Lucrare metodico -științifică pentru obținerea gradului didactic I [609315]

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Lucrare metodico -științifică pentru obținerea gradului didactic I
în învățământ

Specializarea: Limba și literatura engleză

The Benefits of Role -Playing in the EFL Classroom

Coordonator științific
Conf. Univ. Dr. Evelina Mezalina GRAUR

Candidat: [anonimizat]. Huma Bogdan -Eduard
Școala Gimnazială ”Ion Creangă”, Jud. Neamț

Suceava

sesiunea 2014 -2016

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CONT ENTS

Introduction ……………………………………………………………..…………………
Chapter I – The World of English …………………………………………….……………
I.1 English as a lingua franca ………………………………………………..………
I.1.1 English today and English tomorrow ………………………………….
I.2 Varieties of English ……………………… ………………………………….…..
I.3 Language: A Theoretical and pedagogical approach ……………………………
I.4 Receptive and productive skills ………………………………………………….
I.4.1 Teaching receptive skills ………………………………………………
I.4.1.1 Reading and listening skills ………………………………….
I.4.2 Te aching productive skills ………………………………….………….
I.4.2.1 Productive skills in the classroom ……………….…………..
I.4.2.2 Speaking ……………………………………………….……..
I.4.2.3 Writing ……………………………………………………….

Chapter II – The Place of Role -Playing in EFL Teaching and Learning ……………………
II.1 Ways of understanding role -playing ……………………………………………
II.2 Role -playing – a useful speaking technique in the EFL classroom ……………
II.3 Advantages of role -playing in the EFL classroom ……………………………..
II.4 Designing role -play activities. The rela tionship between role -play and
language skills ………………………………………………………………………………
II.5 The roles and responsabilities of teachers ………………………………….…..
II.6 Expected benefits of role -play in EFL teaching and learning …………………..

Chapter III – Role -Play Design an d the Aknowledged Benefits of Role -Play Activities ….
III.1 Overall approach on case -study ………………………………………….…… 4
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III.1.1 Definition of case -study ……………………………………………..
III.1.2 Classification of case study …………………………………………..
III.2 Proven case studies of lingu istics ………………………………………………
III.3 Methodology ……………………………………………………………………
III.3.1 Role -play participants ………………………………………….…….
III.3.2 Duration ………………………………………………………………
III.3.3 Case study …………………………………………………………….
III.3.4 Graphic interpretation of g roup performers during the role -play
activities ………………………………………………………………………..…………..

Conclusions ……………………………………………………………………….…………

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………….….………..

Apendix ………………………………………………………………………….………….
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Introduction

The study “The Benefits of Role -Playing in EFL Classroom” wants to recreate the logical
process of learning English by using effective language tools, skill s and different methodologies
that would enhance students` abilities and awareness regarding a better and natural language
fluency, without being trapped in their own mental language prison.
The study also wants to help L2 learners break all language barr iers and encourage creativity and
free will, develop their own skills and practice English language at a whole new level. Adding
the motivational factor and teachers` personal involvement, students will be able to recreate their
own real life with their ow n words, without the fear of expressing themselves.
And the study leads the L2 into the beautiful world of the English language, revealing its
wonderful yet mysterious sense, and eventually opening up its gates that lead the way to all the
learning and te aching processes.
Finally, the study effectively showcases the “role -play” as a useful speaking tool, encouraging
L2 learners to better express themselves in real life situations. Thus, they would share their own
ideas and personal thinking by using a mor e effective oral fluency without being afraid of
failing.
Role -play also involves the active role of a teacher as a prompter, participant or as a feedback
provider, three key elements that would help and assess students` own activity during the
speaking p rocess.

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Chapter I

The World of English

I.1. English as a lingua franca

Even if English is the third language to be used worldwide, after Mandarin and Spanish, it is yet
considered to be a lingua franca , a second language used in communi cation between two
speakers that are born in different countries. The lingua franca concept was also adopted because
of the different linguistic barriers occurring between foreign speakers.
In Europe for instance, English is considered a lingua franca because of different economic or
cultural purposes that force speakers into using English as a means of communication. And
because of that, a lot of European countries have been influenced by the use of English and have
adopted a lot of its terminology.
Let`s take for instance Romania, an Eastern -European country which was influenced by English
due to the fast development of technology and internet on one side, and we all know that a lot of
Romanian students are masters in computers and technological achieveme nts. On the other side,
the economic and cultural relationships that the country has had so far with other native or non –
native speaking English countries, which has forced both parties in using English as a lingua
franca. Thus, a lot of English words have already made their way into our “own language
dictionary”.
And we have many examples of English words that are now parts of our lives, many of them of
course, being borrowed by English itself from other countries. Words like internet, hamburger,
hot-dog, internet, PC, mouse, click, bank, router, mate, pal, network, framework, taxi, cellular,
and so on, are already used on a massive scale in Romania.
On the other part, and this would be my favorite one, there is also the concept of “false friends”,
a frequ ent mistake that generally occur in speaking and refers to two words similar in spelling
but have a completely different meaning. Words like magazine is translated in Romanian as
magazin , and not revista. Please find in the label below the most frequent ex amples of “false
friends” in an alphabetical order:

English Word False Friend Romanian Word
actual actual real, adevǎrat

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actually actual de fapt
adept adept expert
advertisement avertisement reclamă, anunț publicitar
apology apologie scuză
arm armă brat, arma
ballot balot vot
ban ban interdicție
box box cutie
bucket buchet găleată
camera cameră (apartament) cameră (de fotografiat)
car car mașină
character caracter personaj
chef chef bucătar șef
commercial comercial reclamă
curve curve curbă
cutie cutie drăguțică
crime crimă infracțiune
deposit depozit avans
editor editor redactor
engaged angajat logodit
eventually eventual în cele din urmă
excited excitat agitat, emoționat
fabric fabrică stofă, țesătură
far far departe
feud feudă gâlceavă
fund fund fond
gymnasium gimnaziu sală de gimnastică
infatuation infatuare pasiune, dragoste nebună,
zăpăcire
lack lac lipsă
library librărie bibliotecă

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magazine magazine revistă
mare mare iapă
nervous nervos emoționat
novel nuvelă roman
ordinary ordinar obișnuit, uzual
plane plan avion
pregnant pregnant gravidă
prize prize premiu
preservative prezervativ conservant
process proces procedură
prospect prospect perspectivă
scholar școlar cărturar
sensible sensibil rezonabil, rațio nal
sever sever a despărți, a despica
slut slută curvă
stamina stamină rezistență, vitalitate
sympathetic
simpatic
milos

But the real question that rises is ”How come the English language became a lingua franca ,
leading to its spread all around t he world?”
A lot of language specialists have concluded that English became a lingua franca because of the
cultural, economic or political factors.
From a historical point of view, English Empire has marked its influence on a lot of territories
throughou t the world, starting with the first landing on the American coast in Massachusetts,
where they brought along their own cultures and beliefs, and influenced the entire country
forever.
Then came other unexplored territories like Australia in 1788, where t he British brought along
their convicts to work the land, or the massive colonization in India, where the impact of English
language influenced the Indian culture forever, the English itself still being part of a natural
lingual assimilation. And the colon ial English power thus reached further territories like South –
East Asia, Africa, where the slave trade became a real business of those times, and later on
China, with Britain colonizing the Hong Kong Island, after the First Opium War, in 1839. All
these ch anged the English world forever and led to significant and important changes, which

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influenced the use of English language forever, from an economic, political and cultural
perspective.

I.1.1. English today and English tomorrow
English today
As already p reviewed at the beginning of our study, English is the third language to be spoken
worldwide, with around 350 to 400 million native speakers. However, as a lingua franca,
English is used by more than 2 billion people all over the world, as a means of commu nication
from a cultural, political, economic, or business point of view. More than that, reports and
different statistics concluded that the number of non -native speakers may long have passed the
number of native English speakers throughout the world, fro m the aforementioned reasons.
Today, English is the mother language of many countries worldwide, like Britain and Ireland,
USA, Canada, Australia, New Zeeland and some Caribbean countries as well, with some other
countries to use it as an “official languag e” or as a wide community of first language speakers,
like Nigeria, South Africa, Pakistan, Philippines, India, Singapore, and a few more.
Apart the native speaking countries, “English is also an important language in at least twenty
other countries, inlud ing several former British colonies and protectorates, such as Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Brunei, Cyprus, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. It is the most commonly
used unofficial language in Israel and in an increasing number of other countries such as
Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany. Within Europe, an estimated 85% of
Swedes can comfortably converse in English, 83% of Danes, 79% of Dutch, 66% in
Luxembourg and over 50% in countries such as Finland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, and
Germany. ” (http://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_today.html )
Previewing our next chapter concerning the “Varieties of English”, we can identify three circles
that “haunts” English language. The first one would be the “inner circle” which refers to the
native first-language speakers, followed by the “outer circle” for the second -language speakers
and ending up with the “expanding circle” with regard towards the importance that English has
as an international language and as a primary subject of matter being tau ght in schools. English
is thus taught in more than 100 countries like Russia, China, Germany, Egypt, France, Italy,
Brazil and many more. Alone in Europe, English has set the basis for the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages, or simply CE FR, which “is a guideline used to describe
achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingly, in other countries
(for example, Colombia and the Philippines ). It was put together by the Council of Europe as the
main part of the project "Language Learning for European Citizenship" between 1989 and 1996.
Its main aim is to provide a method of learning, teaching and assessing which applies to all
languages in Europe. In November 2001, a European Un ion Council Resolution recommended
using the CEFR to set up systems of validation of language ability. ”
But even if English as a lingua franca has brought a lot of benefits from an economic or cultural
perspective worldwide, there are also some negative i mpacts that the language can still have in
some countries, many of them seeing it as a way of “cultural imperialism”, (Phillipson 1992 and

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Pennycook 1994, 1998). To some extent, the “cultural imperialism” might reflect the greed of
global companies to impo se their supremacy in certain non -native speaking countries, which
resort to English as a way of communication and interaction between the two parties.
At the opposite pole, Kenavilil Rajagopolan (see Rajagopalan 199:200) states that English is not
seen a s a “cultural imperialism”, as the world we are living in today is affected by the fast –
growing multicultur alism and intermixing beliefs.

English tomorrow
“We want to be different and we want to be the same. And the splendid thing about humans
using lan guage, of course, is that this is the kind of situation than brain handles very well,
because it is so multifunctional. One of the main insights of linguistics during the twentieth
century was to demonstrate the extraordinary capacity of the brain of langu age. Bilingualism,
multilingualism, is the normal human condition. Well over half of the people in the world,
perhaps, perhaps two -thirds, are bilingual. Children learn their languages – often several
languages – at extraordinary speed. Evidently, there is something in our make -up which
promotes the acquisition of talk. I therefore see no intrinsic problems in the gradual emergence
of a tri -English world – a world, that is, in which a home dialect – often very mixed in character
– a national standard dialec t, and an international standard dialect comfortably coexist. It is a
prospect which our Latin forebears would have envied.” (David Crystal – “The future of English
as a world language”).
David Crystal, a renowned linguistics expert, beautifully portraits the impact that English as an
international language has had during the century and concludes by showcasing the importance
of the language over the future generations.
David Crystal also suggestively pointed out the “extraordinary speed” in learning a fo reign
language, referring to English of course, with an obvious and deliberately hint at the usage of the
internet, which today is the key to tomorrow.
The fast -growing online services, companies and providers will lead to an increase and forced
appetite for using English as an imperative means of communication, along with the more and
more aggressive campaigns carried out on other mass -media like TV, which will inevitably lead
to the evolution of the “varieties of English across the world,” the same David Crystal stated in
Russia, during a series of lectures, held at the UK -Russia Linguistic Symposium, at the Russian
State University for the Humanities in Moscow, where he described the importance of
advertising in the “future of Englishes.” ( http://www.bri tishcouncil.org/blog/whats -future –
english )
The world is fast changing, and along with that, so does the English language, which has already
imposed its unwritten laws upon mankind. Take for instance mass -media (the press, cinema,
television, radio and the internet) which have influenced different native -speaking English
regions, reducing thus the language barriers and differences, and tending towards a homogenous
linguistic aspect. But all these aspects refer to the varieties of English, which will be part icularly
discussed in our next subchapter.

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I.2. Varieties of English

So far we have analyzed the English language as a lingua franca taking shape throughout the
ages, but there is much to say about its true functionality and variety. And variety means
differences that can occur in vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling, punctuation, or
idioms of different native -speakers from different English -speaking countries. This subchapter
will try to deal with the varieties of English.

