ToDevelopJuniorSchoolStudents’SpeakingFluencythroughRole—play

WangTing

【Abstract】Spoken English fluency directly influences the overall level of language， but the author found that oral English fluent expression is a big problem for many junior students. Teachers spend too much time on the interpretation of grammar knowledge；When students need to speak English， they dont know how to organize the words；Being afraid of making mistakes is also a psychological obstacle.

【Key words】role-play； stimulate students interest； developing oral English fluency

1. Introduction

In recent 20 years， many applied linguists stressed input alone cannot contribute to language acquisition， language acquisition of the key lies in the promotion of practical interaction process， including the meaning of consultation and expression， therefore， this paper is using role playing to explore the way to promote the junior middle school English classroom interaction， and achieve the goal of improving their oral English.

2. Problem Identification

The author found its hard for students to speak English. They cannot speak the passage that have just been learned in the text and sometimes they pronounce words wrongly when they recite paragraphs as required， or only speak few words about a familiar topic.

3. Project Rationale

3.1 Research about the definition of role-play

Role-play is an activity in which a person acts a part.（Oxford dictionary， P1303）.Students imagine a role and have unscripted dialogues or discussion in a given situation. Role-plays can be constructed in several ways， all of which have different strengths that can improve the efficiency of the group. Group size is a practical consideration. For a group of 4–8 learners， using a single role-play with a faculty facilitator who solicits feedback and input from the group can be very successful because most or all of the learners can take an active role at some point， while not feeling pressured to speak when they have little to say.

This approach is favored when the communication skill is not too challenging and the educator would like all members to have the opportunity to practice expressing skills.

3.2 Theory basis

Role-play has been used as a tool for teaching in many are as and disciplines. The idea behind using role-play as a pedagogical tool relies on the idea that experience is the best teacher. Besides， role-play also is consistent with other theories.

3.3 Advantages of role-play

Role-play model is human interactions， which provides a chance for students to exercise， creating effective and memorable experiences for learners. It places learners in a situation where they are asked to take on different roles to accomplish their specific tasks， including problem solving.

In addition， they can express what they want to say whenever the situations call for it. Meanwhile， role-play is of great significance as it develops both students receptive and productive skills.

（1） Role-play can arouse students interest to speak out and build up their confidence for later speaking situation. （Harmer， 1983）

（2） It promotes knowledge acquisition：“Students in role-playing were found to use search and retrieval strategies more frequently than students in traditional learning situations. During the process of exchanging， there will be the information transferring from one peer to the other.”（Marr&Mary， 1997）

（3） Role-play is good for students at different levels.

（4） Role-play can enhance students speaking fluency. When they come out the activities， they will feel relax and have the positive mind to think the problem they encountered.

（5） Role-play will offer different new language input and show the good chance to practice the new language.

Drawing on the above theories， we believe role-play activities can be a good communicative approach to solve the problem， as role-play activities are interesting and can actively involve the students as more “motivated participants”.

4. Conclusion

The project result shows that the fluency of junior middle school students speaking English can be improved effectively by using role-play activities. The knowledge selected for the project were relevant to students real life so as to arouse their interest. The specific activities built the confidence for them. They were highly practical for young learners than traditional speaking productions.

References：

[1]Harmer，J.1983.The Practice of English Language Teaching.New York：Longman Press.

[2]Jack C.Richards，David Nunan.Second Language teacher education[M].Cambridge Unversity Press.P54.

[3]Marr&Mary The Practice Language Teaching[J].Reading and Writing Quarterly Vol.13 1997.P20.

[4]Ur，P.（ed.）.（2000a）Teaching Listening Comprehension.Beijing& Cambridge：Peoples Education Press & Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press & Cambridge University Press.