# data[].attributes.body
A collection of ready-to-use interactive whiteboard activities suitable for primary school students. These activities focus on mathematics and science concepts, making learning more engaging through technology.

# data[].attributes.body
Comprehensive guide to recommended educational apps that support student learning across different subjects. Includes both free and paid options with detailed reviews from Macao teachers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We’ve picked out the 12 best apps for education - so you’re prepared for anything your class can throw at you. This means you can keep parents in the loop, share material, plan lessons and take attendance all on your iPad or tablet.

# data[].attributes.body
Customizable templates for creating engaging project-based learning activities. Includes assessment rubrics and student reflection forms adapted for Macao's educational context.

# data[].attributes.body
Creative STEAM activities that integrate local Macao culture and heritage. Perfect for cross-curricular learning and promoting innovative thinking.

# data[].attributes.body
Collection of effective formative assessment techniques that can be easily implemented in both online and face-to-face classes. Includes exit tickets and peer assessment tools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Five Formative Assessment Strategies - An overview

# data[].attributes.body
Step-by-step guide for implementing digital portfolios in your classroom. Includes examples and best practices from successful implementations in Macao schools.

# data[].attributes.body
Educational activities that incorporate Macao's rich cultural heritage into various subjects. Includes virtual field trips to historical sites and cultural exploration activities.

# data[].attributes.body
Resources for supporting multilingual education in Chinese, Portuguese, and English. Includes language learning activities and cultural exchange projects.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Multilingual Learning Toolkit is an online hub for research-based key principles, instructional strategies, and associated, free, practical, and easy-to-use resources that are geared towards educators who teach PreK-3rd Multilingual Learners. As the resource library continues to grow, make sure you stay connected for the latest updates by filling out the short sign-up form at the bottom of the page.
Learn about the project >

Learn about the best way to use this site

To enhance your experience, we recommend you start with learning how to use the Multilingual Learning Toolkit.
Visit how to use this site >

Learn about the best way to use this site

To enhance your experience, we recommend you start with learning how to use the Multilingual Learning Toolkit.
Visit how to use this site >

Excited to explore, but unsure where to begin?

The User Guides are designed to support teachers, administrators and professional development (PD) providers, and teacher education faculty to find a helpful place to start using the Multilingual Learning Toolkit! The guides offer a reflection tool to support educators to identify priorities for their own learning, plus activities and protocols forexploring the resources in the site.

For Administrators
and PD Providers

For Teacher
Education Faculty

Watch this video to learn more about the Multilingual Learning Toolkit website!

Starter Guide

Foundational Principles

Instructional Strategies

Best practices + resources

A collaborative effort among organizations and individual experts

A collaborative effort among organizations and individual experts

The Multilingual Learning Toolkit is the result of the partnership between a diverse group of stakeholders, maximizing the expertise of local and national practitioners, researchers, and advocates who are champions for Multilingual Learners (MLs). The guide serves as an introduction to supporting young MLs in PreK-3rd Grade, sharing the foundational principles and evidence-based strategies for instruction that are critical for educators to know.
Explore the Starter Guide >

Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages

Key foundational principles for educators working with Multilingual Learners
Learn about Foundational Principles >

"I appreciate the ML Toolkit Overview as a teacher."

"What an amazing job of putting strategies, resources, and information together which will be an essential tool for children, parents, and teachers! Thank you."

"This really helps with new ideas. It's easy to get stuck on what you already do."

"I think that the Toolkit is very well written and is a very easy read as a teacher."

Support the diverse linguistic and cultural assets of children
Learn how to use this site >

Stay connected! Sign up to receive notifications about new resources and blog posts.

Please tell us a little about yourself to help us tailor our content and continue to improve this website:

By signing up you agree to receive occasional communications from the Multilingual Learning Toolkit. You can unsubscribe at any time.

We respect your right to privacy.
Please review our Privacy Policy

Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Welcome to the Multilingual Learning Toolkit!

