COURSE:English for Subject Teachers, 61-90 hp PROGRAMME: Subject Teacher Programme AUTHOR: Hannah Wikström
TUTOR: Jenny Siméus
SEMESTER:Spring Term 2020 EXAMINER: Jenny Malmqvist
Reading Drama in
the EFL Classroom:
An Analysis of the Potentials in Using Drama in the
Swedish EFL Classroom
Abstract
Title: Reading Drama in the EFL Classroom: An Analysis of the Potentials in Using Drama in the Swedish EFL Classroom
Author: Hannah Wikström Number of pages: 20
This study aims to examine the potential of reading dramatic scripts in the Swedish EFL classroom, using the play Top Girls by Carol Churchill as an example. In particular, it focuses on how literary theory and different aspects of feminism can be taught through the use of the play. The study is conducted through a textual analysis of the play’s main characters and the Swedish National Syllabus. The results show that there is a great potential in working with dramatic literature in the EFL classrooms. Using drama is effective in the way it covers several aspects of the core content of English in upper secondary school, and may be used to develop language skills, cultural understanding and critical thinking. The play contains complex ideas about different types of feminism, and the two main characters Joyce and Marlene represent two ways of striving for equality between men and women. These ideas are, in other words, represented by and embodied in the two main characters, which could make the ideas easier for students to understand.
Table of Contents
Introduction ... 1
Background ... 2
Drama as an Educational Tool ... 2
Teaching Literature and Culture ... 3
Selection of Literature... 4
Definitions of different feminisms ... 5
Feminist Literary Criticism ... 5
British Socialist Feminism ... 6
American Feminism ... 6
Aim ... 7
Method... 7
Top Girls – a Brief Summary... 8
Analysis ... 9
Top Girls and Feminist Theory ... 9
Top Girls and the Swedish EFL classroom... 12
Conclusion ... 14
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Introduction
Drama is one of the oldest genres, with plays dating back to Ancient Greece still being performed in our modern world. Traditionally, dramas are meant to be played on stage with an audience, but there is much to be gained also from reading scripted plays. These benefits, which can be applied to the reading of fiction in general, include developed critical thinking, imagination and understanding of language and culture (Al Alami, 2013, p. 2). Even in Ancient Greece, dramatic scripts were read more than they were performed, serving as texts used for scholarly research and education (Sommerstein, 2003, p. 3). In our time, thousands of years later, with teachers struggling to make the most of the limited amount of time available in the classroom, reading a script instead of setting up a play would be a time-saving choice. This study will focus on the reading aspect of drama rather than the acting aspect, since much research on acting as an educational tool already has been performed. Examples of this are the studies by Savela (2009, p. 9) and Gill (2013, p. 30), studies showing how drama develops oral communication abilities, cultural knowledge and self-knowledge. The audience for which this study would be of most interest is upper secondary school teachers. For younger ages, drama is probably better taught through acting because of their less developed reading abilities. Yee Sam Wan (2017) explains that “[drama activities] foster the social, intellectual and the linguistic development of the child” (p. 4). However, in upper secondary school, students will have come further in their English language development, and will have the language skills required to effectively activate learning processes through the written text.
This study intends to examine the possibilities of using texts from other literary genres than novels to teach English with a focus on drama, and specifically the play Top Girls by Caryl Churchill. Top Girls was first published in 1982, as a reaction to the newly elected Margaret Thatcher’s politics and women’s situation in the 80’s (Sjöberg, 2005, p. 149). Cameron (2009) calls the play “ground-breaking” (p. 143) in the way that it explores a fractured sisterhood and the potential possibilities of uniting women despite their differences (p. 156). It explores what being a successful woman really means, and what it could cost a woman to be “successful”. Aston (2003, p. 23) describes the play in short as “a socialist-feminist critique of bourgeois feminism”, meaning that Churchill wrote the play in favour of the traditional British socialist feminism, criticising Thatcher’s American individualist feminism. Top Girls has unconventional aspects concerning the way it is structured and is a text which potentially could be used in relation to teaching feminist literary theory, and, in particular, how different social
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classes are connected to different types of feminism. As previously mentioned, the play also deals with social, political and ethical issues, all of which are aspects to include in English 7 (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11). Drama is explicitly mentioned in the Swedish National Syllabus as a genre which could be explored in several English courses, and this study will explore the possibilities in using Top Girls as a basis for teaching English language, literature and culture in Swedish upper secondary school. For the purpose of this study, focus will be on English 7. The study will be structured as two parts – an analysis of relevant themes in the play, and an application of these themes in accordance with the steering documents concerning English 7 and upper secondary school.