British English vs. American English

The most striking differences that can be observed are the ones which deals with British and
American English: even if they are similar, the differences are quite visible. And what better way
to express these differences than quoting Ge orge Bernard Shaw, which beautifully described the
United States and United Kingdom as “two countries divided by a common language”. On the
hand, Oscar Wilde stated that "We have really everything in common with America nowadays,
except, of course, the lan guage" (The Canterville Gost, 1988).
As aforementioned, the varieties of English can be reflected in grammar, vocabulary or
pronunciation. For instance, British speakers would use “Have you got the time?”, while
American speakers would say “Do you have th e time?”
Another common grammar difference would be the use of the present perfect when asking if an
action has been completed or not, commonly associated with the British speakers, like “Have
you done the essay on Shakespeare yet?”, while an American Eng lish speaker would say “Did
you do the essay on Shakespeare yet?”
In conditional sentences, for in stance, US spoken usage often substitutes would and would have
(usually shortened to [I]'d and would've ) for the simple past and for the pluperfect ( If you'd leave
now, you'd be on time . / If I would have [would've] cooked the pie we could have [could've] had
it for lunch ). This tends to be avoided in writing because it is often considered non -standard
although such use of would is widespread in spoken US Engl ish in all sectors of society. Some
reliable sources now label this usage as acceptable US English and no longer label it as
colloquial.(There are situations where would is used in British English too in seemingly
counterfactual conditions, but these can u sually be interpreted as a modal use of would : If you
would listen to me once in a while, you might learn something . In cases in which the action in the
if clause takes place after that in the main clause, use of would in counterfactual conditions is,
howe ver, considered standard and correct usage in even formal UK and US usage: If it would
make Bill happy, I'd [I would] give him the money .
From a social and cultural point of view, there are a lot of non -native English speakers who do
not know the differenc es between certain lexical items that concern the separate social and
cultural aspects.

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Three concentric circles
English is a widely -spread language throughout the world, being divided in native -speakers, non –
native speakers as well as in countries wher e English has been a dominant factor in their cultural,
political or economic life. But to better understand and classify the English system, we have to
literally split it in different parts, which will establish its true value and meaning.
For that matter , according to Braj Kachru (1985:12 -15), English is divided in three concentric
circles, that establish the exact role of English worldwide. The three circles involve the “inner
circle”, the “outer circle” and the “expanding circle”. All three are previewe d in the figure
below.

Inner Circle
The “inner circle” refers to countries where English is the dominant language, like USA, Britain,
Australia, also known as the BANA countries (referring to the process of language learning and
teaching promoted in Brit ain, Australasia and North America) and it is considered to be the main
bridge between the native population and the regional and ethnic groups from those settings,
where English is the key instrument in providing them with better access to the economic, s ocial
or political areas.

Within the “inner circle” there are two important learning groups to be identified, such as the
immigrants or refugees, as well as the foreign students.

 Immigration/refugees

In the US, immigration has reached more spectacular levels than in the other BANA countries,
which means that more and more immigrant small children, youth and adults are learning
English in those schools, trying to cope with and out -come the language barriers. Not to mention
the refugees, who might have c ome with no education or literacy acknowledgement whatsoever,
or might have arrived in the BANA countries as small children and received a primary education
through community exposure and “ear” acknowledgement. These are called “Generation 1.5”,
and refers to those particular students with a language and educational background.

When coming into contact with English language, immigrants and refugees acquire the variety of
English, according to the natural setting that they are prospecting the language. And the entire
language learning process has been identified by Leung, Harris and Rampton (1997), referring to
three important language contexts: language expertise, language affiliation as well as language
inheritance. For instance, an immigrant of refugee w ith no language background leaving and
learning near an African -American community, will likely assimilate what they call the African
American Vernacular English (AAVE), as opposed to the Standard American English (SAE),

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meaning the community`s own variety of English. The same example can be also found in
England, where refugees in Yorkshire for instance, will acquire the local variety of the language
and will use it in everyday activities and situations.

 Foreign students

Apart the immigration issue, the BANA countries are also offering the possibility for foreign
students to leave, work and study in these countries, by launching different free -payed
educational scholarships.

There are three types of foreign students that can by identified:

 Foreign stu dents who come and study English for short periods of time, through
government scholarships, which allow them to improve their English. It is up to them if
they further wish to continue their English studies.
 High -school or university foreign students. It refers to students who have been accepted
to university, due to their higher scores at different international tests, like the IELTS
(International English Teaching System), TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign
Language) and so on, which allow them to prepa re themselves for a higher educational
level.
 Adjunct English courses for a better proficiency in academic literacy. This situation
reflects the policy of universities for granting additional English courses that support the
subject -matter instructions, wh ich will make learners identify with English.

Language learning is better understood by adopting the medium of instruction (MOI), which is
another key element of the Inner Circle. At the beginning of the 20th century, the only
methodological way of teach ing English was grammar translation, where translation from one
language to another using grammatical patterns, was the main medium of instruction. Moving
further to the mid of the 20th century, new language theories were developed, with emphasize on
imita tion, role -play, simulation, drilling, all making English learning more effective. Thus,
learners were encouraged to use English at a rationale scale, using what we efficiently use today,
the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.

The MOI has al so facilitate the learning of English by adopting the bilingual programs in
schools, especially set out for immigrants or refugees in countries like US and Canada. However,
in Australia or New Zeeland, the bilingual programs were restricted to teaching ind igenous
learners, who had to be assimilated by the English speaking community.

 Outer and expanding circles

There are also two other important concentric circles that make use of English. The “outer
circle” refers to English as a second language, in coun tries like India, Singapore, Nigeria,
Malaysia and so on, while the third circle, the “expanding circle” deals with countries where
English is the main factor in the political, commercial or cultural aspects. We can identify the
third concentric circle in countries like Sweden, China, Greece, Japan, Czech Republic, Israel
and so on.

While the Inner Circle deals with the variety of English in BANA countries that have a great
impact upon their ethnic and local groups, the Outer Circle and the Expanded Circl e are
somehow connected through the MOI, as they deal with families which use English as a second
language or do not use the language at all in their own comfort.

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Both circles are also very important for learners who must include English in their school
curricula as a required one, with focus of instruction on grammar and vocabulary, literature,
communication, that would enhance a better language learning. But the recent focus on
communication has led to some important changes in the language learning meth odology,
meaning new linguistic boundaries that would bring together two or more languages through the
use of English.

This is why the Council of Europe has adopted the European Common Framework of Reference
for Languages, a useful tool in facilitating th e communication for a better language teaching.

The European Common Framework of Reference for Languages is available for all European
countries within the European Union and concerns two main aims:

”1. To encourage practitioners of all kinds in the la nguage field, including language learners
themselves, to reflect on such questions as:
• what do we actually do when we speak (or write) to each other?
• what enables us to act in this way?
• how much of this do we need to learn when we try to use a new la nguage?
• how do we set our objectives and mark our progress along the path from total ignorance
to effective mastery?
• how does language learning take place?
• what can we do to help ourselves and other people to learn a language better?
2. To make it ea sier for practitioners to tell each other and their clientèle what they wish to help
learners to achieve, and how they attempt to do so.”

Apart the European Common Framework of Reference for Languages introduced by the
European Council, there were also ot her frameworks set in other parts of the world that dealt
with a better language learning and teaching. For instance, in Thailand, a curriculum was
introduced in 1999, based on the American Council for Teaching of Foreign Languages
(ACTFL), which includes 11 standards for five areas: cultures, communication, comparisons,
connections and communities.

But there were a lot of challenges that had to be overcome when dealing with a communicative
approach, meaning that teachers still teach English based on gram mar and vocabulary. The
reason is pretty obvious, and it is still happening in Romania: congested curriculum, difficult
nationwide examinations, class size and so on. And here is where private schools set in, as more
and more students get the chance of pri oritizing their English learning and develop their
communicative skills, using modern and technologized methodology, otherwise missing in state
schools.

English is indeed seen as the medium of instruction for those students who have access to a real
educ ation system, but as expected, there are also learners who see English just an ordinary
school subject and cannot prioritize it as part of their future life, where they would be forced to
leave their countries and work in another one where English language is mandatory.

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I.3. Language: A theoretical and pedagogic approach

In this subchapter I will try to analyze the English language system from a theoretical and
pedagogic approach, describing the concepts of English and moving further to the areas of
knowledge, components of competences and so on.
It is very hard to give a definition of a language, as it actually represents the entity of every
human being living out there, a ubiquitous presence that surrounds us every minute and gives us
a reason to communicate and coexist with the others.

Language: A theoretical approach
From a theoretical approach, one must understand the language as an organized system, starting
with the phonological system, which is one of the most important systems of a langua ge, as it
deals with sounds particularities, and further moving to the semantic system with regards to the
meaning of words. Next, the syntactic system explains us the grammar rules which will make
communication much easier.
 Language as a system
When we s tudy a language, in this case English, we have to understand the complexity of it, with
all its systems and subsystems. Thus, we must start using the language as a system, meaning that
we have to start from a single sound to form a word, then moving on to form expressions and
finally large texts. So the system of English in our case is a complex one and have to be treated
as such.
When dealing with language as a system, we first have to start understanding the phonological
system, which will entail the unde rstanding of how sounds provide different meanings. For
instance, we can distinguish consonants from one another by the way they are articulated
(bilabial, alveolar, velar) and by their manner of articulation (voiceless, voiced), an example
being given bel ow:
Bilabial Alveolar Velar
Voiceless /p/ /t/ /k/
Voiced /b/ /d/ /g/
(B. Kumaravadivelu, Understanding Language Teaching)
These phonemes are contrasted and will form a different word by replacing one another, just like
pit-bit, ten -den. Thus comes the different meanings that these words will have in different
contexts. The language system further moves to morphemes, a collection of phonemes, which
dealt in a certain way, will form a distinctive meaning.

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Surely that the system of a language is far more c omplex, starting with phonemes that form
words, words that form phrases and phrases that form sentences, which will lead the way to texts
(spoken or written), applying the grammatical rules and so forth.
Chomsky (1959, 1965) explained the complexity of th e language system, by pointing out the
ability of an adult native -speaker to produce a number of sentences using the grammatical rules
in use. On the other side, a child native -speaker is capable of producing a rich language output,
for a short period of t ime. It is what Chomsky calls “the poverty of stimulus”, meaning that the
child can only retain just limited sentences, but with the ability of fast recovering the language
acquisition through their parents, without any formal or informal instruction. We m ight be thus
talking about language behavior, which means that a child can develop his/her grammatical
system by adopting the “Universal Grammar”, which is the grammar heard and talked by the
child`s parents. This would actually trigger the “prewired” syst em, an initial language system
that the child will use to develop its own communicative skills.
In his book, the “Universal Grammar” Chomsky is trying to explain the theory of linguistic
competence, making a distinctive comparison between competence and performance ,
differentiating between the mental reality and the actual behavior of the speaker. The theory of
linguistic competence is in Chomsky`s opinion the theory of grammatical competence, a
complex system consisting of phonological, syntactic as well a s semantic subsystems. This
would easily help native -speakers identify between incorrect sentences with ill -formed
grammatical sentences and well -formed sentences that would make sense for a native -hearer.
Let`s take for instance the sentences below, that would irritate a native -speaker and hearer, but
would make sense for a non -native speaker and hearer:
Visiting mother -in-law can be boring.
John is easy to please/John is eager to please. In these sentences the ambiguity would be the
lack of the agent, me aning that there is no intrinsic meaning of the sentences. And this is what
Chomsky wants to demonstrate, that there should be a clear line between the intrinsic meaning
and pragmatic meaning, found in structurally identical pairs that fail to give the rea l meaning.
But the pragmatic meaning is not dismissed by Chomsky, as he considers it perfect “to
distinguish ‘grammatical competence’ from ‘pragmatic competence,’ restricting the first to the
knowledge of form and meaning and the second to knowledge of con ditions and manner of
appropriate use . . .” (Chomsky, 1980, p. 224).

 Language as a discourse

In linguistics, “discourse” refers to “an instance of spoken or written language that has
describable internal relationships of form and meaning (e.g., words, structures, cohesion) that
relate coherently to an external communicative function or purpose and a given
audience/interlocutor” (Celce -Murcia & Olshtain, 2000, p. 4).

As opposed to Chomsky, who focuses on grammar when dealing with the language, Hallida y
(1973) thinks that language should be a “meaning potential”, focusing more on its functionality
in society. Thus, he identifies three language meta -functions that would make language useful:

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 The ideational function – which focuses on the meaning potent ial of an individual to
interact with the objects, concepts or the physical phenomena surrounding him.
 The interpersonal function – with regards towards the individual`s interaction with other
people.
 The textual function – the individual`s ability to crea te or recreate spoken or written texts,
based on his linguistic achievements.

We are not dealing thus with a grammatical approach of language as Chomsky does, but with
a language communication that makes sense for Halliday. The communication function of
language represents the bridge between the three functions aforementioned, as in its opinion, the
meaning potential of the language is thus achieved, by leading the way to what he calls “learning
to mean.”

For instance, a non -native English child speaker who interracts with language users. Gradually,
he/sh develops his speaking skills by resorting to a lot of interactive activities, that would ease
his communicative approach and broaden the use of language. These interactive and
communicative activities c an be also learnt in schools, where teachers resort to all sort of
teaching methods, like role -play or simulation, an important section of my study, which will be
thouroughly debated in my next chapter.

Another important aspect worth mentioning in langua ge communication is the definition of
“speech acts”, first used in Austin`s book “How to do things with words?”, which tries to answer
the question “What do we do with language?”. And the answer is pretty simple: “We perform
speech acts”. The notion involv es a number of daily activities that can be performed in order to
deal with language. One can complain, describe, cry, laugh, inform and so forth, each activity
involving the use of language. Austin also added: “The total speech act in the total speech
situation is the only actual phenomenon which, in the last resort, we are engaged in elucidating”
(1962, p. 148, emphasis in original).”

