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As students enter into creative activity, they are asked to communicate in English. Their communication is always for
a purpose. Whether in the creative act of writing, composing music, arranging movement, or managing the sound and
lights, they communicate in the target language in order to get things done. The process of language acquisition then, is
approached obliquely, as the objective is to construct the production. But in this process, which blends authentic need with
imagination and social interaction, the target language can be acquired with a sense of enjoyment and fun as well as purpose.
New vocabulary is brought into the picture to satisfy the needs of the dramatic process and grammar is smoothed out and practiced
organically. Both vocabulary and grammar "stick" because they are acquired through the inherent need to know and relate to
meet the objective of a finished production. As the elements of the play come together, so the language grows for use on social
as well as artistic levels. This occurs without dwelling on the subject. It follows the "sandbox" method of our childhood
play. It is the Natural Approach par excellence.
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