The use ò role play activities in enhancing 11th graders’ motivation speaking at trieu son 2 high school

HONG DUC UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS THE USE OF ROLE PLAY ACTIVITIES IN ENHANCING 11TH GRADERS’ MOTIVATION SPEAKING AT TRIEU SON 2 HIGH SCHOOL Student:

HONG DUC UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

GRADUATION THESIS

THE USE OF ROLE PLAY ACTIVITIES IN ENHANCING

11TH GRADERS’ MOTIVATION SPEAKING

AT TRIEU SON 2 HIGH SCHOOL

Student: Đỗ Thị Thúy Hoài Class: K20A-FFL-HDU Course: 2017-2021 Supervisor: M.A Hoàng Thị Minh

Thanh Hoa, June 2021

I repeat my thanks to the teachers and students at Trieu Son 2 High school where I did my teaching practice and survey questionnaire, observation and interview, especially students of class

Last but not least, I’m indebted to my family’s spiritual and financial support

a long with my friends’ encouragement during the process of doing this study

ABSTRACT

One of the main purposes of learning foreign languages, particularly English, which has become the lingua franca in many parts of the world, is the ability to communicate effectively with other users of the target language Teaching to communicate in real, everyday situations is very often neglected and students have little chance to practice the ordinary language in class Therefore, teachers ought to provide learners with opportunities to improve their speaking skills

To realize this situation especially in speaking lesson and find some

solutions for this problem, an investigation on “The use of role play activities in enhancing 11th graders’ motivation speaking at Trieu Son 2 High school” is

conducted by using the combination of methods such as document analysis, survey questionnaire, interview, observation The prime objective of this paper

is to investigate whether role-play activities contribute to developing students’ speaking skills in the English Language Teaching classroom To achieve this goal, some theoretical backgrounds of role-playing games motivation, and using this game in improving speaking ability in speaking lessons in English as Foreign Language class are studied to confirm the result found Additionally, both teachers and students support the idea of teaching and learning through role-playing game which is quite effective in motivating students but its application is not paid attention to With the hope to diversify learning activities

to motivate students to learn better, the author of this paper consulted and designed a few speaking lessons using role-playing games This thesis consists

of three chapters: the first two sections on theoretical basic and the third one

focuses on implementing role-play activities in the classroom

TABLE CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE CONTENTS iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION v

LIST OF TABLE OF FIGURES vi

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Methods of the study 3

5 Scope of the study 3

6 Design of the study 4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 5

1.1 Overview of motivation in language learning 5

1.1.1 Definition of motivation 5

1.1.2 The importance of motivation in language learning 6

1.2 Speaking skill 7

1.2.1 Definition of speaking skill 7

1.2.2 Principles for Teaching Speaking 8

1.2.3 The Components of Speaking Skill 9

1.2.4 A successful speaking lesson in classroom 9

1.3 Overview of role play 10

1.3.1 Definition of role play 10

1.3.2 Types of role-play 13

1.3.3 Stages of a standard role-play 15

1.3.4 Significance of role play in teaching speaking 16

1.3.5 Related previous study 17

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 18

2.1 Research hypothesis 18

2.2 Setting of the study 18

2.3 Participants of the study 18

2.4 Research instruments 19

2.5 Procedures of data collection 20

2.6 Data analysis procedures 21

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 22

3.1 Data analysis and discussion from Phase 1 22

3.1.1 Data analysis from Phase 1 22

3.1.2 Discussion from Phase 1 26

3.2 Data analysis and discussion from Phase 2 27

3.2.1 Data analysis from students’ survey questionnaires 27

3.2.2 Data analysis from teachers’ questionnaires 29

3.2.3 Data analysis from class observation 32

3.2.4 Discussion from Phase 2 33

PART III: CONCLUSION 34

1 Major findings of the study 34

2 Pedagogical implications 35

3 Limitations and future research directions 37

REFERENCES 38

APPENDICES 42

APPENDIX 1: CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH 42

APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRES FOR TEACHERS 44

APPENDIX 3: CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT DÀNH CHO HỌC SINH 45

