ApplyingRole play in developing communicative competence for 11th graders in nghi sơn high school

The reality of teaching and learning speaking English before applying Role Play activities 3 2.4.1.. The reality of the using Role play in teaching English speaking skills for students i

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HÓA

TRƯỜNG THSC & THPT NGHI SƠN

SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM

APPLYING “ROLE- PLAY” IN DEVELOPING

NGHI SƠN HIGH SCHOOL

Người thực hiện: Trịnh Thị Thu Hoài Chức vụ: Giáo viên

Đơn vị công tác: Trường THCS & THPT Nghi Sơn

SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực (môn): Tiếng Anh

THANH HÓA NĂM 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

2.2 The reality of teaching and learning speaking English before

applying Role Play activities

3

2.4.1 The reality of the using Role play in teaching English speaking

skills for students in Nghi Son high school

17

2.4 2 The attitude of teachers and students when using Role play in

teaching and learning speaking skill

17

2.4.3 The difficulties that students and teachers encounter when using

Role play in teaching and learning speaking skill

When people think of foreign language learning, they first think of speaking Nunan(1991) stated, “Success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out aconversation in the target language”1.

English is a widely spoken language in the world, and has more second-languagespeakers than any other languages It is used in every field: on the internet, instudying, in doing research, when interacting with international companies andtraveling seems almost impossible without at least some English

Our country is in the era of merging into the world's economy, as a part ofglobalization English has become more increasingly important because it is ademand for international means of interaction

For the above reasons, it is necessary to raise students’ awareness of learningEnglish Learning a language is learning to communicate Although it requires thedevelopment of four skills, speaking is more prior Speaking is a very crucial part inthe learning process Speaking English in class can be a lot of fun It can raisestudents’ general motivation and it makes the English classroom a fun and dynamicplace to be Students can gain more interest in language learning Speaking,therefore, should be on priority taught and practiced in the language classrooms tohelp students to develop communicative competence, social interactions

In this article I introduce a practical method of teaching English effectively inschools: Role-play (simulation methods) This method allows the learners immerseinto a social situation, students will learn how to approach and handle real situations

in many different roles such as a doctor, an engineer or a nasty neighbor, etc play is a method that requires teamwork, discussion and coordination between themembers; the group’s discussion will be selected randomly by teacher to avoiddisparities between groups’ level, to diversify the audience and communication andpromote solidarity in class

Role-1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

From all above mentioned reasons, I have decided to make the subject named

"Applying Role play in developing communicative competence for 11th grader inNghi Son High school” The research paper aims:

- to complete and enrich the activities required in speaking skill

- to help to complete students’ personality and develop creativity, practicethe spirit of collective work

- to practice reflective skills training, conducted by a foreign language inreal situations; help students gain confidence, as the basis for the success in laterwork

1.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The subject is studied and performed for 11th grader students in Nghi Son Highschool in the 2017-2018 school year Students are divided into two groups inparticular:

1 Nunan D Language Teaching Methodology, 1991

- Group A: Grade 11 (Professional): 11A1, 11A4

- Group B: Grade 11 (basic): 11A3, 11A2, 11A5, 11A6

it gives students an opportunity to practice communicating in different socialcontexts and in different social roles In addition, it also allows students to becreative and to put themselves in another person’s place for a while They are notonly passive learners but they also become active learners since there are variousactivities that put them in an active process

Furthermore, Role play strategy is categorized as skill orientation development.Ments (1999)3 stated that role play really provides students meaningful experienceswhere students not only understand but they also have to act or behave as if they are

in real work So some skills needed in profession are elaborated in learning throughrole play It seems that role play prepare students how to work professionally whenthey are finished their study Learning in context of developing professional skills iscategorized expensive learning Why is it expensive? To learn certain skills, it needs

a lot of equipment or tools and setting where students use to develop their skills

In short, a good learning occurs when students are the centre of learning not theteacher The old paradigm shows that teachers are always dominant in classroomlearning In order to change this paradigm, teachers should provide and design thelearning to ovoid the teachers' dominance in the class Here role play becomes asolution for making the students be the centre and subject of learning not objectanymore (Tompkins, 1998)4

2 Damayanti, Journal (on line), Volume 12, (No 5).

3 Ments, V M The Effective Use of Role Play

4 Tompkins, P K 1998 Role Playing/Simulation The Internet TESL Journal, Vol IV, No 8, August 1998 http://iteslj.org/

2.2 THE REALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SPEAKING ENGLISHBEFORE APPLYING ROLE PLAY ACTIVITIES AT NGHI SON HIGH SCHOOL.

