The use of role play activities to improve speaking skills for the first-year English major students at HaNoi University of industry

i
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES




NGUYỄN THỊ HUYỀN
THE USE OF ROLE PLAY ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING
SKILLS FOR THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT
HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ‘ĐÓNG VAI’ NHẰM CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG
NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊN ANH
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI
M.A. Minor Thesis



Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410

HÀ NỘI - 2012


i
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES




NGUYỄN THỊ HUYỀN
THE USE OF ROLE PLAY ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING
SKILLS FOR THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT
HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

SỬ DỤNG CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ‘ĐÓNG VAI’ NHẰM CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG
NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CHUYÊN ANH
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI
M.A. Minor Thesis



Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa Ph.D

HÀ NỘI - 2012



iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLA RATION
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ii
ABSTRACT
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
iv
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
vii
LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS
viii
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1
1. Background of the study and problem statement
2. Aim and objectives of the study
3. Research questions
4. Scope of the study
5. Method of the study
6. Significance of the study
7. Thesis organization
1

3
3
3
4
4
5
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW
6
6
1.1. An overview of speaking skills
1.1.1. Definition of speaking
1.1.2. Teaching speaking
1.1.2.1. Difficulties in teaching / learning speaking skills
1.1.2.2. Methods of teaching speaking skills
1.1.3. A successful speaking activity in classroom
1.1.4. Activities to promote speaking skills
1.2. Role play
1.2.1. Definition of role play
1.2.2. Types and procedures in using role play
1.2.3. Significance of role play in teaching speaking
1.3. Summary
6
6
7
7
9
10
12
13

13
15
19
20



v
CHAPTER TWO: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1. Research design
2.2. Setting and subjects of the study
2.3. Research procedure
2.3.1. Conducting preliminary study
2.3.2. Planning the action
2.3.2.1. Choosing teaching materials
2.3.2.2. Preparing the lesson plan
2.3.2.3. Making role play activities evaluation form
2.3.2.4. Setting the criteria of success
2.3.3. Implementing the action
2.3.4. Observing the action
2.3.5. Reflecting the action
2.4. Research instruments
2.4.1. Survey questionnaires
2.4.2. Classroom observation
2.5. Summary
21
21
21
22
22

22
22
23
23
24
24
25
25
26
26
26
26
CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS, RESEARCH FINDINGS
AND DISCUSSION
27
3.1.

Preliminary investigation
3.1.1.

Data analysis of teachers and students‟ survey
questionnaires in preliminary investigation
3.1.2.

Findings from preliminary investigation
3.2.

Research findings and discussion from action
implementation
3.2.1.

Findings from cycle 1
3.2.1.1.

Finding on the students‟ speaking performance
3.2.1.2.

Findings on the students‟ self-confidence

3.2.1.3.

Reflection

27
27

31
32

32
32
33
34



vi
3.2.2.

Findings from cycle 2

3.2.2.1.

Findings on the students‟ speaking performance
3.2.2.2.

Findings on the students‟ self-confidence
3.2.2.3.

Data analysis and findings from the students‟
questionnaires
3.2.2.4.

Reflection
3.2.3.

Discussion
3.3.

Summary
PART THREE:
CONCLUSIONS

35
35
37
37

40
41
42

43
1. Conclusion
2. Pedagogical implications
3. Limitations of the study
4. Suggestions for further study
43
44
45
45
REFERENCES
46
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Survey questionnaire for teachers
Appendix 2: Survey questionnaire for students
Appendix 3: Lesson plans
Appendix 4: Role play activities evaluation form
Appendix 5: The frame of Harris‟s oral English rating scores
Appendix 6 : Situations
Appendix 7 : Survey questionnaires for students
I
I
III
V
XLVIII
XLIX
LII
LVI

vii
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry
TESL: Teaching English as a Second Language
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
ESL: English as a Second Language
N: Number
Ts: Teachers
Ss: Students



viii
LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS
TABLES:
Table 1: Teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards speaking skills and the role of
teaching and learning speaking skill
Table 2: Teachers‟ and students‟ attitudes towards speaking material
Table 3: Teachers‟ techniques to encourage students to speak and improve their
English speaking skills
Table 4: Results of students‟ speaking performance in cycle 1
Table 5: Results of students‟ speaking performance in cycle 2
Table 6: Results from survey questionnaire for students
CHARTS
Chart 1: Teachers‟ and students‟ self-assessment towards students‟ speaking
competence level
Chart 2: Teachers‟ and students‟ difficulties in teaching and learning English
speaking
Chart 3: The improvement in the students‟ speaking skills through using role play

activities
Chart 4: The improvement in the students‟ self-confidence through using role play
activities