APPENDIX 4: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS 47

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

CLT: Communicative Language Teaching

EFL: English as Foreign Language

Ts: Teachers

Ss: Students

ELT: English Language Teaching

L2: Second language

LIST OF TABLE OF FIGURES

1 Tables

Table 3.2.1.1: The students’ attitudes toward the use of role-play activities in improving their speaking skills 27 Table 3.2.2.1: Teachers’ opinions towards the importance of role play activities

in speaking lessons 29 Table 3.2.2.2: Ways of motivating students to take part in role play activities 29 Table 3.2.2.3: Teachers’ preparation for role play activities 30 Table 3.2.2.4: Best time for teachers to implement role play activities in speaking lessons 30 Table 3.2.2.5: Ways of organizing the class for role play activities in speaking lessons 31 Table 3.2.2.6: Kinds of correction techniques used in giving feedback on students’ doing role-play activities 31 Table 3.2.2.7: Teachers’ evaluation of students’ improvement in speaking ability after using role play activities 32 Table 3.2.2.8: Teachers’ expectation towards integrating role play activities in speaking lessons 32

2 Figures

Figure 3.1.1.1: Teachers’ and students’ opinions towards the importance of

teaching and learning speaking skills 22 Figure 3.1.1.2: Students’ interest in learning speaking skill 23 Figure 3.1.1.3: Language used by students in speaking lesson 23 Figure 3.1.1.4: Teachers’ and students’ self-evaluation towards students’ speaking ability 24 Figure 3.1.1.5: Students’ knowledge towards the term “role play” 25 Figure 3.1.1.6: Frequency of role play activities in speaking lessons 26

to teach students to practice the four basic skills, particularly speaking skills As

a result, in order for students to speak more effectively, teachers frequently employ a wide range of communicative activities such as discussion, role-play,

simulations, information gap, jigsaw, and so on Among them, role play is regarded as a common and effective method for improving students’ speaking performance A role play, according to Ladousse (1987) [34] , uses various communicative techniques to develop fluency in the language, promote interaction in the classroom, and increase motivation Role-playing can help students improve their speaking skills in any situation and improve their ability

to interact For shy students, role play helps to provide a mask, where students who struggle with conversation are open-minded Furthermore, Harmer (1986)[18] promotes the use of role-playing for the following reasons:

- It is enjoyable and motivating

- Quieter students have the opportunity to express themselves more openly

- The classroom world is expanded to include the outside world, providing

a much broader range of language opportunities

- Real-world scenarios can be created, and students can benefit from practice

- Mistakes are permissible with no severe consequences

It is critical, in my opinion, to investigate the effectiveness of role-play activities in improving students’ speaking performance That is why I am

interested in conducting a study on “The use of role play activities in enhancing 11th graders’ motivation speaking at Trieu Son 2 High school” The research is

hoped to make a small contribution to the improvement of teaching speaking skills for students at Trieu Son 2 High school

2 Aims of the study

The study’s goal is to look into the use of role play activities in speaking lessons at Trieu Son 2 High school The study’s specific goals are as follows:

- Investigate students’ attitudes toward using role-play in speaking lessons

at Trieu Son 2 High school

- Look into how teachers at Trieu Son 2 High school use role-playing activities to teach speaking to 11th graders

- Examine the effectiveness of role-playing activities in increasing motivation and speaking performance among Trieu Son 2 High school’s 11th graders students

3 Research questions

The present study is designed to answer the following questions:

1 What are the attitudes of students at Trieu Son 2 High school towards using role-play activities in a speaking lesson?

2 How do teachers of English at Trieu Son 2 High school teach speaking

to 11th grade students with role play activities?

3 In what ways do role-play activities improve motivation and speaking performance of 11th grade students at Trieu Son 2 High school?

4 Methods of the study

The following research tools were used by the author to complete this thesis:

5 Scope of the study

The study is an excellent attempt to investigate the effectiveness of play activities in motivating Trieu Son 2 High school 11th grade students to participate in English speaking lessons Once completed, it will be a valuable resource for high school English teachers Furthermore, this study offers Trieu Son 2 High school teachers suggestions for successfully implementing role-play activities As a result, the findings of the study will make a significant contribution to the improvement of teaching speaking skills to high school students

role-6 Design of the study

This research is divided into three sections:

Part I: Introduction: Discusses the theoretical foundation of the study, the purpose of the study, research questions, the scope of the study, the significance

of the study, research methods, and research organization

Part II: Development consists of the three chapters listed below:

Chapter 1 - Theoretical Background: demonstrates the theoretical foundation of motivation, teaching speaking skills, and role play

Chapter 2 - Methodology: describes the study’s context, participants, research instruments, and data collection procedures

Chapter 3 - Findings and discussion: analyzes the data as well as interprets the results

Part III: Conclusions: Summarizes the findings and discusses the pedagogical implications, limitations of the study, and future research directions

The study’s references and appendices are presented on the final pages

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

This chapter will go over some of the study’s theoretical underpinnings It first discusses the concept of motivation before moving on to the concept of speaking ability Furthermore, the chapter will examine the concept of role play

in the context of teaching and learning speaking ability

1.1 Overview of motivation in language learning

Dornyei (2001) [12] stated that Motivation explains why people decide to

do something, how hard they are willing to work at it, and how long they are willing to keep doing it

Additionally, Woolfolk (2001) [57] defines motivation as “an internal state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior” Briefly, motivation is something involving the attitudes and affective states that influence the degree of effort that one makes to achieve some certain goal It is clearly seen that motivation plays

an important part in the process of learning a foreign language There are a lot of theories of motivation that have been searched and discussed

The term “motivation” appears to be simple but difficult to define Motivation, according to Ellis, R (1997:75) [48], is “the efforts which learners put

into learning a Second language as a result of their own need or desire to learn”

He also indicates that “Motivation involves the attitudes and affective states that

influence the degree of effort that learners make to learn Second language”

Then, motivation to learn a second language in Ellis’s point of view refers to the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in the activity

Sharing the same viewpoint, Gardner (1985) [46] defines motivation as a key factor in determining the preparation of learners to communicate Gardner&apos’s motivation involves four aspects: a goal, an effort, a desire to attain the goal, and a favorable attitude towards the activity

According to Crookes and Schmidt (1991) [8], motivation is defined in terms of learner interest in and enthusiasm for the teaching method used in class, their active participation or constancy with the learning task as indicated by levels of concentration and enjoyment The learning process can only make sense if students enjoy activities and work hard From the researcher point of view, this definition is exactly right for the motivation in this study It could be inferred from the definitions above that motivation is the effort, enjoyment, enthusiasm, and constancy that learners devote to the learning tasks as well as the challenging activities conducted by the teachers to reach the setting - goals

in foreign language learning

1.1.2 The importance of motivation in language learning

Motivation has become more commonly recognized as the major factor in the success or failure of a language learner As William T Littlewood puts it (1984:53) [56], in second language learning as well as in every other field of human learning, motivation is “the crucial force which determines whether a learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long

he perseveres”

Another important statement to consider is by Dörnyei, “Motivation changes over time” (2001:21) [12] Someone may start with instrumental motivation but this develops later into integrative motivation Thus, motivation

is not fixed and can change in the learning process Just if students start with integrative motivation, they can lose their interest in learning a second language

and change their motivation to an instrumental one Avoiding the second kind of change mentioned above, it is important to know which different factors can influence motivation

Besides, Oxford and Shearin (1996:121-122) [45] also argue: Motivation is important because it directly influences how frequently students use L2 learning strategies, how much they interact with native speakers, how much input they receive in the language being learned (the target language), how well they perform on curriculum-related achievement tests, how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they persevere and maintain L2 skills after lan As a result, motivation is critical for L2 learning, and we must understand what motivates our students As a result, motivation should be paid much attention to in teaching and learning second languages

Harmer (2007) [20] argues that according to the view of most researchers and methodologists, “intrinsic motivation produces better results than its extrinsic counterpart” Indeed, it is hard to learn something if it is not liked by students But if they have to learn something they are interested in, it will be easier for them to become better grades The same goes for instrumental and integrative motivation But I do not entirely agree with Harmer Some students get better grades if they are single-minded, to be successful Speaking personally, intrinsic motivation leads to better results but such a statement cannot be transferred to all people

1.2 Speaking skill

1.2.1 Definition of speaking skill

Speaking is the use of language verbally to communicate with others The statement demonstrates that speaking is used to communicate verbally with others Speaking is also known as oral production Speaking is the productive oral skill of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning Speaking is a skill that deserves as much attention as literary skills, in both first and second language To most people, mastering the speaking skill is the most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language, and success is

measured by the ability to carry on a conversation in the language

According to Nunan, D (1995) [39], speaking is to utter words orally, to talk; to communicate as if by talking; to make a request; to make a speech