It has been accepted that students’ communicative ability is the proper aim forlanguage teaching This makes teaching and learning speaking skills seem to be animportant part in any English course Like many other high schools in Vietnam,teaching and learning speaking skills at Nghi Son High school is affected by someconstraints such as large class size, students’ unfamiliarity with communicativelanguage teaching (CLT), students’ low English proficiency, students’ lowparticipation in class time Normally, in a class at Nghi Son High school, there is anumber of students who have a good knowledge of English are eager and activeduring the class while the majority of those with low English proficiency are verypassive Many teachers often complain that students are lazy, they rarely try to speakthe target language in class They only speak when being forced Most of theteachers have found group work and discussion difficult to carry out Besides, lack

of training in teaching methods, especially CLT makes it difficult for the teachers toaccess to new approach, which makes the teaching and learning speaking skills morechallenging

2.3 SOLUTION

2.3.1 The role of the teacher

Here are a few tasks that teachers need to make:

People create favorable conditions: teachers provide vocabularies and sentencestructures that students will use in the process of implementation activities

The audiences: teachers will observe students to take role-play and give commentsand tips when the operation ends

Participants: teachers sometimes also need to participate in role-play activity asstudents

The steps taken:

Step one: -Create dramatic situations:

It is necessary to select situations for any play The important thing is to be based onthe needs and the student's preferences and giving students the chance to practicewhat was learned in class Next, the play that also needs to be interesting to attractthe students Students select themselves the situations is also a good way Thechildren may think of the subject that they find interested The situations that canarise from real life, the content of a book, a movie, or the difference of culture, etc

Make the situation become true

Real objects and scenes position can also make role-play like real life more Forexample, the group of students played the role of pizza maker and the customer.They just need a very short time to make a simple card with the cone shape and theword “CHEF” on it When the students wear it on their head, they think that theyhave become the real pizza chefs, it has the effect on inspiring It also becomes moreinteresting and helps students remember longer Tables and chairs rearrangement is

also effective Imagining that we are in a travel agency or in the doctor's clinic, it isimportant to find a way to make it becomes more real thing as possible We can letthem leave the classroom and then ask permission by knocking at the door.

Step 2 – content development:

On the context of the play, it is necessary to give ideas to develop the situation ofstories However, the dialogue depends on how English-speaking ability of students

We can simplify to suit the beginner level or to play on these complex issues or thelarger conflict with respect to intermediate or higher To develop contradictions andconflicts, we can change the dialogue in the script When the circumstances climaxappear, the play becomes more interesting

Step 3-cast:

It is considers that role play to be homework assignment Students will learn thewords and phrases from means in advance, prepared dialogue and then learntogether in the next lessons

Each class can be classified into one or few theater groups If the whole class is agroup, it is important to retain a number of supporting roles that normally may not

be used if the class has fewer people than contemplated If the class is divided intofew groups, then the teacher when deciding role must weight mentioning the abilityand personality of each student For example, a group in which all students are shywill not be successful

Step 4-preparing the information for students:

The students should be provided with sufficient information about the playespecially the role description to the children can be assured of his role Forexample, in the scene at the train station, the need to provide information related to:time and the destination of the train, the ticket price In a class studies at the higherlevel and a more complicated situation, it is a best advice to prepare a card includeyour name, age, personality, hobbies or dreams of the characters in the story.Describing the role thoroughly to help students differentiate the characters If a rolehas any trouble, just scale models the description of the problem and ask students toseek the solution

