Abstract:

Text comprehension and text production skills have a key role to play in the conscious interpretation and reception of literary works. Dramatic elements and activities in the process of teaching literature can help develop these skills. Apart from giving and renewing shared experiences, drama pedagogy can, as an art pedagogical movement, also be regarded as a comprehensive and very efficient method for developing text comprehension and text production skills, which can be successfully applied at different levels of literature teaching. The descriptive research focused on the description of the effective use of constructivist teaching and learning methods and in particular of the methodological techniques of drama pedagogy in public education and higher education. The research ‘Drama Pedagogy for Public Education and Higher Education’ started from the assumption that the use of theatrical formal language and different types of games in teaching literature contributes greatly to the development of cognitive thinking, learning and problem-solving skills of learners in public schools and to the acquisition of transversal competences in teacher education. Study programmes at the Faculty of Central European Studies of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra support the acquisition and improvement of the above-mentioned skills and competences. Teachers at our university have always given a prominent role to the effective use of drama and game-based pedagogy strategies. The aim of the university courses ‘Dramatization and Drama Games’ and ‘Drama in Education’ is also to develop learners’ skills and competences. This paper sets out to give insight—through the processing of contemporary Hungarian short stories—into the use of drama techniques for the teaching of literature and the history of literature to students of the study programme ‘Teacher Education in Hungarian Language and Literature in a double major’. The paper shows that drama-based activities not only help feel affection for characters in literary works and later recall the plot but also contribute to the understanding of characters’ actions, intents, motives and views expressed and implied.

Keywords:

drama pedagogy, text comprehension, text production skills, public education, higher education, constructivist pedagogy