Background
In this part of the study, a brief description of the use of drama in English teaching and feminist literary theory will be provided, as well as an explanation of central concepts and definitions.
Drama as an Educational Tool
The core content for English 7 explicitly mentions drama as a genre which should be explored during the course (Skolverket, 2017, p. 7 & 11). Literature and the act of reading is a vital part of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) throughout all parts of school – from preschool to upper secondary school. This is reflected in the Swedish curriculum, where reading and writing is used to assess the student’s abilities in reception, production and interaction (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11). The language subjects in upper secondary school are among the few subjects which offer pupils a chance to develop their aesthetic reading skills. Aesthetic reading is described by Rosenblatt as reading for entertainment purposes rather than reading for information (Rosenblatt, 1988, p. 5). By choosing fictional texts carefully and considering what can be gained from a certain text, EFL teachers could use the aesthetic reading of fictional texts as a basis for discussion of “theoretical and complex subject areas”, also mentioned in the core content (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11). There are already, to summarise, a large focus and much time devoted to literature in second language teaching, as working with texts is a large part of the core content (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11).
Yee Sam Wan (2017) describes the use of drama in second language teaching and credits the communicative approach to language teaching for the increased interest in using
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drama as an educational tool. During the 20th and 21st century, language teaching methodology
has deviated from the traditional structural approach where words and grammatic structures are drilled in the classroom, to a communicative approach where the main focus and goal is for students to be as communicatively competent as possible (Wan, 2017). According to Wan, with this shift in methodology, teachers’ attitudes towards language teaching through drama have improved, and dramatic activities have increased in use. Informal drama, where pupils are to act and perform dramas, have long been used to develop oral and social skills, self-actualisation and creativeness (Üstündağ, 1997). However, this way of teaching is mainly directed towards younger age groups, whereas reading drama can be used in more advanced courses of second language teaching, as they will have acquired a better understanding of the English language.
Teaching Literature and Culture
The Swedish curriculum for English at upper secondary school states that pupils should be given the chance to work with “[t]heoretical and complex subject areas, also of a more scientific nature” as well as “[s]ocietal issues, cultural, historical, political and social conditions, and also ethical and existential issues in different contexts and parts of the world where English is used” (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11). These are many areas to cover during a relatively short time span, but teaching literary theory is one effective way to cover several at the same time. Truong Thi My Van (2009) claims in her article in The English Teaching Forum that teaching literary theory to EFL pupils develops their motivation in learning the English language. She further claims that ”[c]ritical literacy is both valid and necessary for the teaching of literature and that students should be conscious of how texts relate to issues of identity, culture, political power, gender, ethnicity, class, and religion” (p. 8). Literature is, in other words, an important tool in pupils’ self-development and progress in the English language.
Bo Lundahl (2012) suggests that in the classroom, literature can be used purely as something to study theoretically or as a resource to develop pupils’ “language skills and understanding of cultural contexts” (p. 409). He further develops how pupils can learn about other cultures and values by reading fiction, a concept he calls Cultural Studies. It is important to remember that fiction is not always an accurate representation of reality. However, all fiction is written in a certain cultural context. Top Girls was written as a reaction to Margaret Thatcher’s policies – it had to be realistic to be trustworthy and to be taken as serious critique. Cultural Studies involves the study of texts from a cultural and ideological perspective, in addition to the traditional study of the text where form and content is in focus (p. 422). Lundahl
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also argues that problematic themes can be fruitful in teaching English, as working with complex ideas challenges pupils’ critical thinking (Lundahl, 2012, p. 424). This supports the findings presented by Truong Thi My Van. Another reason to teach literature and complex ideological ideas is the explicitly stated aims for the Swedish upper secondary school in the Education Act (2010:800). Schools should work actively to develop students’ understanding of others and democratic values, such as gender equality and solidarity. This aim should be part of all aspects of upper secondary school, including the content taught in the EFL classroom.
