Category: Resident Ensemble Players
ELI Students Learn English Through Drama
March 05, 2026 Written by Kaitlyn Diehl
Being able to read a new language is hard, but having the courage to speak it can be even harder. At UD's English Language Institute (ELI), students can take a theater class that strengthens their oral English skills in a fun and creative way.
Trial by fire
In the advanced listening and speaking class English Through Drama, students explore the use of language through plays and film as well as gain confidence in spoken English through performance and discussion.
“It's one of my favorite classes to teach because students have to use the language very quickly in a performative fashion, and I think that that motivates them to learn it,” said instructor Phil Rice, assistant professor. “Memorization and improvisation are skills that will serve them well in the future.”
As their first assignment, students watch their favorite fairy tale movie adaptation–“Shrek” is a fan favorite. Next, the students practice mimicry by reenacting a 2-minute section of the movie, which they perform for the rest of the ELI.
“It's a confidence builder and a team builder,” said Rice. “I try to invite other classes to watch their performance. This session, my students were initially quite nervous because there were probably 50 other students in the room; however, they still did a great job and learned that you can overcome anxiety and nerves.”
Daiki Dujisaki, an ELI student from Japan, found that performing helped him communicate more effectively.
“I learned a lot of things. Not only grammatical expressions, but also the way to show my emotions by using my body,” he said.
The drama class also exposes students to idiomatic speech; while breaking down scripts, they often encounter figurative expressions rooted in culture.
“They know what ‘beat’ means, and they know what ‘bush’ means, but they don't know what ‘beat around the bush’ means,” said Rice. “The goal is to take language from an academic-only context, and show how it's used every day, increasing students’ fluency in how native speakers actually interact.”
Learning beyond the classroom
Rice incorporates experiential learning into the course. This winter, students attended a behind-the-scenes rehearsal of the comedy, “Art,” presented by the University’s professional acting company, the Resident Ensemble Players (REP). Seeing the show without the costuming or finished set gave the students a unique insight into the rehearsal process of a professional theater company.
REP Program Coordinator Amanda McGinty took the class on a private tour of UD’s Thompson Theater, where the REP puts on most of its shows. Students got to visit the control booth, from which lighting and sound technicians run the shows, as well as the dressing rooms.
Rice also took students to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia to see a production of “Beauty and the Beast.”
“A lot of students said they had never been to a musical before,” said Rice. “They enjoyed many aspects of the theater, including the architecture.”
The impact of drama
Despite initial fears of performing in front of others, students have a lot of fun. They play drama warm-up games, learn new English idioms, improve memorization and improvisation skills, learn about American culture and ultimately, walk away with a newfound courage to use English.
“Students usually say, ‘I was nervous about speaking in English. I was nervous about standing in front of people, and now I feel much more confident,’” Rice said.