1
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. Background of the study and problem statement
Currently, English has become a language of international communication, so it
is important for people to learn English. However, today‟s world requires that the
goal of teaching speaking should focus not only on linguistic competence of the
language learners but also on the development of their communicative abilities,
because, only in that way, learners can express themselves in each communicative
circumstance. There are four skills in teaching and learning a language: listening,
speaking, reading and writing, but out of the four skills, speaking is considered as
the most essential skill to be mastered. Considering how important speaking skill in
learning English, O‟Malley and Pierce (1996) state that speaking seems to be an
important skill in order to enable learners to communicate effectively through oral
language because the disability of the learners to speak may lead them to be unable
to express their ideas even in a simple form of conversation. However, using
English for speaking is not simple since learners have to master several important
elements of English such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency and
comprehension. In that case, teachers are supposed to be creative in developing
their teaching learning process to give attention to the elements of speaking,
improve students‟ speaking skill, and make the English lesson more exciting.
Since the elements of the teaching speaking are various, many problems occur
in the teaching learning process. In learning English speaking skill, students often
face with some problems. The first common problem found is that the influence of
their native language makes it difficult to use the foreign language. The second one

is students‟ low motivation, high anxiety and limited vocabulary. Students are not
enthusiastic and not confident enough to use English in speaking class.
The author has found that those problems are also confronted by the first-year
English major students of HaUI. The problems with students‟ speaking skills can be
caused by a lot of different factors including students‟ interest and attitudes towards
learning English, the material, and even teachers‟ monotonous and inappropriate



2
use of teaching techniques, which makes students bored and unmotivated in the
speaking lesson, and not confident about their speaking skills. Hence, it is crucial to
propose appropriate techniques to overcome the students‟ low speaking ability. It is
the responsibility of the teacher to find out an effective technique in order to
stimulate the students‟ positive attitude towards the speaking class and their
speaking skills. (Burns & Joyce, 1997:10).
To teach the students how to speak in the best way possible, the author decided
to choose role play activities as an effective teaching technique. The effectiveness
of role play activities in improving students‟ speaking skills has been demonstrated
in a number of research studies. In specific, role play has an important role in
teaching speaking because it offers students a chance to practice communicating in
different social contexts and in different social roles. In role play activities, students
act to be someone else in the actual world situation that is brought into the
classroom. “By bringing the outside world into the classroom, we can provide a lot
of useful practice that would otherwise be impossible in cafés, shops, banks,
etc.”(Scrivener, 1998:363). Besides, for the shy learners, according to Ladousse
(1989), role play supports the confidence of shy learners because here they are
provided with a mask where learners with difficulty in conversation are liberated.
They learn how to interact with other peers without being afraid that their mistakes
might cause some misunderstanding. In brief, role play is indeed a useful teaching

technique which should be applied by ESL/EFL teachers more often in the
ESL/EFL classrooms.
Based on the theoretical background and the findings of previous studies about
the effectiveness of role play activities above, the author would like to implement
an action research in which role play activities were used as a technique of teaching
speaking to improve the speaking skills for the first year English major students at
HaUI.



3
2. Aim and objectives of the study
The general aim of the study is to improve the first-year English major students of
HaUI speaking skills through using role play activities.
There are several objectives of the study, those are:
 To investigate the real situation of teaching and learning speaking skill to the
first year English major students at HaUI including the quality and methods
of teaching and learning speaking kills;
 To research how the speaking skills of the first year English major students
at HaUI can be improved through using role play activities;
 To examine the students‟ attitudes toward using role play activities in
teaching and learning English.
3. Research questions
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following research
questions are raised:
(i) What is the present situation of teaching and learning English speaking
skills at HaUI?
(ii) How can the speaking skills of the first year English major students at
HaUI be improved through role play activities?
(iii) What are the first year English major students‟ attitudes toward using

role play activities in teaching and learning speaking?
4. Scope of the study
The study focuses on examining how using role play activities improve
speaking skills in a number of criteria including “pronunciation, grammar,
vocabulary, fluency and comprehension” (adapted from Harris, 1969). Also, the
study is limited to the context of HaUI with the participation of 28 first –year
English major students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages. Although the author
is well aware that the survey statistics are not fully representative of all the major
students of English at many universities in Vietnam, she hopes to propose some of
the most popular facts that occurring in the study.



