Transcript Slide 1

4th Annual International Conference on TESOL
“ ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING: A FOCUS ON THE LEARNER”
Ho Chi Minh, August 2013
USING ROLE – PLAY IN TEACHING
ENGLISH DIALOGUES FOR STUDENTS
AT PRIMARY SCHOOLS
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By: Pham Thi Vinh Hien
Nghe An Teacher Training College, Vietnam
MAIN FOCUSES
1
Introduction
2
Literature review
3
Method of the study
4
Research finding
5
Recommendations
6
conclusions
Introduction
 Developing Primary students’ oral communication
skills
 Scripted role – plays improve primary students’
language skill in general and speaking skill in
particular
 Teachers’ and students’ attitude toward Role –play
 The effectiveness of using role – play
 The suggested procedure of teaching dialogues for
primary students with using role - play
Literature Review
 “ Role play is a way of bringing situations from real life
into the classroom. In role play, students need to imagine a
role, a context, or both and improvise a conversation. The
context is usually determined, but students develop the
dialogue as they proceed” Doff (1990: 232).
 Donn Byrne (2001, p.57), role-play can be grouped into
two forms: scripted and unscripted role- play
 Scullard (1986:83) presents, “Scripted role – play is
undoubtedly an excellent way of beginning the preparation
for communicative activities since language is presented
in meaningful context”.
Method of the study
Quasi- experiment
method
Data collection
Instruments
Subjects
20 EFL
teachers
50 grade 4
students
Interviews
Questionnaires
Classroom
observations
Research findings
 The real situation : Using role-plays in English
lessons
 80% of the EFL teachers at Foreign Language Centers
 30% of the EFL teachers at Primary schools
 100% of the teacher indicated that they used role – plays
in post – reading dialogues.
 87% teachers expressed that Role Play should be used in
teaching English dialogues for Primary students because
its effectiveness
 13% of them thought that it’s quite difficult because of the
problems such as crowed classes making noise, students’
low ability, students’ shyness, not easy to control.
Research findings
Teachers’ and Students’ evaluation on Students’ participation in
role play activities
Research findings (cont’)
Teachers’ and Students’ opinions about Students’ problems in role –
plays
Research findings (cont’)
Teachers’ and Students’ suggestion by using role – play in teaching
English dialogues for Primary students
Research findings (cont’)
Students’ evaluation on effectiveness of Role Play in post – reading English
dialogues
Effectiveness
I remember the content of dialogues and can
communicate in real life
My English speaking and listening ability have
been improved
I feel fun, cheerful and comfortable
I will be more confident when speaking in
English with native speakers or in a class
I participate in English dialogues lessons more
actively
I enjoy learning English more
My pronunciation is getting better and better
Others
Students
(No = 50)
(%)
43
86
47
94
50
100
40
80
42
84
50
50
0
100
100
0
Recommendations
The effectiveness of using role plays in teaching
English dialogues for primary students
 To create an opportunity to practice the rules of social
behavior and the various sociolinguistic elements of
communication.
enable Students gradually become familiar with the
content of normal conversation in their lives
bridge the gap between the classroom and the world
outside the classroom.
Recommendations (cont’)
 To act out a dialogue allows students to activate new
vocabulary and structures.
be easy for students to discover their own level and the
teacher to feedback.
 To ask students to go on the stage and perform, so students
have to concentrate and speak out in class actively.
help students improve their speaking skills.
 To make students feel safe and more willing to speak out
in the class together with the teachers’ support
Increase students’ confidence and motivation positively
to excel in English.
Recommendations (cont’)
 To require students to repeat the dialogue (in phrases)
after the teacher/tape/CD.
An excellent way to practice pronunciation and
improve listening skill.
 To make students feel fun, cheerful and comfortable in
role – plays
They enjoy learning English more and participate in
English lesson more actively.
 EFL students feel that they are really using the language
for a communicative purpose.
contribute to students’ confidence in their ability to
use English.
Recommendations (cont’)
 To force students to remember the content of dialogues
to role play without texts .
It is a good way to practice and promote their
memory.
 To ask students to role another person in real situations
in pairs or groups .
Increase students’ interest , involvement, motivation
and student – student interaction in the classroom
Recommendations (cont’)
The suggested procedure of teaching dialogues for
students at Primary schools with using role play
 Step 1: Establish the setting
Ask students questions to identify the context
 Step 2: Pre – teach selected items ( optional)
Deal with any difficulties in overall understanding
and enjoyment of the dialogue
 Step 3: Set a listening task and ask the students to
listen
Hand out a listening task before listening or Ask
questions to check comprehension after listening
Recommendations (cont’)
 Step 4: Ask students to listen
Let students listen to the dialogue again and
follow the words of the story.
 Step 5: Explain any difficulties
Explain if students find new words or phrases in
the dialogue.
 Step 6: Ask the students to listen and repeat
Play the recording and pause each line for the
students to repeat the dialogue in chorus.
 Step 7: Let students practice saying the dialogue in
pairs or groups
Students read the dialogue in pairs or groups, then
repeat a different role in the story from their memory.
Recommendations (cont’)
 Step 8:
Ask students to practice role playing in
pairs or groups
Ask students to repeat their character’s lines
without the text. Students remember the dialogue and act
their role in groups with actions as they speak.
 Step 9:
Ask students to role play
Ask two or three groups to come to in front of
the class to role play the dialogue from their memory.
 Step 10: Evaluate students’ acting
Teacher evaluates on how role plays carry out.
Conclusions
 Role play activities are really effective and should be
applied widely and regularly in teaching English
dialogues for primary students
 Solving ELT teachers’ great challenges in improving
oral communication skills for Primary students
 Role play activities should be supplement in Post reading dialogues in English text books for students at
Primary schools by Vietnam Education Publishing
House.
REFERENCES
 [1] Blatner, Adam. (2009) Role Playing in Education, from
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Adam @blanter.com.
[2] Byrne, D. (1976) Teaching Oral English : Longman
Handbooks for Language Teachers.
[3] Byrne, D. (2001). Role play in Language Learning,
Longman.
[4] Clark, R, (1992). Index Card Games for ESL. Brattleboro,
VT: The Experiment Press.
[5] Doff, A. (1990) Teach English: A Training Course for
Teachers Trainers’ Handbooks, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press in Association with the British Council.
[6] Freeman, Diana Larsen (1986). Techniques and Principles in
Language Teaching, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
 [7] Kenneth O. Gangel. (2008).Teaching Through Role
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Playing from http://www.bible.Org.// Journal.
[8] Ladousse, G.P. (1996). Role – play: A Resource Book for
Language Teachers. Maley, Alan: Oxford University Press.
[9] Poorman, P.B. (2002). Biography and Role – playing:
Fostering Empathy in Abnormal Psychology, Teaching of
Psychology, 29(1), 32-36.
[10] Richard – Amato, P. (1996). Making It Happen:
Interaction in the Second Language Classroom, from Practice
to Theory: White Plains, NY: Addison – Wesley.
[11] Scullard, S (1986).Teaching Speaking Skill from Role –
play to Communicative Competence via Information – gap
and Information – gap activities: One Teacher’s Approach –
The British Journal of Language Teaching, No 2.
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