Selection of Literature
This study of drama as an educational tool will use the 1982 play Top Girls, written by Caryl Churchill. The reason as to why this play in particular was chosen is because of its status as an important and classic feminist play, which is essential to this study as it will focus on teaching about different types of feminism (Cameron, 2009). Gunilla Molloy (2008) gives two good reasons to choose 20th century literature to work with. It is a good idea to choose something
the students can relate to, which at the same time functions as a historical piece showing how society impacts peoples’ actions (p. 290). The play Top Girls reflects the political and social situation for women in 1980´s Britain, being written during the second wave of feminism, giving the text a historical value. It also concerns women’s rights, which many pupils probably have opinions about. The play has been adapted into a movie, which also could be used in addition to reading the text, since this study will focus on the reading aspect. When choosing literature to work with in the classroom, it is important to choose a variety of not only genres, but also of writers. It is stated in the Swedish curriculum for upper secondary school that teachers should “ensure that teaching in terms of content and its organisation is typified by a gender perspective” (Skolverket, 2013, p. 9). In order to achieve this, teachers could include texts from a variety of authors. Many novels as well as plays that are considered “classics” are written by men, which is why using a text written by a woman would be a reasonable choice, especially on the theme of feminism.
The play is written with overlapping speech throughout the whole play, which means that characters interrupt each other, and their lines are not always in chronological order. Churchill uses “/” to tell the reader that this is where the next line begins and the other person who interrupts:
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JOYCE Listen when Angie was six months old I did get pregnant and I lost it
because I was so tired looking after your fucking baby/because she cried so much – yes I did tell
MARLENE You never told me.
JOYCE you – /and the doctor said if I’d sat down all day with […] (III.ii. p. 89)
This makes the dialogue more realistic but can also be a challenge for students to consider as a teacher. As is the case with many plays, it is what is said between the lines rather than what is explicitly said that is interesting – this means that the pupils will need a rather high level of English to make the most of the reading, and therefore I think this play is suitable to read in English 7.
Definitions of different feminisms
In this section, different types of feminisms will be defined and explained – why feminist literary criticism exists, as well as the difference between American and British feminism. These two branches will both be used in the analysis of the play. Thus, the analysis will assume an understanding of these feminisms and of what characterises them. In this analysis, the main focus will be on how different social classes are shown to represent separate groups of feminists. These ideas will be further developed in the analysis of the play.
Feminist Literary Criticism
Along with the rise of women’s movements across the Western world during the mid-twentieth century, feminist literary criticism developed. Furthermore, books such as Virginia Woolf’s A
Room of One’s Own and Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, both from the 20th century,
led to the redefinition of women’s literary history. Plain & Sellers (2007), explain the origins of feminist criticism as “[…] the culmination of centuries of women’s writing, of women writing about women writing, and of women – and men – writing about women’s minds, bodies, art and ideas” (p. 2). The word feminism derives from the French word féminisme and is usually defined as the social movement for equality between men and women – that “[men and women] should be allowed the same rights, power and opportunities” (Cambridge
International Dictionary of English). However, depending on ideological beliefs and the
history of the movement, the word has come to have many different meanings and connotation for different people. For the purpose of this essay, the term feminism will be used in the sense that it is the strive for social, political and economic equality between the sexes. Feminist critics
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are often divided into two main categories – Anglo-American and French feminist critics. In her article from 1993, Stanford Friedman argues that this binary could be divided into three; French, American and British feminism. She claims that the differences between British feminism and American feminism are too wide for the branches to be grouped into “Anglo-American” feminism. These differences will be explored in this study since they are both represented in the play, and therefore the focus lays on the Anglo-American feminist criticism rather than the French, which will not be brought up.