Step 5 – correction

Despite participating in the game, the role of the teacher is also extremely important.The teacher must listen to and note the error that students can make

It is inconvenient when the teachers interrupt to correct all the mistakes of students

If doing so, it will make students lose interest There are many ways to correct whenstudents carrying role-play:

- Correcting error immediately after the end of role-play The teacher can write thewrong sentence on the board for students to correct themselves

- Teachers can record role-play activities, then give students the opportunity to viewback to the conversation and look back language used Students can easily realizethe mistakes by themselves

Step 6 - ending:

When the play was finished, a little bit of time to control the content of stories alsoextremely rewarding After the play, they must be very satisfied with themselves, thechildren felt that their foreign language ability was used on a job quite complex andrewarding This happy feeling will disappear if being a teacher to correct each error.Students fell less confident than the prone and not excited to play again In addition,teachers can consult the practitioners about the play and encourage the opinions Thepurpose is to discuss the happenings of the play and review the issues had studied.Along with group discussions, we can also issue questionnaire for effectiveevaluation

In summary, Role play is a good method of teaching English The more interestingthe play is, the more members participate in the game It also means that teachershave to build in the students love learning and thereby achieve higher results

2.3.2 SAMPLE LESSON PLANS

SAMPLE LESSON PLAN 1

Unit 1: Friendship (English 11)

Finding a Perfect Roommate/ Flat-mate Role-play

1 Materials:

 Ranking Roommates: Vocabulary Warm-up

 Room Ads: Listening Reading Comprehension Warm-up

 Rooms for Rent Role Cards

 Friends Looking for Rooms Role Cards

 Students with Rooms for Rent Activity Sheet

 Students with Friends Needing Rooms Activity Sheet

2 Purpose and Audience:

The purpose of these materials is to get the students to practice talkingabout the qualities of good and bad roommates

3 Target Language:

Describing people and their habits

4 Activity: Role-play

Set-up: The class is divided into two groups:

Group 1 : These students have a room for rent at their house because a roommate has just moved out They will need a Room for Rent Role Card and a Room for Rent Activity Sheet.

Group 2: These students have a friend who is looking for a place to live They will need a Friends Looking for a Place to Live Role Card and a Students with Friends Needing a Room Activity Sheet.

The students should be given time to read their role cards, ask questions aboutvocabulary and then write down the concerns (from the role cards) into the tableheadings (on the activity sheets) Divide the class chairs into two lines facing eachother (or if you like, have an inner circle and outer circle) One line is for studentswith rooms to rent (Group 1) and the other line is for students who have friends whoneed a place to live (Group 2).

Group 1 approaches group 2 and asks them if the group 2 knows anybody whoneeds a place to live Group 2 tells them they have a friend who is looking for aplace Group 2 will then ask questions to make sure that their friend will be happy inthe shared accommodation Group 1 then asks questions about the friend to makesure that the friend is compatible

Housing

Your friend Susan is looking for a

place to live

Facts about Susan

She is an outgoing person who likes to

party And so she can be quite noisy,

especially on the weekends She is a

heavy drinker but she doesn’t smoke

She has a dog She has a job so she has

lots of money

Concerns (Questions to Ask)

(1) Are pets ok? (She has a dog)

(2) Are the other roommates friendly

outgoing people? (Her last

roommate was a bore so she

moved out)

(3) Does anybody smoke? (She’s

allergic to cigarette smoke)

(4) How much is the rent?

(5) How far is the apartment from the

school?

Your friend Bill is looking for a place to live

Facts about Bill

He is easygoing and gets along well withother people He is a bit lazy and

somewhat messy He plays in a band so

he often practices the drums at home He doesn’t smoke He is a social drinker He’s a little broke so he wants to find a place with cheap rent

Concerns (Questions to Ask)

(1) Will it be Ok if he practices the drums from time to time? (He plays

in a band)

(2) Are there any cats or dogs at the apartment? (He’s allergic to animal hair)

(3) How much is the rent?

(4) How far is the apartment from the school?

(5) Are the other roommates easy to get along with?

