Insights into Utilizing Educational Cooperative Drama for Palestinian Speaking Skills in a War-Torn

The landscape of English language teaching in Palestine is still surrounded by issues
such as apparent weaknesses in the speaking skills among Palestinian students. One
reason for such weaknesses was found to be the traditional teaching methods used by
the majority of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. In addition, the students’
lives were also encircled by war-related issues following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Thus, the present study aimed to shed some insights into the importance of utilizing
Educational Cooperative Drama (ECD) for Palestinian seventh graders’ speaking skills
in the war-torn city of Jenin. Furthermore, the study explored the significance of using
cooperative learning and educational drama in English language classrooms, especially
in the teaching of speaking skills. Three main objectives of the study have guided the
study; First, to explore Educational Cooperative Drama (ECD) influences the learning
of the English language among Palestinian seventh graders in the war-torn Jenin.
Second, to explore the challenges faced by EFL teachers in Palestine when using ECD.
Third, to explore the way teachers and students perceive the use of ECD in a seventh
graders' speaking skills classroom. In order to achieve the objectives of this qualitative
study, a purposeful sample comprising five supervisors, five teachers, and twenty
students was chosen. The thematic analysis approach was employed by utilizing the
NVivo™ program to analyze the data that have been collected, such as semi-structured
interviews and observation checklists, as well as artifacts, such as videos, classroom
worksheets, presentations, online sessions, and plays. The results revealed that the
utilization of the Educational Drama and Cooperative Learning Approach, which is also
known as Educational Cooperative Drama (ECD), has the potential to improve speaking
skills, increase creativity, enhance cooperation and teamwork, develop the ability to act
and dramatize, increase achievement, and promote the self-esteem of the students, in
addition to decreasing the effects of war-torn environments for them. However, the
study also revealed some challenges that mitigated drama integration in teaching the
English language, such as shortage of time, teacher professional development, and
design of suitable activities. In the light of these results, the decision-makers in the
Ministry of Education in Palestine were recommended to plan for teacher professional
development programs that aim at training teachers on how to integrate educational
drama and design relevant activities. On the other hand, regardless of the
aforementioned results, the study has some limitations related to the limited number of
participants who came from one specific directorate, “Jenin” as well as using a purely
qualitative approach.