Teaching English Language and Literature Society of Iran (TELLSI) Journal of new advances in English Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics 2676-2927 7 3 2025 09 09 Effect of Drama-Based English Classes on Iranian EFL Learners’ Speaking Fluency, Class Engagement, and Self-Esteem 23 55 239219 10.22034/jeltal.2025.specialissue/2 EN Yasaman Esmaeili English Department. Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran Mahmood Hashemian English Department, Faculty of Letters & Humanities, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran 0000-0003-3631-8662 Javad Alipour English Department. Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran Journal Article 2025 05 09 Some challenges L2 teachers face in L2 classrooms can be eliminated through some techniques, like using drama and theater. The goal of this study was to investigate the (possible) effects of theater on Iranian L2 learners’ speaking fluency, classroom engagement, and self-esteem. For this purpose, 60 intermediate L2 learners were selected from Safir Institute of Shahrekord, using a placement test, and were divided into 2 groups: Those interested in theater made up the experimental group, and the rest formed the control group. The participants answered 2 speaking questions orally and 2 questionnaires for class engagement and self-esteem as the pretest. After 12 hr of treatment, they answered 2 other speaking questions and 2 questionnaires for class engagement and self-esteem as the posttest to investigate whether they had improved during the treatment. After collecting the data and running one-way ANCOVA, the results revealed that using theater improved the participants’ L2 speaking fluency and class engagement. However, there was no significant difference between the performances of the experimental participants and the control participants in terms of self-esteem. Implications of the findings of this study are that L2 teachers can take advantage of theater to make their L2 classrooms more entertaining and effective. https://www.jeltal.ir/article_239219_93ddec78b1352c549eced92d6ff636e6.pdf