Difficulties Facing English Department Junior and Senior Students at the Islamic University of Gaza in Learning Drama

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying the main difficulties facing the junior and senior students studying English at the Islamic University of Gaza while learning drama. To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher applied a valid and reliable questionnaire which consists of 34 items divided into two domains: 1- difficulties related to the nature of drama 2- difficulties related to the in class and out of class environment. The sample of the study consisted of one hundred and thirty three students forming (39%) of the population of the study. These subjects were randomly selected to participate in the study. The population included both male and female students who enrolled in the course "English Literature in the 20th Century " in the second term (2006–2007). All the students were majoring in English language and literature. The data were tested by Pearson correlation, T-test independent sample, Spearman correlation, means and percentages, Alpha Cronbach andSplit-half. In the light of the findings, the following conclusions were reached: More than 80% of the students were in agreement that " Reading drama is more common than watching it" was the major difficulty facing students in learning drama. Over 70% of the students were in agreement that " Students feel frustrated with the length of the play", "large number of students inside the class", "Students do not have the right to choose the text they want to study.", "Extensive use of symbolism, similes, metaphor" and" Writing style" were serious problems. There are no statistically significant differences at (µ ≤ 0.05) due to gender, classification and the marital status. In conclusion, the researcher recommended carrying out further researches on the difficulties facing IUG junior and senior students in learning drama and focusing firstly on cultural similarities and then on cultural differences to bridge the gap between Arabic culture and English one.