The role of role plays in teaching english

 Abstract

Language  teaching  is  not  just  about  teaching  languages,  it  is  also  about  helping  students  to

develop themselves as people. Role play is a technique in which students are presented with

a real or artificial environment and they are exposed with some kind of case or situation and they

need  to  exhibit  the  same  in  form  of  roles.   A brief historical sketch of role-play is given in this paper.  This paper focuses on the need of   role play as an instructive method which serves as a multi-skill developing weapon where the students not only develop a broader perspective about a task

or new  role but also the  horizon of understanding others behavior resulting into empathy, team

work, better communication, interpersonal skills and management development.  

 

Introduction

 

English  becomes  the  most  essential  language  in  the  world.  Almost  all  the  people  from  many

different  countries  around  the  world  use  it  to  communicate.    The  area  of  English  has  always

become  a  special  interest.  Among  the  recent  innovations  in  the  field  of  second  language

teaching,  task-based  language  teaching  is  probably  the  most  promising  and  productive  one,  the

one which has drawn much attention from both second language teaching profession and second

English for Specific Purposes.

 

 

Role-play is an effective technique to animate the teaching and learning atmosphere, arouse the

interests of learners, and make the language acquisition impressive.  Role play is very important

in  teaching  English  because  it  gives  students  an  opportunity  to  practice  communicating  in

different  social  contexts  and  in  different  social  roles.  In  addition,  it  also  allows  students  to  be

creative and  to  put  themselves  in  another  person‟s  place  for  a  while.  According  to  Stephen  D.

Hattings, the role play would seem to be the ideal  activity  in  which  students  could  use  their  English  creatively  and  it  aims  to  stimulate  a conversation situation in which students might find themselves and give them an opportunity to practice and develop their communication skill.

 

 

History of role-play

 

The idea of play as a medium for instruction can be traced back to the Greeks. Probably

the first role-play session was run when a master teaching a pupil, said to him: „Act as if I am a

customer and you are serving me‟. The pupil  played  his  role.  The  master  played  his  role  as  a

would-be-customer.  When  they  discussed  their  roles  afterwards,  play  was  used  as  method  of

instruction  (Corsini,  Shaw  &  Blake,  1961).  The  Viennese  psychiatrist  Moreno  was  the  first  to

examine role-play in a scientific way (Corsini, Shaw & Blake, 1961). Moreno (1946) created the

sociometric measure, a technique that studies interpersonal attraction and group membership in

institutional  settings  (e.g.,  reform  schools).  He  used  role-play  for  psychiatric  objectives.  These

plays  are  known  under  the  names  of  psychodrama  and  sociodrama.  In  psychodrama,  the

enactment and its emotional and behavioral confrontations are the central activity.

  Another  origin  can  be  found  in  Germany  in  the

1920s (Corsini, Shaw & Blake, 1961; Wohlking & Gill, 1980). The educational use of role-play

became more and more widespread. During the 1970s and 1980s the use of role-play increased

even further and role-play is now common-place in university curricula, business, and industrial

training programs.

 

Reasons for using Role-plays in Class

There are many good reasons for using role-plays in class:

    - role-plays help students cope with real-life situations, commonly used expressions, forcing   

       them to think “on their feet”;

    - role-plays help students work together as a team or group, and communicate in order to

       understand   each other, because role-plays are not simple acts of reading or reproduction 

       the information from a piece of paper;

    - role-plays can be adapted to the needs of the students, they may use specific vocabulary for 

      specific  situations,  as  learning  English  is  sometimes  done  for  a  specific  purpose;

      -  role-plays  give  learners  more  responsibility  in  their  learning,  encouraging  interaction;

    - role-plays offer students the chance to evaluate their learning progress and their level of 

      English.

 

Role play can improve learners speaking skills in any situation, and helps learners to interact. As

for  the  shy  learners,  role  play  helps  by  providing  a  mask,  where  learners  with  difficulty  in

conversation are liberated. In addition, it is fun and most learners will agree that enjoyment leads

to better learning.

 

 

How to teach using Role-play?

·  The  teacher  should  prepare  the  students  by  asking  questions  before  performing  a  role

play. 

·  The  questions  should  incorporate  the  major  parts  of  the  role  play  and  the

vocabulary/idioms  involved.  After  the  question  answer  session  the  students  should  be

comfortable with what they need to do.

·  Allow  the  students  a  few  minutes  to  study  the  role  cards  and  work  out  some  key

sentences. The teacher can help the students where ever needed. 

