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!
Imaginary people - The joy of role-play is that students can ‘become’ anyone they like for a short time! The President, the Queen, a millionaire, a pop star …….. the choice is endless! Students can also take on the opinions of someone else. ‘For and Against’ debates can be used and the class can be split into those who are expressing views in favour and those who are against the theme.
Imaginary situations - Functional language for a multitude of scenarios can be activated and practised through role-play. ‘At the restaurant’, ‘Checking in at the airport’, ‘Looking for lost property’ are all possible role-plays.
Why use role-play?
It is widely agreed that learning takes place when activities are engaging and memorable. Jeremy Harmer advocates the use of role-play for the following reasons:
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.
Tips on successful classroom role play
Prepare for success
Role-play is possible at elementary levels providing the students have been thoroughly prepared. Try to think through the language the students will need and make sure this language has been presented. Students may need the extra support of having the language on the board. I recently did a ‘lost property office’ role-play with elementary adults and we spent time beforehand drilling the structures the students would need to use. When the role-play began the students felt ‘armed’ with the appropriate language.
At higher levels the students will not need so much support with the language but they will need time to ‘get into’ the role.
The role of the 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.
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.
Bring situations to life
Realia and props can really bring a role-play to life. A group of my young learners recently played the roles of pizza chef and customer. A simple cone of white card with CHEF written on it took a minute to make and I believe it made the whole process more fun and memorable for the class. As soon as it was placed on their heads they ‘became’ the pizza chef and acted accordingly.
Rearranging the furniture can also help. If you are imagining you are in at the tourist information office or at the doctor’s surgery try to make it as real as you can. Students can even leave the room and make an entrance by knocking on the door.
Keep it real and relevant
Try to keep the roles you ask students to play as real to life as possible. It may be hard for students who have little opportunity to travel to imagine they are in ‘Ye Olde Tea Shop’ in the heart of the English countryside. However, it may be within their schema to imagine they have been asked to help an English speaker who is visiting their own country. This may involve using some L1 to explain about the local culture or to translate local menus into English for the guest to their country.
Students working in the business world may find it easy to role-play a business meeting with colleagues visiting from abroad.
If you are working with young children, try to exploit their natural ability to ‘play’. They are used to acting out a visit to the shops or preparing food, as that is how they play with their friends.
Feed-in language
As students practise 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. If you are not happy doing this and you feel that the process of finding the new language should offer more student autonomy, you could have ‘time-out’ after the practice stage for students to use dictionaries to look up what they need.
As mentioned in the role of the teacher section, feeding-in the language students need is fundamental. By doing so, they will learn new vocabulary and structure in a natural and memorable environment. It is a chance to use real and natural language
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
Use your imagination and have fun
The most successful role play I did last year was with a group of teenagers and was used as a spring board activity after listening to a song. The song was Avril Lavigne´s Skater Boy. The class worked in pairs to act out the scene of Skater Boy finally getting to meet his ex-girlfriend after the concert. The results were humorous and I was surprised that they all really got into the roles they played.
Role-play can be a lot of fun. If you still feel reluctant to use it in the class I suggest you begin to integrate it slowly. Why not extend an appropriate reading or a listening from a course book and turn it into a role-play? You may be pleasantly surprised by the results!
Bibliography
Role Play - Gillian Porte Ladousse (Oxford 1987)
The Practice of English Language Teaching - Jeremy Harmer (Longman 1989)
