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Articles |
The power of Readers Theater: from reading to writing
Assistant Professor in the English Department at the University of Arizona. With more than 16 years of teaching experience in language education in both China and the United States, he has published extensively on ESL and EFL related topics. His research interests include second language acquisition, classroom-oriented research, syllabus design and curriculum development, sociocultural and affective aspects of language learning and teaching, and ESL composition. Email: junliu{at}u.arizona.edu
Although using Readers Theater (RT) in various educational settings is not a new idea, few studies have been conducted to address both its theoretical and pedagogical issues in language classrooms. In this action research study, the teacher–researcher consistently explored three phases of RT activities with 14 ESL students in an intermediate L2 writing class in a US university. In Phase I, students read aloud their chosen sentences from the source text to generate discussion of the text's main idea. Phase 2 used student-chosen salient passages to extrapolate individual responses and meanings from the source text. In Phase 3, students created their own conclusions to the text. Data collected via students' reflective journals were analyzed, interpreted and compared with ESL teachers' reactions to RT through a simulated RT workshop. Positive effects of using RT were found. Theoretical concerns and issues of cultural appropriacy, and the pedagogical implications of RT are discussed. Recommendations for future research on RT in language classrooms are also given.