The same Austin also states that the “speech acts” makes use of three key elements, such as
locution, illocution and perl ocution, all of them being strongly related. The act of locution
involves the act of stating or saying something, by using sounds, semantics or grammar, all
performed in a logical sequence. And we can do this just by simply asking and answering a
question, or giving important information about a certain situation. On the other hand, the per –
locutionary act refers to the effect and result caused by the situation.

But what we must illustrate here is the illocutionary act, which is the most important one in
language communication, and according to Austin it represents the social ground of a human
being or the context where communication takes place. We are thus talking about an
illocutionary force happening in the situational context. The best example would b e the
following statement: “I now pronounce you man and wife!” which is a clear indication that the
illocutionary act is uttered in a church and intended to be carried out by a priest.

Focusing on context and using the three “speech acts”, one can easily connect the language with
the social context and start using the entire system as a natural process. And what better way of
using the context than making use of the classroom discourse, with all its various speaking,
writing or reading activities which are based on real -life situations and contexts.

 Language as an ideology

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Ideology might be regarded as a very complex concept, taking its roots from history, culture,
sociology, political science and recently linguistics. But to better understand language from an
ideological point of view, we must see it from the linguistics` point of view.

Thompson (1990) in his book called “Ideology and Modern Culture”, defines ideology as
“meaning the service of power” (p.7, emphasize in original), and “to study ideol ogy is to study
the ways in which meaning serves to establish and sustain relations of domination” (p.54,
emphasis in original).

Thompson also stated that in order to understand ideology we have to investigate the ways in
which meaning is constructed and conveyed by symbolic forms of various kinds, from everyday
linguistic utterances to complex images and texts; it requires us to investigate the social contexts
within which symbolic forms are employed and deployed; and it calls upon us to ask whether,
and if so how, the meaning mobilized by symbolic forms serves, in specific contexts, to establish
and sustain relations of domination. (1990,p. 7).

But Thomson is not the only one to perfectly shape the strong connection between language and
ideology, seen t hrough the eyes of society, or from the economic or political perspective. A
famous anthropologist Kroskrity (2000) moved things further and identified four ideological
concepts, meant to point out the relation between language and the world`s ideological precepts.

I. “Language ideologies represent the perception of language and discourse that is
constructed in the interests of a specific social or cultural group” (p. 8).

II. “Language ideologies are profitably conceived as multiple because of the multiplicity o f
meaningful social divisions (class, gender, clan, elites, generations, and so on) within
sociocultural groups that have the potential to produce divergent perspectives
expressed as indices of group membership” (p. 12).

III. “Members may display varying degre es of awareness of local language ideologies” (p.
18).

IV. “Members’ language ideologies mediate between social structures and forms of talk” (p.
21).

All four concepts strongly reflect the connection between language and ideology, by making use
of the soc io-cultural experiences that lead to a better understanding of language ideologies.

Language: A pedagogic approach
Types of competences
We have approached English language from a theoretical point of view, a very important aspect
as it leads the way to the pedagogic process, which is absolutely imperative when dealing with
classroom teaching. Thus, one will acquire the necessary skills and language competences for an
effective language teaching.

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And to make language teaching effective in classroom, we mu st first distinguish between the
four types of competences, which will make second language teaching more effective and will
further enhance the communication skills of a non -native English speaker.
 Grammatical competences
We have already discussed about E nglish as a language system, which makes use of its variety
from a phonological, morphological or lexical point of view. All these systems and subsystems
that English uses are all part of the grammatical competences, the most important one in English
learn ing, from Chomsky`s perspective.
 Sociolinguistic competence
The sociolinguistic competence reflects the use of English from a discourse point of view, which
is regarded as “the extent to which utterances are produced and understood appropriately in
differ ent sociolinguistic contexts depending on contextual factors such as status of participants,
purposes of the interaction, and norms or conventions of interactions.”
 Discourse competence
The discourse competence is closely related to the sociolinguistic com petence, as it helps the
developing of other competencies of a spoken or written text. It is “the core” framework of the
discourse where everything can be observed and assessed.
 Strategic competence
According to Canadian linguists Canale & Swain, the stra tegic competence is the sum of “verbal
and non -verbal communication strategies that may be called into action to compensate for
breakdowns in communication due to performance variables or to insufficient competence”. This
competence is regarded as the most important one, as it connects the language system and the
pedagogic process to create a solid structure for second language teaching.
However, there are also critics who question the effectiveness of the strategic competence as a
tool of developing the c ommunicative skills of English as a second language. For instance,
Skehan (1988) and Widdowson (2003) think that the framework established by Canale and
Swain (1980) does not point out a clear transparency between the communicative competences
that set the boundaries of a valid measurement while acquiring the communication skills of a
second language. This means that there is a major breakdown between the grammatical
competence, which makes use of the lexical knowledge, and the sociolinguistic competence,
which is a key component in the speaker`s choice of using one lexical form or another.
On the other hand, Taylor (1988) also disagrees with Canale & Swan, stating that the strategic
competence does not “distinguish between knowledge and ability, or rather t hey incorporate
both, and on the other hand they do not distinguish between those strategies which all speakers
have, both native and non -native, and those which are peculiar to non -native speakers” (p.158).
This means that the strategic competence might f ail on L2 speakers who already have the base
communicative language skills that would help them overpass the communication barriers.

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Trying to give a possible answer to the shortcomings found on Canale and Swain`s framework,
Bachman (1990) comes up with t he Communicative Language Ability type, which splits the
competences in two important categories: organizational competence and pragmatic competence.
The organizational competence is making use of the grammatical competence as well as the
textual competenc e, while the pragmatic competence refers to the illocutionary competence and
sociolinguistic competence.
But perhaps a more useful approach for a better understanding of these linguistic competences is
given by British linguist V. Cook (1991, 1992, 1996, 2 002), who first used the term
multicompetence in a series of his writings, defining the word as “the compound state of a mind
with two grammars” (1991, p.112), as opposed to monocompetence , which is the state if a single
grammar. This means that an L2 lear ner will find it easy to use both grammars when
communicating, as it will gain more important cognitive and metalinguistic awareness. It also
enhances an L2 learner borrow the knowledge from one grammar and use it on the other, without
losing his/her cogni tive awareness. The multicompetence model is also “dependent of the debate
over the role of universal grammar in adult second language acquisition. The issue is whether the
polyglot`s language systems are completely independent. The notion also advocates a change in
philosophy concerning such issues as the target for second language acquisition (which cannot
by definition be monolingual competence). It challenges the idea that the learners` L1 should be
kept out of the classroom…” (Brown, Malmkjaer, and Wil liams, 1996, p.56).
But the language competence, be it mono or multi is a subject that is still debated nowadays,
because of its complex internal mechanism which require a much profound external analyses.

I.4. Receptive and Productive Skills

Receptive and productive skills are extremely important when dealing with different
conversational situations. Receptive skills refer to the way people in general receive the
information based on what they see and hear, while productive skills deal with the process of
speaking and writing. Both are the very foundation of communication and the main tools
involved in a role -playing activity.

I.4.1 Teaching receptive skills
According to Harmer, when carrying out different reading and listening activities we “approach
the process of communication”, and “we deploy a range of receptive skills”. This means that we
have to understand a piece of discourse – like a newspaper headline – based on a “pre -existent
knowledge of the world”, often referred to as schema or schematic knowledge. Schematic
knowledge refers to mental representations of everyday situations: whenever we hear or see
different familiar words, our schematic knowledge is activated and we instantly recognize the
discourse patterns.

20
For instance, when we see a text, our schematic knowledge tells us the type of text we are
dealing with, and based on key words or phrases, we will be able to predict what is coming next.
The same happens in a conversation, where the schemata allows participants to make sense of
what they hear and use specific language features to respond. The schemata here involves
different topics, genres or discourse patterns, which help speakers and listeners to predict what
will happen in the conversation. Without the pre -existing knowledge, comp rehension and
communication would become more difficult.
Every time we read a text, a sign or listen to news, we do it for a reason. The sign on a motorway
tells us which way to go, while an audiotape guide at a museum gives us all the information we
need about that museum.
According to Harmer, there reasons for reading and listening that are divided into two categories:
instrumental and pleasurable. Instrumental reason because it helps us achieve a clear aim and
pleasurable because we enjoy doing a lot o f reading and listening for relaxation. But instrumental
reading and listening can also be pleasurable. We can have fun and learn new things by going to
literature lectures or reading different textbooks at the library.

I.4.2 Reading and listening skills
Reading and listening skills are extremely important in communication and in the EFL
classroom, especially when involving students in role -playing activities. There is a complex
process we are involved in when doing reading and listening activities, each one being
completely different from the other.
 Identifying the topic : this skill allows readers and listeners to identify the topic of a
written or spoken text and using their own schemata, they will quickly learn about what
is being said or talked about. Furthermore, this will help them better understand the text
as it progresses.
 Predicting and guessing : after identifying the topic, readers or listeners sometimes tend to
predict and guess what is being written or talked about, just by half -reading or he aring.
By reading or hearing furthermore, readers and listeners will find out if their expectations
were well -guessed or predicted.
 Reading and listening for general understanding . This skill involves the use of
skimming (running your eyes over a text ver y quickly, without reading all the words, to
get a general idea of the text). This way, students will get the general understanding of
the text and will be encouraged to read on for more information. This is also a top -down
option for students, allowing th em to get the gist of the text.
 Reading and listening for specific information . This skill refers to written or spoken texts
students use when trying to find out specific information. It is also called scanning , the
process of finding that specific item t hat we are interested in.
 Reading and listening for detailed information . This skills is used when dealing with
directions or written instructions and refers to understanding everything in order to carry

21
out a task or reach a clear aim. For instance, you have to reach a certain destination and
an address and telephone number are given to you. You write down all the details and
follow the direction to reach your final destination. Or you are at an airport and expect to
hear about your incoming flight, so yo u carefully listen to the complete information in
order to understand what you have to do next.
 Interpreting text : a successful interpretation based on clues helps readers and listeners
better understand what is being suggested or implied. They also make use of their
schemata. For instance, if you are at a library and the lecturer tells you that it is a non –
smoking area, than you automatically put away your cigarette.
The reading and listening skills also come with some particular problems, involving the language
and the tasks that have to be carried out in a different role -playing activity, for instance. These
problems are thoroughly discussed below.
Language
Studies and researchers, for instance Wallace (1992:77), have shown that a written text with long
sentences and long words can be extremely difficult to understand than the shorter ones. Other
researchers have also claimed that this is not the main issue, the difficulty being rather imposed
by the large amount of unfamiliar words from a written text. Paran (1996) thinks that both
aforementioned problems play their part in a text`s comprehensibility, and the success depends
on recognizing “a high proportion of the vocabulary without consciously thinking about it.”
On the other hand, (Underwood 1989:17) draws a clear line between reading a text or listening to
a written text, the first one giving readers the opportunity to go back and read the section with
the unknown lexis for a better comprehension. With the listening issue, the unknown lexis can be
“like a dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of a word and thus
making them miss the next part of the speech.” To solve these issues, there are different
approaches of the problem of language: pre -teaching vocabulary, making use of extensive
reading/listening and other alternatives to authentic language.
Pre-teaching vocabulary
This approach helps students better understand a reading or a listening text. By pre -teaching
some of the vocabulary from the written text, students will b e given the chance to develop their
own receptive skills. The solution would be to teach them the unknown words first and use them
as part of the procedure in order to create students` interest and activate their own schemata, as
the words should suggest topic, genre and construction. This would make students research the
meaning of the unknown words and further lead to text prediction.
Extensive reading and listening
There should be a clear distinction between extensive and intensive reading and listenin g.
Extensive reading and listening refers to reading for pleasure and relaxation in a less stressful
environment, whereas intensive reading and listening concerns the achievement of goals through
intensive studying and less relaxed environment with the hel p of a teacher.