·  Each role play should be performed at least twice with the students changing roles. 

·  In group situations the stronger students can act out the role play to the whole class. 

·  The teacher can take one of the roles if needed. 

·  Avoid making corrections until the role play is finished. 

 

Role-play Cards

Role play cards can be a very useful tool. Role-play cards invite students to assume the role of a

specific person or character and to react to a stimulus or prompt as that person.  

 

Values of Role-plays

Role  playing  allows  people  to  make  mistakes  in  a  nonthreatening  environment.  They  can  test

several solutions to very realistic problems, and the application is immediate. It also fulfills some

of  the  very  basic  principles  of  the  teaching-learning  process  such  as  learner  involvement  and

intrinsic motivation. A positive climate often results in which one can see himself as others see

him.

The  involvement  of  the  role  playing  participants  can  create  both  an  emotional  and  intellectual

attachment  to  the  subject  matter  at  hand.  Role  playing  can  often  create  a  sense  of  community

within the class. 

 

Problems in Role Playing

The  major  drawback  in  role  playing  is  the  insecurity  of  class  members.  Some  may  react

negatively to participating in a situation which will be discussed and possibly criticized by other

members of the class. And role playing takes time. The class discussion of a five-to-ten-minute

role playing situation may extend to several times the length of the situation itself. 

The relationship of the people in the group is a crucial factor in the success of role playing. At

times  it  may  emerge  as  a  negative  factor.  For  example,  previous  interpersonal  difficulties

experienced by  group members may arise in class to corrupt the role playing situation. Also, if

the  group  has  people of  different  status,  they  may  be  reluctant  to  become  involved  for  fear  of

being humiliated before the members of the class who are smarter or more popular.

These difficulties with the method are formidable, but they are not insurmountable. Nor are they

so  extensive  that  they  should  prohibit  us  from  experimenting  with  role  playing.  The  potential

benefits of the method quickly overbalance the difficulties which seem so apparent in the initial

preparation stages.

 

The Role of a Teacher

 

Some of the possible teacher roles are: 

Facilitator  -  students  may  need  new  language  to  be  'fed'  in  by  the  teacher.  If  rehearsal  time  is

appropriate the feeding in of new language should take place at this stage. As students practice

the role-play they might find that they are stuck for words and phrases. In the practice stage the

teacher has a chance to 'feed-in' the appropriate language. This may need the teacher to act as a

sort of 'walking dictionary', monitoring the class and offering assistance as and when necessary. 

Spectator  -  The  teacher  watches  the  role-play  and  offers  comments  and  advice  at  the  end.

Participant - It is sometimes appropriate to get involved and take part in the role-play yourself.

 

Error Correction

 

There  are  many  ways  to  correct  mistakes  when  using  role-play.  It  is  rarely  appropriate  for  the

teacher  to  jump  in  and  correct  every  mistake.  This  could  be  incredibly  de-motivating!  Some

students do like to be corrected straight after a role-play activity, while the language is still fresh

in  their  minds.  Sentences  with  errors  can  be  written  on  the  board  for  the  group  to  correct

together.

 

Self-correction - If you have the equipment to record the role-plays either on audiocassette or on

video,  students  can  be  given  the  opportunity  to  listen  to  the  dialogue  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.

Students could be asked to listen out for both great bits of language they'd like to use themselves,

and  some  mistakes  they  hear.  Be  careful  to  keep  peer-correction  a  positive  and  profitable

experience for all involved.  Making a note of common mistakes yourself and dealing with them

in future classes ensures that the students don't lose motivation by being corrected on the spot or

straight  after  the  role-play.  Negotiate  with  students  and  ask  them  how  they  would  like  to  be

corrected.

 

Conclusion

 

To  sum  up,  incorporating  role-play  into  the  classroom  adds  variety,  a  change  of  pace  and

opportunities for a lot of language production and also a lot of fun! It can be an integral part of

the  class  and  not  a  'one-off'  event.  It's  fun  and  motivating;  quieter  students  get  the  chance  to

express themselves in a more forthright way; the world of the classroom is broadened to include

the  outside  world  -  thus  offering  a  much  wider  range  of  language  opportunities.  In  addition  to

these reasons, students who will at some point travel to an English speaking country are given a

chance  to  rehearse  their  English  in  a  safe  environment.  Real  situations  can  be  created  and

students  can  benefit  from  the  practice.  Mistakes  can  be  made  with  no  drastic  consequences. 