We want you to get the most out of using this website. To learn all about the great content available, and how to navigate the Toolkit, please visit our How to use this site page.
GO TO HOW USE THIS SITE

X

Please complete your user profile.

x

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Multilingual Learning Toolkit * Dual Language * Multilingualism

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Promoting the benefits of multilingualism and providing resources supporting Pre-K through 3rd grade multilingual children and teachers.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
学校戏剧手册
戏剧手册共有文章三十多篇，由教师、校长、教育工作者、戏剧界知名人士及艺术工作者负责撰写。手册的内容包罗甚广。有由经验教师及校长提出他们在学校组织戏剧活动所遇到的困难，与及解决这些困难的办法，同时亦提到在学校推行戏剧活动的实践经验。亦有由戏剧工作者对戏剧经验的分享，包括戏剧的编、导、演的介绍，提供推行戏剧活动的技术。亦有提供戏剧的创意，引导老师如何在学校提升戏剧的设计及创意，指导欣赏戏剧的技巧。此外有关戏剧重要的资料，例如道具的运用、器材及服装的租借，亦有提供。

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
VAPA Virtual Resources - Theatre Resources

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A Playful and Serious Method For Educators Worldwide

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Toolkit – EU version – MINOSIA LABYRINTH

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The following links will provide you access to the full toolkit of Minosia Labyrinth in the European version. For other regional/country version toolkits please choose another language of the website. Minosia Labyrinth is a open source toolkit published under CC license. It is free to use and open for further developments and cooperation. The toolkits contains hundreds of document files. Due to the fact, that facilitators of the game will often need specific documents for their facilitation and that documents will need improvement, supplement and adaptations with the time the files are presented in a drive-structure. You will find all document in fixed formats like pdf and jpg so that you will get the same results when you print them. The Print format for almost all documents is set to DIN A4 in order to make printing easy and cheap available. When you click on the following links a drive-page will open and you can browser through the documents-structure. The data is sorted by the country versions and the different editions of the game.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All volumes of Game Wrap are available for free online reading, free download as PDF, and
for purchase in hardcopy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Educational Foundation Nausika | Fundacja Edukacyjna Nausika

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Reservoir | Educational Foundation Nausika

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
THE RESERVOIR OUTDOOR GAME ABOUT WATER SCARCITY10-30 players | age 13+ | 1-3 hours This outdoor eduLARP game invites players into a post-apocalyptic world shaped by climate change and water scarcity. As members of rival tribes, players must strategize for survival, develop non-verbal communication, and navigate tribal politics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Games can introduce goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, narrative, and fun learning environments, elements that can increase learner engagement and sustain motivation. This teaching tip discusses the difference between gamification and game-based learning, the pedagogical values these two strategies can bring to instruction, and game elements appropriate for face-to-face and online courses.

Gamification vs. game-based learning

Gamification and game-based learning are similar in that both strategies promote engagement and sustained motivation in learning. However, gamification and game-based learning can also be usefully distinguished:

Gamification is the integration of game elements like point systems, leaderboards, badges, or other elements related to games into "conventional" learning activities in order to increase engagement and motivation. For example, an online discussion forum for a Physics course might be gamified via a badge system: students might be awarded a "Ptolemy" badge after they have made 10 postings, a "Galileo" badge after 20 postings, "Kepler" after 30, "Einstein" after 40, and so on. In ideal gamified learning environments, students can see the online badges that their peers have earned to create a sense of comradery or competition.

Game-based learning, in contrast, involves designing learning activities so that game characteristics and game principles inhere within the learning activities themselves. For example, in an Economics course, students might compete in a virtual stock-trading competition; in a Political Science course, students might role-play as they engage in mock negotiations involving a labour dispute.

In short, gamification applies game elements or a game framework to existing learning activities; game-based learning designs learning activities that are intrinsically game-like.