British Socialist Feminism
The first branch of feminism that will be brought up in this study is traditional British socialist feminism. The definition of this, which will be used in the study, is based on the explanation by Weir & Wilson (1984). Weir & Wilson claim that the British women’s movement developed in the late 60’s and was more “closely identified” to socialism than any other country’s women’s movement at that time (p. 75). However, although critiques of the movement “liked to label women’s liberation as middle class, the feminists themselves wholeheartedly rejected reformism and ‘bourgeois feminism’” (p. 76). Furthermore, Weir & Wilson claim that what socialist feminists argue is that capitalism in itself is oppressive and that the effect of it is the subordination of women (p. 77). This approach to feminism is both a branch of political activism as well as a branch within feminist literary criticism. As Donkin & Clement (1993) put it, Top Girls can be read to highlight “the underlying oppression of the capitalist economic system” (p. 67). Thus, it examines what choices women had in contemporary Britain, from a British socialist feminist perspective as well as an American feminist perspective.
American Feminism
The other type of feminism that will be brought up is, as said, American feminism. In contrast to British socialist feminism, American feminism is described by Stanford Friedman (1993, p. 253) as a type of feminism with a “tendency to insist on concepts of the self”. She further states that American feminism has its roots in the Civil Rights movement, defined by its belief in “liberty, equality, justice, self-determination, and opportunity” (p. 254). She also explains the difference between the two types of feminism as clearly visible in “the American interest in the self” and “the British emphasis on class” (p. 249). This “self”, to clarify, would then be defined as an individualistic approach to feminism, where success is measured by the achievements of the individual rather than the whole group. Whereas socialist feminist critics
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within literature traditionally focus on class, psychology, representation and language, American feminist critics have their main interest in themes, motifs and characterisation instead. This applies to the political movements as well as the literary criticism. What the two groups focus on in their critique reflects the groups’ political agendas. Although the two approaches differ in many ways, they both claim to strive for the same goal: equality between men and women.
Aim
The purpose of this study is to examine how drama could be used in the Swedish EFL classroom to cover different parts of the National syllabus and the curriculum. For the purpose of this study, and using Top Girls as an example, the ways in which reading dramatic literature could aid teaching literary theory in upper secondary school will be examined. In particular, how can feminist literary theory and ideologically different types of feminism be taught with the help of the play? The study will have two main research questions as a basis for the analysis:
• In what ways could reading dramatic scripts with pupils be effective in the teaching of English literature, language and culture?
• How could reading Top Girls by Caryl Churchill be a tool in teaching students about different feminist criticisms?
Method
This study consisted of two main parts, where the first one was an analysis of the main feminist aspects in the play Top Girls, and the second part explained how and why these themes, and the play in itself, could be an effective tool in EFL teaching. The method of study for both parts was a literary study, as I gathered previous research, related it to the chosen research questions and tried to answer these questions from a scientific perspective. In other words, the textual analysis of the play served as a basis for which theories of teaching and learning was applied. The study looked into the two main characters of the play, Marlene and Joyce, and how a character analysis of the two could be used to cover several parts of the core content of the English subject, and in particular the teaching of theoretical subject areas. A qualitative method
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was chosen as it is defined by Bryman (2012) as a “qualitative analysis of texts and documents” (p. 344). However, one must remember that this way of working is based on interpretations of the texts used, which means that it is impossible to make a qualitative study completely objective (Bryman, 2012, p. 368). The first part of the study was based on the methods for character analysis used in Backwards & Forwards by David Ball (1983) and Dramatikanalys by Birthe Sjöberg (2005). I his book, Ball (1983) presents questions to use in relation to character analysis, and these questions were answered with the two main characters in mind in the first part of the analysis. The three questions were as follows: “(1) what the character wants, (2) what is in the character’s way (obstacle) and (3) what the character does or is willing to do to satisfy the want” (Ball, 1983, p. 62). This part focused on aspects in the play with relevance to social classes and their connection to different ideological types of feminism. Since the two main characters represent two different types of feminist views, they were compared and analysed based on Ball’s guide to character analysis. The second part related the findings from the first part to the Swedish national syllabus, curriculum and previous research, drawing parallels between the analysis of the play and how English as a foreign language can be taught. It aimed to show the possible benefits or challenges of reading drama in the classroom. The literary study consisted of a textual analysis of the play, an overview of existing research within the field and a connection between the text and research with a didactic perspective. As this study only used Top Girls to illustrate how literary theory could be taught through drama, one cannot draw general conclusions on the basis of one play. However, this served as an example to show how the genre could potentially be used to teach abstract and theoretical ideas. What these ideas consist of would depend on the play.
