Role Playing in the ESL Classroom Why and How to Use it in Your Classrooom.
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Transcript of Role Playing in the ESL Classroom Why and How to Use it in Your Classrooom.
Role Playing in the ESL Classroom
Why and How to Use it in Your Classrooom
Role Play
A role play is a learning activity in which students play out roles in a simulated situation that relates to one or more learning objectives.
Benefits
Teaches empathy Simulates authentic language
experience Provides a memorable learning
experience Adaptable for multiple levels Increases motivation and self-esteem Builds confidence
Role Play Advantages #1 Role plays encourage student
participation and stimulate thinking.
They motivate students by involving them in a realistic situation.
Role plays help students understand another person’s perspective or situation.
Role Play Advantages #2 Role plays can inform, assess, and
improve a variety of students’ skills and attitudes (communication and interpersonal skills needed to interview, counsel, and treat patients)
Role plays give students opportunities to receive feedback on their performance in a safe setting
What is Role Playing Good For?
Communication skills Fluency Grammar Reaching the <spontaneity state> Assessment Tool Cultural factors
How to use it in your classroom:some ideas
Listening and Role Play Use a short listening
passage/dialogue Check for comprehension Review grammar,language structures,
pronunciation Students practice and personalize
dialogue Perform
Reading and Role Play
Small groups Each group given a section of the
reading Group discusses main events Group creates a dialogue to represent
events Performs Feedback/questions from class
Video and Role play
Watch an authentic clip of a target situation
Discuss as a class Give students a copy of script Practice Personalize Perform
Long-term project
Groups of 5 to 10 Students write their own script Edit Rehearse Perform for a wider audience
Making Role Playing Successful
Model Language support Have realistic goals Use realistic scenarios Use realia and visual aids
Create a Role Play #1
Decide what the students should learn (the objective)
Select an appropriate situation
Identify the roles
Create a Role Play #2 Determine if the role play will be:
Informal – acting it out with little or preparation time
Formal – planned in advance with instructions
Clinical demonstration – working with anatomic models and simulated patients
Create a Role Play #3 Determine if the students will report the
results of their discussion of the role play in writing or orally to the entire group.
In some cases, the role plays are done only in small groups. Then one or more groups may present theirs to the large group and/or the teacher will facilitate a discussion focusing on the role plays.
Facilitate a Role Play #1
Explain the nature and purpose of the exercise (the objectives).
Define the setting and situation of the role play.
Brief the participants on their roles.
Facilitate a Role Play #2 Explain what the other students should
observe and what kind of feedback they should give.
Provide the students with questions or activities that will help them to focus on the main concepts being presented.
Keep the role play brief and to the point.
Facilitate a Role Play #3 Engage students in a followup
discussion.
Provide feedback, both positive and suggestions for improvement.
Summarize what happened in the session, what was learned, and how it applies to the skill being learned.
Conclusion Benefits range from increasing empathy
and motivation to providing authentic experiences with the language
Can be used to teach grammar as well as communication skills, fluency and cultural factors
Will provide a memorable learning experience that the students can draw from to help navigate life outside the classroom
Bibliography Celce-Murcia,M.,& Hilles, S. (1988)Resources in Teaching Grammar. New
York:Oxford University Press Maxwell, C.(1997 October) Role –Play and
Language Learning.Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Japan Association of Language Teachers, Hamamatsu, Japan
Parrish, B. Teaching Adults ESL: A PracticalIntroduction. New York: McGraw-Hill
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