Drama in early English as a foreign language education

Drama in language education has been studied in an international perspective for years but has been neglected in Swedish research, even though it has been proven to engage and strengthen pupils’ English abilities. Due to the lack of research in Sweden and the Nordic countries the purpose of this study was to explore the perspective of teachers in grade 1–2 on drama in English as a second language education and how teachers believed it could promote pupils’ communication skills, verbal and non-verbal. To gather empirical data semi-structured interviews were conducted and a survey was used. To analyse the data, and as a perspective to see drama, two theoretical frameworks were used: pragmatism and teacher cognition. The result of this study showed that there were two main methods that Swedish English teachers used in drama: roleplay and embodiment. It also revealed that drama had several possibilities in English education. However, it also showed that there was a lack of education and confidence of using drama in English as a second language which hindered teachers from using it in their classrooms. Lastly most of the teachers believed that drama could build self-confidence in pupils as well as help them with their verbal and non-verbal communication skills when learning a new language.