4
5. Method of the study
In order to achieve the aims and objectives mentioned above, action research
procedures were used in this study. Firstly, a survey questionnaire was delivered to
the teachers so that more information on the current situation and problems they
faced and solutions implemented can be collected. Then, another questionnaire was
also given to the first year English major students to investigate their problems in
learning speaking skills. The information from questionnaires can help to draw a
general picture about the reality of teaching and learning speaking skills at HaUI
and to find out an effective solution that is using role play activities to improve the
students‟ speaking skills. To investigate how speaking skills of the first year
English major students at HaUI can be improved through using role play activities,
the author implemented an action plan in the form of cycles that follows Kemmis
and McTaggart‟s model (2000:564) including, planning, implementation,
observation, and reflection. Also, the author distributed open-ended and close-ended
questionnaires to the students to examine their attitudes towards role play activities
in improving their speaking skills.

6. Significance of the study
The result of this study is expected to give practical contribution to the teaching
of English, particularly at HaUI where the study was conducted. For the English
teachers, the use of role play activities can be one of the effective teaching
techniques to improve the students‟ English speaking skill. For students, using role
play activities can help them to improve their English speaking skills as well as
overcome shyness in order to be able to communicate in English orally. For other
researchers who conduct the same study, the result of this study is expected to be a
reference and contribute more information to solve the same problems.



5
7. Thesis organization
The author makes an organization of this thesis in order to make an easy
understanding.
Part one is Introduction. In Introduction, there is a little explanation about
background of the study and problem statement, aim and objectives of the study,
research questions, scope of the study, methodology of the study, significance of
the study and thesis organization.
Part two is Development which is systematically divided into three chapters.
The following is a short description about what each chapter contains.
Chapter one: Literature review. It provides an overview of speaking skills and
role play.
Chapter two: Research methodology. This chapter deals with the research
method covering research design, setting and subjects of the study, research
procedure.
Chapter three: Data analysis, research findings and discussion. First, the
analysis of the data of teachers‟ and students‟ questionnaires and the results of
preliminary investigation are displayed in order to come to the conclusion that it is

very important to implement an action plan in which role play activities are used.
Then, the findings from the implementation of action plan are discussed. Finally, a
discussion emerging from the findings is presented to answer the research
questions.
Part three is Conclusion which gives a summary of the thesis, shows
limitations, and proposes pedagogical implications and suggestions for further
study taken from the results of the study.



6
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW
The purpose of this chapter is to provide an extensive review of literature on
speaking skills and role play activities. First, an overview of speaking skills
including definition of speaking skill, types of speaking skills, teaching speaking
skills, assessment of speaking skills and activities to promote speaking skills is
presented. Also, this chapter is also designed to present definition of role play,
types and procedures in using role play, and significance of role play in teaching
speaking skills.
1.1. Overview of speaking skills
1.1.1. Definition of speaking
So far there have been a lot of definitions of speaking given, each deals with
one aspect of speaking, however, they all state speaking involves in speech and
through speech speakers expresses his attitudes, feelings, etc.
In Oxford Dictionary of Current English (2009:414), speaking is “the action of
conveying information or expressing ones‟ thoughts and feelings in spoken
languages”.
According to Chaney and Burke (1998:13), speaking is “the process of building
and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety

of context.”
In terms of language teaching and learning, speaking is considered as one of the
four important language skills (listening, reading, speaking and writing) to practice
and master. In this light, Nunan (2003:48) puts it that “speaking is the productive
oral skill. It consists of producing systematic verbal utterance to convey meaning.”
Also regarding speaking as a skill, Bygate (1987:3) investigates the distinction
between knowledge and skill in a speaking lesson, which he considers as crucial in
the teaching of speaking. He argues that speaking is considered as a skill which
deserves attention every bit as much as literary skills in both first and second
language (Bygate, 1987:2). Indeed, to be a good learner of speaking, studying



