How to bring Shakespeare to life in the classroom

Anna Roslaniec
Anna Roslaniec
A girl holding a pile of books smiling in a room with large sheves of books.

The 23rd of April marks the birth (and death) of William Shakespeare: poet, playwright and pre-eminent dramatist. His poems and plays have been translated into 80 languages, even Esperanto and Klingon.

It is remarkable how Shakespeare¡¯s iconic body of work has withstood the test of time. More than four centuries on, his reflections on the human condition have lost none of their relevance. Contemporary artists and writers continue to draw on his language, imagery and drama for inspiration.

But, despite the breadth and longevity of his appeal, getting students excited about Shakespeare is not always straightforward. The language is challenging, the characters may be unfamiliar and the plots can seem far removed from modern life.

However, with the right methods and resources, there is plenty for teenagers and young adults to engage with. After all, love, desperation, jealousy and anger are feelings we can all relate to, regardless of the age group, culture or century we belong to!
So, how can you bring classic Shakespearean dramas like Hamlet, Othello and Macbeth to life?

There are many ways for your learners to connect with Shakespeare and get excited by his works. Here we¡¯ll show you three classroom activities to do with your students and some indispensable resources to ensure that reading Shakespeare is as accessible and enjoyable as possible!

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Three ideas to shake up Shakespeare

1. The Bard¡¯s epic burns

The very word ¡®Shakespeare¡¯ is enough to strike dread into the hearts of some youngsters. That¡¯s why it¡¯s so important to highlight the lighter, more humorous side of his work from the very beginning. Based on some of Shakespeare¡¯s finest insults, this activity will help transmit a crucial idea: these plays were designed to entertain.

The Bard was renowned for his linguistic creativity; nowhere is this more evident than in his?. Some of them still sound as hard-hitting as they would have done back then. Take these for example:

¡°Thou crusty batch of nature!¡±?(Troilus and Cressida)

¡°Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, thou lily-liver¡¯d boy.¡±?(Macbeth)

¡°I do wish thou were a dog, that I might love thee something.¡±?(Timon of Athens)

Once your students have tried some Shakespearean slurs and enjoyed some gentle verbal sparring, you can draw their attention to important grammatical differences.

For example, in Early Modern English, the language of Shakespeare, there were various ways of saying ¡®you¡¯. As the subject of a sentence, it would be ¡®thou¡¯ (for example, I do wish thou were a dog). As the object of a sentence, they would say ¡®thee¡¯ (e.g. ¡­I might love thee something).

We certainly don¡¯t want to encourage name-calling among students, but if conducted carefully, it¡¯s a great way to give them a feel for the jocular power of Shakespeare¡¯s language.

If that¡¯s not enough, you can let them loose to compile their own Shakespearean burns with this??and?.

2. Use film adaptations

Not only has Shakespeare inspired scores of artists and writers, but many of his plays have also been adapted to film. Showing students a??of one of Shakespeare¡¯s best works is a surefire way of creating interest and promoting an appreciation of the plot. It is not a substitute for a more in-depth text analysis but can be an effective complementary activity.

Video and audio are more familiar formats for many young people. Here are some more recent adaptations that you might consider showing in class:

  • ?¨C This is Kenneth Branagh¡¯s excellent remake of the tragedy about justice and revenge.
  • ?¨C Shakespeare¡¯s classic, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, is recreated in the hip modern suburb of Verona.
  • ?¨C Directed by Joss Whedon, this is a modern retelling of Shakespeare¡¯s classic comedy about two pairs of lovers with different takes on romance.
  • ?¨C Justin Kurzel¡¯s take on Shakespeare¡¯s tragedy about power, ambition, deceit, and murder.

3. Practice the sounds of Shakespearean English

Another great way to engage your students is to get them performing! It¡¯s easy to forget that most playgoers in Shakespeare¡¯s time would have been illiterate. His words were written not to be read but to be performed and watched.

To begin with, you can present your students with a??or, at least, recorded for the first time in his works. They can put on their actors¡¯ hats and make short sentences with these phrases, pretending they¡¯re on stage at Shakespeare¡¯s famous Globe Theatre.

As their theatrical confidence grows, you can move on to longer texts. Shakespearean dialogues offer an excellent opportunity for pair work. They can practice their lines in pairs before performing in front of the class.

Here are a couple of scenes that lend themselves well to this type of activity:

  • Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2
  • Othello, Act 3 Scene 4

Literary resources for your classroom

Engaging and effective classroom activities depend on having quality resources. When it comes to using Shakespeare¡¯s work with learners of English, accessibility is everything.

