CONSOLIDATING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AFTER EACH UNIT BY USING ROLE PLAYS

PART I: INTRODUCTION
I. REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE RESEACH
Learning a language is a complex, difficult and long process as anyone
who has tried will surely approve. One of the most challenging and frustrating things
is making the transition from the classroom to the 'real' world. Speaking another
language outside the classroom is completely different and often students are lost at
sea as soon as they step outside the door. Lists of memorized vocabulary are
suddenly useless when ordering in a restaurant. Studying English nowadays has
gradually become an essential demand for everyone as English is one of the most
popular international languages and it is most not only all over the world but also in
all aspects of society. Therefore, learning and mastering it would greatly bring a
number of oppotunities for the person concerned. Although many Vietnamese
students have graduated with excellent certain qualifications, their ability of
communicating in English has always been a hard-to-solve obtacle. As a result, they
will easily fail to win their dream jobs. Obviously, English is the optimum standard
for applicants to have chances into foreign and state- owned companies.
English plays a vital role not only at school but also in examinations at certain
stages of the school education system. According to the national curriculum, English
is taught base on the aim of communicative approach. Now that being able to
communicate effectively in English is considered as a satisfactory target to achieve .
For our students, guided practice by teachers is one of the best ways to improve their
skills. Nevertheless, in the recent years, teaching English in Vietnam has faced up
with many difficulties such as the lack of teaching aids, teachers’ poor qualifications,
students’ weak study motivation or ineffective methods of teaching. A large number
of teachers only focus on teaching grammar, reading and writing skills. In the
process of evaluating students’ study result, they concentrate too much on papertests. They find it very hard to improve communicating comprehension after each
unit in the textbooks. From reasons stated above, it is necessary to apply the
innovative methods of teaching English in general and how to use this interesting
language in the most effective and natural way.
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After having been teaching English at Nong Cong No 3 High School for
ages, I realise that most of the students are afraid of English skill classes and so are
grammatical problems. Consequencely, they have a tendency to neglect tasks. How
to encourage students to take part in language activities? How to motivate students to
become eager participants in mini- speaking dialogues? How to raise students’
awareness of learning? The problems have become more simple when consolidating
vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the
textbooks by using role-plays suitably. However, from my experiences of restating
the content of each lesson,the simple and practical speaking tasks have always
brought specific results to my students.
In this writing, I would like to recommend a practical way of consolidating
vocabulary and grammar for high school students after each English unit in the
textbooks by using role-plays.
II. AIMS OF THE RESEARCH
On the basis of surveying students’ English ability at Nong Cong No3 High
School, I will suggest some feasible solutions in motivating students to use role-play
techniques skillfully as well as improve dramatically speaking skills to systematise
the tasks after each English class. From that teaching and learning English at high
school will become a piece of cake and easily approach the teaching and studying
foreign language targets. This subject is concerned with using role-play techniques
effectively and improving students’ communicative ability to consolidate after each
unit in the textbooks.
III. SCOPES OF THE RESEACH
Researching role-play techniques used in consolidating for high school
students after each English skill lesson helps them be more self-confident in
communcation especially their speaking skill. Therefore, students at Nong Cong
No3 High School can gradually codify the neccessary knowlegde . The research will
make students use vocabulary to practise any grammatical tasks more easily.

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IV. RESEACHING METHODS
- The method of collecting and analyzing material for the research: research
for material concerning about the subject, analyze and get certain knowledge from
previous researches, finally give the foundation to the research.
- The method of talking to students: through talking to students, I have got to
know real situation of students’ achievements after language classes at Nong Cong
No3 High School.
- The method of surveying through answer sheets.

PART II: DEVELOPMENT
I. Theoretical background:
My experience initiative is " Consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high
school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using role-plays ".
As far as we know, role-plays, or simulations are one of the ways English as a
Second language (ESL) instructors can ease students' transition into using English in
real world situations. A simulation is where students act out a real-life situation, for
example checking into at a hotel, but do not act out a different personality. Roleplays are where students take on different personalities. In a role-play, for example,
one student may be asked to take on the role of "an angry neighbor" which is out of
character for the student.
The purpose of role playing is to give the students an opportunity to work with
others in determining how an individual or group might behave in response to a
particular situation. Role playing is often used primarily to promote classroom
discussion. The use of role playing as a cooperative learning model also includes
class discussion as an essential step, but in this approach the entire class is involved
in preparing and presenting role plays through pair or group activities.
* Some principles of using and managing role-plays:
When using role-plays, the more engaging the better. Bacause the value of