Speaking, according to Hornby (1995) [23], is using language in an ordinary voice; uttering words; knowing and being able to use a language; expressing oneself in words; and making a speech Broughton (2008) [3] also claims that just because a student is good at listening and understanding does not mean he will be good at speaking

Every language has two types of abilities The first is the receptive skill, which consists of two components: comprehension and reading; the second is the productive skill, which consists of writing and speaking According to Bygate( 1987) [7], speaking is a skill that deserves as much attention as literary skills in both native and foreign languages When students speak confidently and comfortably, they can interact more effectively in real-life situations As a result, the goal of this study is to promote the development of fluency in spoken English It is appropriate even for students with basic English language skills

According to some of the definitions above, speaking is the way in which the language system manifests itself through the organs of speech that use words

in an ordinary voice It also demonstrates how speaking is an important skill in language learning, particularly in the English subject

1.2.2 Principles for Teaching Speaking

There are seven principles for teaching speaking, according to Brown (1994)[4]:

- Depending on your goals, prioritize fluency and accuracy

- Provide techniques that are intrinsically motivating

- Promote the use of natural language in meaningful contexts

- Give appropriate feedback and correction

- Take advantage of the natural link between speaking and listening

- Provide opportunities for students to initiate oral communication

- Encourage the development of effective communication strategies

1.2.3 The Components of Speaking Skill

Pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension are all components of speaking, according to Nurgiyantoro (1987:259-260) [44] and Syakur (1987: 3) [51]

- Comprehension: Oral communication necessitates a subject’s ability to respond to speech as well as initiate it

- Grammar: This is concerned with how to construct a correct sentence in

1.2.4 A successful speaking lesson in classroom

Ur (1996:120) [53] proposes the following four components of a successful speaking lesson:

 Students talk a lot

 There is even more participation

 There is a lot of motivation

 Language is of an acceptable standard

According to Nunan (1996: 32) [40], effective oral communication should include the development of the following skills:

- The ability to articulate phonological features of the language in a comprehensible manner;

- Mastery of stress, rhythm, and intonation patterns; an acceptable level of fluency;

- Transactional and interactional skills

- Competence in short and long-distance speaking in turns, interaction management, and meaning negotiation

- Conversational listening skills (good listeners as well as speakers are required for successful conversations);

- Knowledge of and ability to negotiate conversational purposes;

- Use of appropriate conversational formulations and fillers

According to Harmer (2001) [18], in a successful communicative task, learners should have a desire to talk, a purpose for communicating, focus on content rather than form, and use a variety of language

It is undeniable that in the context of language teaching and learning, implementing such a speaking activity that meets all of the above criteria is not

an easy task, but language teachers must be reminded of them as they design and administer such activities

1.3 Overview of role play

1.3.1 Definition of role play

It is clearly stated that students are assigned particular roles to play Scrivener also has it that role cards have an important function, thus, thanks to the learners who are equipped with crucial information about their roles Guidelines put on such cards help students in conveying important facts about their characters to be played and also make the speakers feel more secure, as basic clues are included on the paper The weaker learners may base their utterances only on a card, while the strong ones find role cards as prompts A good set of role cards is frequently designed so that the participants may have different points of view and obvious disagreements (Scrivener 2005: 156) [30] This author also inclines that students need an appropriate amount of time to prepare ideas and language before playing their roles What is more, he says that learners not only use the ideas put on role cards but also try to add any language they possess

Gołębiowska (1978: 13) [14] indicates that in role-play, learners are given a task to complete and to do it, they are told who they are, what their opinions are, and what they know that is unknown to the other students She stresses the fact that students are told who they are, namely, that they play the role of somebody

else Being cast in a role of a different character may diminish the fear of speaking, as these are not the speakers who make mistakes, but the personalities played by them The key feature of role-playing is that learners can become anyone they want for a short time Their task is to pretend a different person and

it may be, for example, a doctor, a pop star, a parent, a millionaire, etc

Brown (2001: 183) [5], argued that role-play minimally contains (a) giving

a role to one or more members of a group and (b) assigning an objective or purpose that participants must accomplish He also suggested that role-play can

be done with a single person, in pairs or groups, with each person assigned a role to accomplish an objective

