REFLECTION

Briefly throughout this coursework, the PPISMP TESL students needed to have a drama
performance or a play in order to fulfill the requirement needed in our coursework of
Drama In English TSL 1064. Macbeth Dramatization was a task given by Mr Latfi this
year as our coursework. He is evaluating our skill as a group and many other
characteristics This dramatization is being held annually by TESL students in PPISMP
SEM 2 as a platform for the students to speak fluently, build up self-confidence, learn
how to express feelings in different ways and gain experience in life. Besides, this play
would be a fun programme in which we would be able to release our stress and tension
in our college life.

William Shakespeare claimed in As You Like It Act 2, scene 7, 139143 that All the
worlds a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and
their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
For many decades, drama has been in our world. It gives us feelings, emotions, morality
and sometimes quotes. What is a drama exactly? Is it a play, an action or an
entertainment? It is quite hard to define what is it actually, but if we have take a closely,
we can see that drama is everything. Drama is both play and action, yet it is still an
entertainment. It does not have a specific place, time or order. It can be anywhere even
in a school or in a hospital. Nowadays, teachers and lecturers are teaching drama in
schools and universities because it helps students in building self-esteem as well as
improving our language. Drama has the potential of making the learning experience fun
for the students and even memorable because it is interactive and visual.

There are many studies about using drama in teaching in learning English. Wan Yee
Sam talks about the communicative approach, drama techniques, value of drama in
education, advantages and disadvantages of using drama (Sam,1990). Alan Maley and
Alan Duff are classic sources for the benefits of using drama techniques; how it helps to
learn new vocabulary, builds confidence, motivates the students and helps shift the
focus from the teacher to the students (Maley,1982). Drama is a special communication
situation which makes considerable demands on the flexibility and skills of a teacher
(Kao,1998). Whereas Morrow (1981) gives some guiding principles behind the use of

1
the communicative activities. Susan Holden (1981) adds some definitions as to what
drama is and how it provides opportunities for a person to express themselves. The
personal nature of improvisation provides many outlets for self-expression. We even
hear that children need to play as an important developmental process.

It is quite important to learn drama in school or college because it builds up our self-
confidence, in which we need it when we work, interview for jobs and when we are
presenting our work. Students also can express their language skills, acting skills and
also help to improve our self-esteem. In the old days, drama is an important key in
learning English because they can improve their English skills and also improving
English writing skills by written the script, speak to the audience to improve verbal skills
and lastly they will learn how to act as another person or how to be different that
themselves.

I gained and learnt a lot through my first-hand experience throughout the dramatization
process. At first, I was really clueless on what I have to do as I had never get involved in
drama presentation before. First, the committee members were chosen and I was
trusted to hold the post as the stage manager with help from Wan NurFatin. The post is
as significant as the director where I have to set the stage positioning and props
involved in each scene. I had never conducted or participated in a drama before but I
took the responsibility as a challenge despite the lack of experience. The drama had
taught me much valuable knowledge that cannot be obtained simply. The best
knowledge I learnt was how to be a good leader. To be a good stage manager, it takes a
lot of special traits. For instance, we should possess a good charisma to charm our
actor to perform and turn up during practice. As a teacher to be, the charismatic traits
have to be polished from now as we are going to teach in front of the young and fresh
mind in the primary school in the future. From my experiences, I had watched a lot of
drama performances but this one was really different. I knew we were going to have a
Macbeth play during last semester but I had no idea that it would be such a grand event
and the theme of Macbeth is tragedy.

It is quite hard to perform because most of the characters in that play are men while all
of us are females. We were needed to be very manly in order to act well. This is my first

2
experience in acting, so it really took all my emotions into the character as well as into
the play and I believe that it was not only me who felt like that. I felt that this learning
experience is a very huge step because it takes us from doing a play in which very
immature into something that is big and has maturity in it. In order to have the right
person to act as the character, we did a broad casting to ensure the suitability of the
characters with ourselves.

