Microsoft Word 119 Pham Thi Linh Thuy doc Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN 978 604 82 2981 8 646 THE USE OF ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE THE STUDENT’S SPEAKING SKILL Pham Thi Linh Thuy Th[.]
Trang 1THE USE OF ROLE PLAY TO IMPROVE THE STUDENT’S SPEAKING SKILL
Pham Thi Linh Thuy
Thuyloi University, email: thuyptl@tlu.edu.vn
1 RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW
ON ROLE PLAY
Montola (p.179, 2007) holds the view of role play as “an interactive process of
defining and re-defining an imaginary game
world, done by a group of participants
according to a recognized structure of
power One or more participants are players,
who portray anthropomorphic characters that
delimit the players’ power to define” Since
its presence, role play has long been
recognized by EFL researchers and
practitioners as a truly valuable teaching and
learning practice in the quest to master the art
of English speaking
Shamin, F (p.86, 1996) in her study concluded that “role play is a participatory
and experiential learning method that
emphasizes learning by doing” In addition, it
is critical that students interact with each other
and experiment the target language in a
non-threatening, enjoyable environment (Holliday,
1994) Thus, role play activities can provide
both authentic practice and a relaxing
atmosphere - two significant conditions in
teaching spoken English As shown in Li’s
latest research in 2001 the target group
experiencing role play became involved,
active and better in oral production These
studies show that role play is a psychological
catalyst and a powerful linguistic tool to boost
students’ speaking ability
THE RATIONALE OF THE RESEARCH
This is a secondary research which involves the summary, collation and
synthesis of existing research, books, and articles on using role play in English speaking classrooms as a source of data for analysis
Through the researcher’s teaching experience and observation, speaking skill is not paid due attention by students at Thuyloi University Since grammar translation teaching and learning method have prevailed
in primary, secondary and high school, students just focus on studying grammar, vocabulary and translation skill for the sake
of passing rigid exams As a result, they may know plenty of English forms and structures but turn out to be tongued-tied speakers Students are found to be de-motivated and passive in speaking activities and have great difficulty in orally communicating
This secondary research attempts to present the effectiveness of role play in motivating and improving students’ speaking skill in various researches as well as outline the logical stages of role play from preparation to evaluation Moreover, it recommends practical application of role play into the English course book which is currently being used for the first and second year students at Thuyloi University
3 HOW TO APPLY ROLE PLAY IN SPEAKING SKILL
Role playing in the classroom works best when there is an attempt to follow a definite logical sequence of steps (Mark, C and Robert, F,1996)
Trang 23.1 Preparation and instruction
This stage covers problem selection, general and specific instructions to participants and
audience An issue or problem to be worked on
should be selected by the teacher and students
The explanation of the general problem
situation needs to be clear to the entire class
Students should be grouped in 3 or 4 Then, the
teacher explains in detail the exact role each of
student The classroom can be re-arranged for
the sake of the play Some items such as desks,
chairs, boards can be prepared to make the
environment relevant and real
3.2 Rehearsal
It is fundamental to provide appropriate languages because students might get stuck for
words and phrases Obliviously, role plays are
often set up to target particular grammar
structures such as simple past tense, future with
‘going to’, infinitives… and to integrate social
interaction skills such as asking for assistance,
negotiating, interrupting Therefore, students
need to be equipped with these target
languages and then spend time beforehand
drilling the vocabulary and structures they
would use during the real play By doing so,
students’ English speaking are taken place in a
natural and memorable environment
3.3 Role play
Sufficient time should be allowed for students to be thoroughly immersed in the
problem situation, so that they can take full
advantage of the play to express and practice
the language It is rarely appropriate for the
teacher to jump in and correct every mistake
on the spot This can incredibly de-motivate
the students The teacher, in this stage, as a
spectator, watches the role-play and takes
notes for correction and evaluation