Furthermore, it allows the students to explore their inner resources, empathize with others, and use their own experiences as scaffolds upon which credible actions As a result, the students can improve their ability to produce the target language, acquire many of its nonverbal nuances, improve the ability

to work cooperatively in group situations, and effectively deal with affective issues (Richard, 2003: 222) [47], stated that role play has high appeal for the students because it allows them to be creative and to put themselves in another person’s place for a while The time has been determined by the teacher

In A Course in Language Teaching, Ur (1996) [54] explains role to play as, all kinds of activities in which students imagine themselves in a situation outside

of the classroom, sometimes playing the role of someone or something else, and using language appropriate to the new context Thereby, learners would be placed in a variety of experiences where they are play role as themselves or play the role of someone else and they should use language that suitable to the situation and social context in which they are playing

Usually, role-play can inflict a sense of community within the class Although at first, this strategy has seemed a frightening method, it has some advantages in

According to Killen (2008) [33], role play is “a technique which provides

an opportunity for students to become more deeply involved in thinking about

how they would react in real-world situations” In Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, role play is defined as “an activity in which you pretend

to be in a particular situation, especially to help you learn a language or deal with problems” In defining role play, Donn (1986) [11] gave comments that

“role play is a part of drama activity” He explained in detail that there are three terms to cover the drama activities Mime (mimicry-memorization), role-playing, and simulation are the three The terms were differentiated as follows:

a Mime: participants act out actions without using words (although as we shall see, this activity leads naturally on to talk)

b Roleplaying: the participant interacts as themselves in fictitious situations

c Simulation: entails the above-mentioned role-playing

However, for this activity, participants typically discuss a problem of some kind in a setting that has been designated for them Both role play and simulation, in his opinion, are commonly used in foreign language classes to facilitate communicative competence Mime, on the other hand, appears to be more appropriate as a language game It is carrying out actions without the use

of words

In the book under the title “Roleplay”, Ladousse (1989:5) [34] defines role

to play based on the separate words “role” and “play”: “when students assume a

“role”, they play a part (either their own or somebody else’s) in a specific situation “Play” represents the role is taken on in a safe environment in which students are as inventive and playful as possible In the roles, students are creating their own reality and, by doing so, are experimenting either their knowledge of the real world and developing their ability to interact with other people.”

According to the definitions given above, role play is widely accepted as

an effective technique for communicative language teaching It is a technique in which we use our imagination to pretend to be someone else or ourselves in a specific situation for a short period of time, improvising dialogue and creating a

real-world scenario Because it requires analyzing and problem-solving, it encourages the use of critical thinking

1.3.2 Types of role-play

According to Donn (1986) [11], role play activities can be divided into two types: scripted role play and unscripted role play Scripted role play is a type that involves interpreting either textbook dialogue or reading text aloud After all, the primary purpose of the text is to convey the meaning of language items

in a memorable manner Unscripted role play situations, in contrast to scripted role play, do not rely on textbooks It is referred to as free role play or improvisation The students must decide what language to use and how the conversation should progress This activity requires a lot of preparation from both the teacher and the students

Littlewood (1994) [36], on the other hand, categorizes role play activities based on the type of information provided to learners as follows:

1 Cued dialogues control the role play: When learners join this activity, they are given cues on separate cards Before responding, each learner must listen to his or her partner The cues allow them to anticipate and plan the general gist of their responses The teacher can elicit the appropriate forms, which will aid students later on The cues govern the functional meanings that students must express Teachers can prepare the activity by providing appropriate forms to the students Two sets of cues must be closely interlocked;

no cue should produce an utterance that contradicts what follows It restricts one’s ability to be creative

For example:

Learner A

You meet B in the street

A: Greet B

B:

A: Ask B where he is going

B:

Learner B

You meet A in the street

A:

B: Greet A

A:

B: Say you are going for a walk

A: Suggest somewhere to go together

A:

B: Express pleasure

(Littlewood, 1994: 51) [36]