role-plays come from students immersing themselves in the material. We should
choose a topic and stage . After each English class, teacher gives students the topic
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they have just studied. The teacher assigns students positions on the topic
(for/against). This will get students out of their personality and into the role where
they do not have the same inhibitions. Preparation is very important to success so
that the teacher has to give students 'personality cards' which sketch out their
personal characteristics or scenario and divide students into groups and give them
time to sketch out various scenarios, and go over extra or special vocabulary, ask
them to discuss how they will act, think about the character and plan what they will
say. For example, what are possible responses/replies for the angry neighbor?
The teacher, as facilitator of the role-plays must support students in their role,
i.g. they 'are' " Undersea World"- Unit 9 English 10. The teacher should not do
anything to interrupt the pretend environment leave grammar correction to the end as
correcting students in the middle of an argument interrupts the pretend environment.
Exaggeration is good, so we have think about how to encourage students to
exaggerate their actions, opinions and movements. Exaggeration helps students
immerse themselves in the role. In order to get a successful result, teacher must stage
a rehearsal first and have students practice their role in small groups with coaching
from the other students. While the role-play or debate is in progress, have other
students suggest vocabulary first, and act as backup if they do not know.
Role-plays are unpredictable which makes them both a valuable learning tool
and at the same time difficult to manage. Therefore, the time should be controlled
exactly ( in a short stage from 7 to 15 minutes) . The teacher has to sketch out the
various routes the role-play can take from the initial scenario. This will give you
some ideas what to expect and avoid any surprises.
II. Practical background:
I have carried out the survey of real situations of learning four skills of

English in class 10A8 and 11C6 (the school year: 2018- 2019) and I have got the
following result:

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Class

Before applying innovative techniques
(According to the figures from a four skill test at the beginning of the
school- year 2018 – 2019)
Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

10A8

1%

15%

25%

59%

11C6

2%

18%

27%

55%

From the above survey, It is not dfflicult to realise that teaching and learning
English classes at Nong Cong No3 High School are ineffective and rather passive.
Students do not seem to be eager to learn. This is because of their lack of vocabulary.
Their systematicalisation and generalisation abilities are limitted. In fact, the greatest
problem is ability of communicating in English. They are still inactive learners in
joining lessons. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to innovate the methods of
teaching language classes well and flexibly, at the same time the teacher uses roleplays in consolidating for high school students after each English unit in the
textbooks and motivate students to become better listeners. From this, the above
obtacles will step-by-step be solved.
III. Solutions:
3.1. Steps in carrying out role-plays:
3.1.1. Outside the classroom:
- Choosing the topic, based on the topic of the lesson for the unit in textbook.
- Preparing materials, especially role-play cards (Teachers can make up the
cards themselves, or search for them on the Internet)
3.1.2. Inside the classroom:
- Providing students with enough language to be used in their role-plays.
- Setting up the scene for role-plays ( scenes based on the units in the
textbooks grade 10, 11 and 12).
3.2. Sample lesson plans:

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Unit 1: Friendship (English 11)
Finding a Perfect Roommate/Flatmate Role-play
1. Materials:
+ Ranking Roommates: Vocabulary Warm-up about adjectives of manner and
people's characters
+ 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 talking about the
qualities of good and bad roommates.
3. Target language:
Describing people and their habits.
4. Warm up:
a) Group Discussion
+ Where do you live?
+ Do you live in a dormitory or with your family?
+ Who do you live with?
+ Are you happy where you live? Why or why not?
b) Pros and Cons Brainstorm
+ What do you think about shared accommodation?
+ What are the pros and cons of shared accommodation?
+ What kind of person is good to live with? Why?
·

2 groups divided into Pros and Cons then pair up Pro and Con to discuss

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When trying to find a compatible
roommate, what qualities are the most
important for you? Circle the qualities of
your ideal roommate. Finally, in groups,
rank them below. (1 being the most
important and 12 being least important).
Messy (is a slob)
good cook

Can’t cook

outgoing

shy

easygoing

argumentative/high strung

boring

humorous, interesting

smoker

Non-smoker

heavy drinker

social drinker

non-drinker

friendly

grumpy/mean

quiet

noisy

considerate

selfish

has a car

doesn’t have a car

broke
has enough money
How are you as a roommate? How many of the above ideal qualities do you have?
In your group, find out who is the most compatible roommate for you:
c) Which would you choose?
In groups of 3, put Shared Accommodation Ads in pile face down. Students turn 1 up

and explain to the group.
This accommodation is in (area).
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It’s a ( flat/ house/ town/ house)
There are (number) people living there.
It costs $____ a week.
(other information)
Would you like to live there? Why or why not? – Discuss
After going through all six ads, choose the best one for you and
explain why.Students Looking for Someone to Share Housing
Dialogue: Finding a Roommate
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 you Jack.