7
knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. is not enough but the skill
to use this knowledge to communicate successfully is indispensable.
To sum up, there are different ways to define speaking, i.e. speaking as an
action, a process and a skill. In this study, the term “speaking” will be used as a skill
related to language teaching and learning. In the next part, issues related to teaching
speaking skills will be presented.
1.1.2. Teaching speaking
According to Kayi (2006:1-2) what is meant by teaching speaking is to teach
English language learners to:
 Produce the English speech sounds and sounds patterns
 Use words and sentence stress, intonation patterns and the rhythm of the
second language.
 Select appropriate words and sentences according to the proper social setting,
audience, situation and subject matter.
 Organize their thoughts in a meaningful and logical sequence
 Use language as a means of expressing values and judgments

 Use the language quickly and confidently with few unnatural pauses, which
is called fluency. (Kayi, 2006:1-2 cited in Nunan, 2003)
1.1.2.1. Difficulties in teaching and learning speaking skills
1.1.2.1.1. Difficulties in teaching speaking skills
Classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves
through speech is an important component of a language course. However, it is
more difficult to design and administer such activities than to do so for listening,
reading or writing. Ur (1996:121) states four problems in teaching speaking skills
that teachers often come across. They are:
 Inhibition
Unlike reading, writing, and listening activities, speaking requires some degree of
real time exposure to an audience. Learners are often inhibited about trying to say
things in a foreign language in the classroom. They are worried about making



8
mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their
speech attracts.
 Nothing to say
Even if the learners are not inhibited, teachers often hear learners complain that they
cannot think of anything to say.
 Low or uneven participation.
Only one participant talk at time if he or she is to be heard, and in large group, this
means that each one will have only little talking time. This problem is compounded
by the tendency of some learners to dominate the activity, while others speak very
little or not at all.
 Mother tongue use
In classes where all, or a number or the learners share the mother language, they
may tend to use the mother tongue because it is easier, and because they feel less

„exposed‟ if they are speaking their mother tongue.
1.1.2.1.2. Difficulties in learning speaking skills
Based on a survey of EFL teachers, the main challenges in the EFL classroom
are to be lack of motivation, students‟ reluctance to speak, and the use of the first
language (Nunan, 1993 in Celce-Murcia, 2001). It implies that in speaking class, it
is not easy to make students speak. Students‟ reluctance to speak, according to
Burns and Joyce‟s survey (in Nunan, 1999) may be caused by some factors: cultural
factors, linguistic factors and /or psychological factors. In line with the ideas,
Thornbury (2006) explains that the main difficulties the learner - speaker often
faces are the limited skills factors, in which their knowledge is not sufficiently
automated to ensure fluency. As a result of these limitations, there may be also
affective factors such as lack of confidence of self-consciousness, which might
inhibit fluency.
When the students feel not confident to speak, teachers are supposed to help
them build their self-confidence, as Brown (2001:63) suggests that teachers are
called on to sustain self-confidence where it is already exists and to build it where it



9
does not. In sum, as teachers, they need to be aware of any problems that students
might face in speaking class.
1.1.2.2. Methods of teaching speaking skills
Now many linguistics and English as second language (ESL) teachers agree
with creating a classroom environment where students have real-life
communication, authentic activities and meaningful tasks that promote oral
language. This can occur when students collaborate in groups or pairs to achieve a
goal or to complete a task. Byrne (1991:22-31) points out that there are three phases
in the teaching of a speaking lesson to develop learners‟ oral ability, which are
presented as follows:

 The presentation phase
In this phase, teachers are the centre. It means that they work as information
provider. So far, oral materials are written mainly in two forms in every course-
book. They are dialogues and prose. And obviously these two forms must be
presented in different ways.
According to Byrne (1991:22) ten different steps are used to present a dialogue.
They are the following:
 Establish setting by using pictures. At this phase English should be used as
much as possible.
 Draw out learners‟ experience related to situation.
 Explain some key words.
 Set listening task by asking key information of the dialogue.
 Ask learners listen without looking at the books.
 Allow learners to have a look at their book when necessary for them.
 Ask the learners to listen and repeat.
 Ask learners to pick up difficulties (good chance for them to speak) and
explain difficulties.
 Ask them to practice (role-play).
 Ask them to dramatize the dialogue.



