Abstract:

Speaking is one of the four basic skills, which mother tongue teaching is expected to build up. The enhancement[1]of their speaking skills is important for the mother tongue teacher candidates, who are expected to enhance this skill. In this study this has been the starting point; the effect of drama method on verbal expression class, which was attended by mother tongue teacher candidates, was inquired. Mother tongue teacher candidates’ perception of their self-sufficiency in speaking and their attitude towards speaking have constituted the fundamental point of the research in order to identify the effect of creative drama method on the skill of verbal expression. Mixed method, in which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, was used for the research. Explanatory sequential pattern was used in the research in order to bring an explanation to quantitative results. The study group of the research consisted of 90 students, who attended 1st Grade Verbal Expression class of Turkish Language Teaching Department of Dokuz Eylül University, Buca Faculty of Education, at the spring term of 2017-2018 academic year. Experimental and control groups had 45 students each. Attitude scale towards speaking and self-sufficiency were applied to students of both groups at the quantitative dimension of the research, both pre and post implementation. The covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was carried out in order to enable the analysis of differences between the groups via statistical methods, as per dependant variations. Arithmetic average, standard deviation and percent values were included as descriptive statistics. Semi-structured interview form was used for the qualitative aspect of the research. Acquired data was resolved via content analysis. As per the comparative analysis of quantitative findings, it was seen that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group with regards to their attitude toward verbal expression and their perception of self-sufficiency in speaking. Quantitative findings were supportive of the qualitative ones. Teacher candidates made statements that their perceptions of self-sufficiency in speaking and their attitudes toward speaking were enhanced in drama-based classes.

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