Role Playing in the ESL Classroom

Why and How to Use it in Your Classrooom

Role Play

A role play is a learning activity in which students play out roles in a simulated situation that relates to one or more learning objectives.

Benefits

Teaches empathy Simulates authentic language

experience Provides a memorable learning

experience Adaptable for multiple levels Increases motivation and self-esteem Builds confidence

Role Play Advantages #1 Role plays encourage student

participation and stimulate thinking.

They motivate students by involving them in a realistic situation.

Role plays help students understand another person’s perspective or situation.

Role Play Advantages #2 Role plays can inform, assess, and

improve a variety of students’ skills and attitudes (communication and interpersonal skills needed to interview, counsel, and treat patients)

Role plays give students opportunities to receive feedback on their performance in a safe setting

What is Role Playing Good For?

Communication skills Fluency Grammar Reaching the <spontaneity state> Assessment Tool Cultural factors

How to use it in your classroom:some ideas

Listening and Role Play Use a short listening

passage/dialogue Check for comprehension Review grammar,language structures,

pronunciation Students practice and personalize

dialogue Perform

Reading and Role Play

Small groups Each group given a section of the

reading Group discusses main events Group creates a dialogue to represent

events Performs Feedback/questions from class

Video and Role play

Watch an authentic clip of a target situation

Discuss as a class Give students a copy of script Practice Personalize Perform

Long-term project

Groups of 5 to 10 Students write their own script Edit Rehearse Perform for a wider audience

Making Role Playing Successful

Model Language support Have realistic goals Use realistic scenarios Use realia and visual aids

Create a Role Play #1

Decide what the students should learn (the objective)

Select an appropriate situation

Identify the roles

Create a Role Play #2 Determine if the role play will be:

Informal – acting it out with little or preparation time

Formal – planned in advance with instructions

Clinical demonstration – working with anatomic models and simulated patients

Create a Role Play #3 Determine if the students will report the

results of their discussion of the role play in writing or orally to the entire group.

In some cases, the role plays are done only in small groups. Then one or more groups may present theirs to the large group and/or the teacher will facilitate a discussion focusing on the role plays.

Facilitate a Role Play #1

Explain the nature and purpose of the exercise (the objectives).

Define the setting and situation of the role play.

Brief the participants on their roles.

Facilitate a Role Play #2 Explain what the other students should

observe and what kind of feedback they should give.

Provide the students with questions or activities that will help them to focus on the main concepts being presented.

Keep the role play brief and to the point.

Facilitate a Role Play #3 Engage students in a followup

discussion.

Provide feedback, both positive and suggestions for improvement.

Summarize what happened in the session, what was learned, and how it applies to the skill being learned.

Conclusion Benefits range from increasing empathy

and motivation to providing authentic experiences with the language

Can be used to teach grammar as well as communication skills, fluency and cultural factors

Will provide a memorable learning experience that the students can draw from to help navigate life outside the classroom

Bibliography Celce-Murcia,M.,& Hilles, S. (1988)Resources in Teaching Grammar. New

York:Oxford University Press Maxwell, C.(1997 October) Role –Play and

Language Learning.Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Association of Language Teachers, Hamamatsu, Japan

Parrish, B. Teaching Adults ESL: A PracticalIntroduction. New York: McGraw-Hill

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