Your friend Brenda is looking for a

place to live

Facts about Brenda

She is a med student so she studies

Your friend John is looking for a place tolive

Facts about John

very hard She has a scholarship so she

has no problems with money She

doesn’t drink She doesn’t smoke She

has a cat She is very tidy

Concerns (Questions to Ask)

(1) Is it a quiet house? She’s a med

student so she needs to study

hard

(2) How much is the rent?

(3) Does anybody smoke? How far

is the apartment from the

school?

(4) Are pets ok? (She has a cat)

He is very shy, so he doesn’t have many friends or go out a lot He is clean He is quiet He smokes, but he rarely drinks

He has a job so he has lots of money

Concerns (Questions to Ask)

(1) Is smoking allowed in the house?(2) How much is the rent?

(3) Are there any cats or dogs at the apartment? (He’s allergic to animal hair)

(4) Is the apartment clean? (He is a bit of a neat freak)

Housing

Your friend Jane is looking for a place

to live

Facts about Jane

Jane is hardworking student who likes

to ‘let loose’ on the weekends She’s

very clean She doesn’t smoke and

only drinks a little on weekends Her

parents are rich so she has no money

problems

Concerns (Questions to Ask)

(1) How much is the rent?

(2) How far is the apartment from the

school?

(3) Are there any cats or dogs at the

apartment? (She’s allergic to

Animal hair)

(4) Is the apartment clean? (She’s a bit

of a neat freak)

(5) Is the place quiet during the week?

Your friend Mike is looking for a place

to live

Facts about Mike

Mike is a very shy guy working on hisdoctorate His family is very wealthy He

is quiet and doesn’t smoke or drink He’s

a bit of a slob though

Concerns (Questions to Ask)

(1) How much is the rent?

(2) How far is the apartment from the school?

(3) Does anybody smoke? (He’s allergic to cigarette smoke)

(4) Are there any cats or dogs at the apartment? (He’s allergic to animal hair)

(5) Is the place quiet? (He is working

on his PhD so he needs a quiet place to live an study)

Students Looking for Someone to Share Housing

One of your roommates has recently

moved out so you need to find a new

One of your roommates has recently moved out so you need to find a new

Facts about the current roommates:

The people living at the house now are

sociable, outgoing students at the

university They have parties or go out

on the town at least once a week

There are no smokers at the house and

no pets The rent is $300 per month

The house is about 10 minutes from

the university on foot

roommate:

(1) Is sociable? (They like to

have

fun now and then)

(2) Does _ smoke? (One of the

current roommates is allergic to

smoke)

(3) Is clean? (The last

roommate was a slob)

(4) Can afford to pay rent? (The

last roommate still owes them

about

2 months rent)

roommate

Facts about the current roommates:

The people living in the house are easygoing They like to make a lot of noise in the evening either playing guitars or listening to music There are

no pets in the house Everybody in the house smokes They rarely drink The rent is about $200.00 and the house is about 20 minutes from the university by subway

Concerns about potential roommate:

(1) Does have a pet? (The landlord doesn’t allow cats or dogs at the apartment)

(2) Is _ easy to get along with? (The last roommate cause many fights).(3) Is a heavy drinker? (The

last roommate drank a lot and caused problems)

(4) Does mind noise? (The other roommates tend to make a lot

of noise in the evenings)

Potential Roommate

Concern 1

Concern 2 _ _

Concern3 _ _

Concern4 _ _

A: Hi, Steve.

B: Hey, Jack What’s up?

A: Do you know anyone who’s looking for a place to

live? One of our roommates is moving out.

B: As a matter of fact, I do My friend Sally needs a

place How much is the rent?

(Steve asks questions about the room and roommates).

B: I’ll let her know and give her your number A:

Thanks Steve Oh wait! Is there anything I should

know about Sally?

B: Like what?

A: Well, is she a heavy drinker? Our last roommate got

drunk all the time and caused a lot of problems.

(Jack asks questions about the potential roommate

Sally)

A: That’s all I need to know I’ll talk it over with my

roommates Thanks again Steve See you later B: See