Role-playing  can  boost  self-esteem,  increase  classroom  morale,  encourage  participation  and

create  confidence.  Children  who  engage  in  creative  learning  learn  faster,  retain  more  of  what

they learn, and are more prone to apply their learning outside the classroom.  The techniques of

role playing afford another approach to involving students in their own learning process toward

the  clarification  of  self  concepts,  evaluation  of  behavior,  and  aligning  of  that  behavior  with

reality.

 

References

1.  Richards,  Jack  C.,  and  Theodore  S.  Rodgers.  1986.  Approaches  and  methods  in     

language  teaching:  a  description  and  analysis.  New  York:  Cambridge  University     

Press.

 

2.  Feng Liu & Yun Ding, “Role-play in English Language Teaching”, Asian Social Science,

Vol. 5, No.!0, October 2009.

English for Specific Purposes World  ISSN 1682-3257   Issue 33, Volume 11, 2011

 

 

3.   http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/roleplaying/howto.html

4.  http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Teaching-English-Through-Role-Play/418568

5.  http://www.learnenglish.de/Teachers/roleplays.htm

 

      6.   http://bible.org/seriespage/teaching-through-role-playing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Role-Playing is getting together with some friends to write a story. It's joining

around a campfire or dining room to spin some tall tales. Role-playing is being

creative and having fun with friends.

In most role-playing games, one person plays the 'referee,' who can be thought

of as the 'Editor' of the story. The Editor will, with input from you if you desire

to give any, describe a world, or setting. You and your friends, as Players, will

take a character and protagonist in this world, and guide your character through

the story that you and your friends are creating."

 

- Jerry Stratton,

What Is Role-Playing?

 

 

As part of our search to find classroom activities which facilitate language learning

and yet provide students the opportunity to creatively use the language in a non-structured way, many English teachers have turned to dialogues, open-ended

scenarios, and role plays. There has of late been a movement towards even more

free form classroom activities which are similar to the more traditional role

plays but which descend more from serious gaming activities than

from improvisational theatre. In this paper, I will discuss the use of Role Playing

Games (RPGs) in theEnglish as a Foreign Language Classroom.

 

THE NATURE OF RPGS

First, RPGs should be distinguished from Language Role Plays, Classroom

Dramas, and other more commonly employed classroom language learning

exercises which teachers attending the conference may be more familiar

with. RPGs are games played on a tabletop with pencil, paper, dice (often

polyhedral), and a large dose of imagination (unlike the more usual language role

plays which are acted out before a class, these games are non-performance

oriented). Players can be divided into two types: the referee (commonly called a

Game Master or GM) and the players. The GM creates a scenario which he then

sets in motion by explaining the situation to the players who have created Player

Characters (PCs) to interact with one another and theGM's characters (Non-Player

Characters or NPCs) during the game. Following a set of rules or guidelines,

 

  

 

LANGUAGE LEARNING BENEFITS OF RPGS

Role playing has several beneficial language learning characteristics which Gillian

Porter Ladousse has effectively described in her useful introduction to the

topic, Role Play. Many of these characteristics are also present in tabletop RPGs. It

should be noted that role play and RPG activities are not limited to language

practice as language learning certainly is also taking place during the games

(Ladousse, 9). For RPGs to be effective in this way, they should be part of what

Ladousse calls that "category of language learning techniques sometimes referred

to as low input -- high output . . . . the teacher-centered presentation phase of the

lesson is very short" (9). Role-Playing activities offer opportunities for real use of

the language. Although they are more often used in many English for Special

Purposes courses, they can be used with general classes too at any level

(Mugglestone, 115).

There can be two ways of looking at language work in RPGs and similar role plays:

either the students manage with the language they already know or they practice

with structures and functions that have been presented in an earlier part of the

course or lesson (Ladousse, 9). Either way, the students can only benefit from the

experience. William H. Bryant used adventure/survival discussion games similar

to RPGs in his French Conversation classes and found them to be very effective:

One thing for certain, however, is that, used properly, these kinds of activities are

usually very effective in engendering a lot of animated conversation and

communication on the part of the students. The main reason for this is that the

hypothetical situation presented . . . is . . . "emotionally charged." (348)

As outlined in Cardwell's "Role-Playing Games and the Gifted Student," there are

several language and non-language based learning skills developed directly when

students become involved with RPGs. According to Cardwell, these include but

are not limited to Following Directions, Vocabulary, Research, Independent/Self-Directed Study, Planning, Choice/Decision Making, Mental Exercise, Evaluation,

Cooperation/Interaction, Creativity/Imagination, Leadership, Problem Solving,

Critical Thinking, Predicting Consequences, Figural/Spatial Reasoning, Taking

Other Points of View, Asking Questions, Ethics, Prioritizing, Interrelated

Learning, and Continuity of Learning (4-6). There is also some evidence to suggest

that role-playingmethods facilitate attitude change, increase self- concept, and

produce behavioral change (Swink & Buchanan, 1179).