Gamification and game-based learning both promote engagement and sustained motivation in learning, but they do not necessarily result in improved learning outcomes. For a detailed explanation between these two approaches, and for helpful videos and other resources, consider looking at GOBLIN (Games Offer Bold Learning Insights Nowadays) Education.

Game elements and their pedagogical role

Most games feature elements such as rules, goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, story, and fun (see Vandercruysse, Vandewaetere, & Clarebout, 2012). Though not all of the elements are needed to successfully gamify a learning activity, carefully selecting those elements that help meet the learning objectives of the course can be useful. The pedagogical value of game features often associated with gamification are discussed below.

Points or experience systems

Similar to conventional grading schemes, game points or experience (XP) systems reward students for completing various tasks, assignments, or assessments. Game or XP points can introduce some useful affordances to learning environments, including:

Limitless points:whereas traditional grading schemes collect artifacts of learning which accumulate to 100% of a course's grade, points or XP systems accumulate points with no fixed end in sight.

Flexible goals: students are presented with a wealth of possibilities to earn points, and instructors can structure the course so that they either accumulate as many as they want, or they complete a certain number of tasks to reach a desired point total.

Student choice: choice is crucial to the success of a points-based system. For example, students might be able to earn points by focusing on reflection activities, or by opting to complete a number of tests, or any other activity relevant to the course.

Tracking: you can track points by using LEARN's gradebook feature with points instead of percentages, or Google Drive to share the results with the entire class.

Points can also be supplemented by academic rewards: when a certain point threshold is reached, a student might be given an extra week to submit an assignment or bonus questions on the next test.

Badges

Badges are a digital way to acknowledge student work. For example, students might receive a badge if they achieve certain levels of success on assignments, or if they do additional work, such as submitting a draft or sharing notes with another student. They may even be the result of simple participation: accessing the course through the LMS five times a week over the course of a semester could earn a badge. Student badges may be displayed to other learners in the class as a means to encourage competition or to demonstrate the variety of badges which can be earned.

Create your own badges for your course with free programs such as Credly or OpenBadges.

Leaderboards

Competition can motivate students and can be leveraged by leaderboards that showcase the distribution of point totals that students have accumulated through various learning activities. However, caution must be taken when constructing leaderboards because displaying all students in order of point totals can be a disincentive for students at the bottom (Farzen, DiMicco, Millen, Dugan, Geyer & Brownholtz, 2008; Landers & Landers, 2015). Consider using a system in which students see only the two students who are directly above them and below them, in order to foster a healthy sense of competition without discouraging students who are performing poorly.

For examples as to how to create a leaderboard, see How to Create a Leaderboard for eLearning with Google.

Online gamification strategies

Discussion boards

Students may be incentivized to discuss readings before or immediately after class by making them optional but allotting XP points for each post or reply to another post. Points earned could go towards additional help on an assignment (such as allowing a draft to be reviewed first, or having an automatic extension granted), or to completely bypassing an assignment (if the student reaches a certain number of points, they no longer have to complete a specific assignment in the course). You can also facilitate real-time discussions using tools like Padlet or Todaysmeet, each of which allow students to make anonymous contributions.

Quizzes

Rather than presenting a set of seemingly unrelated questions, consider creating a narrative or quest that draws learners in and helps them see the consequence of their responses. Think of your quiz as an interactive narrative: each question leads into the next, and may build upon previous answers, all the while being part of a larger narrative or story that compels the learner to remain engaged. You may even include hints that the learner can choose to use or not. Be cautious of making these high-stakes assessments - the game-like features of the task will be mitigated and potentially impaired should learners be focused too much on the grade attached. An alternative method is to have students complete a quiz in the online environment, and then come to class, form groups, and complete the same quiz, but now try to convince one another of the correct answer. This can be facilitated through Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) cards too.

