Am I stupid??

Am I stupid? How come I failed to smell "any" rat and spot the murderers twice( today & Monday class)? Is that because too many characters are involved in each play, which makes both criminal cases complicated, or is it simply the matter of my logic inadequacy? Anyway, it's intriguing and fun!

As I indulged myself with the chance of being someone else, I discovered that I spoke more English, and what's even better, I didn't pay much attention to the form as I used to, thinking only about how to perform my part well. According to the assigned articles, role-playing, interactive dramas, or whodunits, can serve well as useful language learning activities which stimulate realistic conversation and effective communication. After experiencing them myself, I really can't wait to test them out in my EFL classrooms.

However, while I was busying playing my role, I noticed that it's really difficult to remain clear-headed so as to solve a criminal case when I have to play my part in a foreign language. Somehow, my brain doesn't function well when asked to process two types of information that I'm not specially good at--inference and foreign-language production. So, I rather agree with Abdullan I. Al-Saadat and Elhami A. Afifi's idea which suggests EFL teachers to start with situations from the first language cultural context and lead gradually to English language situations. And most important of all, EFL teachers should constantly emphasize, "You can do it, class."

We all want to capture our students' interest and attention, and we all hope to develop their communicative linguistic skills, so, as we design our curriculums with Improvisational Language Structure (ILS) and Guided Imagery in mind, don't forget such power activities as Whodunits!!