So, instead of diving into the original text, your students can experience Shakespeare¡¯s iconic plays as?ÃÛÌÒapp English Readers. These are abridged versions of Shakespeare¡¯s finest tragedies and comedies, with carefully-graded language that stays true to Shakespeare¡¯s unique style. Students can develop their language and communication skills by reading, listening and performing these plays.

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    The most commonly misspelled words in English

    By ÃÛÌÒapp Languages

    If you've ever had the feeling a word doesn¡¯t look right after you've typed it, you are not alone.?The most commonly misspelled words from this list pose challenges for more people than you think. English native speaker or not, hard-to-spell words are determined to give you a headache. And if bad spelling does happen, it¡¯s usually in very important contexts like a vital application letter or during a conversation with your crush ¨C which can really change the tone and potentially cause confusion or embarrassment.

    English has drawn inspiration from many different languages, so it¡¯s perfectly normal to get confused because of its double consonants and silent letters. We all know that moment when you stare at a word for ages and still can¡¯t believe it has two sets of double letters. There are many such examples. In fact, ¡°misspelled¡± is one of them and people often misspell it.

    Here are some of the most commonly misspelled words in English (both British and American, where necessary), along with their common misspellings.

    1. Accommodate not accomodate

    Also commonly misspelled as:?acommodate

    Let¡¯s start strong with a typical example of double consonants ¨C two sets of them.?

    2. Acquire not aquire

    Think of this rhyme whenever you encounter the word: 'I c that you want to acquire that wire'.

    3. Awkward not akward

    It also describes how we feel when we realize we¡¯ve just misspelled a word.

    4. Believe not belive

    Remember the rhyme ¡®I before E, except after C¡¯. The same rule applies to 'believe', so use this mnemonic when in doubt.?There are some exceptions to the rule, so be careful.

    5. Bizarre not bizzare

    It¡¯s bizarre that there is only one Z but that¡¯s the way It is.?

    6. Colleague not collegue

    Also commonly misspelled as:?collaegue, coleague

    It¡¯s hard to get this one right! Make a funny association like 'the big league of the double Ls', you may just win the misspelling match.

    7. Embarrassed not embarassed

    Also commonly misspelled as:?embarrased

    If you remember this one, you¡¯ll reduce the chances of finding yourself in an embarrassing bad spelling situation.?

    8. Entrepreneur not enterpreneur

    Also commonly misspelled as:?entrepeneur, entreprenur, entreperneur

    It¡¯s not only hard to spell, but also hard to pronounce. The origins? It¡¯s a French word coming from the root entreprendre (¡®undertake¡¯).

    9. Environment not enviroment

    The N is silent, so it¡¯s quite easy to misspell this one too. Luckily, it¡¯s similar to 'government' whose verb is 'to govern' which ends in N. A very long, but good association.?

    10. Definitely not definately

    Also commonly misspelled as:?deffinately, deffinitely, definitley

    You¡¯ll definitely get this one right if you remember it¡¯s not a case of double letters. Neither does it feature any As.?

    11. Liaison not liasion

    There¡¯s a reason why you¡¯re never sure how to spell 'liaison', 'bureaucracy', 'manoeuvre', 'questionnaire' and 'connoisseur'. They do not follow the same patterns because they are all French words.?

    12. License not lisence

    ?In American English, it¡¯s always spelled 'license' ¨C no matter what. On the other hand, in British English, it¡¯s spelled 'license' when it¡¯s a verb and 'licence' when it¡¯s a noun. Once you decide which spelling you¡¯ll use ¨C American or British ¨C it¡¯s best to go forward with that and stick to it.?

    13. Publicly not publically

    Words ending in 'ic' receive the 'ally' suffix when transformed into adverbs (e.g., organically). But 'public' makes an exception so it¡¯s understandable if you misspell it.

    14. Receive not recieve

    Remember the 'I before E, except after C' rule? This is the kind of word where the rule applies. It also applies to 'niece' and 'siege', but it doesn¡¯t apply to 'weird' or 'seize'. So remember the rule but keep in mind it has some exceptions.

    15. Responsibility not responsability

    People often get tricked by this word¡¯s pronunciation. And if you think about it, it does really sound like it has an A in the middle. Safe to say ¨C it doesn¡¯t. So keep an eye out.

