Drama pedagogy: subverting and remaking learning in the thirdspace

This qualitative, ethnographic research highlights how drama pedagogy using translanguaging-based Readers Theatre supports students learning English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) to develop knowledge of language central to their engagement with learning (Authors, 2020). Using socio-spatial theory of Lefebvre (1991) and Soja ( Annals of the Association of American Geographers 70:207–225, 1980), we argue that drama pedagogy can shape a creative translanguaging space as reported by Li ( Journal of Pragmatics 43:1222–1235, 2011) in which the high-stakes test based pressure to narrow curriculum and pedagogical breadth can be resisted, and classroom spaces remade so that literacy learning is identity-affirming and caters for the diverse needs of students.