Producing a Drama Skit by EFL Students

Who are Yunho, Jaejoong, Changmin, Junsu, and Yoochun? Who are U-Know, Hero, Max, Xiah, and Micky? What do Tong Vfang Xien Qi, TVXQ, and Tohoshinki all have in common? They are all one and the same. Most popularly known as TVXQ, this Korean pop singing and dancing group was stealing the hearts of girl students in Thailand, especially those of my sixth grade English Discovery Club.

At the start of the 2009 school year, I was assigned to be the coordinator of an English Club for sixth-grade students in the English Program of Saint Joseph Bangna School in Thailand. After naming my club the Discovery Club, I decided in July on a required school activity for the first term of the school year. Having already advised eighth-grade students the previous school year on a successful drama presentation, I thought it would be an excellent idea to get my Discovery Club members also involved in another drama skit. This article is a summary of my experience.

At first, it was a challenge selling my club members on the idea of doing a drama presentation, and even harder to get them interested in writing, producing, and presenting their drama skit. This was, however, until I told my club members that they could write and present a drama on any theme they desired. Many of the club members became very excited and stated that they wanted to write and produce a romantic comedy about their Korean pop (K-pop) star idols in TVXQ.

Before beginning work on the script of the drama, my club members watched a movie, "Charlotte's Web." The purpose of this was to introduce to the club members how the setting, characters, and plot are developed in a story and drama.

After analyzing the elements of the setting, characters, and plot in "Charlotte's Web," I asked my Discovery Club members to identify the setting, characters, and plot of their drama creation. The main characters in the drama were, of course, the five members of TVXQ. They were U-Know Yunho played by Montakan, Hero Jaejoong played by Kukik, Max Changmin played by Yanisa, Xiah Junsu played by Aom, and Micky Yoochun played by Phetrada. Amaraluck was the narrator throughout the scenes of the drama skit. The setting was international with scenes in Korea, Thailand, and Japan during the period 2008-2009. As to the plot, it centered on a triangular love affair among members of the group

The triangular love affair was a romantic comedy, but not for the reasons I had predicted. Before July of 2009, I knew nothing about the K-pop group TVXQ. When the club members told me about the triangular love affair, I assumed that at least one of the members of TVXQ was female. To my surprise, all of the members were male!!

During the next two months, my club members volunteered to play the parts of the main characters in the drama, and they assisted in the writing of the script and directing the drama. Drama scenes were rehearsed during club periods which were held for one hour every Wednesday afternoon. Everyone had a very good time, although many club members struggled to memorize and recite their lines.

Non-acting members of the club were also involved in the drama presentation. These students were on the costume and make-up crew, props and setting crew, and the sound and photography crew.

The TVXQ romantic comedy premiere was on Wednesday, September 23, 2009. In case you didn't see it, you missed an awesome performance. Besides learning about the elements of drama and how to produce a drama skit, the Discovery Club members found an enjoyable venue to practice and apply their English listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.