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Extensive reading can be also a fun way to develop a student`s language skill while performing a
role-playing activity, for instance. The reading material is written at his level and will make
student more confident about reading that parti cular text. Colin Davis (1995:335) also agrees
with this, stating that without an extensive reading programme, a classroom would be poorer and
will be “unable to promote its pupils` language development in all aspects as effectively as if
such programme we re presented.”
Not only extensive reading can be beneficial in classroom, as it is closely followed by extensive
listening. When engaged in extensive listening designed for their own level, students will be able
to develop their language skills. This invol ves extensive use of recordings of radio programmes
or simplified readers, passages from a text and much more. All these will trigger their schemata
and will eventually lead to more language acquisition.
Authenticity
Authentic materials used in class prov ide students with more practice and language development.
Even if they miss out a few words, they will be able to get the main idea. This is what we can
call “real” language interaction, which will make students work harder to understand the context.
Authe ntic materials can be wisely chosen, as they can be de -motivating for students. We should
choose authentic yet modified and adapted materials to their level and which they can
understand. For beginner students, we can choose adapted materials, with simplif ied yet natural
language.
Authentic materials can be easy to understand if the tasks involved are well -designed and fitted
for students` level and needs. A role -playing activity for instance, with tasks planned and carried
out in small steps, can be extre mely beneficial in developing the student`s language skills.
Approaching the right topics and genres
When we choose a certain role -playing activity for our students, we have to anticipate the topic
of the activity, as students must be interested in and fa miliar with. This will engage them into a
more dynamic and authentic activity. So we need to know how to choose and use a topic and
how to approach a reading or a speaking genre:
 How to c hoose the right topics : choose the topics that students are intereste d in, and we
can do that by giving them questionnaires, interviewing them or simply observing their
reaction on topics used in previous activities. With all that, let`s not forget that each
individual is unique and comes with his/her own likes. This is why we should choose a
variety of topics to be carried during a series of lessons.
 How to create interest : we can first talk about the topic by revealing a picture, or asking
them to guess what they are going to see. We can also show them some headlines to l ook
at, discuss a certain situation or simply show them a picture of a famous person before
reading a text about the person. As a lead -in listening activity, we can also ask them to
say which sport they find most frightening.

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 How to activate their schemat a: we can activate students` schemata by discussing the
way speeches are constructed if they are going to listen to an interview with a famous
sports star, or the type of questions they should ask in that particular situation.
 How to vary topics and genres : generally, we can find a variety of topics and genres
from the English coursebooks we use in class. But we can also provide our students with
a wide choice of genres, like spontaneous conversation, stories in books, business letters,
radio dramas, the po ssibilities are endless. In case you are not following an English
coursebook, then make a list of genres relevant and important to the students` interests, to
make sure they feel comfortable and confident.
To successfully teach receptive skills we need to make sure that we apply different
comprehension tasks . They should enable students` understanding of language and
improvement of their receptive skills. However, we should point out that sometimes we give
students texts and tasks that are too difficult fo r them; or two easy. Thus, we need to find a
way to make them approach the text and task in a comfortable manner.
The tasks that we use in teaching receptive skills must be adapted for students` needs and
expectations and take a variety of forms, such as looking up information on the internet,
solving reading puzzles or filling in different forms based on listening tapes, for instance. All
these improve their reading and listening skills.
When testing and teaching students, we should use a wide variety of tasks that would assess
their performance. Even if these tasks are done under test conditions, they are set to observe
student`s strong and weak points. Tasks like asking questions using when, what, how many,
how often, answering with true or false or work ing in pair to agree on a certain statement
from the text, develop students` receptive skills and encourage them to better focus on their
reading or listening activities.
On the other hand, when we give students a certain reading or listening task, we wa nt to
make that task “difficult but achievable”, as Scrivener (1994b:149) stated. This means that
we must provide the perfect balance between text and task. Even if we give beginners a
difficult and challenging texts, if the tasks are appropriate, they wil l also be achievable. For
instance, we could have our students read Ulysses by James Joyce and ask them to find as
many full stops as they can find, or how many people are speaking in Shakespeare`s Hamlet.
Even if the language level may be challenging, the task can be achieved if used with the
appropriate level of understanding.
And as expected, students can be reluctant when having to perform a reading or a listening
task. They may feel useless and incapable of reading or understanding a section in the boo k,
predicting a frustrating and de -motivating experience. These mainly occur because of
previous unhappy experiences. And our job is to convince and change their negative feelings
and emotions into positive thinking.
Their negative thinking and effects of past experiences will change if we ensure them the
right and achievable purpose. We should start with agreeing on the specific tasks and
purposes that would help them decide on how to approach a text. If they understand the

24
purpose, then they will predict a better response and will know how to solve the tasks in a
right manner.

1.4.3 Teaching productive skills
The productive skills involve writing and speaking in different forms, but are also related to
the receptive skills aforementioned discussed. All four skills are the main representatives of
communicating in English.

1.4.3.1 Productive skills in the classroom
Speaking and writing in classroom allow students to rehearse language production and
experiment different genres that will prepare them for f uture experiences outside the
classroom. This means that students “should be operating towards the communicative end of
the communication continuum”, as Harmer states, allowing them to use all language to
achieve a communicative purpose with no restriction to specific practice patterns. Language
drills, for instance, are not seen as part of the productive skills, but can be done as an oral
activity, while writing sentences to exercise a grammar pattern is not a writing skill activity,
even if it is very use ful. However, there are a number of productive activities that assess
language development.
As aforementioned, the teaching of productive skills is closely related to the teaching of
receptive skills, and that is done in different ways explained below:
 Output and input : output becomes input when the piece of language produced by
the student is fed back into the acquisition process. The input is seen as the feedback
and takes different forms, like face -to-face spoken interaction, where listeners tell us
if we managed to deliver a correct and proper message. On the telephone for instance,
listeners show us if they have understood us through their tone of voice, intonation or
lack of response. We as teachers can also provide feedback to students in various
ways, as a prompter or observer, or offering support for students` work during a
writing process.
 Texts used as models : in order to carry out specific written or spoken tasks, students
are provided with texts as examples. For instance, if they have to interv iew someone,
they are given examples with reporters interviewing people on the streets. Another
example would be giving directions, students first listening someone else doing it
first. Being exposed to examples and models, students will become more aware of the
situation involved and will be able to carry out the task.
 Texts as stimuli: language production develops when students hear or see different
texts on different genres and topics. They can obtain the necessary stimulus to tell
their own stories by j ust listening to a tape, or reading a controversial reading
passage.

25
Language production can be very difficult for students, but teachers can provide them with
solutions, that will help them carry out an activity. What teachers should do first would be
matching the tasks with their language level, this way students feeling less reluctant towards
performing a task. Then, teachers should ensure a purpose to the task, an outcome that students
must become aware of, especially since there are students not used to speaking or writing on a
daily basis. Thus, teachers would expect a gradual development, building up their trust and
confidence “bit by bit”. Last but not least, teachers should also assess the problems caused by the
task, topic or genre and encourage s tudents to become more and more spontaneous in future
activities.
Language
We have all encountered situations when students are afraid to engage in speaking tasks, because
of their lack of words or grammar knowledge. But their success in doing so can be a chieved by
following the steps below:
 Key language assessment : teachers must check students` knowledge of key vocabulary
before engaging in a spoken or written activity. And we can do that by remembering
them the type of language to be used in that partic ular matter, regardless of their
grammatical or lexical knowledge, or the fact that they have met that language for the
first time. Again, we should not expect instant language development and fluency.
 Activities planned in advance : it takes a lot of time for students to acquire the new
language but we can stimulate their use of language by planning production activities in
advance.
Topic and genre
Students need to be interested in the topics that we are giving or asking them to write or speak,
otherwise language production is unlikely to be produced at a higher level. They will also find it
extremely difficult to engage in a written or spoken task if they are not familiar with the genre
we are asking them. Not to add those students with limited language who are asked to write or
speak about a topic and genre that they are not interested in. To avoid this stressful situations, we
need to take into consideration these steps:
 Choose topics that are attractive and interesting : we should try and find attracti ve
tasks and topic materials that will involve students, and we can do that by asking them
what they want and what are their favorite genres and topics. This procedure is usually
done by questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Then it is up to your i nstinct to
provide them with endless topics or genres for them to choose from.
 Create interest in the topic : our task is to create interest in the topic that the activity
refers to, allowing students to discuss for instance, in “buzz groups”, where they c an
freely talk about the topic. To spicy up things a little bit and make them even more
interested in the topic, we can ask them to give their own opinions about the topic before
you start the activity.
 Activate their schemata : if they are doing a role -playing activity concerning an
interview, we should allow them time to discuss what will happen in that interview or we

26
could simply show them some examples of letters written to newspapers, before engaging
them in writing their own letter.
 Vary genres and t opics : we will successfully organize language production activities if
we ensure a variety of topics and genres. We should also encourage students to work with
a wide choice of genres if we want them to be successful in writing and speaking.
 Provide infor mation : when we plan and give students a writing or speaking task, we
have to know what type of information we should provide in order to ensure the success
of the task. For instance, in a role -playing activity which involves speaking, they will first
have to know who they have to be and what they have to perform. Otherwise, don’t
expect the role -play to be successful.

1.4.3.2 Speaking

As part of the productive skills, speaking is the key element in communication and presupposes
the ability to process i nformation, knowledge of language features as well as language “on the
spot.” Some of the language features needed in a speaking situation are explained below:
 Connected speech : it refers to using sounds that are modified (assimilation), omitted
(elision) , added (linking) or weakened (through contractions and stress pattern). Instead
of using just individual phonemes of English, as in “I would have gone”, students should
also use the connected speech , as in “I`d`ve gone.
 Expressive devices : they refer to different physical or none -verbal (paralinguistic) means
used by native speakers to show how they feel in different interaction, like face -to-face
interaction. Non -native speakers should also be able to use some of these expressive
devices to express emot ion or intensity.
 Lexis and grammar : to have a spontaneous speech, students should apply a variety of
lexical phrases that are given by teachers, in order to achieve certain language functions
such as agreeing, disagreeing, expressing approval or surprise .
 Negotiation language : for an effective speaking activity, we need to “ask for
clarification” from the negotiatory language. We can thus offer students phrases like:
“I`m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that!”. “I`m sorry, I don’t understand.”. “What exactly
does X mean?”. “Could you explain that again, please?”

Students must also use certain phrases to “structure their discourse” when engaged in a
“writing -like” speech, like providing presentations. They also have to use negotiation
language to highlight t heir thoughts or use reformulation to be clearer, especially when
they feel they are not understood by the listener.

27
Classroom speaking ac tivities
 Acting out scenes from plays: students can act out scenes from coursebooks, plays or
other materials, with t eacher filming the results and giving feedback. Students can also
act out their own dialogues. Before the scenes are acted out in front of the class, we
should give student enough time to rehearse their dialogues, with the teacher assessing
the entire proc ess. He should be able to draw attention on the intonation, appropriate
stress, speed and so on. Practice and rehearsal before the act, ensures that the
performance is indeed a productive learning and language activity. This is actually the
main activity t hat I also used in my case study in the third chapter.
 Communication games: they provide interaction between two or more students and
provoke communication. The rule is simple: they have to talk to a partner to carry out a
different task, solve a puzzle, describe and draw a picture, find similarities or differences
between pictures, put something in the right place and so on. A good example of
communication games would be radio or television games, which ensure language
fluency.
 Discussion: as we already explained, when dealing with a speaking activity, students feel
reluctant in relating something in front of the class, especially if they lack vocabulary or
have poor grammar knowledge. A teacher can avoid all these situations by organizing
students in “bu zz groups”. They get in groups to discuss different topics before
presenting them in public. The same groups can be the perfect opportunity for students to
use “instant comment” activities, which involves the use of photographs or topics that a
student mus t use to say the first thing coming out of their head.
 Prepared talk: this activity is rather popular amongst students and involves a
presentation on a topic they choose. Since they are prepared, they are considered
“writing -like” than informal conversati on. But it remains a useful speaking activity,
involving a set of prepared talking stages that ensure the success of the conversation.
 Questionnaires: they can be designed by students and involve any topic they might find
appropriate for their speaking act ivity. In this situation, the teacher is just an observer.
 Simulation and role -playing: we have a whole section dedicated to role -playing and
simulation in the second chapter, so we will just remind the connection between the two
of them. Both can be used to provide and encourage oral fluency, applying three
characteristics: reality of function – students must think as real participants; simulated
environment – the classroom is a library or an airport, depending on the activity
involved; structure – studen ts must receive the information needed for an effective
simulation.
The roles of a teacher
Depending on the type of the activity in the classroom, teachers have to play their own roles. The
most important roles are highlighted below:

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 Teacher as a prompte r: when students “are lost in the translation” or cannot think of
what to say in a different activity, it is teacher`s duty to help them carry out the task to
the end, by offering suggestions without interrupting the discussion.
 Teacher as a participant: in language production activities, teachers can participate
along with their students in order to help the activity. They can introduce the new piece
of information or maintain a creative and fun atmosphere. If engaged too much in the
activity, teachers mi ght draw the entire attention to them and will dominate the act, thus
de-motivating students in successfully carry out the act.
 Teacher as a feedback provider: teachers shouldn’t provide feedback in the middle of a
speaking activity, otherwise students mig ht feel inhibited. What a teacher can do is give a
gentle correction which will help students get through the problem. After the activity is
over, a teacher should allow students to evaluate themselves and then come out with
his/her own opinion on how well the activity went.

I.4.3.3 Writing

Writing is another efficient skill that separates it from speaking. Besides the differences in
vocabulary and grammar, there are also issues concerning letter, word, or text formation, all
highlighted by handwriting, spelling, layout and punctuation.
 Handwriting
Students use different handwriting when copying exercises or doing other written activities,
making it a personal issue. But badly -formed letters might negatively influence the reader,
especially when well -established task are involved during classes. In this situation, teachers
should always encourage student to perfect or at least improve their handwriting.
 Spelling
Bad or incorrect spelling can also affect the reader, especially when referring to the
correspondence between the sound of a word and how it is spelt. A single sound can have
different spellings (paw, poor, pore, pour), or the same spellings can have different sounds (or,
word, information, worry, correspond). To avoid bad or incorrect spelling , we should encourage
students to pay attention on the common spellings of the phonemes, or to look at different ways
of pronouncing the same letters.
The varieties of English (British vs American) can act as a spelling model when having to
choose between different spellings of rather the same words. Let`s take color or colour, for
instance, theatre or theater. What should we use – s or z when spelling using apologize or
customize? And the best way to make students improve their spelling is extensive readi ng,
drawing attention on the spelling problems and explaining them. And copying them from written
examples is a good way to do this. According to Porte (1995), “when students see and reflect on
their copying mistakes, their spelling ‘consciousness’ is rais ed.”

