Dramatic returns! Creating a return to work Medical Readers’ Theatre

Background Previous work on sickness absence has shown that conversations about return to work can be challenging. The perception of competing interests and multiple stakeholders in the return to work process may also complicate and erode trust, further impacting health and well-being. Aims This study aims to explore the themes arising from the experiences of physicians and patients on the impact of health and return to work. The goal was to use these results to develop a Medical Readers’ Theatre workshop focusing on negotiating challenging return to work scenarios to serve as an educational support for stakeholders. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 physicians and 15 patients from the Canadian Maritime Provinces on their experiences in return to work following an injury or illness. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Using the emergent themes, an educational workshop in the modality of Readers’ Theatre was developed. Results The findings confirm there are multiple stakeholders involved in the return to work process and the factors influencing successful return are not always medically related. Six recurring themes were identified for the patient group and five for the physicians’, allowing the development of storylines and four return to work scenarios. The scenarios have been used in teaching sessions. Conclusions The themes reinforced that challenges in return to work are not always medical in nature. This Readers’ Theatre adopts perspectives of patients, physicians and other stakeholders whilst focusing on return to work with the goal of providing engagement in reflective and purposeful discussion.

Exploring the Effectiveness of Audacity Readers’ Theatre in Increasing Reading Motivation and Fluency Among Lower Primary ESL Learners

Being constantly motivated and capable to read fluently is one of the crucial aspects that should be acquired by an individual. This receptive skill is necessary in order to be able to decode written information and symbols of a language. The inability to read fluently imposes great threats to individuals as it may affect decoding skills and literacy. Low motivation and dysfluency in reading are regarded as the most blatant issues faced by learners in reading. This case study aimed to explore the effectiveness of Audacity Readers’ Theatre in increasing Year 2 pupils’ motivation and fluency in reading. The three Year 2 pupils were purposively selected due to their inability to read fluently and lack of motivation in reading. The main instrument used was the observation checklist where the lessons were observed and recorded by two observers. The pupils were interviewed to find out how Audacity Readers’ Theatre motivated and helped them to read more fluently. The researcher wrote journals after the lessons to keep a record on pupils’ behaviour and improvement throughout the lessons. Thus, the data from the semi structured interview and journal were used to triangulate the data from the observation checklist. The data which was analysed using thematic analysis illuminated on how Audacity Readers’ Theatre aided the pupils in heightening their motivation level and reading more fluently. The findings of the study revealed the necessity of incorporating Audacity Readers’ Theatre in the primary ESL classrooms to remedy problems of low motivation and dysfluency in reading.

Beyond Classroom English Activities to Generate Interest in English Among Tertiary Students

In this article, we present a study aimed to explore the attitude, interest and perception of students learning English language beyond the classroom using a list of activities such as Readers Theatre, Storyboard, Academic Explorace, Spell it right and Melodies of Pilah. A survey was conducted involving 466 students from different faculties who were taking English proficiency courses at diploma and degree levels at a local university. The findings indicate that both male and female students had a positive degree of interest and attitude toward the English activities carried out beyond the classroom. The popular activities were Readers Theatre and Melodies of Pilah (group singing). The study also indicated that students preferred group activities compared to individual activities. Based on the findings, it is recommended that students should be allowed to explore English materials independently beyond classrooms where language learning takes place implicitly. The study found that the success of English learning activities carried out beyond the confines of the classroom can generate interest among students to learn the language. The success of English activities carried out beyond classrooms can be assessed by students’ ability to complete the task assigned (the end-product) rather than the processes involved in completing the task. Keywords: language learning, beyond-the-classroom, out-of-class