Unit 6: Competitions (English 11)
Reported speech role play
Level: Intermediate
Teacher's notes:

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1. After you have taught reported speech, put the students into groups of three. 2.
Explain that one person in the three is a rich actress/actor, one is his/her
niece/nephew and the last person is the butler.
3. The actor/actress is hearing impaired and dying.
4. She is going to decide what to do with her money and house after her death. 5. Set
up the class so that the actors/actresses are on one side of the room, the
nieces/nephews on the other and the butlers in the middle.
6. The butlers need to give messages from the nieces/nephews to the actor/actress.
7. The aim is for the butler and the nephew/niece to be nice so that the actor/actress
will give them her money.
8. As they are doing this the butler will use reported speech e.g. She said that you are
lazy and never visited her. He said he was busy and didn't have time. He said that he
was helping animals.
You are the niece/nephew of a very rich, famous hearing impaired actress.
You know that she hasn't got long to live. So, for the moment you are trying to
become her favorite relative in order to obtain her millions after she is dead. You
know that she loves animals and children. You also know that her dog is her closest
friend. What do you think will make her give you some money?
You are the butler to a rich, famous hearing impaired actress.
Actually she hasn't got long to live and so you are being very nice to her at the
moment, you think you have a good chance of being left her millions in her will. You
have always helped her and you have looked after her cats and dogs with care. You

think you should at least get the house which you have cleaned for nearly 40 years!
You don't like her niece/nephew who has suddenly made an appearance.
You always have to act as a go between for the niece/nephew and aunt because the
aunt can never hear her relative.

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You are a rich, famous, hearing impaired actress.
You know that you haven't got long for this world but you don't mind because
you have had a good life. You also know that your niece/nephew wants something
but you're not sure what.
You have already written your will but you are prepared to change it.
Your will: $ 2 million to be left to the animal rescue league (you love cats)
Your house will go to your dog. It has been a faithful companion animal and you
want it to have a home when you're gone.
Your jewelry will be sold at auction in order to raise money for the children's
hospital near your house. You haven't decided about the rest, a sum total of
$150,000. Your butler has always been good to you. Your niece/nephew is also
sweet. You are waiting to hear what they have to say. You feel that if they can show
you how good they really are you will give the money to either one of them.

As a follow up lesson:
Ask the students what type of words "hearing impaired" and "companion animal" are
i.e. politically correct. For homework ask the students to think/find of more
politically correct words. The students can compare their lists when they get back
into class.

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Unit 10: Conservation (English 10)
ROLE PLAY:
A discussion between different parties interested in global warming.
Team up with classmates who have been assigned the same role to develop your
roles and discuss ideas and “strategies” before the role play begins. Introduce
yourself to the other role players. Discuss your roles after the role play ends.
Role A – Penguin leader
You live in Antarctica. You need global warming to stop. Temperatures must actually
get cooler. Your species is at great risk of extinction. Your habitat, the ice, is melting
and your sources of food are disappearing. The world must act to save you. The day
the last penguin dies is the start of the end of the Earth.
Role B – Dessert dweller
You like the recent effects of global warming. It has brought a lot of unexpected rain
to your land. For the first time you can grow things. You have bumper harvests. You
have lots of water to drink. You think global warming is simply a matter or winners
and losers. You think global warming or cooling has always happened.
Role C – Worried Martian
Billions of years ago, Mars, your planet, looked like Earth. Life was everywhere.
However, greedy Martians controlled the energy sources and the Mars climate
changed, killing all life – except you. The greedy Martians paid leaders to pretend
nothing was happening and that alternative energies would arise. It was all too late.
Advise the Earthlings and the penguins of the dangers of climate change.
Role D – U.S. President
You are terrified of taking measures to control global warming because you might
lose your power. You believe scientists can build a huge machine to re-freeze the ice
caps. You think keeping American jobs is more important than penguin food. You
know better than the world’s climate experts. You don’t believe in aliens.