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 Layout and punctuation
Different writing communities must obey different punctuation conventions when dealing with
communications like letters, publicity or reports, which are often not -transferable from one
language to another. We can see these diff erences in different punctuation conventions, like
capitalization of months, names, or the pronoun I, which are specific to one or a few languages.
As for the layout, different genres of writing come with specific layouts. Business or personal
letters diff er from each other; newspaper articles or “small ads” in magazines are also laid out in
specific ways and follow a conventional format. To make writing successful, in our own or
another language, we have to use these layouts when appropriate to make our me ssage
transparent and easy to understand.
The teaching of writing
When teaching writing we have to focus on the product of the writing or on the process itself.
This requires a rigorous preparation when approaching the process of writing, meaning that we
should focus on pre -writing phases, editing, redrafting and finally publishing student`s work.
But the writing process is extremely complex and Ron White and Valerie Arndt point out that
“writing is re -writing; that revision – seeing with new eyes – has a central role to play in the act
of creating text”. This means that the process of writing is a set of stages which include:
– drafting;
– structuring;
– reviewing (checking context, connections, assessing impact, editing);
– focusing (that is making sure you ar e getting the message across you want to get across);
– generating ideas and evaluation (assessing the draft and/or subsequent drafts).
But when involving students in the process of writing we should consider the amount of time
spent on brainstorming activit ies, drafting, reviewing and editing the piece o f writing, following
redrafting, re -editing and so on. This process involves discussion, research, language study and
interaction between teacher and students, which takes more than fifteen minutes.
Writing and genre
When approaching a certain writing genre, students have to study texts that are appropriate to the
type of the genre they are writing. For instance, if we want them to write about business letters,
we let them look at some typical models like let ters, before starting create their own business
letters. For newspaper articles, we let them study real examples which would help them discover
facts about language use, constructions and so on, that are common to the genre involved.
Depending on the type of genre, students need to take into account different factors. They have
to acknowledge the topic, style of the genre and the context in which their wr iting will be read
and by whom, especially if the students` written tasks do not involve an audience ot her than the
teacher. But writing can become extremely creative if we could ask students to imitate a given
style and follow the strict rules of the genre.
Creative writing
“Creative writing” refers to imaginative tasks like writing stories, poetry or pl ays. It can be a
“journey of self -discovery, and self -discovery promotes effective learning” (Gaffield -Vile

30
1998:31). With imaginative writing tasks, students are fully engages and strive to produce a
variety of appropriate language.
Whenever students are writing their own stories or poems they are tapping into their own
experiences, a powerful motivation that excites their creativity. The input -output relationship is
also activated when creating writing.
Creative writing is also bolstered whenever we, as teachers, create reader audience. The
appropriate reader audience can be the whole class. We can thus display students` own writings
on noticeboard, class magazines or have them distributed to parents, friends or other teachers.
Writing as a cooperative activity
In class, students can take advantages of the presence of others to consider writing a cooperative
activity, with great benefits to all participants involved. Group writing for instance, allows
teacher to provide constructive feedback.
Cooperativ e writing is beneficial with both process and genre -based approaches; the first
approach deals with reviewing and evaluation, carried out by more than one person, which
automatically leads to a generation of ideas. The second approach creates genre -specifi c texts
more successfully if the act itself is carried out by more than two persons as well.
The roles of the teacher
 Motivator – this would be the main role of a teacher when involving students in writing
tasks. He acts as a motivator for students whene ver they lack confidence or feel de –
motivated by the given task. Encouraging them to put as much effort as they can in the
writing process, would be extremely beneficial. When writing poems for instance, a
teacher could suggest lines to those who cannot th ink of anything or prompt them with
ideas.
 Resource – teachers should find the right resources to provide student with whenever
they are involved in more challenging writing tasks. They should tell students about the ir
progress, offer advice and suggestion s in a constructive way. Writing usually takes longer
than speaking activities, so there would be plenty of time for discussion with each
students or discussion within a pair or a groups of students.
 Feedback provider: again, teachers should act as feedbac k providers on the various
demanding writing tasks, or respond in a positive manner and encourage students.

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Chapter II
The Place of Role -Playing in EFL Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this chapter is to establish a thorough relation ship bet ween the EFL classroom
and role -playing. The chapter will also approach the “role -playing” meanings from linguistics`
perspective, starting with its importance as a useful speaking tool and carrying on with different
definitions, and its proven importance in the EFL classroom.

II.1 Ways of understanding role -playing

In this section I will try to approach role -playing from as many perspective as I can, and that in
order to demonstrate that this speaking tool is indeed beneficial to an EFL classroom.
General considerations
Role -playing can be seen as an effective technique that enhances students` awareness when
applying it in different social contexts, making use of four factors: the relevant topic, teacher`s
“feed -in”, error correction, teacher`s role as a facilitator, spectator or participant.
Fraser, Rintell and Walters (1980) see role -playing as a useful technique for studying the
pragmatic competence of EFL learners. We all carry out different roles in everyday life, we are
teachers, parents, child ren, presidents, principals and so on; and by assigning our students
different roles and giving them the opportunity to be part of the role, they will be able to
communicate effectively and appropriately, and will eventually approach language in a practica l
way.

The difference between an ESL classroom and an EFL classroom
In order to approach the role -playing as a useful speaking tool, first we have to distinguish
between an ESL classroom from an EFL classroom. And since the purpose of this study is to
demonstrate the benefits of role -playing in the EFL classrooms at my school, the distinction
between the two of them must be very clear. And understanding the fundamental differences will
make us more efficient teachers.
An ESL Classroom
An ESL classroom is in a country where the dominant language is English, and where students
learning the language are visitors or immigrants. We are dealing here with mixed nationalities
that do not share a common culture, while outside the classroom their need to learn and speak

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English is limited by their language skills, even if they directly come into contact with English
culture.
When trying to teach English in an ESL classroom full of visitors or immigrants, the first rule
would be to explain them the cultural norms, be cause understanding culture is actually the first
step in learning English.
An EFL Classroom
An EFL classroom is in a country where the dominant language is not English, and where
student use the same language and culture. The teacher may be or may not be a native English
speaker (in Romania most of the English teachers are not native English speakers). Outside the
classroom, students have limited exposure to different aspects of English culture. Their contact
with English might be made at a lower scale th rough media, TV, music, documentaries or films.
When trying to teach English in an EFL classroom, the main rule would be to engage your
students in oral activities. Unfortunately, the language barrier or the lack of basic speaking skills,
harden the proces s of learning English. This would automatically lead to other useful tools, like
exposing and engaging students to different English cultural aspects. And there are a lot of ways
to make your students learn and use the language on a regular basis. Field tr ips, pen pals, foreign
student exchanges, may all be part of a long and fruitful learning process. Another handy tool for
making an EFL classroom learn English might be the online English communities, where
students all over the world connect and tie -in different areas of interests.

II.2. Role -playing – a useful speaking technique in the EFL c lassroom

General considerations
Ments (1999) states that the word “role” came “from the word that was used to describe the roll
of parchment on which an actor`s part was written”, and that “the concept of role acts as a short
hand way of identifying and labeling a set of appearances and behavio rs are characteristics of a
particular person and predictable within a given situation” (p6).
Speaking is the most efficient skill of communication in a native language, but when a student`s
aim is to acquire knowledge of a second language, other methods must be given in order to
priorities the process of second language acquisition. One of these methods is role -playing.
To quo te Qing (2011), “role playing is defined as the projection in real life situations with social
activities” (p.37), while the same Ments (1999) also said, “in a role play each players act as a
part of the social environment of the others and provides a fram ework in which they can test out
their repertoire of behaviors of study the interacting behavior of the group” (p5).
As we all English teachers probably know, speaking is the best skill to make students acquire
knowledge when involving in different oral ac tivities. However, students are put in a very
difficult situation when they have to act out dialogues in English, and that because of the
language barriers. Thus, they find it hard to express themselves and express their own thoughts

33
and points of view. Th is is where role -playing intervenes, as it can play an important role. A
role-play situation will engage the student as a whole, triggering his gestures, moods, vocal
expressions, all these helping him to adapt to the role itself.
For instance, when they were assigned to play the roles of customers (be it mother, father, son or
daughter) or of a clerk at a public market, they were introduced to “a different social context”,
otherwise a new, challenging and exciting situation for them. This is where free wi ll sets in, as
students loose track of their inability to speak in English and create their own space and time to
express their emotions and creativity. Thus, they regain trust and confidence in acquiring a
certain fluency in English, which would improve t heir vocabulary as well.
The same Ments (1999) stated that “The most obvious uses of role -play are in those areas which
deal primarily with aspects of communication” (p19). From what we can depict from what Ments
said is that role -playing is a communicati on based technique that we apply in order to see how
well students perform in different situations in controlled environment. Role -playing should give
”students the opportunity to practic e interaction with others in certain roles, by divising scenes of
everyday life, in particular those situations which make use of the vocabulary to be learnt”. This
way, students would be giving the opprtunity to test their linguistic abilities and use language ”in
a free and interesting way”. Ments also mentioned that ”one is using language and other ways of
communicating” with learning to become ”an important part of the task”. For Ments, role –
playing is also that important method that ”expresses hidden feelings, student can discusse
private issues and problems, enables st udents to empathize with others and understand their
motivation” (p.13).
According to Ments, role -playing is also ”motivational and effective because it involves role-
play activities”. This means that role -playing was indeed motivational because students h ave had
the opportunity to leave the usual and monotonous lecture -based exercises and enter a real -based
situation, where they became more open.

II.3 Advantages of role -playing in the EFL classroom
The efficiency of role -playing in the EFL classroom has been long -debated by many linguistics,
but Maxwell (1997) is perhaps the only one to provide a comprehensive discussion on the
advantages of role -playing. He mentions that the essence of role -playing is role -playing itself,
that speaking tool that can enha nce students` interest in developing their language skills, in
increasing their confidence and motivation. According to Maxwell (1997) and other educators
like Sato (2005) or McMaster (1998) the advantages of role —playing in the EFL classroom as
considered as following:
1. In encourages student to practice and learn the “target language in meaningful context.”
2. It helps students improve their necessary skills for language acquisition.
3. It provides motivation to students to further study and develop their learnin g process.
4. It creates a low -anxiety learning environment.
5. It improves the students` four language skills and provide them with a wide variety of
experiences.
6. It improves students` nonverbal and cultural behavior.

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According to different studies, role -playin g and games are the main keys in developing the
students` communicative skills, with more and more educators and linguistics to recognize
the value that role -playing has in the EFL classroom. With all that, educators and role -play
practitioners might tend to feel confused and frustrated when dealing with role -playing in the
EFL education, and that because the effectiveness of this activity has not been provided with
any solid arguments. Therefore, we will try to group and analyze the effectiveness of role –
playing in teaching EFL, based on solid proof, in order to encourage teachers to effectively
use role -playing in the classroom and to give them a clear image on how powerful it might
become in language education. We will elaborate the advantages of role -playing in the
headings below.

II.4 Designing role – play activities. The relationship between role -play and
language skills

Besides language skills, role —playing can also have the advantage of improving students` other
skills, and Milroy (1982) demonstrate s that role -playing is an efficient tool in developing the
students` interpersonal and communicative skills. And the best way to do this is using these
communicative skills in interpersonal situations. This means that students must be engaged in
different roles where they have the opportunity to practice their oral skills.
For instance, a conversation between a waitress and a customer in a restaurant, or a customer and
a clerk at a public market; these situations consolidate different knowledge of vocabula ry or
grammar but also highlight the students` reaction and behavior when being involved in these oral
situations. This is a clear fact that role -playing is the promoter of interpersonal relations.

Role -playing increases students` motivation
Smith (1972) agrees that role -playing “is used with the principle that drama directly involves the
child and thus could motivate the child to learn”. While performing a role -play activity, students
have the liberty to add new ideas or elements to the text, which make them willingly express
their feelings and make a connection between what they have learnt before and they have learnt
during the role. This means that they are fully committed to their role and become part of the
role.
They themselves have the tools to mon itor the text comprehension and give direct and simple
feedback. By doing that, they will be able to correct themselves and improve their own language
skills. Another advantage would be the cooperation amongst the group members which would
make the group i tself more effective in competing against other groups. This way, role -playing
provides increased motivation, promotes cooperation and competition, stimulating each one to
become a better learner.