Sometimes, the teacher can be a participant
to get involved in the role play with students
If students are eager to perform, ensure that every group gets an opportunity to
present their role play to the class If students
are reluctant, let the volunteer groups present
3.4 Error correction & evaluation
3.4.1 Error correction
Students can be corrected straight after a role play while the language is still fresh in their minds Students ‘common mistakes are pointed out and dealt with In addition to teacher’s correction, there are some other effective means of correction (Jeremy, 1989) Self-correction: If the teacher has equipment to record the role plays on videos, students can watch & listen to the role play again and reflect on the language used They may find it easy to spot their own mistakes Peer-correction: Fellow students may be able to correct some mistakes made by their peers
Group-correction: Structure, sentences with errors can be written on the board for the group to correct together
3.4.2 Evaluation
The teacher and students review the successes and failures of their role play experience The teacher will make a further personal evaluation of the students’ role plays in the light of some criteria as suggested below (Montola, 2007)
Table 1 Teacher’s evaluation
& feedback form
Group no : - Date : - role play: -time: - Evaluation Criteria St 1 St 2 St 3 St 4 1.Participation degree
2 Idea expression &
comprehension
3 Speaking ability:
+ language use:
Vocabulary and structure + Pronunciation
+ Fluency +Naturalness (intonation, word & sentence stress) Teacher’s suggestion for improvement : - -
Trang 34 APPLY ROLE PLAY IN ENGLISH
SPEAKING CLASSES AT THUYLOIUNIVERSITY
It is suggested for English teachers at Thuyloi University to exploit different types
of role plays in speaking teaching Prepare 2
course book (Cambridge University Press,
2015) in English 1, 2, 3 for the first and
second year students Some groups do their
role plays right in the class; the others can do
latter outside the class and make videos and
send to their teachers
4.1 The cooperative role play
This requires participants to work together for the common interest Cooperative role
plays involve safe, simple situations, so they
are good for shy, passive students to make
conversations and build relationships within a
student group (Jeremy, 1989)
For instance, the teacher assigns the role play to students in speaking activity (unit 2,
Prepare 2): how to make a pancake- A TV
cooking program Students work together to
find out the ingredients, the steps to cook,
things to decorate their pancake Students
discuss to take the role as the MC, the chefs
Cooperative role plays can be easily used
in various lesson such as planning a summer
holiday (unit 7, Prepare 2), preparing a
fashion show (unit 9, Prepare 2), making
weather forecast (unit 14, Prepare 2)
4.2 Information gap role play
This is based on filling in holes in the participants’ knowledge It is an excellent
way to practice question and answer patterns
as well as prepare students for real-life
encounters Some suggestions for applying
role play can be: answering questions from a
doctor in health-check (unit 13, Prepare 2),
asking for the weather in different places
(unit 15 - Prepare 2)
4.3 Task-based role play
It requires participants to complete a set activity such as airport checking in, giving directions to a certain places (unit 14, Prepare 2); ordering a meal (unit 11, Prepare 2); selling and buying (unit 8, Prepare 2) They are useful for students to practice realistic survival English skills and build students’ confidence
in their ability to function in real situations
5 CONCLUSION
In summary, role play is motivating and effective to practicing speaking The classroom is easily set up and broadened to the outside world with a much wider range of language opportunities This enables students
to practice the target language, interact with one another, build confidence and put learning into action
If teachers still feel reluctant to use role play in the class, it is suggested to integrate it slowly The results may be pleasantly surprised
6 REFERENCES
[1] Holliday, A 1994 A culture-sensitive approach in appropriate Methodology and Social Context Cambridge University Press [2] Jeremy, H 1989 The Practice of English Language Teaching London.Longman
[3] Mark, C and Robert, F 1996 Role-Playing Method in the Classroom Center for Research on Utilization of Scientific Knowledge Institute for Social Research University of Michigan
[4] Montola, M 2007.Tangible Pleasures of Pervasive Role-Playing Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Situated Play Conference The University of Tokyo
[5] Shamin, F.1996 Learner resistance in classroom innovation Cambridge Cambridge University Press