Some theoretical background

The official teaching plan for Norwegian schools states: Det skal legges vekt på skapende virksomhet der blant annet drama og musikk får en naturlig plass. (L97, s.224).

Why should creative activity, including drama and music, belong in English? What underlies the view that children develop language skills successfully by meeting and using English actively and creatively?

Some theoretical support is outlined here in the answers to key questions. 

How do children learn a foreign language?

Given the right conditions, children naturally experiment with language and are motivated to communicate and to use language in situations which are meaningful for them. They are able to draw on considerable experience from acquiring their mother tongue. Through interaction with family and friends, with teachers and classmates  and with the world around them, they have already learned to pick up and build on all kinds of clues in order to understand what is happening and to construct meaning. 

Such ideas as these are central in learning theories called interactionism and constructivism. These theories are strongly linked with the names of two psychologists, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. In Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) the emphasis is on using language for doing things and for interacting with others.

What is the difference between acquiring and learning?

Learning a language is a conscious process while acquiring a language occurs spontaneously, without any conscious attention being paid to formal aspects of the language, such as grammar and pronunciation. 

Younger learners typically acquire language through being motivated and supported in a variety of ways in interaction with others. The process of acquisition is particularly important for them since they have not yet reached a level of cognitive development where they can use a meta-language to analyse and talk about language.

Using English as the classroom language gives pupils a chance to acquire English. Teachers develop auxiliary communication strategies which support what they say: they speak English and 'show what they mean'  at the same time. Routines, repetition and all sorts of extra-linguistic clues in games and action songs create a supportive climate where acquisition is possible.

But focusing on meaning and communication does not guarantee that a pupil's English will continue to develop once the process of acquisition is underway. Learners need help to notice where they are making wrong assumptions about English. Some aspects of grammar and vocabulary may continually be side-stepped unless the pupil is made aware of them and is motivated to make improvements. So there is still a place for learning (as opposed to acquisition); there is still a need for well-planned grammar activities and for explicit teaching.

The Natural Approach, especially the work of Stephen Krashen, has been very influential in supporting CLT approaches where acquisition is seen as by far the most important process and where explicit attention to language form is played down.

Should English be the classroom language from day 1?

Kommunikasjon i klasserommet skal i hovedsak foregå på engelsk. (L97, s.224)

By carrying out tasks and by doing what they are asked to do, young learners with little or no English show that they can understand functional English (and also that they are keen to do so). The confidence of familiar surroundings and routines allows them to anticipate meanings and to acquire and develop language. The English which pupils are exposed to should contain just enough new words or new structures to stretch them. With the help of non-verbal clues and with the investment of a little effort, pupils should be able to understand. In this way, both comprehension and acquisition will result.  

At all levels, the skilful teacher tunes the English s/he uses in the classroom so as to provide pupils with just enough challenges to allow them to feel the satisfaction of accomplishment while giving them a chance to develop. Guessing and making use of all kinds of contextual clues are central language strategies which need to be encouraged and developed, with six-year-olds just as with sixteen-year-olds, who still have to be able to 'read between the lines' in order to find meanings in the texts, both Norwegian and English, which they meet.

Comprehensible input is language which a learner can understand but may not necessarily  be able to produce.

Why are drama techniques useful in language learning?

Drama strategies provide a wealth of resources for creating a variety of meaningful communication situations in the classroom. These situations are safe situations and fun situations in which pupils can practice and acquire English through interacting with each other and with the teacher. Drama techniques allow teachers to create many convincing reasons for using English in the classroom.

Using drama in teaching means using techniques such as those you can see on the video cuts. Here is a quick overview of some more useful drama strategies.  

Do children learn by playing?

Leik er aktivitet ut frå eiga lyst og ei viktig kjelde til læring, spesielt i dei første skuleåra. Gjennom leik utviklar barna språk, omgrep og kommunikativ kompetanse,  ...  Leikprega tilnærming til organiserte oppgåver og aktivitetar kan skape motivasjon og interesse og gjere opplæringa spennande og allsidig. (L97 s. 76)

Exposure to 'comprehensible input' may not be enough to ensure that a pupil acquires English in school. The social setting must be positive, secure and motivating. Play is very meaningful for children and creates the right interactive contexts for language acquisition. For young pupils, it is the fun of being part of an activity, not the language, which is most important.