AI Insight
This qualitative study examined how poetry and drama-based instruction affected the psychological experiences of 24 adolescent EFL learners and 6 teachers in exam-focused secondary schools. Through focus groups and interviews analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis, researchers identified three key themes: these creative practices reduced anxiety while increasing enjoyment, enhanced speaking confidence and self-expression, and promoted meaningful engagement despite being constrained by institutional testing pressures. The findings suggest that poetry and drama create psychologically supportive spaces where students experience English as a medium for personal expression and identity exploration, not merely an academic subject.
Why it matters
The research provides evidence that integrating creative practices like poetry and drama into language classrooms can support students' emotional well-being and confidence even in high-pressure, exam-oriented educational contexts. These findings offer practical guidance for educators seeking to balance academic requirements with learners' psychological needs and personal development.
Recent research in second language acquisition has increasingly emphasized the psychological dimensions of language learning, particularly emotion, confidence, engagement, and learner identity. Within this context, poetry and drama-based instruction has been identified as a potentially meaningful pedagogical approach. However, adolescent learners’ psychological experiences of these practices remain underexplored, particularly in exam-oriented secondary school settings where creative language activities are often marginalized. Addressing this gap, the present qualitative study explored how adolescent learners and teachers experienced the psychological dimensions of poetry and drama-based instruction in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms. The study involved 24 final-year secondary school students aged 16–18 and six EFL teachers from two secondary schools. Data were collected through Arabic-language focus group interviews with students and semi-structured individual interviews with teachers. The data were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis, informed by perspectives from positive psychology in second language acquisition and sociocultural theory. The findings revealed three interrelated themes: (1) poetry and drama as emotionally supportive practices that reduced anxiety and fostered enjoyment, (2) enhanced speaking confidence and opportunities for self-expression and learner voice, and (3) meaningful engagement shaped by both individual learner differences and institutional constraints associated with exam-oriented schooling. The findings suggest that poetry and drama can function as psychologically meaningful pedagogical spaces in which adolescent learners experience English not only as an academic subject, but also as a medium for expression, interaction, and identity exploration. At the same time, the study highlights how the psychological benefits of creative language practices remain shaped by broader institutional pressures and classroom realities. The study contributes to research on positive psychology in SLA by offering a qualitative account of how emotionally supportive and expressive classroom practices are experienced within a high-stakes EFL context. Pedagogically, the findings underscore the potential value of integrating creative practices into secondary EFL classrooms in ways that support learners’ emotional engagement, confidence, and sense of voice.
Source: Exploring the psychological dimensions of poetry- and drama-based instruction in EFL learning