How Drama Enhances English-Speaking Skills: The Role of Drama in Teaching English-Speaking Skills in Selected Secondary Schools in Kigali City, Rwanda

Abstract

The incorporation of drama in teaching English-speaking skills plays a crucial role in promoting students’ speaking skills. Despite drama being among genres of literature that may improve and sharpen the higher level of students ‘speaking skills, in Kigali City secondary schools, poor speaking skills are due to the low level of students and it is difficult to pronounce some words, which is mostly influenced by the excessive use of their mother tongue. The objective of this research was to identify the role of drama in teaching English-speaking skills in selected secondary schools in Kigali City. This research was qualitatively designed to achieve the general objective "tto find out the extent and role of using drama in teaching English language to promote students’ speaking skills in selected secondary schools in Kigali City." The social-cultural theory of using drama to teach the English language guided this investigation. It used a descriptive research design with a random sample of 100 students and 4 teachers in selected schools in Kigali City from a target population of 1004. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews to gather primary data. The results of the study revealed that the application of drama features and drama activities in the classroom in teaching English language had positively promoted students’ speaking skills in Kigali City secondary schools, especially in the control group (language combinations). In addition, the results of the study confirmed that students developed a positive attitude when drama was used in classes and could improve their speaking skills. Moreover, the limited  use or lack of drama in the non-control group (non-language combinations) led to an unsatisfactory level of English-speaking skills. Therefore, using drama in four selected secondary schools in Kigali City improved students’ speaking skills to the extent of fluency, pronunciation, and accuracy. The research recommends that teachers should be aware of the importance of using drama to increase their learners’ motivation in speaking skills and initiate clubs of speaking competitions through drama.