In-class gamification strategies

Jeopardy

Creating Jeopardy-style games for review of chapters or in preparation for a midterm can provide enjoyment and interaction with others in a familiar game structure. Create a game using PowerPoint, or use a free Jeopardy game creator like Instant Jeopardy Review.

Classroom response systems

Gathering responses from an entire class can be difficult, but doing so with classroom response systems like Kahoot or TopHat can encourage participation through game elements like points and competition between individuals.

Out-of-class gamification strategies

Game-based learning environments

These include any game designed for educational purposes such as Trivia Crack. As an instructor, you can make learners aware of these educational games, but the game itself acts as the educator.

Game-enhanced learning environments

These environments employ commercially-available games that are designed with entertainment in mind. Learners play these games for fun, and must then be provided or find means by which to discuss gameplay experiences with like-minded individuals. As an instructor, your role can be to provide or invite examples of games that are related to the discipline, and importantly, provide the space for learners to reflect on their gameplay. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games like World of Warcraft or Second Life are great for immersing language learners in another language, or games like SimCity can help understand economic principles.

Some final notes

Incorporating games, gamification, or game-based learning into your teaching doesn't require a monumental shift in your teaching. Many activities or active learning strategies that you already use likely contain some of the game elements listed above and, with some modifications, can be modified into even more effective learning tools. At the same time, gamification and game-based learning should not be implemented in a cavalier manner, but should be thoughtfully integrated into a course.

Some gamification and game-based learning tools

Duolingo - gamifying language learning by having students complete drill-and-kill grammar and vocabulary exercises while receiving experience points to gain levels and access more difficult exercises

Minecraft - a vernacular game that has been adapted for learning environments by giving students a sandbox to build and construct their own virtual worlds

Second Life - a virtual world where students can create their own avatar and embody a 3D space, which can in turn promote easier communication through text and reduce anxiety to speak

Coursera - a platform that provides free educational courses for anyone who is interested, but to promote interactivity and retention, badges and other reward systems are implemented for participants

Brainscape - improved flashcards that promote retention of knowledge using what they call "confidence-based repetition", designed to be more appealing and fun to use to also assist in retention

Kahoot - a classroom response system that is free to use and doesn't require student sign-up; simply create a game of Kahoot, enter in questions, and supply the provided pin to your students, who will then use their phones or laptops to play the game and answer questions

Credly - an open-source badge making tool to create badges for tasks in your course, with the ability as well to distribute badges to students as well

OpenBadges - another open-source badge making tool, like Credly, but is more complex to create badges with

Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) - the IF-AT provides immediate feedback to learners on multiple choice questions by having a card that learners scratch to determine the correct answer; allows for collaboration when answering questions and provides a sense of excitement when scratching the card

TopHat - a classroom response system, like Kahoot, that allows students to provide responses to questions in the class anonymously; unlike Kahoot, this has a fee associated with it, but it allows for better integration in the LMS for grading purposes, and has a tournament mode to encourage competition in-class

Support

If you would like support applying these tips to your own teaching, CTE staff members are here to help. View the CTE Support page to find the most relevant staff member to contact.

References

Farzan, R., DiMicco, J. M., Millen, D. R., Dugan, C., Geyer, W., and Brownholtz, E. A. (2008). Results from deploying a participation incentive mechanism within the enterprise. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, 563-572.

Landers, R. N., & Landers, A. K. (2015). An empirical test of the theory of gamified learning the effect of leaderboards on time-on-task and academic performance. Simulation & Gaming, 45(6), 769-785.

Vandercruysse, S., Vandewaetere, M., & Clarebout, G. (2012). Game-based learning: A review on the effectiveness of educational games. In M. M. Cruz-Cunha (Ed.), Handbook of research on serious games as educational, business, and research tools (pp. 628-647). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Resources

CTE teaching tips

CTE blog

Other resources

This Creative Commons license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Gamification and game-based learning. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.