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Unit 10: Conservation (English 10)
Role play activity: The Environment - Disposing of Car Waste
This is your chance to discuss some of the issues that the European Parliament
makes decisions about. The characters involved in your role-plays are:
•

Tony Fallon, Environmental campaigner

•

Trevor Grey, MEP

•

Sally Whiting, Car owner

•

Simone Taylor, Resident of Chippingham Estate

•

Grace Pemberton, Spokesperson for Viva UK (a car manufacturer)

These characters are fictional (this means they are not real people) but there are
people like them who have similar opinions.
Your discussion question is: Should car owners be responsible for disposing of
their worn out cars?

Your character is: Tony- Environmental campaigner
You are pleased that the European Parliament is making an effort to minimise the
damage to the environment that results from car waste as you are concerned that, up
to now, all the petrol and oil has been left to seep into our earth. However, you
believe that this does nothing to deter people from buying new cars or to stop the
ever-increasing level of car usage and consequent pollution. You want the European
Parliament to put the environment first, not the interests of greedy car manufacturers.
You can’t understand why the European Parliament doesn’t put pressure on car
manufacturers to design cars that last for longer.
Your character is: Trevor Grey, MEP
You and your colleagues in the European Parliament have worked hard to come up
with a solution to the problem of vehicle waste and you are confident that this will
make people responsible for disposing of their vehicle with the environment in mind.
You believe that the European Parliament has balanced the interest of consumers and
manufacturers whilst putting the environment first.
Your character is: Sally, Car owner
You’re very suspicious about this European Parliament proposal. You agree
that car owners should be responsible for getting rid of their worn out cars but you
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think that you’ll end up paying for this new measure in the end. The car
manufacturers will probably put up their prices. You already pay through the nose to
run your car, which you need for your business and to drive your disabled son to
school. Why shouldn’t the government (which gets all the money you pay in tax) pay
to protect the environment?
Your character is: Simon, Resident of Chippingham Estate
You think that this is a great idea. Anything that gets rid of this dangerous junk
from the streets is fine by you. Kids love playing on these old cars that people have
simply abandoned and you worry that your kids are going to hurt themselves. You

believe that people need to take responsibility for things they buy. If you buy it –
you’re responsible for disposing of it in a safe and sensible way. You don’t
understand why the European Parliament is involved though. Surely the local
council or government can sort this out without getting the European Union
involved?
Your character is: Grace, Spokesperson for Viva UK (a car manufacturer)
Cars are an important part of modern life and your company fully supports the
European Parliament’s proposal to make people dispose of them responsibly. Viva
UK is committed to protecting the environment and is happy to contribute toward
these measures. You want to reassure car owners that Viva UK is prepared to put its
money where its mouth is and bear at least part of the cost of disposing of cars
safely.
Unit 11: Sources of Energy (English 11)
Going green: Role play
A - You want to convince your school to use more renewable energy. You think that
global warming is a big problem and you want to try and reduce the effect your
school has on the environment. Try to convince your school’s director that he / she
should invest in renewable energy.
B - You are the director of the school. You think it would be a good idea to change to
renewable energy but you are worried that changing to renewable energy is very
expensive. You want to spend the school’s money on other things.
Unit14: The World Cup (English 10)
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Roles for Planning Debate
Debate/ Role play:
Each pupil takes turns to be Pele' to talk to the fans. In groups they have to
decide a reporter to make questions for one of the teammate. After 5 minutes, the
students from each group will act out their role - plays and get feedback for the

group’s discussion from the rest of the class. The aim of this activity is to restate
students vocabulary involved in the topic.
The following passage is only a cue:
" Pele’ is considered one of the greatest football players of all time. He was
born in 1940 in Brazil. As a football player, Pele’ was famous for his powerful
kicking and cotrolling the ball. He joined a Brazilian football club in 1956, and in
1962 he led the team to its first world club championship. Pele’ became the only
player to participate in three World Cups in 1958, 1962, and 1970. By 1974, Pele’
had scored 1,200 goals and became a Brazilian national hero. He played for an
American football club for two years before he retired in 1977. Later Pele’ became
an international ambassador for the sport, working to promote peace and
understanding through friendly sport activities ".
- Year: 1940 Events: Born in Brazil
- Year: 1956 Events: joined a Brazilian football club
- Year: 1962 Events: First world club championship
- Year: 1974 Events: 1,200th goal
- Year: 1977 Events: Retired
Suggested questions:
1.What was Pelé famous for as a football player?
2.How many World Cups did he participate in?
3.Where did he play football before he retired?
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................................................................................................................................
IV.The results of the research:
I directly experimented the above method in consolidating vocabulary and
grammar for high school students after each English unit in the textbooks by using
role-plays to teach 42 students in class 10A8, Nong Cong No3 High school.
Besides, I have also been applying the traditional method to teach 48 students in

