Creative Drama on Teacher Candidates’ Speech Anxiety

Abstract

Speaking skill is the most basic language skill that enables an individual to interact with his/her environment. The healthiness of both the university and professional processes of teacher candidates and the positive completion of their individual, social, and academic developments depend on good communication. Creative drama is a method that can be used for individuals to get to know themselves and their environment, to develop their social relations, and to experience them by doing and living together in a group. In the light of this information, the aim of the research is to determine the effect of creative drama on the speaking anxiety of teacher candidates. The participants of the study consisted of 21 teacher candidates studying in the undergraduate program of Turkish teaching, classroom teaching, and preschool teaching. In this research, mixed research method, and sequential explanatory design were used as a design. Quantitative data of the study were collected through the Speech Anxiety Scale (2012), and qualitative data were collected through interviews. The quantitative data of the research were analyzed statistically, and the qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. When the quantitative and qualitative results of the study were examined, it was observed that the interest and love of the pre-service teachers who participated in the study increased, and their anxiety and worries decreased.