Mantle of the Expert in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning: an Educational Challenge for Students’ Language Skills Development

Abstract

Prior studies in the educational field have highlighted the effectiveness of the didactic use of drama inquiry based teaching approaches, such as Mantle of the Expert (MoE), in school settings. However, there is little research evidence as regards the didactic use of the specific approach in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. As a result, the present paper examines the didactic use of the dramatic inquiry teaching approach of MoE in EFL learning with state primary school students in Greece. The study aims at exploring the use of MoE in EFL learning for the development of students’ language skills in a manner compatible with the Integrated Foreign Languages Curriculum (IFLC) as well as the CEFR A1-A2 communicative adequacy descriptors of the Council of Europe six-level language proficiency scale. In order to accomplish the purpose of the study, a six teaching hours action-research was implemented on 5th grade EFL state primary school students aged 10-11. A qualitative research approach through Content Analysis was implemented on the collected research data, from which very significant evidence was collected concerning the development of students’ language skills in English. Research data provide strong indications that MoE constitutes an effective approach to learning English as a foreign language in primary education. Having proved MoE as a dynamic supplement to the mainstream teaching practice through this action research, the researcher suggests conducting the study to other age groups of both primary and secondary education as well as to more school contexts in other geographic areas.

Keywords

• English as a Foreign Language
• Mantle of the Expert
• Action Research

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