The Combination of Drama in Education and Digital Storytelling Pedagogy to Improve Students' Speaking Fluency

Abstract

Language is integral to the Chinese basic education curriculum (Liu & Fang, 2009) . Learning Mandarin is about successful communication since various dialects are spoken in various regions of China. Good communication in Mandarin signifies communicative competence (Zhu, 2001). Chinese learners always encounter difficulties with intonation, tone and pinyin structure when speaking Mandarin and often have difficulty understanding phonology. Language researchers have argued that to improve language through perceptual training, the body must be included in the learning process, especially concerning the acquisition of Mandarin tone and voice and that the integration of the body can be beneficial (Chen, 1974; Shen, 1989). Drama immerses language learners in a meaningful communication process (McNamee et al., 1985). Researchers have also experimentally found that the use of drama in the language classroom effectively increases motivation and confidence, reduces students' anxiety, and enhances language acquisition (Baills et al., 2021). However, compared to Western countries, the use of drama in China is not well developed in terms of theory and practical application. This study, the authors conducted research using the Drama in Education pedagogy to design two drama courses. Two main research questions were posed, firstly to explore the relationship between Drama in Education, Digital storytelling, and the Chinese language curriculum and secondly, to examine the advantages and disadvantages of using Drama in Education and Digital storytelling pedagogies in a Chinese educational context. For the second question, the study uses the concept of localisation, i.e., adapting the pedagogical tools from a Western to a Chinese teaching model. This study contributes to the relationship between Drama in

Education, Digital storytelling and the Chinese language curriculum and has implications for the localisation of the drama pedagogy in the local Chinese context and future educational reform in China.