Alice Savage

The latest offering from Alphabet Publishing looks like a great resource for bringing drama into the language classroom. Her Own Worst Enemy is written by Alice Savage, a Professor of ESOL in Texas who has previous publications with Longman and OUP.

The book is based around a short one-act play. A complete curriculum is built around the play (pitched at ‘low intermediate to high intermediate’ level), including:

• preparation tasks such as discussions, background reading, understanding pragmatics and attentive listening practice
• the script itself along with post-reading discussion questions
• a step-by-step production section which helps learners analyse the play, learn their lines, get into character, and develop pronunciation skills for their performance
• post-performance tasks including debates, follow up tasks and resources for peer and teacher feedback

The play

The deal-breaker for me with a resource like this is whether the play is actually engaging. Can I see my learners…