This Creative Commons license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon our work non-commercially, as long as they credit us and indicate if changes were made. Use this citation format: Gamification and game-based learning. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Gamification and Game-Based Learning | Centre for Teaching Excellence

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Games can introduce goals, interaction, feedback, problem solving, competition, narrative, and fun learning environments,

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Use games to enhance student learning and promote critical thinking.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resources in Learning Through Games and Simulations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gaming resources, journals and conferences for more information about learning through games and simulations.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Shape the future of a new society with ethical decision making. Play Quandary, a free educational online game to get kids motivated and excited to learn.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resources in Learning Through Games and Simulations

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gaming resources, journals and conferences for more information about learning through games and simulations.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Results – O4 – PROJECT GAME BASED LEARNING FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
GAME BASED LEARNING FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
News

After 'playing' that game over two years, challenging different tasks like defining main concepts and principles of the CLIL methodology, linking the principles to the... read more

View all News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After 'playing' that game over two years, challenging different tasks like defining main concepts and principles of the CLIL methodology, linking the principles to the... read more View all News

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TeachingEnglish podcast: How can we use play to teach English?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Series 3, episode 6: How can we use play to teach English? In this episode, we ask the question: How can we use play to teach English? First up this week, Chris talks about how he has used play in his teaching, and introduces We’am to a game from his childhood days. Then they talk to Elly Setterfield, a young learner ELT specialist. Elly discusses The Lego Foundation’s definition of play and how it can be incorporated into English language teaching. Next, Chris and We’am interview Wei Mao, a PhD researcher on play in ELT.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Formative | Questions & Hints Powered by ChatGPT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Take a look at our brand new features powered by Formative AI. Generate questions, assignments, hints and more with a single prompt today!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resource Training & Solutions Registration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The deadline for registering for this event has passed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
VIDEO News
Incredible video footage shows a new island bubbling up from the depths of the Pacific Ocean during a volcanic eruption off the coast of Japan

Health
Young people drive greater public awareness about the dangers of teen vaping as the government moves to ban imported disposables

EXPLAINER News
Sudden, shocking events in faraway places can be pretty confusing and scary - but it helps to know what is going on, how it started and what the UN and world leaders are doing to respond

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
© LSTT - An interTEN production Privacy Policy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Purdue Repository for online Teaching and L earning (PoRTAL) digital repository is the go-to resource for anyone interested in online teaching and learning. Are you thinking about moving your courses to an online format? Are you already teaching online and looking for additional ways to engage your students? PoRTAL can help you improve your knowledge and skills as you seek to develop your online courses. Topics include: instructor strategies, course enhancement, pedagogy, active learning, sample tools, and policies to help make your job easier as an online instructor and your courses more engaging for your students.

As you browse through PoRTAL you will discover that each document is complete with an overview of the topic, an outline of evidence-based best practices (as applicable), and tips and tricks for implementing the ideas. We trust PoRTAL will be a powerful resource for you as you continue growing and developing your skills as an online instructor. Please check back regularly as we add more resources to the repository.
Categories on this page:
Continue to learn more about PoRTAL2"

Strategies for Online Teaching and Learning

Getting Started...Thinking about Your Course Design

Upping your Game

Policies & Procedures

Purdue University welcomes your feedback and hopes you will take some time to answer a brief 2 minute survey about PoRTAL.

The development of PoRTAL involves partners from across Purdue University: Teaching and Learning Technologies, Center for Instructional Excellence, Purdue Online, Purdue Libraries, and the academic program Learning Design and Technology (College of Education), essentially bringing together specialists and their knowledge of online teaching and learning into a single location.

For additional assistance for K-12, please visit the GEERs K-12 Project

For questions, comments, or feedback contact the project team at: portal@purdue.edu

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Purdue Repository for online Teaching and Learning The Purdue Repository for online Teaching and Learning (PoRTAL) digital repository is the go-to resource for anyone interested in online teaching and learning. Are you thinking about moving your courses to an online format? Are you already teaching

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
The Writing Center * University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What this handout is about

This handout identifies common questions about drama, describes the elements of drama that are most often discussed in theater classes, provides a few strategies for planning and writing an effective drama paper, and identifies various resources for research in theater history and dramatic criticism. We'll give special attention to writing about productions and performances of plays.