It has a more flexible framework for controlling role play through cues

and information Only one learner receives specific cues The other is provided

with information that allows him to respond as needed The structure is provided

by one student who can improvise variations, and the other student must

respond The teacher’s control loosens, and the learner’s creative potential

grows The emphasis in these activities is on practicing the communication

process rather than evaluating the product The learner’s attention is focused on

the forms he or she needs to learn during pre-communicative language practice

These cued activities allow the teacher to direct the interaction and ensure that

students express a specific range of meanings

For example:

Student A: You arrive at a small hotel one evening In the foyer, you meet

the manager and:

- Ask if there is a room vacant

- Ask the price, including breakfast

- Say how many nights you would like to stay

- Ask where you can park your car for the night

- Say what time you would like to have breakfast

Student B: You are the manager of a small hotel that has friendly, homely

atmosphere You have a single and a double room vacant for tonight The prices

are: -L-8.50 for the single room, -L-15 for the double room Breakfast is -L-1.50

extra for a person In the street behind the hotel, there is a free car park Guests

can have tea in bed in the morning, for 50p

(Littlewood, 1994: 52, 53) [36]

2 Controlled role play based on situation and goals: learners have more control over their interaction It is now aimed at a higher level of situation and the goals that students must achieve through communication Initially, the learners are only aware of the overall situation and their own goals within it They must bargain over the interaction itself

For example:

Student A: You wish to buy a car You are in a showroom, looking at a second-hand car that might be suitable You decide to find out more about it, for example how old it is, who the previous owner was, how expensive it is to run and whether there is a guarantee You can pay up to about -L-900 in cash Student B: You are a car salesman You see a customer looking at a car in the showroom The car is two years old and belonged previously to the leader of a local pop group It does about twenty miles to the gallon Your firm offers a three-month guarantee and can arrange hire purchase The price you are asking for the car is -L-1,400

(Littlewood, 1994:55, 56) [36]

3 Debate or discussion in the form of role play: In particular, the situation

is a debate or discussion of a real or simulated issue The activity requires learners to have adequate knowledge of the issue, as well as different points of view to defend Learners must first digest the pertinent information before engaging in small-group discussion They can either reach a concrete decision or simply vote on the issue at the end The interaction is caused by a disagreement

As an illustration:

You are a group of people who are anxious to help the old in your small town, and you have managed to make a start by collecting -L-1,000 from local inhabitants and holding jumble sales Study your role and then discuss how the money can best be used

(Littlewood,1994:57) [36]

1.3.3 Stages of a standard role-play

A standard role play has three stages, according to Phil (1967) [17] setting

up, playing, and following up The facilitator creates a clear context during the setup stage In other words, the facilitator describes the scenario while assigning roles to participants

The participants act out their roles and the play is performed during the play stage During this stage, the facilitator monitors the students’ work by listening to them and attempting not to intervene unless there is a breakdown in communication

The follow-up is an important part of a role play because it allows all participants to discuss how they felt after the role-play and evaluate how well they did The follow-up stage is also a time for the teacher to solicit feedback from the students on the task at hand (in terms of topic, level of difficulty, the authenticity of the task, etc )

1.3.4 Significance of role play in teaching speaking

Role play activities play an important role in teaching speaking Stern(1983) [50] suggested “role playing helps the individual to become more flexible” She explained that through role play, L2 learners can encounter a wide range of situations in which they will use the language; and as they develop a sense of mastery in them, they should be able to apply the language more easily

to new situations Larsen-Freeman (1986) [10] also explained that role plays, whether structured or less structured, are important in the communicative approach because they give learners an opportunity to practice communicating in different social contexts and in different social roles In addition, according to Ladousse (1995) [34], there are some main reasons for using role play in teaching speaking as follows:

 Teachers can train students in speaking skills in any situation by bringing a variety of experiences into the classroom

 Role play places students in situations that require them to use and develop those phatic forms of language that are so important in oiling the works

of social relationships but are so often overlooked by our language teaching

curricula

 Some people study English in order to prepare for specific roles in their lives It is advantageous for these students to have practiced and experimented with the language they will need in the welcoming and secure environment of a classroom