Top Girls – a Brief Summary
The play starts with Marlene celebrating her promotion with five female friends, all of whom are famous historical women – some are real, some are made up. In the next act, Joyce and her daughter Angie are introduced, and the setting changes to their home. Through Angie’s conversation with her friend Kit, it is told that Joyce is a single mother, ending up in arguments with her teenage daughter, and facing economic problems. Angie expresses that the fights with her mother makes her want to visit her aunt Marlene. The next scene is set in the Top Girls office, Marlene’s workplace, where Marlene interviews girls for job positions. Marlene is clearly a very ambitious and hard-working woman, sometimes appearing cold or heartless to
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other characters. Angie appears at the office, and Marlene reluctantly lets her stay. Mrs Kidd, who is married to Mr Kidd, the man who was originally intended to take over the position at the office Marlene was promoted to, comes to the office and asks Marlene to step down in favour of Mr Kidd, which Marlene refuses to do. In the third act, we are back in Joyce’s kitchen, but one year prior to all other events in the play. Marlene and Joyce drink together after Angie has gone to bed, discussing Angie’s future. Joyce is very pessimistic about Angie’s future, since she sees how her working-class background has trapped her, her mother, and her daughter Angie in a certain life and a certain financial position. Marlene, on the other hand, claims that she believes “in the individual” (III.ii p. 93), and that Angie could do anything she if worked hard for it. During the argument, it is revealed that Angie is actually Marlene’s daughter, raised by Joyce. The scene, and the play, ends with Angie appearing again, clearly having overheard parts of the conversation, and saying “Mum?” (III.ii. p. 96) to Marlene.
Analysis
This section will be divided into two parts, and the first part will examine Top Girls and its relation to feminist theory. To separate the two types of feminist criticism found in the play, the two main characters Joyce and Marlene will be analysed. After that, the findings from the first part will be related to the Swedish national syllabus and the curriculum for upper secondary school.
Top Girls and Feminist Theory
The first research question in this study asks how reading Top Girls could be a tool in teaching feminist criticism. With this in mind, the natural follow-up question is how Top Girls is related to feminist theory, which is what will be discussed in this part. David Ball writes in his manual
Backwards & Forwards (1983) a chapter on character analysis, where he claims that the best
way to analyse a character within dramatic literature is to look at what the character does. The core in any drama is the action – the term drama itself actually means ‘action’ – which is why this is the most important aspect to examine. David Ball (1983) further explains that in non-dramatic literature, we are usually given access to different characters’ thoughts, making it easier to get to know them and predict their actions. However, dramatic scripts offer little character information in comparison, and should therefore, according to Ball, be analysed
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based on three questions: “(1) what the character wants, (2) what is in the character’s way (obstacle) and (3) what the character does or is willing to do to satisfy the want” (p. 62). These three questions will be applied to the two main characters Joyce and Marlene, to show how they represent two different parts of the feminist spectrum. The essence of drama is the dialogue and how the characters interact with each other, which is why the analysis in the first part focuses on character analysis, and the way the sisters interact.
Joyce, who is the first character who will be analysed, is a single mother living in the suburbs with her daughter Angie. Joyce is only present in the play in the first scene of the second act and in the final scene, but there are many small details adding up to her character. To answer Ball’s questions, one should first look at what Joyce wants. Being a single mother, she is not very well off – she works “four different cleaning jobs” (III.ii. p. 91) – which is why a stable and certain future for Angie is what she prioritises. Above all, she wants to make sure that Angie is given the opportunity to make the most of her life, so that she will not be “stuck” in same way Joyce feels she is stuck in her situation. This is evident in the text in the final scene, when she blames Marlene for leaving their home, leaving her to take care of their mother and Marlene’s child. She also compares her own situation to their mother’s life – they are both single mothers left by their husbands, without the opportunity to do what they want with their lives. Essentially, she is afraid that Angie will follow in her and her mother’s footsteps, and what she dreams of is to prevent that from happening: “I expect her children will say what a wasted life she has had. If she has children. Because nothing’s changed and it won’t with them in” (III.ii. p. 95).