Along with developing language skills and other related skills as noted above,

because RPGs are language-centered communication games, they have a definite

positive effect on student socialization skills which are central to RPGs "where

much of the game depends on a common perception of the information presented

to the players by the [GM]" (Toles-Patkin, 5). One player characterized the games

he most enjoyed playing as having strong social/negotiation elements: "The games

we love have a certain amount of diplomatic negotiation going on. A player tries to

influence the outcome of the game by interacting with other players" (Shaw, 128).

For students who create their own adventures, instead of relying upon published

source material, the act of doing so helps then become better thinkers and writers.

This is because a scenario requires internal logic, a balance that is the very

condition of collective involvement. Sociologist Daniel Dayan characterized the

standards for good RPG campaigns thus: "The fictional background

or universe must be relatively convincing and may call for some amount of

historical validity, but it is defined less in terms of historical realism than by the

consistency of its imagined features" (1222). Similarly, many claim that the game

offers an outlet for those with adventure fantasies of their own and teaches them

about problem-solving, leadership, and survival (Toles-Patkin, 9).

Whether students are playing in scenarios created by their classmates or using pre-generated modules, RPGs have a strong curiosity appeal which Patricia

Mugglestone called the one "primary motive relevant to every teaching-learning

situation, whatever the status of the target language, whatever type of course is

being followed, whatever the learner's nationality, age, and level of language

proficiency, whether he is a volunteer or conscript learner" (112). According to

Mugglestone, "projects appeal to the curiosity motive if their content is interesting

to the learner and if the learner is allowed to develop the project in his own way"

(115). This certainly describes the typical RPG activity.

 

 

RPGS IN THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM

At this time, I will briefly summarize some of the ways RPGs have been

effectively employed in language classroom at different levels. The methods

described will primarily be examples from teachers who have used the technique

effectively in their own English classes: as conversational free-form or open-scenario exercises, as an on-going writing exercise or dialogue at varying levels of

difficulty or immediacy, and as other RPG-related writing projects.

As Conversational Free-Form or Open-Scenario Exercises

Robert J. Di Pietro outlines a teaching technique for conversation classes which is

very similar to RPGs in facilitation of language use in his insightful article, "The

Open-Ended Scenario A New Approach to Conversation." RPGs are used as a

basis for class discussion around open scenarios provided by the instructor or

prepared by the students themselves. Since conversations are based upon meted-out

information, Di Pietro cites the educational scenario in which information is gained

through further contact as being superior to more standard role-plays (19) -- this is

how the RPG scenario is constructed. My own use of RPGs at National Chengchi

University in the Republic of China have typically been of the student-centered/student-created school.

For those teachers who prefer not to use fantastic or heroic literature as the models

for their classroom activities, RPGs can be fairly easily adapted to any situation --

including real life. When Scott D. Orr was teaching Czech students in 1990, he

used a Role-Playing Game as a teaching aid. Since it was right after the revolution,

the students were not only very interested in American English, but in American

culture as well. Orr chose not to use a commercial RPG system and simply created

a basic game for the students, requiring them to imagine their own character

types(they played ball players, cowboys, pilots, and detectives). Orr reports that the

activity was very successful not only because it was a tool for learning English, or

just a game, but because the students were able to role-play being members of a

culture they were interested in.

While most have the students create and run their own games, some teachers have

chosen other methodologies for using RPGs in their conversation classes. W. Troy

Tucker employed a science-fiction RPG as a teaching aid while he taught at a

science university in the People's Republic of China. Tucker used the

game Traveller as he felt the students could more readily use the vocabulary of the

sci-fi genre in their professional and academic lives. Now that Tucker has returned

to his home in the U.S., he is once more utilizing a horror RPG, Call of Cthulhu,

to teach Japanese ESL students. Tucker's methodology has been to run the games

with himself as GM and the students becoming as PCs.

While most teachers will use RPGs as small-group exercises, it is possible to use

them as class discussion facilitators. Ken Rolston currently is the editor for one of