Teaching English through Role Play
TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH ROLE PLAY
(PREDAREA LIMBII ENGLEZE UTILIZÂND JOCUL DE ROL)
Role-play is a classroom activity in which learners take on a ‘role’, they play the part of someone else, from a simple discussion between a tourist when asking for directions in a new city or at the airport, to more elaborate conversation about the American Dream or Genetics. Role-play is a useful tool not only for developing language skills, but also for increasing sociocultural knowledge and intercultural awareness. Depending on how a role-play is designed and set up, it can be used for a wide variety of purposes. Frequently, role plays are used to offer a chance to practice the language of particular situations, but they can also be used to practice particular areas of grammar, sets of vocabulary, functional language and even features of pronunciation. They may not even have a specific language focus and can be used to provide opportunities for students to practice their speaking and listening skills. Role-plays are simple but important way of extending the range of useful practice. There are many good reasons for using role-plays in class: - role-plays help students cope with real-life situations, commonly used expressions, forcing them to think “on their feet”; - role-plays help students work together as a team or group, and communicate in order to understand each other, because role-plays are not simple acts of reading or reproduction the information from a piece of paper; - role-plays can be adapted to the needs of the students, they may use specific vocabulary for specific situations, as learning English is sometimes done for a specific purpose; - role-plays give learners more responsibility in their learning, encouraging interaction; - role-plays offer students the chance to evaluate their learning progress and their level of English. Role-plays in general tend to have some common characteristics: they are usually spoken,
(PREDAREA LIMBII ENGLEZE UTILIZÂND JOCUL DE ROL)
Role-play is a classroom activity in which learners take on a ‘role’, they play the part of someone else, from a simple discussion between a tourist when asking for directions in a new city or at the airport, to more elaborate conversation about the American Dream or Genetics. Role-play is a useful tool not only for developing language skills, but also for increasing sociocultural knowledge and intercultural awareness. Depending on how a role-play is designed and set up, it can be used for a wide variety of purposes. Frequently, role plays are used to offer a chance to practice the language of particular situations, but they can also be used to practice particular areas of grammar, sets of vocabulary, functional language and even features of pronunciation. They may not even have a specific language focus and can be used to provide opportunities for students to practice their speaking and listening skills. Role-plays are simple but important way of extending the range of useful practice. There are many good reasons for using role-plays in class: - role-plays help students cope with real-life situations, commonly used expressions, forcing them to think “on their feet”; - role-plays help students work together as a team or group, and communicate in order to understand each other, because role-plays are not simple acts of reading or reproduction the information from a piece of paper; - role-plays can be adapted to the needs of the students, they may use specific vocabulary for specific situations, as learning English is sometimes done for a specific purpose; - role-plays give learners more responsibility in their learning, encouraging interaction; - role-plays offer students the chance to evaluate their learning progress and their level of English. Role-plays in general tend to have some common characteristics: they are usually spoken,
Bibliography: 1. Lindsay Clandfield, Philip Kerr, Ceri Jones, Jim Scrivener, Straightforward, Guide to Roleplays, Macmillan, 2004. 2. Adriana Vizental, Metodica predării limbii engleze, ed. Polirom, Iaşi, 2007.