The second question is what is in Joyce’s way of getting what she wants; the obstacle. Joyce’s view of what her obstacle consists of is very clear: she is trapped in a certain life due to her social class and due to Marlene’s choice to climb socially. Here, it is shown in the text that Joyce has a socialist view on how society should work to reach equality between men and women. She believes that women who have successful careers and give in to capitalism (like Marlene) leave other women who do not have the same opportunities (like herself) behind. She asks Marlene “how could I have left?” (III.ii. p. 85), implying that it was impossible for her to leave their home like Marlene did, since she needed to take care of their parents and Angie. She blames Marlene for not taking the same responsibility – repeating several times that Marlene could have stayed instead of leaving the family.
The third question to consider in order to examine Joyce as a character is what she is willing to do to reach her goals. Joyce is very focused on class and how her role as a working-class single mother affects her and her daughter’s lives. She believes that capitalism
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is one of the main roots to her problems as she thinks that it does not allow women (at that time and place) to have a career and a family at the same time. She tells Marlene that if she would have kept her baby, she would “be getting a few less thousand a year” (III.ii. p. 88). As Wilson & Weir (1984) put it, British socialist feminists argue that ”there is a functional relationship between specific family forms of the nuclear family and advanced capitalism” (p. 98). Joyce does not belong to a nuclear family – she was left by her cheating husband and adopted her sister’s child at a fairly young age. She needs to provide for her family herself, which she feels is impossible in a society ruled by a government with capitalistic interests.
Although Joyce and Marlene are sisters, they are characterised as each other’s opposites. In contrast to Joyce, Marlene represents American feminism with a more individualistic focus rather than that of different social classes. The three questions presented by David Ball will be answered concerning Marlene as well, starting with the first one: what Marlene’s aspiration in life is. From a young age, Marlene is determined to make a life for herself different from her family: “I knew when I was thirteen, out of their house, out of them, never let that happen to me” (III.ii. p. 94). She maintains this determination throughout her life, moving to America and coming back to Britain with high aims and big dreams, and working hard to climb at her workplace. She even decides to let her sister adopt her baby in order to be able to work. To conclude, Marlene’s highest wish is to be a successful woman, in the sense that she is economically independent and at a top position in the company.
The second question is what is in Marlene’s way of getting what she wants. First of all, her social background in the working class is one obstacle – since her family is not well off, she has to work to be independent, without the help from a wealthy family. Her child, Angie, is another obstacle, since taking care of a baby would prevent her from being able to put all of her time and energy into working. The third obstacle is being a woman at a company dominated by men. Other employees are surprised and irritated when Marlene is promoted, since they believe Mr. Kidd would be the natural choice, which makes Marlene isolated from being part of the group at work. One could say that Marlene has to adapt to typically masculine personality traits in order to be successful: she is bossy, judgemental of other women and chooses her career over having a family. This is frowned upon by other characters.
The third question concerns what she has to sacrifice to reach her goals. This question is very important, as Marlene’s sacrifice is the main conflict in the play: her life choices are what lead to the tense atmosphere between her and her sister. Marlene has given up her child and the relationship to her mother and her sister in order to become what she considers free and successful; when she tells Joyce about her visit to their mother, Joyce asks
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if the mother recognised Marlene. According to Joyce, she has also betrayed her class: “you’re one of them”, she says to Marlene during their argument in the last scene (III.ii. p. 95). Lastly, she is lonely, without a family or any real friends, which is evident in the opening scene where she celebrates her promotion with fictional friends.
To summarise, these two women are portrayed in the text as representatives for two different types of feminism. Joyce belongs to the British socialist feminists, since she, as she sees it, is trapped in a certain life because of her working-class roots. She believes that success depends on opportunity and class belonging rather than individual ability or work discipline. Marlene’s political views, on the other hand, are typical of American feminism. She believes that “anyone can do anything if they’ve got what it takes” (III.ii. p. 95), and that success comes to those who work hard and are willing to sacrifice. Those who are not successful have the same opportunities in life but are too lazy to do something about it. Paxson (1994) describes personification as giving a “personality to an abstraction” (p. 6). Churchill uses her female characters to personify the abstract political concepts presented in this study; different approaches to feminist theory.
