Students are then invited to think of ways in which they might possibly be able to incorporate the vocabulary from the new field into their dramas, and to write the sketch bearing these words in mind. The best way to approach this is to mix up different fields together and allocate a selection to different groups. The group, which previously had seemed a bit tense, always battling against what the course was making them do, before my eyes, became a sensitive, intelligent and thinking group of young individuals. Everybody relaxed into the work. This is because Image Theatre is a wonderful technique, which allows students to create work without words, bypassing language and going straight for what they really feel.
Students are proactive and creative and working together in a way they never have before.
Several sessions later, I asked the students to recall the lexis they had used during their scenes. After creating all of these new techniques, or rather putting some quite old ones together in a different way, I felt that we, as a group had really achieved something. We had developed a much better group dynamic. The class had actually taken an active interest in what was on the programme. I felt that, in addition to this, people's speaking, pronunciation and overall fluency had improved too, particularly amongst those learners who had previously been extremely reticent to speak.