class 11C6 in the year 2018-2019. There is no doubt that 80% of students at class
11C6 acquired firmly the content of each unit in the textbooks to express their ideas,
remember the vcabulary better as well as master the grammatical issues more
naturally . They could join enthusiasticly any English discussion and acquire deeply
what the teacher introduced. Consolidation is no longer any obtacles. English lessons
have become every student' expectation
I have got the following detail result after applying my innovative technique :

Class

After applying innovative techniques
(According to the figures at the end of the school- year 2018 – 2019)
Excellent

Good

Fair

Poor

10A8

11%

35%

47%

7%

11C6

15%

36%

45%

4%

My research has also been applied by most of my English teaching colleagues
at Nong Cong No 3 High school as well as my English teaching friends in some
schools in Thanh Hoa province such as Nhu Thanh High school, Nguyen Quan Nho
High school, Ba Thuoc No1 High school....The responsible reply and optimistic
results from them encourage me to extent the scope of my reseach in recent time.

PART III. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
Although role-plays require more imagination by students and teacher and
can be difficult to manage because they are unpredictable, the initial scenario
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develops from the students interacting with each other and can literally go in any
direction. This gives students practice in a non-threatening environment, and gives
the motivation and involvement wherever they have to think in English. After
applying this method, role-plays have gradually more amd more interesting,
memorable and engaging. As a result, students can retain the vocabulary and
grammar tasks they have learned more naturally. In their assumed role, students drop
their shyness and other personality and cultural inhibitions, making them one of the
best tools available for obtaining English. Staging role-plays can be challenging for a

teacher, but is also great fun. After I have done a few, I can specificly know what to
expect and feel more confident. My experience is students love them, retain what
they learn, and often leave the classroom laughing and still arguing!
Helping students understand grammar tasks clearly and remember
vocabulary based on topic or themes in the textbooks is an important target to follow
in teaching English. As I mentioned above helps me reduce the amount of stressful
time to explain everything to the students . Instead, students can actively pay
attention to developing English skills .
For all the above experiences, I believe that my research will widely be used,
applied and extended effectively by my colleagues and students. An English club
should be opened in each high school so that English teachers and students have
more wonderful time with English. Consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high
school students after each unit by using role- plays is one of the realistic
requirements and the necessary need of all teachers and students to improve quality
of learning this exciting foreign language at higher levels, to meet the practical
demands and proposed curriculum.

================***==================
REFERENCES:
1. Adrian Doff, Teach English – Cambridge University Press in asociation with The
British Council
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2. A.V. Martinet and A.J. Thomson - A Practical English Grammar.
3. Dwaft Version- English Language Teacher Training Project
4. Seth Linstromberg - Language activties for teenagers
5. Ann Baker and Sharon Goldstein - Pronunciation pairs.
6. Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 10 - Nhà xuất bản giáo dục
7. Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 11 - Nhà xuất bản giáo dục

8. Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 - Nhà xuất bản giáo dục

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THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
NONG CONG No3 UPPER - SECONDARY SCHOOL

EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
Consolidating vocabulary and grammar for high school students
after each Enghlish unit in the textbooks by using role-plays.

The writer: Mạc Đăng Minh
Position: English teacher
Experience initiative: English

Thanh Hoa, 2019

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APPENDIX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: INTRODUCTION

PAGES
1

I. Resons for choosing the reseach

1

II. Aims of the reseach

2

III. Scopes of the reseach

2

IV. Reseaching methods

3
3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT

3

I. Theoretical background

4

II. Practical background

4

III. Solutions

5

3.1. Steps in carrying out role-plays

5

3.1.1. Outside the classroom

5

3.1.2. Inside the classroom

5

3.2. Sample lesson plans.

5

1. Materials.

6

2. Purpose and Audience.

6

3. Target language.

6

4. Warm up:

6

a) Group Discussion.
b) Pros and Cons Brainstorm.
IV.The results of the research.
PART III. CONCLUSION AND

15
16

SUGGESTIONS.

REFERENCES

17

23

24