rhythm and pronunciation
· Linguistic intelligence
· Social interactive skills
Language in English language teaching course books is
typically presented without the need for learners to be actively engaged. In
other words traditional classroom activities have only a surface reality and
fail to appeal to, and draw on the learners’ emotional reactions and direct
experience. There is a need for learners to empathize with and to be
emotionally involved in the creation of language. After every
communicative / skit task there should be a feedback stage where the learners
reflect on their performance. The focus should be on how effectively they
performed the activity in terms of their communicative competence. It should
not be a stage where the teacher focuses on errors or language accuracy as the
aim of drama based activities is to develop fluency. It is of course an
opportunity to highlight effective language use and introduce language that
could have improved the effectiveness of the communication.