What is drama? And how do you write about it?

When we describe a situation or a person's behavior as "dramatic," we usually mean that it is intense, exciting (or excited), striking, or vivid. The works of drama that we study in a classroom share those elements. For example, if you are watching a play in a theatre, feelings of tension and anticipation often arise because you are wondering what will happen between the characters on stage. Will they shoot each other? Will they finally confess their undying love for one another? When you are reading a play, you may have similar questions. Will Oedipus figure out that he was the one who caused the plague by killing his father and sleeping with his mother? Will Hamlet successfully avenge his father's murder?

For instructors in academic departments-whether their classes are about theatrical literature, theater history, performance studies, acting, or the technical aspects of a production-writing about drama often means explaining what makes the plays we watch or read so exciting. Of course, one particular production of a play may not be as exciting as it's supposed to be. In fact, it may not be exciting at all. Writing about drama can also involve figuring out why and how a production went wrong.

What's the difference between plays, productions, and performances?

Talking about plays, productions, and performances can be difficult, especially since there's so much overlap in the uses of these terms. Although there are some exceptions, usually plays are what's on the written page. A production of a play is a series of performances, each of which may have its own idiosyncratic features. For example, one production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night might set the play in 1940's Manhattan, and another might set the play on an Alpaca farm in New Zealand. Furthermore, in a particular performance (say, Tuesday night) of that production, the actor playing Malvolio might get fed up with playing the role as an Alpaca herder, shout about the indignity of the whole thing, curse Shakespeare for ever writing the play, and stomp off the stage. See how that works?

Be aware that the above terms are sometimes used interchangeably-but the overlapping elements of each are often the most exciting things to talk about. For example, a series of particularly bad performances might distract from excellent production values: If the actor playing Falstaff repeatedly trips over a lance and falls off the stage, the audience may not notice the spectacular set design behind him. In the same way, a particularly dynamic and inventive script (play) may so bedazzle an audience that they never notice the inept lighting scheme.

A few analyzable elements of plays

Plays have many different elements or aspects, which means that you should have lots of different options for focusing your analysis. Playwrights-writers of plays-are called "wrights" because this word means "builder." Just as shipwrights build ships, playwrights build plays. A playwright's raw materials are words, but to create a successful play, he or she must also think about the performance-about what will be happening on stage with sets, sounds, actors, etc. To put it another way: the words of a play have their meanings within a larger context-the context of the production. When you watch or read a play, think about how all of the parts work (or could work) together.
For the play itself, some important contexts to consider are:

The time period in which the play was written

The playwright's biography and his/her other writing

Contemporaneous works of theater (plays written or produced by other artists at roughly the same time)

The language of the play

Setting

Plot

Themes

Characters

Depending on your assignment, you may want to focus on one of these elements exclusively or compare and contrast two or more of them. Keep in mind that any one of these elements may be more than enough for a dissertation, let alone a short reaction paper. Also remember that in most cases, your assignment will ask you to provide some kind of analysis, not simply a plot summary-so don't think that you can write a paper about A Doll's House that simply describes the events leading up to Nora's fateful decision.

Since a number of academic assignments ask you to pay attention to the language of the play and since it might be the most complicated thing to work with, it's worth looking at a few of the ways you might be asked to deal with it in more detail.

Language

There are countless ways that you can talk about how language works in a play, a production, or a particular performance. Given a choice, you should probably focus on words, phrases, lines, or scenes that really struck you, things that you still remember weeks after reading the play or seeing the performance. You'll have a much easier time writing about a bit of language that you feel strongly about (love it or hate it).

