the evaluation of the supervisor

University Of Pannonia, Veszprém

Faculty of Arts

Institute of English and American Studies

THESIS EVALUATION

2008

Student: Városi Veronika

Title of thesis: Theatre Plays in Service of Teacher Training

Supervisor: Katona László

Second reader: Prof. Dr. Bárdos Jenő DSc.

Ms Városi investigates a very important aspect of educational sciences, namely the role of theatre plays in teacher training touching upon a basically new field - the instructional theatre. The thesis explores the underlying educational purposes of theatre plays.

Summary

The candidate’s work is divided into five major chapters. The first chapter provides a literary background in which Ms Városi details the literature relevant to her research – the definition of theatre plays, the world of theatre, the theatre plays in teacher training and the teacher’s perspective in theatre plays as well as the benefits of the application of theatre plays in the case of trainee teachers. The second chapter provides a very comprehensive research methodological background of the study she has conducted including the description of her research methods and strategies and giving a full overview of the qualitative research methodology. In this chapter the candidate clarifies the postulate and the sample of her study. The third chapter illustrates the observation of the Turkey Theatre Troupe (the sample of her study). In the fourth chapter the reader of this thesis will find the summary of the interviews with the members of this amateur theatre troupe. In the fifth chapter Ms Városi demonstrates three existing courses where trainee teachers can take part in amateur theatre plays – two at the University of Pannonia (Literature in the English Classroom, Performing Skills) and one at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam (Classroom Expressions). Finally, the candidate sums up her thesis in the Conclusion. The Appendix contains the interview questions, the observation sheet, the transcriptions of the interviews, the syllabi of the courses “Literature in the English Classroom”, “Performing Skills” and “Classroom Expressions”, there is also an interview with Wout Nooitgedagt, a Dutch instructor leader of the afore mentioned Dutch course. She also attaches some pictures of the performance of the theatre troupe.

Content

The subject matter of the thesis obviously offers interesting and exciting outcomes that can broaden the theoretical background of teacher training. The thesis does not have a hypothesis as it is a qualitative piece of work which does not require it. However, it has got a postulate on which her study is based. Thus, the subject matter and its relevance are clearly elaborated in the present thesis. Though the literary background of the thesis explored by the candidate is of demanding value (Bárdos, Bécsy, Falus, Nunan, Szabolcs), the role of theatre plays in teacher training should have been clarified in a more sophisticated way. On the other hand, the candidate’s research methodological knowledge is excellent and the chapter dealing with research methodology is of demanding quality showing Ms Városi’s suitability.

Language

Ms Városi shows a good command of the English language. Unfortunately, she often uses expressions of everyday speech and highly colloquial expressions. The abundant use of redundant adjectives can also be noticed in her work (“Moreover as Katona so appropriately highlights…”). There are only a few unintelligible and stylistically inaccurate sentences in the thesis (most of them having been corrected by the supervisor, yet some of these corrections were not taken into consideration by the candidate), but these do not mean that Ms Városi’s work is less valuable since she still shows a good command of academic language.

Organisation and form

The organization of the subject matter of the thesis is one of the basic strengths of the work, as it is comprehensible, consequent and easily gives the readers access to the information throughout the whole thesis. References are adequate and clearly explicable. In relation to the formal requirements, there are some problems with the editing which is sometimes inaccurate in the case of spacing and the position of subchapters.

The overall opinion of the supervisor

Strengths	Weaknesses
subject matter and its elaboration	some signs of hasty work
the candidate’s excellent relevance in research methodology	sometimes unclear description of the role of theatre plays in teacher training
a good command of English	inaccurate editing in some cases
a good command of academic English
excellent organisation of the subject matter
adequate and clear references and bibliography

The overall opinion and impression of the supervisor are that this thesis proves Ms Városi’s relevance in educational sciences in that foreign language pedagogy despite the mistakes she made during the composition. These mistakes evidently show signs of hasty work and composition and not the lack of knowledge. The thesis is far the most excellent piece of dissertation the supervisor has ever read. The overall value of this paper is thus not to be doubted. I suggest that this thesis (in a shorter, elaborated and corrected form) be published in Új Pedagógiai Szemle or Pedagógusképzés under her and the supervisor’s name.

Questions to the author:

1. Can you clarify the role of theatre plays you described in teacher training?
2. Can you explain the use of theatre plays as part of “pedagogical therapy” in teacher training?
3. On page 28 you write about “better teachers”. Can you please clarify what a good teacher is like on the basis of the available literature?

Supervisor's suggested grade: 5 (excellent)

Supervisor's signature:

Second reader's suggested grade:

Second reader's signature:

Date: 05/06/2008, Veszprém Katona László

supervisor