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Low -anxiety environment for students
When performing a rol e-playing during the EFL classroom, students use a kind of mask to
encourage them to feel free while interpreting the role, and this would decrease anxiety amongst
students, especially amongst the shy ones. This is why a teacher should seldom interfere whe n
they make mistakes. More than that, students who are poor speakers but are better at acting, have
a real chance to display their skills by taking part into the role -play. Expressing themselves
through words and actions, students will feel more relaxed an d less isolated in class.

Role -playing helps students improve their verbal interaction skills
All four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing – are essential in learning the
target language, but the most important skill used with a c ommunicative function is speaking.
All foreign learners must be interested in developing their speaking skills, and we have already
discussed about role -playing as the main speaking tool in the EFL classroom. Also, “classroom
activities that develop learne rs` ability to express themselves through speech, would therefore,
seem an important components of a language course” (Ur, 1996, p.120).

The use of role -playing in reading activities
Besides speaking , Scarcella and Crookall refer to reading as another im portant tool in language
development. According to both, reading is a true facilitator whenever the reader`s experiences
are similar to the writer`s. For instance, when they are reading a text and acting a role, they
experience things from the text in a ne w way, which would eventually alter their “existing
schemata” (p.226). Reading is also helpful when performing a role -play as it offers students a
wide range of texts and materials, like posters, telegrams, letters or flyers, which take them
outside class routine. For example, the teacher asks the students to pose as sales representatives
and customers at a supermarket. They have to collect flyers from the supermarket, read each
catalogue and communicate to each other about the information found on the flye rs. All of them
read the flyers to successfully play the role. This way, students might take this activity as a
game, as it is fun and entertainment.

Role -playing in education
Ladousse (1987) redefined role -playing as “an educational technique, known to generate a lot of
fun, excitement, joy and laughter in the language class as ‘play’ itself guarantees a safe
environment in which learners can be as inventive and playful as possible.” From Ladousse`s
perspective, role -playing has a wider perspective which differentiate it from theatre and other
useful methods. Illustrating Ladousse`s own definitions, we can see role -playing from two
perspective: role -playing as a way of teaching and role -playing as a way of learning.
 Role-playing as a way of teaching
Accor ding to Tatar (2003), role -playing is not used as theatrical means for the audience and must
be used to raise the students` personality and facilitate their learning by responding to different
situations, conflicts or dilemmas of the role involved in the c lass. Polychrononpoulos (1996) also

36
stated that the main purpose of role -playing is how you perform the given role, how you put
yourself in the character`s shoes. In class, teachers must use this ability to make students aware
of the character and play it as if in a real life situation. The interaction process will give them
confidence and will enable them to use the language for real situation communication.
From McMaster`s (1998) point of view, drama is a priceless tool for teachers as it is the main
instrument that provide language development and skills, encompassing all four language arts,
building vocabulary, discourse, syntactic and meta -cognitive knowledge (p574). Yaffe (1989)
also sums up that role -play is “an extraordinary versatile teaching tool, applicable to quite
diverse students and their needs.”
 Role-playing as a way of learning
Besides role -playing as a way of teaching, Milroy (1982) also explains that this method can be
also taught as a way of learning English, a method which is based on “r ole-theory”. “Participants
adopt assumed positions and interact in a simulated life situation. This occurs for some
educational purpose, usually under the guidance of the person with the educational
responsibility. The interaction is spontaneous and at its conclusion there is opportunity for
discussion. ” (p.8)
On the other hand, Krish (2005) describes role -playing if the EFL classroom as an important
activity that involves extensive use of imagination and variation in different social contexts. The
same opi nion is shared by Larsen -Freeman (1986) explaining the significance of role -playing in
communication when assuming different acts or roles. “As a result of doing this they, or the rest
of the class, or both, will learn something about the person or situati on” (Van Ments, 1999, p5).

Role -playing and terms that are easily and often confused
According to Kodotchigova (2001), words like role -playing, drama, games or simulations are
often used interchangeably, but in reality they represent separate notions. Th is section proposes
to define each term and to establish its role in the EFL education.
 Educational drama
Drama is in Wilhelm`s (1998) perspective as “imagining to learn” (p3), which directly implied
the notion of educational drama. But sometimes, educatio nal drama, where the “performance of
the roles are the compulsory part”, is confused with role -play. (Polychrononpoulos, 1996) also
agrees that performing a role is the most important part of drama, which sets it apart the
conventional role -playing. Becaus e it involves art form and contains other elements like feelings
or emotions, it is considered a broader concept than role -playing.
From Payne`s perspective, educational drama is divided in four types: drama as playing, drama
as process of learning, drama as interpretation of literature and drama as theatre. What makes
educational drama and its four types so complex, much more complex than role -playing, is the
multitude of strategies, like movement, sound tracking, or narration (Payne, 1998). Role -playing
might be just a strategical part of educational drama, or just a dramatic methodology that serves
as an educational purpose. (Bolton & Heathcote, 1999).

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 Simulation
Simulation and role -playing are also used interchangeably, even if they have little in com mon.
We often use all together terms like “game”, “simulation”, “role -playing”, “simulation -game”,
“role -play simulation” or “role -playing game”. There might be a connection between of them,
but simulation is regarded as a much broader term, just as educat ional drama. Milroy (1982),
said that simulation is “a representation of real -life dynamic situations” while role -playing is “the
acting -out of a simulated situation by participants in assumed roles.” Put it simple, as already
proven in class, a role -playi ng activity is much simpler, flexible and brief, whereas simulation is
much more complex that imitates rear life situations. Therefore, role play is just an important
part of simulation.
 Language games
There is a strong connection between role -playing act ivities and language games that can be
carried out in the EFL classroom, Pearn (2003) explaining that “games and role plays should not
be seen as unitary or self -evident phenomena – two distinct realms of student experience – but as
a spectrum of student b ased and student -teacher based interaction which maps the space for a
wider sociological term, 'play’, within the EFL classroom”.
As opposed to educational drama and simulations, two much broader concepts than role -playing,
where role -playing itself is pa rt of the concepts, there is no proven distinction between games
and role -play. However, Milroy says that there might be a slight difference between the two
concepts, as role -playing is based on role -pair-role-interaction which makes students more aware
of their roles with emphasize on competence of performance, while gaming refers to cooperation
in different situations, developing thus their individual capabilities of organizing, making
decisions or evaluating of a certain task, involving competition and c ooperation as well.
A second noticeable difference between role -playing and games is that the first one is a free –
flowing activity which develops the student`s speaking competences, while gaming is based on a
strict set of rules and procedures. Pearn (2003 ) also mentions that gaming takes different forms
like exchanging games, board games, guessing or matching games.
 Role-playing games (RPGs) in the EFL classroom
Going back to the strong relationship between role -playing and games, the two of them
intertwi ne when it comes to doing different activities in the EFL classroom. We are dealing with
role-playing games, which should be set apart from language role plays, educational drama or
simulations. RPGs for short, they are games that can be played with a vari ety of items (paper,
dice, pencil) and might involve a referee on one side, or the Game Master (GM) and the players
on the other side. The Game Master is the one responsible with the entire scenario and set of
rules, while the players follow the rules of t he scenario using a rolling dice for instance, or
miniature figures which represent each player from the tabletop.
Reverend Paul Cardwell, Jr., a passionate supporter of RPGs in educational context, explains the
use of games as “a sort of fairy tale writt en by a committee without an opportunity to re –
write…[or] ‘improvisational radio theater.’ Role -playing forms other than in the fantasy genre

38
are more like historical novels, adventure yarns, science fiction, etc…but the mechanics are still
the same.”
Most of the RPGs are based on heroic literature or fantasy, films or books, with teachers to have
a wide variety to choose from. Below, I have presented the most common types of RPGs that can
be successfully used in the EFL classroom:
 FANTASY or SWORD AND SORC ERY. This type of game is based on
myths and legends, centering on warriors or mages sent to fight against evil,
or based on fantasy with magic and monsters and or: films – Lord of the
Rings, Conan the Barbarian, The Legends of King Arthur, The Chinese G host
Story; games: Dungeons & Dragons, Fighting Fantasy, Empire of the Petal
Throne, Fighting Fantasy and so on.
 SPACE ADVENTURE. This is a Science Fiction type of game, with
characters from outer space traveling in the future and adventuring in far
galaxi es. Characters are space travelers and are based on: films – Star Wars,
Start Trek series; games – Buck Rogers, Legacy, Ringworld , Space 1889, Star
Frontiers; books – Hitchhiker`s Guide to the Galaxy, Issac Asimov`s novels
and more.
 SPIES AND SUPERSPIES: This is a type of game based on the secret agent,
the famous one being no other than James Bond -007, which was also
portrayed in films: James Bond -007 series, In Like Flint, Man From
U.N.C.L.E; games: James Bond, Ninjas & Superspies, Top Secret SI and so
on.
 DETECTIVE: This is a type of game about private eyes and detectives. It
involves comic books, cartoons: Philip Marlowe, Remington Steele; games:
Gangbusters.
 HORROR. Quite different from SWORD and SORCERY or FANTASY
games, this genre deals with normal p eople fighting against fantastic creatures.
The most relevant would be Dracula, as the classic archetype for the genre.
Another classic is Shelley`s Frankenstein. Let`s not forget other films like
Indiana Jones or the Ghostbusters series; books with refere nce to vampires or
werewolves: Chill, Werewolf, Vampire, Call of Cthulhu, Bureau 13 and
others.
 SUPER HERO. This type of games approaches the comic book genre, with
characters posing as heroes with superpowers who fight against crime in their
attempt to sa ve humanity from super villains. Books and films: Superman,
Batman, The Flash, The Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, Wonder Woman; games:
Batman, Champions, DC Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes, Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles, Villains & Vigilantes and more.
 TIME TRAVEL . This might be included in the SCIENCE FICTION genre,
with characters traveling from one galaxy to another. Lest Darkness Falls by

39
L. Sprague de Camp or other novels written by Keith Laumer are the best
examples of literature that deals with this genre. F ilms: Star Wars series, Time
Tunnel, Quantum Leap, Back to the future, Terminator, Somewhere in Time,
Time Bandits, Bill and Ted; games: Doctor Who, TimeLords, Timemaster,
Fringeworthy and so on.
 WESTERN. This is the common American Cowboy type of genre, w ith
American teenagers often playing “Cowboys and Indians” type of game. It is
all related to the “Wild, Wild West”. Movies: Silverado, Pale Rider, Dances
with Wolves, High Noon, Wolves, Young Guns; games: Desperado, Wild
West, Boot Hill and so on.
These t ypes of role -playing games seen above are only the most representatives that can be used
successfully in the EFL classroom. There are also games that include other genres as well, like
humor, cyberpunk or adventure. Even if most of them come with their own sets of rules, there
are others that can use a common and basic set of rules, which are known as Universal or
MetaSystems. Most commonly met are GURPS (Generic Universal Role -Playing System),
Dangerous Journeys, FUDGE (Freeform Universal Donated Gaming En gine), Hero System,
System One, To Challenge Tomorrow or Universal Soldier.
In conclusion, it has been demonstrated that when EFL students were involved with RPGs, they
developed both language and non -language learning skills. In Cardwell`s “Role -Playing G ames
and the Gifted Student”, these include Following Directions, Vocabulary, Independent/Self
Directed Study, Research, Planning Choice/Decision Making, Mental Exercise, Evaluation,
Cooperation/Interaction, Creativity/Imagination, Leadership, Problem Solv ing, Critical
Thinking, Predicting Consequences, Figural/Spatial Reasoning, Taking Other Points of View,
Asking Questions, Ethics, Prioritizing, Interrelated, Learning and Continuity of Learning (4 -6).

II.7. The roles and r esponsabilities of teachers

Competences that a teacher should have

Van Ments (1989) explains the strong connection between teacher and role -playing: “Although
the use of role -play puts a powerful tool in the hands of the trainer or educator, it is a tool which
requires much more sk ill care than most educational techniques” (p33). This means that role –
playing can be effectively only if there is an interplay between teachers and their students, as the
role of the latter is to create the perfect environment for students to act role -playing and thus to
learn the language. According to the same Van Ments, the teacher`s expected competences are
split into three aspects:

1) A thorough knowledge of the methodology.
2) Sensitive to individual and group behavior.
3) Self-knowledge, maturity and balanc e. (p33).

40
The roles of teachers in play

Roskos (1995), in her book ”Linking literacy and play” offered a closer look at the roles that
adults have in role -playing, where they have to create the perfect play environments in order to
improve the students ` skills. Below, she lists the roles of adults in play.

The roles of adults in play

1) Onlooker : Appreciates ongoing drama, nods, smiles, etc
2) Stage Manager : Gathers materials
Makes props
Constructs costumes
Organizes set
Make script suggestions
3) Co -player : Assumes role and within the role:
Mediates dialogue
Guides plot
Defines roles and responsibilities of different
characters
4) Play leader : Introduces conflict
Facilities dialogue
Solves problems.

The tasks of the teachers in different procedures

To ensure the success of a role -playing activity in the EFL classroom, teachers must choose the
proper role -playing activities for their students so that they can finish them step by step. A good
example to organize an efficient role -play can be seen be low in Milroy`s analyses of teachers`
tasks in different procedures:

1) Preparation: Choose a relevant situation; determine roles and assemble information.

