Case study of English musical class for EFL primary school students

Objectives This study introduces, analyzes, and shares a case of a musical class—a holistic performance that includes multimodes such as language, music, dance, acting, and script—for the sixth-grade class of a primary school. Methods Students who encountered the musical “Wicked” through Literature-based Instruction(LBI) immersed themselves in the literary situation using educational theater techniques such as Drama in Education and Readers' Theater (Lee, 2016), and they produced their own language to write plays. Six-stage (19th session) case classes were conducted to practice singing, choreography, acting, producing props, rehearsals, and performances, incorporating creativity techniques into the English plays they wrote. Results Students became familiar with plays and musicals, contributing creative ideas solely for the performances, and experiencing true collaboration. Linguistically, the repetition of English lines and lyrics in the performance practice provided meaningful repetition, and attempts to use authentic English expressions increased. Learners who experienced success through the final performance, as revealed through surveys and interviews, found that literature-based musicals served as a means of language learning, enhancing confidence and interest, facilitating the application of creative ideas, and providing an experience of cooperation. Conclusions Given the insufficient number of English musical classes for elementary school students, this study aimed to provide examples and guidelines for musical classes and share implementation plans for educational plays and musicals as a whole learning method. Thus, these methods can enhance student’s competency of communication, community and aesthetic sensitivity.