    16. Rhythm not rythm

    This is another borrowed word; in this instance it comes from the Greek word ¡®Rhuthmos¡¯ which mean a reoccurring motion.?

    17. Separate not seperate

    'Separate' is apparently one of the most misspelled words on Google and it¡¯s understandable why. The same as with 'responsibility', its pronunciation can trick you into thinking there¡¯s an E there.

    18. Strength not strenght

    Even spelling pros will sometimes have to think twice about this one. Our mind is probably used to seeing the H after the G because of words like 'through'. Not this time though (wink wink).

    Don¡¯t forget that the same goes for 'length' (and not 'lenght').

    19. Successful not successfull

    Also commonly misspelled as:?succesful, sucessful

    There are so many double consonants in English, that it can become tempting to double them all at times. But for the love of English, don¡¯t do that to 'successful'.

    20. Succinct not succint

    Some people would say two Cs are enough. This is why the word 'succinct' gets misspelled so frequently. The third S is indeed very soft, but don¡¯t let pronunciation deceive you.

    21. Thorough not thurough

    You may have heard of this tongue twister: ¡°English can be understood through tough thorough thought, though.¡± It¡¯s hard not to get confused with so many similar-looking words. You add an O to 'through' and its pronunciation changes completely.

    22. Until not untill

    In fact, 'until' was spelled with two Ls in the Middle Ages. If it helps you remember, you can think it just lost some weight but getting rid of the last L (unlike 'still').

    23. Whether not wether

    Not as confusing as the 'through' and 'thorough' example, but still pretty challenging.

    24. Which or witch not wich

    Do you know which one is which?

    Advice to avoid misspellings

    One obvious answer would be spell-checkers, but the truth is that spell-checkers won¡¯t actually help you to improve your spelling. You will continue to misspell words and they¡¯ll continue to correct them. This process is passive and won¡¯t stimulate you to learn the correct spelling because somebody else already does the job for you.?

    The best advice? Practice, practice and practice!

    If you keep attempting to spell challenging words and checking them it will begin to sink in and become second nature over time. Using tools like dictionaries and language learning apps such as Mondly can help you practice and learn spelling. If you persevere and practice you can avoid any spelling mishaps.?

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    Can computers really mark exams? Benefits of ELT automated assessments

    By ÃÛÌÒapp Languages

    Automated assessment, including the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), is one of the latest education tech solutions. It speeds up exam marking times, removes human biases, and is as accurate and at least as reliable as human examiners. As innovations go, this one is a real game-changer for teachers and students.?

    However, it has understandably been met with many questions and sometimes skepticism in the ELT community ¨C can computers?really?mark speaking and writing exams accurately??

    The answer is a resounding yes. Students from all parts of the world already take AI-graded tests.??and?Versant?tests ¨C for example ¨C provide unbiased, fair and fast automated scoring for speaking and writing exams ¨C irrespective of where the test takers live, or what their accent or gender is.?

    This article will explain the main processes involved in AI automated scoring and make the point that AI technologies are built on the foundations of consistent expert human judgments. So, let¡¯s clear up the confusion around automated scoring and AI and look into how it can help teachers and students alike.?

    AI versus traditional automated scoring

    First of all, let¡¯s distinguish between traditional automated scoring and AI. When we talk about automated scoring, generally, we mean scoring items that are either multiple-choice or cloze items. You may have to reorder sentences, choose from a drop-down list, insert a missing word- that sort of thing. These question types are designed to test particular skills and automated scoring ensures that they can be marked quickly and accurately every time.

    While automatically scored items like these can be used to assess receptive skills such as listening and reading comprehension, they cannot mark the productive skills of writing and speaking. Every student's response in writing and speaking items will be different, so how can computers mark them?

    This is where AI comes in.?

    We hear a lot about how AI is increasingly being used in areas where there is a need to deal with large amounts of unstructured data, effectively and 100% accurately ¨C like in medical diagnostics, for example. In language testing, AI uses specialized computer software to grade written and oral tests.?

    How AI is used to score speaking exams

    The first step is to build an acoustic model for each language that can recognize speech and convert it into waveforms and text. While this technology used to be very unusual, most of our smartphones can do this now.?

    These acoustic models are then trained to score every single prompt or item on a test. We do this by using human expert raters to score the items first, using double marking. They score hundreds of oral responses for each item, and these ¡®Standards¡¯ are then used to train the engine.?