10
 It is known that this procedure is perfectly and logically arranged. However,
it is dependent on learner‟s competence so some steps can be left out. It is
quite hard for Vietnamese learners to conduct the ten steps because they are
generally shy and time is limited.
 The practice phase
Unlike the presentation phase, this phase learners have to do most of talking.
Teachers provide maximum amount of practice. Practice is usually in the forms of

activities to improve fluency of speaking. At this phase, pair work or group work is
used.
 The production phase
Learners need chances to speak English freely at this phase. A real chance to
speak English takes place when the learner is able to use English naturally for
themselves, not for their teachers.
Byrne (1991:22) concludes that in order to improve speaking ability of learners,
these three phases above should be followed orderly. But in fact, they might not be
applied as expected due to time limitation, types of learners and materials in use.
The teachers should pay attention to what has been spoken by the students during
the Practice and Production phases so that they can see how far students have
improved their speaking skills and what mistakes they might produce. A speaking
lesson is successful or not depends on many factors such as learners‟ participation,
the use of language, etc. This matter will be dealt with in the following part.
1.1.3. A successful speaking lesson in classroom
Ur (1996:120) explains four elements of a successful speaking lesson. They
are:
 Learners talk a lot
A speaking class indicated by most of the period time allotted the activity is in fact
occupied by learner talk. It seems obvious, but most time is taken up with teacher
talk or pause.
 Participation is even



11
A monitoring of talkative participant doesn‟t dominate classroom discussion here, it
is hinted that all get a chance to speak and are fairly evenly distributed.
 Motivating is high
This is indicated by the eagerness of the learners to speak. Students are interested in

the topic and have something new to say about it.
 Language is of an acceptable level
It means that learns need to express themselves in utterances that are relevant, easy
to comprehend each other and can be acceptable level language accuracy.
According to Nunan (1996: 32) successful oral communication should involve
developing:
 The ability to articulate phonological features of the language
comprehensibly;
 Mastery of stress, rhythm, intonation patterns; an acceptable degree of
fluency;
 Transactional and interactional skills;
 Skills in talking short and long speaking in turns, in the management of the
interaction, and in negotiating meaning;
 Conversational listening skills (successful conversations require good
listeners as well as speakers);
 Skills in knowing about and negotiating purposes for conversations;
 Using appropriate conversational formulate and fillers.
In summary, there are many factors of a successful speaking lesson. However,
it is not easy at all to implement such a speaking activity that satisfies all above
mentioned criteria, but it is necessary to remind language teachers of them as they
design and administer such activities. So, what kinds of activities can be used to
improve speaking skills? The question will be addressed in the next part.



12
1.1.4. Activities to improve speaking skills
There are many activities to promote speaking. As Hayriye Kayi (2006: 1-2)
inferred from many linguistics on her article in the internet on Teaching English as
A Second Language (TESL) Journal, activities such as discussion, role play, and

picture describing can be employed to improve speaking skills.
Discussion
After a content-based lesson, a discussion can be held for various reasons. The
students may aim to share ideas about an event, or find solutions in their discussion
groups. Before the discussion, it is essential that the purpose of the discussion
activity is set by the teacher. In this way, the discussion points are relevant to this
purpose, so that students do not spend their time chatting with each other about
irrelevant things.
Role play
Students pretend they are in various social contexts and have a variety of social
roles. In role play activities, the teacher gives information to the learners such as
who they are and what they think or feel. Thus, the teacher can tell the student that
"You are David; you go to the doctor and…" (Harmer, 1984).
Picture describing
For this activity students can form groups and each group is given a different
picture. Students discuss the picture with their groups, and then a spokesperson for
each group describes the picture to the whole class. This activity fosters the
creativity and imagination of the learners as well as their public speaking skills.
In general, there are a lot of activities to improve students‟ speaking skill.
Among these activities, however, role play appears to be one of the most
appropriate and advantageous which can enable learners to practice in free less
controlled situations in the classroom. Thus, the following part of the thesis is going
to go into the details of role play.



13
1.2. Role play
1.2.1. Definition of role play
Since communicative approach appeared on the stage as a new fresh air in