Dramatization process also helps me to practice in fluency, public speaking and mostly
self-confidence. I also developed my acting skills and on how to put emotions into the
character, in which those emotions were not really me. I think I had tried my best but not
yet my best effort because there was little of time and there was a lot of pressure while
practicing and performing. I really appreciate on what our lecturer, Mr Latfi taught us. He
advised every single thing and I tried my hardest to be that character. This because
characterization is a vital in a performance. We learnt how to stay in role even when
there are distractions around us. Staying in role and embracing our characters
personality will make the end performance look great, it also shows off our acting skills.
It is also important to make our movements clear when acting so the audience knows
what we are exactly doing so they can follow the story line. We did the stage positioning
at Dewan Indera Kayangan to ensure ourselves are familiar with the stage and also to
find connection between the characters and us. I think if we have more time, we would
try to do better.

Furthermore, I also learnt that it is important to get all the words out properly and clearly
when speaking so the audience can understand us well. We did some tongue twisters
to ensure that we articulated the words more precisely. It is crucial to project our voice
when performing because if we do not project our voice, the audience tend to easily
lose their focus and attention if they cannot hear what we are saying. In order to have a
successful performance, we have to be able to communicate with the audience. During
our drama practice, we learnt how to interact with the audience by making them laugh
and have a good time. It shows us as a good actor or actress when we managed to
communicate with our audience. We also learnt how to follow stage directions to
improve the look of the performance so that the play would not be dull and boring. Voice

3
projection is essential not only in dramatization but also in teaching as voice is the main
medium for all teachers to deliver their knowledge to the students. Good voice
projections help the students to understand and absorb the input well. Dramatization
itself is a good knowledge as it helps us in the classroom while we teach in the future.

The production could also be improved by organizing the team work as well to
communicate better with others and voicing out our opinions. Certain people were self-
involved to hear other people ideas. I learn to trust people and respect their hard work.
For example, we trusted our prop manager and costume designer to design the
costume that we were dramatized. It is important to give them some space for them to
spoke their ideas. The expectation was too high with little time to complete. On the
positive note, most members are well and made effective contribution to the success of
the presentation.

Throughout the dramatization process, we managed to strengthen the bond that we just
built among ourselves. We managed to get rid of our awkwardness and get along to
practice for our drama presentation. Despite the problems and obstacles that we faced,
this can now be counted towards the piece of a whole. I am very satisfied with our
contribution to the final acting. I also believed that my acting skills have developed
vastly by doing this performance. Deciding the cheapest materials to be used in the
dramatization that within our budget range, we were collecting only RM 10 per person.
All the action and decision making was diplomatic as all the advice from the members
was considered. As a teacher trainee, we are going to get involve with other people and
we need to take some actions and decisions diplomatically. Not only that,
knowledgeable about certain fields of work also contribute because by having certain
knowledge we know better between right or wrong. In the classroom, we should know
whether the students saying the truth or the idea given by them are beneficial to others.
This dramatization process had shaped me to become a better person and more mature
in making decision as well as cooperating with others. Mindset that I am not alone was
set in my mind. My classmate and friends had helped me to achieve the goal and
become a better person. My way of thinking has changed from making decision on my

4
own to taking other people advice and idea. The dramatization had made me more
diplomatic person.

However, the weakness that we can improve for this dramatization process was the
time management. As we know, time management also played a vital role when
organizing an activity or performance. I realized that we should start off our work earlier
so that we do not have to rush at the eleventh hour.

Therefore, in the future maybe we need to use drama more in the schools. Using
drama in the classroom is not a new concept. Drama provides an excellent platform for
exploring theoretical and practical aspects of the English language (Whiteson,1996).
The improvisation aspect of drama gives students opportunities for developing their
communicative skills in authentic and dynamic situations. By using drama in the
English classroom, we can use English with our students in intriguing and useful ways.
The language can be used in context and makes it come to life. Drama has the
potential of making the learning experience fun for the students and even memorable
because it is interactive and visual.

Last but not least, a bunch of thank to our lecturer advisor who was willing to guide us
throughout the whole dramatization process, providing us a good and comfortable
atmosphere for us to practice. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of my
classmates as they had put in a lot of effort to make the camp a success.

In conclusion, I have enjoyed and learnt a lot along the dramatization process. Even
though it was tiring, the preparation process is so beneficial. I hope that I can apply all
the new knowledge I have learnt to my daily life in the future as an English teacher. I
hope that I can overcome all the shortcomings as well to continue facing more
challenges in the future.

(2017 words)

5
6