↓

2) Briefing: Outline educational purpose; declare situation and roles,
give opportunities for role-takers to establish their own intra -personal
information; make arrangements for the setting -up of the role -play.

↓

3) Interaction: Support role -takes and draw attention to the aspects of interaction.
↓

4) Discussion: Identify different learning po ints; help students put interaction into
perspective, encourage each student to participate and help members appreciate the insights and
skills necessary for the effective playing of roles in life situations similar to the simulated ones.
(1982, pp.12 -17)

41
Role -playing can become and efficient and extremely powerful tool in the EFL clasrroom if
teachers understand their roles and responsibly use the proper techniques to successfully
accomplish their tasks.

II.7 Expected benefits of role -play in EFL teac hing and learning

Researchers have recognized that role -playing has a lot of benefits in the EFL classroom and one
good example would be what Kaur said: “role -play needs to be widely mooted, as the benefits
are plenty” (2002, p.2). Unfortunately, in the last decade less and less articles concerning the
research of role -play have appeared, as teachers gradually lost interest and motivation in using
this useful speaking tool. With all that, I managed to get my hands on some studies of famous
researchers tha t could explain the benefits of role -play in the EFL classroom. I will briefly
exemplify the linguistics` proven studies on that matter.

Makita (1995) – she states that role -play remains one of the most effective technique carried out
in the EFL classroom , as it enables student to experience and use the language in different
contexts, leading thus to a useful communication process. The idea is also highlighted in her
study “The effectiveness of dramatic/role -playing activities in the Japanese language clas sroom.”
In her study, she lists a series of role -playing activities that can help teachers provide a wide
variety of learning experiences which would benefit students` needs and interests (Makita, 1995,
p.50).

As aforementioned, when using role -playing w ith students that study a foreign language, it is
very important to observe their reactions and behaviors, as they tend to feel frustrated by
language itself and the linguistic barriers. This is where role -playing intervenes as a useful tool
in motivating students in learning the language with less stress and frustration (1995, p4). This is
also a call for psychological factors that are extremely important when engaging students in such
activities.

Salies (1995) – her article is also highlighting the benef its of role -playing because it grouped the
items of role -playing effectiveness under three headings: it illustrates unpredictability of real -life
communication; it teaches appropriateness; it boosts self -confidence (Salies, 1995, p3). Salies
was also inspi red by Hung (1983)` s point of view meaning that “whenever a person studies a
language, he/she is ultimately learning the culture of the people who speak the language”, adding
her own opinion that “communication is only possible if there is knowledge of th e culture behind
the language” (Salies, 1995, p.10).

Salies` article also exemplifies different classroom procedures which prepare and implement
role-playing, coming as well with some examples. The role -play activities refer to real -life
situation, such as “in the restaurant”, “in a cocktail party” or “talking on the phone”. These are
example of real -life situations that can be always turned into role -play, this way the activities
coming naturally and without any frustration from the students.

Maxwell (1 997) – in his study “Role -play and foreign language learning”, Maxwell provided
examples of role -playing in order to evaluate the reading comprehension of students. The
activity was carried out within a listening and reading course. During the activity, sh e presented
a reading passage and a listening passage, both very short, along with the explanation of a video –
taped segment. This was actually a genuine example of using role -playing in different themes

42
which proved to be fun, relaxing and creative in the same time, as it offered students the
possibility to practice and improve their communication in the EFL class.

Tompkins (1998) – he was inspired by Richards and Rodgers (1986)` format to observe role –
playing , coming with its own interpretation of role -play integration and other language activities
in the EFL classroom.

Tompkins uses the following format described by Richards and Rodgers(1986) to analyze role
playing/simulation, and proposed an integration of role -play and other language learning
activities in language classrooms.

Approach:
Theory of language and language learning

Design:
Objectives of the method
Syllabus model
Learning & teaching activities
Learner roles
Teacher roles
Roles of instructional materials

Procedure:
Classroom techniques , designs and procedures.

Kodotchigova (2001) – she used role -playing to determine “a teaching technique in which the
students are asked to identify with the given familiar or non -familiar roles and to interact with
the other role characters within the gi ven socio -cultural situation.” This might be seen as a
definition which goes beyond the general meaning of role -playing, Kodotchigova using the
socio -cultural approach to perform a thorough analyses on role -playing, taking into account the
cultural backgro und. By doing this, she actually demonstrated that role -playing is also an
important concept in developing the students` intercultural communication.

Even if there are little or no proven step -by-step guides on how to successfully plan a role –
playing exe rcise, she was amongst the few to suggest such a guide. She also explains her own
step-by-step guide as follows: 1) Choose a certain situation for role -playing. 2) Design the
activity to develop the situation. 3) Make any linguistic preparations. 4) Make a ny factual
preparations. 5) Assign the roles. 6) Follow up. (p.5)

Sato (2001) – Sato comes with its own role -play implementation for Japanese high -school
students. In his study, role -playing is seen as an effective tool to using the English to learn abou t
different topics relevant to students` day -by-day lives in Japan.

What is interesting about Sato`s (2001) paper is that he comes with detailed descriptions and
information concerning the importance of role -playing in EFL education and the learning area s
where it can be applicable. Then, he also added that the role -playing activities that are
implemented in the EFL Japanese classroom are also available for the Chinese EFL classes,
because of the cultural and educational similarities between the two of th em.

Kaur (2002) – he uses Kirk`s (1987) Cycle of Experiential Learning theory to offer details on the
importance of role -playing in language education. He first refers to the issue of role —playing

43
losing its role in the classroom due to lack of motivat ion and resourcefulness and tries to solve
the issue by examing the different definitions of role -play and offering advices and suggestions
on how to effectively use role -play in the EFL classrooms.

Kaur (2001) also cites Cook`s (1996) view as the starti ng point, according to which students
should pretend something they are not and practice the use of vocabulary that they may never
use in the near future. Kaur disagrees by stating that the effectiveness of role -playing does not lie
in using specific vocab ulary and strategies, this tool proving its efficiency at a social and
emotional level. Being engaged in different role -plays that simulate a real -life simulation,
students will increase their role -awareness and will provide better feedback in terms of lan guage
acquisition. To make his point, Kaur presented an example: a student playing the doctor and
suggesting a patient take antibiotics three times a day would develop his/her own strategies,
would be able to make recommendations or instructions and would thus learn the particular form
of the target language involved in the role -play activity.

Kaur may be one of the fewest linguistics to provide a more in -depth research on the practical
use of role -playing activities in the EFL classroom, as most educator s have made their researches
mostly based on theoretical grounds.

Liao & Chism (2005) – both authors have pointed out the importance that culture has in the
language class in Taiwan and emphasized that teaching the native culture of students in an EFL
classroom can develop their oral skills and successful express their opinions through dialogues.
She also provided a sample role -play on a traditional Chinese legend regarding Chinese
Valentine`s Day, integrating as well the teaching of native culture in the class.

44
Chapter III: Role -play design and the acknowledged benefits
of role -play activities

Introduction
The third chapter of my paper deals with the qualitative research of the “ Role -play design and
the acknowledged benefits of role -play activities ”, the research being carried out at “Ion
Creanga” Primary School, Neamt County, where I teach English for students aged 6 to 14. With
this case study I tried to demonstrate that role -playing is beneficial in the EFL classroom if the
procedure is carried out step -by-step, even if there are extremely few studies to showcase a
thorough guide on how to effectively use the role -playing in the EFL language education.
I started my study with an overall approach of the concept with definition and a cl assification of
the case study, proven case studies of linguistics, methodology (with the main objective of the
study and participants), durat ion and the case study itself. The conclusion demonstrated the
success of this case study, with its limitations an d significance.

III.1 Overall approach on case -study
III.1.1 Definition of case study

According Gall and Borg (2003) case study is “the most widely used approach to qualitative
research in education” being defined as “the in -depth study of instances of a phenomenon in its
natural context and from the perspective of the participants involved in the phenomenon” (p
433).
Nunan (1992) and Merriam (1998) stated that all definitions on case study highlight the
“bounded”, the importance of the context or the wi de variety of information on observations and
“in-depth nature of analysis”.
Duff (2003) agrees with Yin`s (2003) own description of case study, mentioning that Yin
“provides a definition that addresses the issue of scope, data collection and strategies” (Duff,
2008, p22). More than that, according to the same Yin, the case study is “an empirical inquiry
that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real -life context especially when the
boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evi dent” (2003, p13).
Brown and Rodgers (2002) also come with their own definition of case study as the main
developer of the language competence of a student or a small group of students, comprising thus
a thorough study of environment interactions of a cer tain social unit: as an individual, as a group
or as a community. (Brown & Rodgers, 2002, p.21).

45
III.1.2 Classification of case study

Yin (2002) has classified case study into: single case study and multiple case study, the latter
being proven as more ro bust and compelling. (Herriot & Firestone, 1983, reviewed by Yin,
2002).

III.2. Proven case s tudies of linguistics

Ments (1999) stated that “the most obvious uses of role -play are in those areas which deal
primarily with aspect of communication” (p.19). We have already demonstrated that role -playing
is an efficient communication technique and Ments also applied it in order to see how effective
was in his EFL classrooms. Through his single case study, he demonstrated that students were
given the chance to practice interaction with each other in given roles, with their aim being to
“feel, react and behave closely as possible to the way someone placed that particular situation
would do” (p.9). Ments also added that “it is therefore ideally suited to those su bjects which deal
with linguistic ability, namely languages, literacy and social skills training” (p.10).
To test the aforementioned linguistic ability, he proposes different role -playing activities which
could be done “by devising scenes of everyday life , in particular those situations which make use
of the vocabulary to be learnt, the students can be encouraged to use language in a free and
interesting way” (p.19). Thus, learning can become “an internal part of the task”, with the role –
playing expressing “hidden feelings”, giving student the chance “to discuss private issues and
problems” or the enable them “to empathize with others and understand their motivation” (p.13).
Role -playing can become highly effective when used in different subject areas like “history,
sociology, literature, art, religion and politics”.

Woodhouse (2007) proposed that role -playing should be used in the EFL classroom as a
beneficial tool for “personal development”, with video recordings to analyze and observe the
gradual proces s of each individual.
In his case study, Woodhouse observed the advantages of role -play, with the situations being
noted as “familiar or strange”, “simple or elaborate”, which could “last for a day or for minutes.”
He also noticed that role -play could be carried out “with individuals or in group situations”,
helping to “develop cultural competence, confidence and self -efficacy”, as well as “to deal with
difficult situations, such as suicide and breaking bad news.” Through his case study, Woodhouse
demonst rated that role -playing can lead to the individuals` behavior development by video –
taping their performance concerning speaking or writing skills of the learners involved.

46
Al-Senaidi`s (2009) case study “The effectiveness of using role play to improve th e oral fluency
of Grade 4 learners” also points out the importance of using this efficient speaking tool in given
situations, with video -recordings to re -examine their performance. Al -Senaidi observed that
“learners` fluency improved over the course of the four role plays”, with the learners also
producing “more chunks of language as they moved through the role plays” (p.69). The same
strategy was also applied in my case study, but unlike Senaidi, I also gave feedback to students
on the recorded performance after each role play for them to analyze their own mistakes and
make the necessary improvements.

Liu and Ding (2009) used role -playing in small groups, the students being given certain real -life
situations to role play in. The same techniques were applie d: they video -taped their performance,
observed their language and showed the tapes to the students to observe the errors and correct
them. The learners were also given oral feedback for improvement or “self or peer correction.”
The same patterns were also followed while carrying out my own case study in the class, the
students visible improving their speaking skills.

Qing (2001) carried out her case study in the intermediate level observing that role -playing
increased students` communicative skills and th eir intercultural awareness, with the linguistic
stating that “Adopting another`s cultural role creates freedom for experimentation while it also
creates a significant learning situation for the participants and for the audience” (p.38). The
author also ad ded: “content based role plays give students the unique opportunity to explore
another culture in detail from a variety of perspectives. Speakers of English should be able to
express themselves properly and understand the grammatical discourse, strategic, and
sociolinguistic factors for any given situation based on a higher level of communicative
competence.” (p.38).
Conclusion
As we could see from the case studies mentioned above, role -playing can be indeed beneficial in
the EFL classroom and successfull y improve the learning skills of learners. The case studies
have also demonstrated that learners have developed their own self -esteem found role -playing as
an “interactive, creative, interesting and motivating” speaking tool. Based on these case studies, I
developed my case study and tried to prove if role -playing is indeed beneficial in my EFL
classrooms in the school I teach. I also kept track of their progress by video -recording their
performances in class and gave them feedback to observe and make their own correction.

III.3. Methodology
The study aimed to demonstrate the expected benefits of role -playing in the EFL classrooms at
my school, thus enhancing the students` speaking skills in class.

47
III.3.1. Role -play participants
I chose a group of four students from Grade 6.

III.3.2 Duration
The duration of the case study took place around 4 months.

III.3.3 Case s tudy
For my case study I proposed four acts. First, I selected a group of four students from Grade 6,
who were told to choose one of the to pics they had at their disposal. There were four main genres
involving their activities, each one coming with thorough description and preparation before the
role-play, during the role -play and after the role -play.