language teaching, role play has gained its own respectful position in English
classroom syllabus. A large number of scholars such as Byrne (1986), Maley (1987)
and Ladousse (1989), who perceive role play activities as an effective instrument to
enhance learners‟ activeness and efficiency of learning English.
In order to understand about role play in details, first and foremost, it is
important to examine the differences between simulation and role play. According
to Crookal and Oxford (1990:3), there is little consensus on the terms used in the
role play and simulation literature. Just a few of the terms which are used, often
interchangeably, are "simulation," "game," "role-play," "simulation-game," "role-
play simulation," and "role-playing game". There does seem to be some agreement,
however, that simulation is a broader concept than role play. The main difference is
that simulations are more structured and contain more diverse elements. Ladousse
(1989) explains that simulations are complex, lengthy and relatively inflexible
events which will always include an element of role play, whereas role play can be
a simple and brief technique to organize. He sums up that it is not possible and
profitable to make fine distinctions between these two (Ladousse, 1989:5).
Byrne (1986) defines role play by an extremely brief sentence “Let‟s pretend”.
It can be understood that, in role play, students are not themselves any longer, but
someone else in either realistic or imaginative situations, for instance, a tourist, a
customer in a shop. In addition, he also adds that “Role play is a way of taking the
students out of the classroom for a while and showing them how English can be
useful to them in certain situations.” In defining role play, Byrne (1986) also gives
some comments that role play is a part of drama activity. In specific, he describes
that there are three terms to cover the drama activities. They are mime (mimicry-
memorization), role play and simulation. He distinguishes the terms as follows:
 Mime: The participants perform actions without using words.



14

 Role play: The participants interact either as themselves or others in
imaginary situations.
 Simulations: For this activity the participants normally discuss a problem of
some kind with some setting that has been defined for them.
From his opinion, it can be seen that both role play and simulation are
commonly used in foreign language classes to facilitate communicative competence
whereas mime seems more appropriate as a language game. It is performing actions
without using words. For instance, if someone mimes and action, the others try to
guess what it is.
Ladousse (1989) seems to agree with Byrne‟s opinion about role play. In the
book under the title “Role play” Ladousse defines role play on the basis of 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.” (1989:5).
In Maley‟s view (1987:108), “role play can range from highly directed and
controlled activities, in which all the content is supplied to the students, to full scale
simulation, in which participants determine what they will say on the basic of
background information and the role they are given”. It can be clearly seen that he
wishes to make a move from the focus to the clarification of role play‟s level onto a
scale.
After all, it is better to take the definition of Byrne about role play due to its full
information, clearly-defined and simple language. It also shows the familiarity
between role play and simulation, that is highly flexible and leaving a great scope
for students‟ creation and imagination to use the language items.
In fact, there are also other definitions of role play given by a lot of famous

scholars, the above mentioned ones are some of which can be considered typical. It



15
is totally clear that each scholar has his own viewpoint of role play; however, they
all agree that role play is mostly recognized as an effective technique for
communicative language teaching. Role play activities help students to encourage
their thinking and creativity, lets them practice and develop new language and
create the motivation and involvement necessary for learning to occur. To be more
detailed, the following part aims at presenting some types and procedures in using
role play as well.
1.2.2. Types and procedures in using role play
1.2.2.1. Types of role play
Role play is a speaking activity where learners participate either themselves or
as somebody else in a specific situation. According to Nestel and Tierney (2007),
role play activities typically fall within one of three categories. One category of role
play is the fully scripted role play. During the fully scripted role play, participants
interact through a given script. There is no opportunity for personal response from
the participants during this type of role play. Still, there are typically opportunities
for discussion and reflection following the activity. Another type of role play is the
partially scripted role play. During the partially scripted role play, the participant is
given an opening prompt or an outline to guide his responses. The final type of role
play is the completely unscripted role play. In the unscripted role play, participants
are expected to perform as they typically would within a given scenario (Nestel &
Tierney, 2007).
Considering types of role play, on the other hand, Littlewood (1994) divides
role play activities based on the nature of information that is given to learners as
follows:
 The first type is role play controlled through cued dialogues. Learners

receive cues on separate cards when joining this activity. Each learner must listen to
his partner before providing an appropriate response. The cues enable them to
predict and to prepare the general gist of their responses. The teacher can elicit the
appropriate forms which help learners later. The cues control the functional



