According to the national results of the English diagnostic test (2004) applied to Chilean 8th and 12th graders, the current English teaching methodology used in this country is not efficient nor effective. Consequently, a different methodology is urgently needed, particularly in a context where students primarily come from rural areas and will be the first generation in their families to attend university. The present pilot study was an attempt to find a way to systematize and analyze data coming from a larger project through the measurement of the efficiency and effectiveness of drama techniques in the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It was partially based on a study by Kunihira and Asher (1965) in which the effectiveness of TPR in the teaching of a foreign language (FL) is demonstrated. An experimental group (n = 19) of Spanish-speaking learners of English performed an interview and a role play activity to learn a given grammar structure (present continuous in its affirmative, negative and question forms), while a control group (n = 17) was taught the same structure through the traditional formal teaching method in Chile, primarily based on textbooks and the chalk and talk method. The procedure took two 45-minute sessions: one for a pre-test and another one for the treatment and post-test. A pre-test was administered to both groups in order to check their previous knowledge of the present continuous--paying attention not to spoil the students' naivety--and to then compare the results with those of a post-test. The experimental group was expected to acquire the given structure more efficiently, which was quantified in terms of accuracy by means of a written test, based on the percentages of correct answers. A t-test was applied to compare the means and check their significance. [This study was subsidized by the Universidad Austral de Chile Research & Development Department.] (Contains 4 tables and 3 footnotes.)