Overview of Role Play in English Speaking Classes

郟郁文

In order to be competent in English speaking，learners are expected to engage in a great amount of communication to practice their speaking skills.The approach of role play has appeared as an ideal teaching method to create and carry on different kinds of activities related to exercise English pronunciation，stress，intonation as well as speaking fluency.It provides a platform for learners to get involved in meaningful interaction under simulated scenario.

When using role play in English speaking class，learners participate more actively in learning process.They express their feelings，ideas，and argue with others by playing the role.For the term of role play，Littlewood（1981，p.49）defined it as “learners are asked to imagine themselves in a situation which could occur outside the classroom;to adopt a specific role in this situation;and to behave as if the situation really existed”，which means that role play can enable role players to practice communication skills by expressing themselves in a nonthreatening setting.

Doing role-play activities in English speaking classes is a way to practice speaking skills in situations that may happen in real life.The purpose of role play is to prepare learners for the real-life language use and it also can motivate learners to use what they have learned to the real communication（Gu，1998）.The classroom is broadened with outside world by role play and thus role play offers more language opportunities to learners.By bringing the social situations into the classroom，learners’ ability to cope with various types of real life circumstances by using English is enhanced.

After analysing a wide range of literature，it can be concluded that there are some benefits of role play.In the process of role play，learners begin to perceive how others may think，feel and behave.This experience could cultivate their consideration for others and become less self-centred.By negotiating and interacting with classmates，learners learn to compromise，to think multiply，and to get along with others.Insight and empathy competence can be fostered by role play（Blatner，2005）.Through the experience of different roles，the entertaining nature of role play motivates learners and leads them to critical analysis.During the process of role play，learners interact with others by questioning，arguing and stating opinions.This process could enable learners to analyse relevant aspects，underlying causes and some other factors which in relation to the roles they play（Larsson，2004）.Furthermore，cooperation can be facilitated by role play as it involves with communication among the role players.It engages learners in a realistic interpersonal context to explore and evaluate various human behaviors and personal thought.In this way，it stimulates mutual support and collaboration to some extent（Lebaron & Miller，2005）.

Though there are lots of advantages of using role play in English speaking class，disadvantages also exist.For instance，Baker（1989）pointed out that learners should be given clear instruction on how to carry on the role play activity and sufficient time is also needed to understand the instruction because learners are the central part of the role play.In addition，the instruction of role play requires good preparation and management by teachers（Teed，2008）.For example，teachers should have a clear mind of what the role play goal is，how to make introductions，what the control strategies are，how to provide feedback and so on.

Role play is a well-recognised teaching method but it has strict requirements of both teachers and learners.It is suggested that teachers and learners take some important considerations into account and learn role play strategies as much as possible while practicing role-play.A large amount of literature concerns about the impact of role play and make an effort to investigate the outcome of using role play in language learning class.However，fewer of them pay attention to students’ perspectives of role play activities.Because of students’ direct involvement in the role play activities，their attitude towards role play can strongly influence the effectiveness of this activity.Therefore，due to its significance，I plan to research students’ perspectives on the use of role play later in English speaking classroom.Apart from that，improvement strategies to enhance the effectiveness of role play will also be presented.

References

[1]Baker，D.（1989）. Language testing：A critical survey and practical guide.London：Edward Arnold.

[2]Blatner，A.（2005）.Using role playing in teaching empathy. British Journal of Psychodrama & Sociodrama， 20（1），31-36.

[3]Gu，Y.G.（1998）.English Language Teaching Methodology.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[4]Larsson，E.（2004）.Participatory Education. Montola & Stenros（2004）：Beyond Role and Play，243-247.

[5]Lebaron，J.，& Miller，D.（2005）.The potential of jigsaw role playing to promote the social construction of knowledge in an online graduate education course. The Teachers College Record， 107（8），1652-1674.

[6]Littlewood，W.（1981）. Communicative language teaching：An introduction.Cambridge University Press.p.49

[7]Teed，R.（2008）.Role Playing Exercises.Pedagogy in Action.SERC Pedagogic Services.