16
meanings that learners have to express. The social situation and relationship
determine what kind of language is appropriate. Teachers can prepare the activity
by equipping the learners with suitable forms. Two sets of cues must interlock
closely; no cue produces an utterance which conflicts with what follows. It can be
seen this type of activity limits the creativity (Littlewood, 1994:51).
 The second type is role play controlled through cues and information. It has
a more flexible framework. Only one learner is given detailed cues. The other is
given information that allows him to respond as necessary. The structure comes
from one student who can improvise variations, the other one has to respond. The
teacher‟s control becomes looser and the learner‟s scope for creativity increases.
The emphasis in these activities is on practicing the process of communication
rather than on evaluating its product. In the pre-communicative language practice
the learner‟s attention is focused on the forms he / she needs to learn. These cued
activities enable the teacher to control the interaction and to ensure that learners
express a particular range of meanings (Littlewood, 1994: 52, 53).
 The third type of role play is role play controlled through situation and
goals in which learners have a greater control over their interaction. It is now
directed at the higher level of situation and the goals that learners have to achieve
through communication. The learners are initially aware only of the overall
situation and their own goals in it. They must negotiate the interaction itself. For
instance (Littlewood, 1994:55, 56).
 The last type of role play is in the form of debate or discussion. In details,

the situation is a debate or discussion about a real or simulated issue. The
prerequisites for the activity are that learners should have adequate knowledge
about the issue, different opinions to defend. At first, learners must digest the
information relevant to the issue, then they must discuss in a small group. They can
either get to a concrete decision or just put the issue to a vote at the end. The
interaction is a result of the conflict of opinions (Littlewood, 1994:57).
Overall, there are many types of role play activities. However, considering



17
language competence, the author finds that the first year English major students‟
level at HaUI is not very high, just at elementary level. Thus, these students could
find the first type of role play boring: the dialogues here are simple and not very
creative. They are unlikely to cope with debates or discussions because their range
of vocabulary and grammar is not sufficient enough. On the other hand, the second
and the third type (cues and information, situation and goals) enable them to
develop their creativity. The students are fond of making up various situations in
which they can express their imagination. This can be highly motivating for them.
Moreover, in these two types of role play, the teacher can help the students with the
forms and vocabulary necessary for the particular situation. In this study; therefore,
role play controlled through cues and information and role play controlled through
situation and goals are applied and designed for the students in speaking classes.
1.2.2.2. Procedures in using role play activities
When teachers decide to do role play in their classes, they must be familiar with
the fact that the process proceeds through several stages. According to Ladousse
(1989), the activities should be arranged from controlled to creative ones. At first
there is the pre-communicative stage which gives learners fluent control over
linguistic forms. Here the main criterion for success is whether the learner produces
acceptable language. Then there is the communicative stage. The production of

linguistic forms becomes subordinate. The criterion for success is whether the
meaning is conveyed effectively. It means that learners are presented some new
items, they are drilled with these items, and then they are expected to be able to use
them.
 Presenting and practicing the forms and vocabulary
At this stage teachers present the language which is likely to emerge. They pre-
teach the possible vocabulary and structures. Some examples can be written on the
board or given to learners on worksheets. A sample dialogue can be introduced. All
the structures and vocabulary should be practiced properly so as the learners could
be able to use them creatively in the next stage. There are many suitable activities



18
which can be applied: drilling, learning the sample dialogue by heart, matching
halves of the sentences, filling in exercises, putting the dialogues in the correct
order, word games (hangman), etc. It depends on the teacher what he/she will use.
It usually takes some time before learners “memorize the forms, get the
pronunciation right and consolidate the meaning of the item.” (Gower and Walters,
1983:83). Before the role play itself starts learners are equipped with all the possible
language. Later “some help can be given on the role cards, but these should not be
overloaded or the students will be tempted to follow them too closely and simply
recite the structures offered.” (Ladousse, 1989: 45).
 Role play
At first learners should be motivated and get involved in the topic. The atmosphere
should be friendly and relaxed because of shy learners. The teacher explains the
activity very clearly. Learners have to know what to do exactly. In this way they
will feel more confident and they will benefit from the activity. In role play learners
usually work in pairs. They can either find a partner themselves or the teacher can
introduce some activities which put two learners together. Then they get the role

cards. As a rule they should not look at each other‟s instructions. It is suitable to set
the time limit and stick to it. Waiting until everyone has finished is not
recommended. During the activity the teacher monitors the learners to provide them
with feedback later. Finally, the volunteers can perform their dialogues, but nobody
should be forced to do so.
Meanwhile, role play activities can be divided into four stages (Cherif &
Somervill, 1998: 613-617): preparation and explanation of the activity by the
teacher; student preparation of the activity; the role – playing; and the discussion or
debriefing after the role play activity.
From these above opinions about the procedures in using role play activities,
the author agree with Ladousse‟s view (1989) that after role play activities,
feedback is very essential. It is important to analyze the whole process because it
can be very helpful for the students. “Feedback is information that is given to the