Top Girls and the Swedish EFL classroom
The second research question is in what ways reading dramatic scripts with pupils could be an effective way of teaching English literature, language and culture. With the help from the findings in the first part of the analysis, this part will focus on the didactic aspect of using dramatic scripts. As mentioned in the background, this study will be directed towards English 7 at upper secondary school, since that is the only English course which explicitly requires pupils in the syllabus to work with “[t]heoretical and complex subject areas, also of a more scientific nature” (Skolverket, 2017). Here, teachers could choose to work with feminist criticism, or in a broader perspective, literary theory. Not only is feminist criticism a theoretical and complex subject area, but it is also in line with The Education Act (2010:800), which states that education should be based on “fundamental democratic values” and impart “equality between women and men” (p. 4). Raising questions and problematising feminist criticism is one way of working with these democratic values. Essentially, the main conflict in the play is how women can share the same goal – equality – and still demonise each other’s way of working to achieve that shared goal. This could be a fruitful topic of discussion in an EFL classroom.
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Why should teachers choose to work with drama instead of novels? First of all, the Swedish National syllabus demands variation in choice of text genres, mentioning drama as a possible choice of text to work with (Skolverket, 2017). This means that teachers cannot work with novels only. Second, the format of dramatic scripts makes the texts accessible to many pupils – they are relatively short, typically around 100 pages, and filled with dialogue, which means that dramatic scripts do not contain a large amount of written text, but have aspects meant to be interpreted or filled in by the reader. In other words, the texts are accessible in length but have room for interpretation and analysis. This is a potential benefit in teaching, as time is not unlimited – less time required to read the text could allow for more time put into textual analysis. Even though Top Girls is a short text, it is filled with aspects to analyse. A shorter text allows for deeper analysis of each scene while still being able to cover most parts of the text. Hungarian drama professor Martin Esslin (1976) claims that the one thing drama has that other media of communication do not have, is that it can “operate on several levels at once” (p. 17). These “levels” are levels of action and emotion – in drama, tones, irony and other complexities can be conveyed simultaneously, in on-stage drama as well as written drama. In novels, on the other hand, the storytelling is linear and normally “operates at any given instant only along a single dimension” (p. 17). He further states that drama is “the least time-consuming” form of art, shows “hidden tensions and sympathies” and “the subtleties of human relationships and interaction” (p. 17). What I interpret him to mean is that as less information is given in dramatic scripts, readers will have to interpret meaning and fill in gaps of the story themselves.
Reading and analysing plays cover several parts of the syllabus and the curriculum. Carol Churchill lets different characters embody two different political convictions and feminist criticisms, which is why a character analysis could be useful in teaching literary theory through this play. Ball’s guide to drama analysis is one example of guidelines for pupils, which could be further developed or modified in the classroom to fit the class in question. Also, by the third year of upper secondary school, pupils will have previously encountered textual analysis and interpretation, as it is part of the syllabus for the English language throughout the Swedish school – the text genre may be new, but they will have some tools and knowledge of how to work with the text (Skolverket, 2017). This would be a foundation for teachers before planning a work unit on drama. The content of Top Girls (and many other dramas) is in line with the content of communication in the curriculum: “[t]heoretical and complex subject areas, also of a more scientific nature, related to […] societal issues and working life”; “[s]ocietal
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issues, cultural, historical, political and social conditions […] in parts of the world where English is used” (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11).
Reading drama also activates learning processes in relation to receptive skills – students should, according to the syllabus, be given the chance to read complex texts, understand and structure information in “longer sequences of spoken language” (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11). Top Girls is a complex text as it is written with overlapping speech – characters begin to talk before others finish talking, and continuously interrupt each other. Because of this, the strategies one could use to understand the text are the same as one could use to understand spoken language. The play could also be used to practice “strategies for drawing conclusions about the spoken language and texts in terms of attitudes, perspectives, purposes and values, and to understand implied meaning” (p. 11). This aspect is central in Top Girls and could be examined through character analysis as well as through analysing the dialogue. Since the dialogue is written with this specific technique, students would have to use reading strategies to understand the form and how it affects the play’s meaning. As previously presented in the background, Lundahl (2012) and Van (2009) argue that literature in the EFL classroom should not be used as a resource for language development only, but as a resource to challenge critical thinking as well. In Top Girls, the political views and socioeconomic situations for the two main characters could be discussed with pupils to develop critical thinking in this way.
