Incorporating Drama to Enhance Reading Comprehension

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if high school students' reading comprehension is improved when integrating drama into the teaching of a novel. Research supports that drama should be an integral part of the elementary and secondary curriculum. The subjects for this study were two dramatic arts classes comprised of thirty-four junior and senior high school dramatic arts students. The control group silently read the novel but did not participate in dramatic activities, and the experimental group read the novel and participated in dramatic activities. Both samples were tested. The results of the testing were analyzed and compared. The final results indicated that students who used drama strategies scored significantly higher than those students who read the novel but did not participate in drama activities. It is concluded that using drama in the classroom enhances reading comprehension.