Advantages of Using Role Play in English Speaking Class

郟郁文

English teachers always use role play activities in the class to improve students enthusiasm in learning and motivate them to use English to communicate with others. I did plenty of interviews to find out the merits of role play in students eyes. The following is the summary from my investigation.

1. English Learning Aspect

Excerpt 1

Interviewee A: Role play is a new activity for me but I like it. This activity can make the class more interesting and active. By interacting with others in the role play, can also practice my English speaking pronunciation and grammar and use in into simulated situations.

Interviewee B: I always find many classmates are excellent in English and it is an opportunity to learn from them.

Role play is fun and interesting (Harmer, 1989) and this characteristic can to a large extent motivate learners to participate in the activity. Role play can create a relax and comfortable environment which can interest learners and motivate them to speak English voluntarily and self一 consciously. Under this situation, from my observation, learners are less anxious and nervous, and more willing to speak English and talk with other learners. B) participating in the role play, learners can communicate under a friendly atmosphere.

In terms of how does role play improve learners English speaking ability, participant A respond that through the engagement in the role play activity, her knowledge of grammar and pronunciation ability is improved and she also acquires some useful vocabulary from the interaction with classmates. Wessels (1987) pointed out that role play can naturally generate a need to speak. After being assigned by one or several roles, learner are encouraged to pretend to be the character and thus there is a necessity to communicate and interact with other roles by formulating dialogue and exchanging ideas. Linguistics and English teachers agree that second language can be better improved by interacting, during which language learners can pick up vocabulary incidentally and practice their pronunciation, fluency and accuracy as well.

In addition, during the process of role play, learners are designed to communicate with other learners which can enable them to find the English ability different from each other. It can make them evaluate their English levels in a more accurate way by comparing with others. After realising the level of their English knowledge and the deficit of their English skills, learners ' willingness to learn English and make improvement will be largely inspired. When learners are motivated to learn, they make a hard effort to understand the knowledge. In this way they can learn more deeply and have better ability to use what they learn into practice (Mayer, 2003).

2.Non-English Learning Aspect

Excerpt 2

Interviewee B: In the role play time, I learned to express myself clearly to others.

Interviewee B: When I communicate with others, their ideas and experience were SO fantastic.I learned a lot from them.

Interviewee C: In previous time,l was shy and timid. I did not like talking to others actively, but role play forces me to do so. Surprisingly, I feel pretty good. Classmates are friendly and kind. I talk to many classmates and make many friends in the role play. Now, even though I am still a littlte bit shy, I will overcome it later.

Even though role play is carried out within the classroom, it provides benefits that are outside the classroom. Learners not only acquire English speaking knowledge, but also gain a lot in the social aspects. In terms of what learners have gained from role play in non一English learning aspect, they are improved interpersonal communication skills, friendship, self一 confidence and broadened horizon.

In order to successfully communicate with others, learners have to have an ability to express themselves clearly as well as understand others' meaning. In the process of role play, learners are expected to communicate continuously which can be a good practice for their interaction skills. Namely, role play promotes interpersonal skills development (Holsbrink-Engels, 2001). Through interaction with others, learners also have a good chance to develop friendship. Meanwhile, times of role play activities can make learners get accustomed to speak in front of a certain number of learners which in a way foster learners ' confidence of speaking in public (Stern, 1983). Apart from these advantages, horizon development is also worthy to be mentioned. Different people encounter with different situations in their life. Therefore, their perspectives towards one thing may be different. When play the role and exchange opinions, learners have a great chance to be surprised by the other. To some extent, a combination of different views can broaden the horizon.

References:

[1]Harmer,J. (1989).The practice of Engl ish language teach ing. Longman.

[2] Ho1sbrink-Engels, G. A. (2001).Using a computerlearning environment forinitial training indealing with social-communicative problems. British Journal of Educational Technology, 32(1), 53-67.

[3]Mayer,R. E. (2003). Learning and instruction. Prentice Hall.

[4]Stern,S.L. (1983). Why drama works:psycholinguistic perspective. Methods that work: Asmorgasbord of ideas for language teachers,207-225.

[5]Wesse1s, c. (1987). Drama. Oxford University Press.