The Use of Improvisation and Mapping To Teach a Dramatic Text.

A practicum was developed which used improvisation and mapping strategies in the teaching of Shakespearean drama to increase comprehension and to develop a more positive attitude toward Shakespeare and drama in general. Subjects were a target group of 15 students enrolled in a ninth grade English class at a preparatory institution. Subjects, who first responded to an attitude survey about studying Shakespeare and took a pre-unit test, were involved in a 10-week unit on the "Merchant of Venice" in which the teaching technique was script-based improvisation with the added component of mapping. Subjects were given a post unit achievement and attitude test on the material studied. Data were also collected from three English teachers, who were asked to respond to a survey investigating methods and results associated with the teaching of the dramatic text. Results revealed increased levels of achievement in test scores for recall, comprehension, and inferences. Also evident were significant differences in attitudes toward the study of Shakespearean drama. Results suggest that the teaching method was an effective solution strategy to correct attitudinal and comprehension problems. (Four tables of data are included; 18 references and 7 appendixes containing the surveys, the pre/post achievement and attitude tests, and improvisation class materials are attached.) (KEH)