    Next, we validate the trained engine by feeding in many more human-marked items, and check that the machine scores are very highly correlated to the human scores. If this doesn¡¯t happen for any item, we remove it, as it must match the standard set by human markers. We expect a correlation of between .95-.99. That means that tests will be marked between 95-99% exactly the same as human-marked samples.?

    This is incredibly high compared to the reliability of human-marked speaking tests. In essence, we use a group of highly expert human raters to train the AI engine, and then their standard is replicated time after time.??

    How AI is used to score writing exams

    Our AI writing scoring uses a technology called . LSA is a natural language processing technique that can analyze and score writing, based on the meaning behind words ¨C and not just their superficial characteristics.?

    Similarly to our speech recognition acoustic models, we first establish a language-specific text recognition model. We feed a large amount of text into the system, and LSA uses artificial intelligence to learn the patterns of how words relate to each other and are used in, for example, the English language.?

    Once the language model has been established, we train the engine to score every written item on a test. As in speaking items, we do this by using human expert raters to score the items first, using double marking. They score many hundreds of written responses for each item, and these ¡®Standards¡¯ are then used to train the engine. We then validate the trained engine by feeding in many more human-marked items, and check that the machine scores are very highly correlated to the human scores.?

    The benchmark is always the expert human scores. If our AI system doesn¡¯t closely match the scores given by human markers, we remove the item, as it is essential to match the standard set by human markers.

    AI¡¯s ability to mark multiple traits?

    One of the challenges human markers face in scoring speaking and written items is assessing many traits on a single item. For example, when assessing and scoring speaking, they may need to give separate scores for content, fluency and pronunciation.?

    In written responses, markers may need to score a piece of writing for vocabulary, style and grammar. Effectively, they may need to mark every single item at least three times, maybe more. However, once we have trained the AI systems on every trait score in speaking and writing, they can then mark items on any number of traits instantaneously ¨C and without error.?

    AI¡¯s lack of bias

    A fundamental premise for any test is that no advantage or disadvantage should be given to any candidate. In other words, there should be no positive or negative bias. This can be very difficult to achieve in human-marked speaking and written assessments. In fact, candidates often feel they may have received a different score if someone else had heard them or read their work.

    Our AI systems eradicate the issue of bias. This is done by ensuring our speaking and writing AI systems are trained on an extensive range of human accents and writing types.?

    We don¡¯t want perfect native-speaking accents or writing styles to train our engines. We use representative non-native samples from across the world. When we initially set up our AI systems for speaking and writing scoring, we trialed our items and trained our engines using millions of student responses. We continue to do this now as new items are developed.

    The benefits of AI automated assessment

    There is nothing wrong with hand-marking homework tests and exams. In fact, it is essential for teachers to get to know their students and provide personal feedback and advice. However, manually correcting hundreds of tests, daily or weekly, can be repetitive, time-consuming, not always reliable and takes time away from working alongside students in the classroom. The use of AI in formative and summative assessments can increase assessed practice time for students and reduce the marking load for teachers.

    Language learning takes time, lots of time to progress to high levels of proficiency. The blended use of AI can:

    • address the increasing importance of?formative assessment?to drive personalized learning and diagnostic assessment feedback?

    • allow students to practice and get instant feedback inside and outside of allocated teaching time

    • address the issue of teacher workload

    • create a virtuous combination between humans and machines, taking advantage of what humans do best and what machines do best.?

    • provide fair, fast and unbiased summative assessment scores in high-stakes testing.

    We hope this article has answered a few burning questions about how AI is used to assess speaking and writing in our language tests. An interesting quote from Fei-Fei Li, Chief scientist at Google and Stanford Professor describes AI like this:

    ¡°I often tell my students not to be misled by the name ¡®artificial intelligence¡¯ ¡ª there is nothing artificial about it; A.I. is made by humans, intended to behave [like] humans and, ultimately, to impact human lives and human society.¡±

    AI in formative and summative assessments will never replace the role of teachers. AI will support teachers, provide endless opportunities for students to improve, and provide a solution to slow, unreliable and often unfair high-stakes assessments.

    Examples of AI assessments in ELT

    At ÃÛÌÒapp, we have developed a range of assessments using AI technology.

    Versant

    The Versant tests are a great tool to help establish language proficiency benchmarks in any school, organization or business. They are specifically designed for placement tests to determine the appropriate level for the learner.

    PTE Academic

    The ?is aimed at those who need to prove their level of English for a university place, a job or a visa. It uses AI to score tests and results are available within five days.?