Marmara Elt Resources

Teaching Culture and Civilization by Role-Play and Drama (written by Christina Nechifor )
In a computer-ruled world, with children and teenagers bewitched by the fair amount of and easily accessible information by means of and only ‘tool’, teaching culture and civilization, to both intensive and regular classes, has become a real challenge .
With me, it all started with Shakespeare (luckily present in the 9th grade syllabus) as a brick to build my defence against ‘the precious’ (though necessary) tool that had made youngsters a bit lazy and skeptical, as far as the written text - in general - and classic literature - in particular - are concerned . Before that , with Chaucer, the audio-cassette of “Past Into Present” by Roger Gower had done the job for me, stirring their interest and amazement at the sound of Middle English (as no one but a native speaker could have read and interpreted the old text better, to make it attractive to such a technically -oriented generation). We, then, worked with the text ,like puzzle, trying to identify , as in a competition, the words of French or Latin origin in the text .As a writing project of ‘ narrative essay’, I, then, stimulated them to write their own ‘frame story’ a more modern location (in time and place).
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Some Suggestions to Assist ESL TeachersUsing and Managing Role-plays
Learning a language is a complex and long process as anyone who has tried will agree. One of the most difficult and frustrating things is making the transition from the classroom to the ‘real’ world. In the classroom, everyone knows you are a student and mistakes are allowed, and the environment is contained and safe. 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.

Role-plays, or simulations are one of the ways 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. Role-plays 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.
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What is immersion role-playing?
Immersion role-playing is simply taking the idea of paired readings, one in which students take on various roles and one with which students are familiar, and expanding it into a class-wide or course-wide structure. The student ceases to be someone learning English as a second language and instead assumes a persona which he or she constantly uses in the classroom. It is like acting–the student becomes the role. The rules of theater apply in the classroom: don’t break character; take your role seriously; be convincing.
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Role play
Joanna Budden, British Council, Spain

In this article I will outline several reasons for using role play in the classroom and I will offer some tips for getting the most out of role play.

Introduction
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. If the teacher believes that the activity will work and the necessary support is provided, it can be very successful. However, if the teacher isn’t convinced about the validity of using role play the activity “will fall flat on its face just as you expected it to” (Gillian Porter Ladousse 1987). Therefore, if you think positive and have a go, you may be pleasantly surprised!

What is role play?
Role-play is any speaking activity when you either put yourself into somebody else’s shoes, or when you stay in your own shoes but put yourself into an imaginary situation!
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