Effects of drama-based activities and Facebook on Thai secondary school students’ English speaking skills, attitudes and motivation

Effects of drama-based activities and Facebook on Thai secondary school students’ English speaking skills, attitudes and motivation

This study explored Thai secondary school students’ English language learning with an aim to investigate the effects of integrating drama-based activities and Facebook on the students’ English speaking skills, attitudes towards and motivation in learning the English language. The study used a mixed methods approach to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. A total of 40 students from two Grade 12 classes and 2 teachers of English at Srinakarindra the Princes Mother School, Nongbualamphu, Thailand participated in this study. They were selected using purposive sampling and assigned to two groups of 20 students each: the experimental group (using drama-based activities and Facebook) and the control group (using traditional face-to-face learning activities). The data was collected through English speaking tests, Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) questionnaires, classroom observations, classroom evaluations and interviews. Throughout the data collection process, reflective journals were used to help the students reflect on learning activities as the study progressed. The findings of the study indicate that the integration of drama-based activities and Facebook had positive effects on the students’ speaking skills. The integration technique encouraged the students to be more active in their learning and increased their motivation and positive attitudes towards learning the English language. The integration technique also provided the students with more interaction and a flexible learning environment to actively communicate and collaborate with their teachers of English and peers. The activities also led the students to develop not only their speaking skills but also other skills that are important for language learning in the classroom, such as discussion and writing skills. The findings of the study may be beneficial to researchers and teachers who aim to develop students’ EFL speaking skills and active learning, while enhancing positive motivation and attitudes towards learning and speaking English. The study offers alternative English teaching methods that integrate a social media platform such as Facebook with drama-based learning activities to produce an interactive and motivated learning approach. The findings of the study also provide insightful descriptions of how drama-based activities and Facebook can be effectively integrated into the curriculum to assist Thai EFL secondary school students to develop their English-speaking skills.