 Many shy students benefit from role play by wearing a mask

 The most important reason for using role play is that it is enjoyable

1.3.5 Related previous study

This research paper referenced and followed the research orientation of

author Tran Thi Phan [52] named “the use of role play activities in enhancer 10th graders’ motivation and speaking performance at Nam Cao high school” The

purpose of this study was to investigate how the speaking skills of 10th graders

at Nam Cao High School can be improved through the use of role-playing activities, as well as students’ attitudes toward the use of role-playing activities

in teaching and learning English and the use of role-playing by teachers in teaching speaking skills According to the findings of the study, role-playing activities are an effective teaching technique that should be widely used in the teaching and learning of English to improve the speaking motivation of 10th grade students at Nam Cao High School

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the research hypothesis, the context of the study, the textbook, the participants, the data collection instruments, the data collection procedure, and the data analysis procedure that were used to achieve the study’s objectives

2.1 Research hypothesis

The purpose of this study is to test the following hypothesis: There is a significant improvement in students’ motivation and performance in speaking lessons when role play activities are used

2.2 Setting of the study

This research is being carried out at Trieu Son 2 High school, which is located in Thai Hoa Village, Trieu Son District, Thanh Hoa Province It has three grades: 10, 11, and 12, with roughly the same number of students in each English is one of the mandatory subjects taught in every high school, and it is taught every three forty-five periods per week In terms of classroom arrangement, the average class size is 42–45, making it difficult to carry out a communicative task in such a mixed–ability large class Students at this school, like many others in Vietnam, have a limited ability to communicate in English Grammar-based teaching is so named because both teachers and students focus

on developing grammatical issues in order to meet the demands of examinations Both teachers and students paid little attention to teaching and learning public speaking skills

2.3 Participants of the study

This study includes 85 students from two randomly selected classes at Trieu Son 2 High school, 11C1 and 11C4 They come in both male and female forms They are all in grade 11 at Trieu Son 2 High school and have been studying English for four years In addition, 6 English teachers were invited to participate in the study

is frequently used to elicit factual or fairly predictable responses, whereas ended questions are preferred when researchers expect to elicit responses in the form of opinions, beliefs, or judgments Because of the aforementioned reasons, both types of questionnaires (mostly closed-ended) were used to collect data

open-Four survey questionnaires were used in this study To collect data for Phase 1, the first two survey questionnaires were chosen One survey questionnaire with six questions was distributed to the 85 students in order to determine their feelings about their speaking lessons, speaking ability, speaking material, and knowledge of the term “role play” (Appendix 1) Another survey questionnaire with four questions was created for the 6 selected teachers who have taught English speaking in order to gain their perspectives on the importance of teaching speaking in high school, students’ speaking ability, speaking material, and the frequency with which role-play is used in speaking lessons (Appendix 2) Following the implementation of role-play activities in speaking lessons, two additional survey questionnaires were designed to collect data for Phase 2 The third survey questionnaire seeks to learn about students’

attitudes toward using role-playing activities to improve their public speaking skills (Appendix 3) The final survey questionnaires aim to investigate teachers’ strategies for motivating students to participate in role-play activities, as well as their assessment of role-effectiveness playing’s in increasing students’ motivation and speaking performance (Appendix 4

Classroom observation

Classroom observation is an instrument that can help researchers to

“record” the observed behavior as precisely as possible Hopkins (1993) [9] described classroom observation as a “pivotal activity” with a crucial role to play in classroom research, teachers’ personal professional growth, and school development as a whole

Four speaking lessons using role play activities were observed at Trieu Son 2 High school, which were chosen at random When observing the class, extensive note-taking and audio-taping were carried out to ensure that the information gathered was diverse Furthermore, sitting in the last row and participating in various lessons as an observer was done to make the students feel at ease in the classroom

2.5 Procedures of data collection

The research was divided into two major phases, which are as follows: The study was conducted in the first phase to determine the true state of classroom problems in the teaching and learning process so that the researcher could design an appropriate action plan to solve the students’ problems A set of questionnaires was distributed to 11th grade students and 6 English teachers at Trieu Son 2 High school during this phase The questionnaires included explicit instructions on how to respond to questions, so participants found it simple to complete The role-playing technique was used in speaking lessons during the second phase The implementation was coordinated with the English class schedule at the school where the study was carried out Four classroom meetings were held to put the designed plans into action During the action’s implementation, the researcher acted as an observer, observing the students’