Conclusion
This study aimed to answer two research questions. Firstly, in what ways could reading dramatic scripts with pupils be effective for teachers in their teaching of English literature, language and culture, using Top Girls as an example. The second question was in what ways reading Top Girls by Caryl Churchill could be a tool in teaching students about different feminist criticisms? In this part, these questions will be discussed and answered.
Reading dramatic scripts is an effective way of teaching EFL since it covers many parts of the syllabus. The play Top Girls relates to the syllabus both in its content and form, which is why it could be beneficial to use in teaching where time is limited – many aspects can be worked with during a short time. It deals with theoretical topics but without being too academic or formal, as it is fiction. Being a fictional text, it is not written in a formal way, and the reading of it activates the aesthetic reading explained by Rosenblatt (1988). However, this
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is an example of how reading for entertainment could be intertwined with learning about theoretical topics, as the content of the play focuses on complex subject areas. The reading of the play encourages critical thinking as well since the play brings up several perspectives on one issue and could be further used to understand historical reasons to the characters’ situations. As a teacher, one could extend a work unit on Top Girls to include a deeper analysis of the form of the text, and how the author’s style of writing affects the play as a whole. The syllabus states that students should know “[h]ow stylistics and rhetorical devices are used for different purposes and how language is used as an instrument to exercise power” (Skolverket, 2017, p. 11). In Top Girls, the language the characters use reflects their social status. This further shows that working with dramatic scripts, and Top Girls in this case, could potentially be a successful way of planning and teaching EFL in the Swedish classroom.
Not only does reading dramatic scripts develop pupils’ language skills – it also encourages critical thinking and awareness of complex cultural concepts, as explained by Lundahl (2012). Top Girls is a challenging play in the way it is written with overlapping speech, which would challenge pupils who need more complex texts to read. However, it is quite short – around 100 pages, with few characters and a storyline which is easy to follow, which makes it accessible to most pupils in upper secondary school, regardless of their level of English. This means that the play has a high potential of developing the English skills of EFL pupils. Previous research shows that developing critical literacy in the EFL classroom is motivating (Van, 2009) and that using literature for Cultural Studies develops understanding for cultures and complex subjects connected to them (Lundahl, 2012). Top Girls could be used for both of these two ways of working. Furthermore, the understanding of other cultures is part of the syllabus as well: “Students should be given the opportunity to develop knowledge of living conditions, social issues and cultural features in different contexts and parts of the world where English is used” (Skolverket, 2017, p. 1).
The personification of different perspectives on feminist theory in Top Girls makes complex ideas accessible to pupils. Paxson (1994) defines personification as giving a “fictional personality to an abstraction” (p. 6). By understanding the fictional characters, students could be aided in understanding the abstractions in question. Top Girls contains complex and abstract political ideas embodied in characters, which makes the two main characters representatives of two different views on feminism. Understanding these characters’ feelings and backgrounds can make it easier for pupils to understand where these political ideas come from, and socio-economic background could affect ideological beliefs. Top Girls explores how class, social background, financial status are factors affecting the characters’
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political interests, and reflects the social situation for many in Britain at that time. Churchill gives life to these two perspectives in Marlene and Joyce.
This research area could be further explored by finding concrete methods to using drama in the EFL classroom. Observations of EFL classrooms where drama is used could be helpful in finding techniques and possible limitations of reading drama. Another interesting aspect is the physical drama, and how EFL teachers in upper secondary school could work with drama in its original on-stage form. This could be done in order to find the most effective way of working with drama, and possible challenges with both ways of working. Top Girls, as well as many other classic plays, has been adapted into movies. Examining and comparing ways of working with drama, whether it is on-stage, in printed form, or by watching a movie, could help finding motivating and engaging ways of working with the genre. To conclude, shifting the research focus from the written text to how the text could be worked with practically in the classroom would be interesting.
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