That said, here are two common ways to talk about how language works in a play:

How characters are constructed by their language

If you have a strong impression of a character, especially if you haven't seen that character depicted on stage, you probably remember one line or bit of dialogue that really captures who that character is. Playwrights often distinguish their characters with idiosyncratic or at least individualized manners of speaking. Take this example from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest:

ALGERNON: Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?
LANE: I didn't think it polite to listen, sir.
ALGERNON: I'm sorry for that, for your sake. I don't play accurately-anyone can play accurately-but I play with wonderful expression. As far as the piano is concerned, sentiment is my forte. I keep science for Life.
LANE: Yes, sir.
ALGERNON: And, speaking of the science of Life, have you got the cucumber sandwiches cut for Lady Bracknell?

This early moment in the play contributes enormously to what the audience thinks about the aristocratic Algernon and his servant, Lane. If you were to talk about language in this scene, you could discuss Lane's reserved replies: Are they funny? Do they indicate familiarity or sarcasm? How do you react to a servant who replies in that way? Or you could focus on Algernon's witty responses. Does Algernon really care what Lane thinks? Is he talking more to hear himself? What does that say about how the audience is supposed to see Algernon? Algernon's manner of speech is part of who his character is. If you are analyzing a particular performance, you might want to comment on the actor's delivery of these lines: Was his vocal inflection appropriate? Did it show something about the character?

How language contributes to scene and mood

Ancient, medieval, and Renaissance plays often use verbal tricks and nuances to convey the setting and time of the play because performers during these periods didn't have elaborate special-effects technology to create theatrical illusions. For example, most scenes from Shakespeare's Macbeth take place at night. The play was originally performed in an open-air theatre in the bright and sunny afternoon. How did Shakespeare communicate the fact that it was night-time in the play? Mainly by starting scenes like this:

BANQUO: How goes the night, boy?
FLEANCE: The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.
BANQUO: And she goes down at twelve.
FLEANCE: I take't, 'tis later, sir.
BANQUO: Hold, take my sword. There's husbandry in heaven; Their candles are all out. Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep: merciful powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose!

Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a torch

Give me my sword.
Who's there?

Characters entering with torches is a pretty big clue, as is having a character say, "It's night." Later in the play, the question, "Who's there?" recurs a number of times, establishing the illusion that the characters can't see each other. The sense of encroaching darkness and the general mysteriousness of night contributes to a number of other themes and motifs in the play.

Productions and performances

Productions
For productions as a whole, some important elements to consider are:

Venue: How big is the theatre? Is this a professional or amateur acting company? What kind of resources do they have? How does this affect the show?

Costumes: What is everyone wearing? Is it appropriate to the historical period? Modern? Trendy? Old-fashioned? Does it fit the character? What does his/her costume make you think about each character? How does this affect the show?

Set design: What does the set look like? Does it try to create a sense of "realism"? Does it set the play in a particular historical period? What impressions does the set create? Does the set change, and if so, when and why? How does this affect the show?

Lighting design: Are characters ever in the dark? Are there spotlights? Does light come through windows? From above? From below? Is any tinted or colored light projected? How does this affect the show?

"Idea" or "concept": Do the set and lighting designs seem to work together to produce a certain interpretation? Do costumes and other elements seem coordinated? How does this affect the show?

You've probably noticed that each of these ends with the question, "How does this affect the show?" That's because you should be connecting every detail that you analyze back to this question. If a particularly weird costume (like King Henry in scuba gear) suggests something about the character (King Henry has gone off the deep end, literally and figuratively), then you can ask yourself, "Does this add or detract from the show?" (King Henry having an interest in aquatic mammals may not have been what Shakespeare had in mind.)

Performances

For individual performances, you can analyze all the items considered above in light of how they might have been different the night before. For example, some important elements to consider are:

Individual acting performances: What did the actor playing the part bring to the performance? Was there anything particularly moving about the performance that night that surprised you, that you didn't imagine from reading the play beforehand (if you did so)?

Mishaps, flubs, and fire alarms: Did the actors mess up? Did the performance grind to a halt or did it continue?

Audience reactions: Was there applause? At inappropriate points? Did someone fall asleep and snore loudly in the second act? Did anyone cry? Did anyone walk out in utter outrage?

Response papers

Instructors in drama classes often want to know what you really think. Sometimes they'll give you very open-ended assignments, allowing you to choose your own topic; this freedom can have its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you may find it easier to express yourself without the pressure of specific guidelines or restrictions. On the other hand, it can be challenging to decide what to write about. The elements and topics listed above may provide you with a jumping-off point for more open-ended assignments. Once you've identified a possible area of interest, you can ask yourself questions to further develop your ideas about it and decide whether it might make for a good paper topic. For example, if you were especially interested in the lighting, how did the lighting make you feel? Nervous? Bored? Distracted? It's usually a good idea to be as specific as possible. You'll have a much more difficult time if you start out writing about "imagery" or "language" in a play than if you start by writing about that ridiculous face Helena made when she found out Lysander didn't love her anymore.
If you're really having trouble getting started, here's a three point plan for responding to a piece of theater-say, a performance you recently observed:

1. Make a list of five or six specific words, images, or moments that caught your attention while you were sitting in your seat.

2. Answer one of the following questions: Did any of the words, images, or moments you listed contribute to your enjoyment or loathing of the play? Did any of them seem to add to or detract from any overall theme that the play may have had? Did any of them make you think of something completely different and wholly irrelevant to the play? If so, what connection might there be?

3. Write a few sentences about how each of the items you picked out for the second question affected you and/or the play.

This list of ideas can help you begin to develop an analysis of the performance and your own reactions to it.

If you need to do research in the specialized field of performance studies (a branch of communication studies) or want to focus especially closely on poetic or powerful language in a play, see our handout on communication studies and handout on poetry explications. For additional tips on writing about plays as a form of literature, see our handout on writing about fiction.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout's topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Carter, Paul. 1994. The Backstage Handbook: An Illustrated Almanac of Technical Information, 3rd ed. Shelter Island, NY: Broadway Press.

Vandermeer, Philip. 2021. "A to Z Databases: Dramatic Art." Subject Research Guides, University of North Carolina. Last updated March 3, 2021. https://guides.lib.unc.edu/az.php?a=d&s=1113.

Worthen, William B. 2010. The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama, 6th ed. Boston: Cengage.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Make a Gift

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Drama - The Writing Center * University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What this handout is about This handout identifies common questions about drama, describes the elements of drama that are most often discussed in theater classes, provides a few strategies for planning and writing an effective drama paper, and identifies various ... Continued

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Welcome to ABLConnect, a searchable database of interactive lesson plans and assignments designed for and used in college and university classrooms. We hope this website will provide you with examples that will help you think about how to design your own activities and assignments. You can search activities by subject, activity type, and learning goal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We recently had a workshop on online pedagogy in MIT's program in Comparative Media Studies and Writing. The workshop shared thoughts on using Zoom and other tools for synchronous teaching, and some ideas on using asynchronous tools as well. While the workshop focused on MIT, we thought these materials might be useful to others as well.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Organisations and agencies who support UNESCO MGIEP’s work through implementation, visibility, support or intellectual contribution.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This website is to provide informations about principles and strategies of translanguaging education to educationists for teaching ethnolinguistic minority students who are emergent multilingual in the multilingual classroom where students from various home language backgrounds study together.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I think it is great tool for making the design thinking explicit and for others to pick up and run with. It also provides a 'run sheet' for the lesson which can be helpful if multiple activities and technology are used in one session.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I think it is great tool for making the design thinking explicit and for others to pick up and run with. It also provides a 'run sheet' for the lesson which can be helpful if multiple activities and technology are used in one session.