1. Shopping – topic: “ Customers and mark eter interaction at a public market”. Main objectives:
to practice countable and uncountable nouns, vocabulary related to fruit and vegetables.
2. Family – topic: “Building a house”. Main objectives: to practice prepositions of place,
vocabulary related t o rooms of a house.
3. Journalism – topic: “Reporter from Children`s Express magazine and three young students” .
Main objectives: to practice Present Simple, to revise “likes and dislikes”.
4. Tourism – topic: “Clerk and lost tourists at a tourist inform ation center”. Main objectives: t o
practice “giving directions.”

Lesson Plan 1 – Shopping – topic: “ Customers and marketer interaction at a public market”.
Objectives:
a) Cognitive objectives:
– to practice c ountable and uncountable nouns.
– to practice vocab ulary related to fruit and vegetables.
b) Affective objectives:
– to show interest in the topic.
– to make students confident in using their skills.
I. Before the role play

48
In pairs, students are asked to discuss questions related to the topic, situation and the ro les
involved. The teacher can also elicit answer from individual students.
Discussion questions:
 What do you like to buy from the market?
 What are your favorite fruit?
 What are your favorite vegetables?
 How do you greet the customers?
 How do you greet t he marketer?
 What modal verb do you use when you ask customers what they want to buy?
Based on the discussion questions and answers, in pairs , students role -play a short situation on a
market. One student is the customer and the other one is the marketer. The marketer greets the
customer and ask him what he “would” like to buy. Based on his preferences, the customer
chooses between fruit or vegetables.
Overview
After the short situation based on the topic, s tudents are given an overview of the roleplay the y
will be doing, based on the situation given by the teacher. The situation for topic 1 is provided
below.
Situation: Mother is taking Mary and John, her daughter and son, to the market to buy
fresh fruit and vegetables. They ask the marketer what they wo uld like to buy. The purpose of
the activity is to work out vocabulary related to fruit and vegetables and practice items related to
quantities .
Vocabulary to be used :
 Fruit: apples, pears, oranges, grapes, cherries, strawberries, lemons, pinapple, grepfr uit,
kiwi.
 Vegetables: tomatoes, potatoes, beans, carrots, green salad, radish, cucumbers, etc.
Grammar to be used:
 COUNTABLE NOUNS: apples, tomatoes, bananas, potatoes, cucumbers, etc.
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS: fruit, green salad, etc.
 Quantities: How many/How much?, a lot, a few, a little, any, some, many, much.

The teacher discusses the situation with the students and decide on how to arange the classroom
to make it more suitable for the activity. The desk becomes the marketer`s TARABA , all filled
with frui t and vegetables.
Roles: marketer, mother, Mary, John.
After students chooses a role to play, the teacher explains each role and provides useful language
with expressions to be followed. Students can use the following expressions:

49
 Good morning, What would you like to buy?
 Hello, I would like………………..!
 Can I have some…………………..?
 How many ……………………. would you like?
 I would like a few…………………………… .

Role Play Cards
Role 1 – Marketer
As the market er, your role is to greet customers in a polite manner, kindly asking what they
would like to buy. You have to be very friendly, smile all the time and be prepared to fully
satisfy your customers so they would come back for more shopping.
Role 2 – Mother
As the mother, your role is to be polite and tell the marketer what you would like to buy, fruit or
vegetables. You are also responsible for your son and daughter`s preferences when choosing the
goods from the marketer`s TARABA. Don`t forget to thank the marketer for your choice.
Role 3 – John
As the son, your role is to answer your mother`s questions and tell her what you would like to
buy. You can also choose other goods from the TARABA and use expressions like: ”Can I also
have some…, a few…..?
Role 4 – Mary
As the daughter, your role is to answer your mother`s questions and tell her what you would like
to buy. You can also choose other goods from the TARABA and use expressions like: ”Can I
also have some…, a few…..?

The teacher also provides an example of a role play involving their topic:
Marketer (very friendly and with a big smile on his face): Good morning! What would you like to
buy? We have fresh fruit and vegetables!
Mother (smiling back): Good morning! I would like some red apples, o ne kilo to be exact, three
bananas and three kilos of oranges. Oh, by the way, have you got any grapes, too?
Marketer (feeling a bit dissapointed): No, sorry! I haven`t got any! Would you like any cherries
instead?
Mother (to John): Would you like some che rries, John?
John (a little bit bored): Yes, I guess so! Can I also have some pears, too?
Mother: Yes, of course you can, John! (Turning towards Mary): Mary, How about you? What
would you have?

50
Mary (thinking): Well, I would like some vegetables for a fres h salad, and…(still thinking)…some
cucumbers, then add many tomatoes, a few onions and a green salad would do just fine!
Mother: Ok, then! That would be all! Thank you very much!

II. During the role play
Based on the warm up activity, situation and the example model given by the teacher, students
perform their own roles, while the teacher monitors their roles and prepares to give feedback
based on the language use, body language and the process itself. The entire proce ss is also video –
recorded for a prop er feedback. After one round of role play, students switch the roles and act
their roles, based on the teacher`s suggestions from the previous role play. The second round of
role-play gives students the chance to practice vocabulary and grammar, build conf idence,
become more comfortable, while the benefits of the activity will be extended.

III. After the role play
When the role plays are finished, the teacher provides a final feedback with the group,
commenting on language use, creativity and the whole proce ss. The teacher also discuss their
activity by reviewing the video -recordings, which will help students become aware of their
strengths and weaknessess with English, will help them become aware of body language, facial
expressions, gestures. The video -recordings can be watched individually or with the whole group
and will help each students improve their next roles. The teacher can also provide students with
questions which guide their reflection. (See Appendix).

Lesson Plan 2 – topic: “Building a house” .
Objectives:
a) Cognitive objectives:
– to practice prepositions of place.
– to practice vocabulary related to rooms/spaces of a house.
b) Affective objectives:
– to show interest in the topic.
– to make students confident in using their skills.
I. Before the role play
In pairs, students are asked to discuss questions related to the topic, situation and the roles
involved. The teacher can also elicit answer from individual students.

51
Discussion questions:
 Can you name some prepositions of place?
 Is the teacher`s desk i n front of the blackboard, next to the window or near the door?
 How big is your house?
 How many rooms are there?
 How many storeys are there?
 Is there a garage below the garage?
After the discussion questions and answers, in pairs, students role -play a sho rt situation based on
the topic . One student is the builder and the other one is the customer who wants to build a big
house . The builder wants to make a plan of the house and asks the customer how he would like
to build his house: one -storey house, two -storey house, the number of rooms, big/small kitchen,
big/small bathroom, the position of rooms as opposed to other spaces, etc. Based on his
preferences, the customer chooses one or more situations.
Overview
After the short situation based on the topic, s tudents are given an overview of the roleplay they
will be doing, based on the situation given by the teacher. The situation for topic 2 is provided
below.
Situation: A young married couple with a seven -year son are building a new house and
explaining their building plans to the builder. Each member of the family is trying to present
their own idea of a perfect house. The purpose of the activity is to practice prepositions of place
and vocabulary related to rooms/spaces of the house.
Vocabulary to be used :
 Rooms/spaces of the house: kitchen, dining -room, living -room, bedroom, bathroom,
hall, closet, garage, balcony, one -storey house, two -storey house, attic.
Grammar to be used:
 Prepositions of place: in, on, in front of, between, under, behind, on the left, on the right,
next to, above.
The teacher discusses the situation with the students and decide on how to arange the classroom
to make it more suitable for the activity. They set up the desk as the discussion place for the plan
of the house.
Roles: Four c haracters: Builder, husband, wife and son.
After students chooses a role to play, the teacher explains each role and provides useful language
with expressions to be followed. Students can use the following expressions:
 Hello, I am X, nice to meet you. I am going to help you build your dream house.
 How would you like to build your house?
 Well, I would like a one -storey/two -storey house………
 Upstairs/downstairs I would like three bedrooms……….
 The kitchen should be next to/near/between………….. …

52

Role Play Cards
Role 1 – Builder
As a builder, you play a key role, as you have to make sure that the young couple`s idea of an
ideal house must beome reality. You have to be very polite and willing to fulfil their plans. Ask
using the Wh -questions, like: Where would you like the kitchen? / What should we build near
the bedroom? / Which room should we choose for your son? Also, use should , for a more
informal approach.
Role 2 – Husband
As a husband, your role is to provide all the necesary informat ion and details about your dream
house. Make sure you use the rooms of the house and the prepositions of place to make yourself
understood.
Role 3 – Wife
As a wife, your role is to add your own preferences on the builder`s plan. Use expressions like:
”I would love having the kitchen next to the main hall” / ”I would prefer the bathroom near the
main entrance”, etc.
Role 4 – Son
As a son, your role is to add your own preferences on the builder`s plan. Use expressions like: ”I
want my room on the left of… .. .”

The teacher also provides an example of a role play involving their topic:
Builder (very serious about the situation): How would you like to build your house?
Husband (looking at his wife): We would like a two -storey house, with three bedrooms ups tairs
and an attic, two bathrooms, a big kitchen, dining -room and a living -room downstairs.
Wife (feeling very exciting about it): And don`t forget a big and bright kitchen! (She continues):
And next to it, I want a small bathroom with a shower!
Son (shout ing at his father, almost crying): What about my own room!?! I want my own room
upstairs, near the balcony and opposite your bedroom!
Builder (suprised and confused): Did you say a balcony? There is no balcony in the plan!
Son (crying crocodile tears) But dad, I want a balcony near my room!
Wife: Dear, let there be a balcony upstairs, near our son`s bedroom!
Father (feeling resigned): Ok, so we will have three bedrooms upstairs, with the bathroom
oposite our son`s room and next to our room, a kitchen downst airs with a bathroom next to it.

53
Wife (feeling excited): And the dining -room on the left and the living -room on the rigth of the
kitchen!

II. During the role play
Based on the warm up activity, situation and the example model given by the teacher, students
perform their own roles, while the teacher monitors their roles and prepares to give feedback
based on the language use, body language and the process itself. The entire process is also video –
recorded for a proper feedback. After one round of role play, st udents switch the roles and act
their roles, based on the teacher`s suggestions from the previous role play. The second round of
role-play gives students the chance to practice vocabulary and grammar, build confidence,
become more comfortable, while the be nefits of the activity will be extended.

III. After the role play
When the role plays are finished, the teacher provides a final feedback with the group,
commenting on language use, creativity and the whole process. The teacher also discuss their
activity b y reviewing the video -recordings, which will help students become aware of their
strengths and weaknessess with English, will help them become aware of body language, facial
expressions, gestures. The video -recordings can be watched individually or with th e whole group
and will help each students improve their next roles. The teacher can also provide students with
questions which guide their reflection. (See Appendix).

Lesson Plan 3 – topic: “Reporter from Children`s Express magazine and three young stude nts”.
Objectives:
a) Cognitive objectives:
– to practice Present Simple, Affirmative, Negative and Interrogative.
– to practice vocabulary related to likes and dislikes.
– to practice likes/dislikes + vb.ing.
b) Affective objectives:
– to show interest in the topic.
– to make students confident in using their skills.
I. Before the role play
In pairs, students are asked to discuss questions related to the topic, situation and the roles
involved. The teacher can also elicit answer from individual students.
Discussion questio ns:

54
 What are your hobbies?
 What are your likes and dislikes?
 What do you like doing at the weekend?
 What you don’t like doing at the weekend?
 What do you love doing at the weekend?
 What do you hate doing at the weekend?
After the discussion questions and answers, in pairs, students role -play a short situation based on
the topic. One student is a reporter and the other one is the interviewed person. The reporter
wants to know about his/her likes and dislikes, or ask about his/her favorite indoors or outdoo rs
activities at the weekend. Before the role -play, the teacher can also bring some models with
interviews from newspaper.
Overview
After the short situation based on the topic, s tudents are given an overview of the roleplay they
will be doing, based on t he situation given by the teacher. The situation for topic 3 is provided
below.
Situation: A young reporter from Children`s Express magazine is doing an interview on students
about what they like or not like doing at the weekend. Walking in the park, he fi nds the right
students, Martin, Walter and Casey, who were also passing by. The purpose of the activity is to
practice likes and dislikes, Present Simple and vocabulary related to indoor and outdoor
activities.
Vocabulary to be used :
Indoors/outdoors acti vities: stay up late, roller skate, cook dinner, prepare breakfast for my
family, surf the Internet, play with my siblings, dance, visit my relatives, snow, play cards, travel,
watch TV, hang out with my friends, go to pubs, sunbath, eat ice -cream, go to t he dentist, soap –
operas, take a nap, ride my bike, go camping, study English, look at the stars, daydream, swim,
jog, play football, new dresses, pizza, work in the garden, wash the car, computers, cold
weather, sunshine.
Grammar to be used:
 Simple Presen t: Affirmative, Negative, Interrogative. I like/I don`t like/ Do you like?
 Like structure: Like/Don`t like + vb.ing
The teacher discusses the situation with the students and decide on how to arange the classroom
to make it more suitable for the activity.
Four characters: Young reporter, Martin, Walter, Casey.
After students chooses a role to play, the teacher explains each role and provides useful language
with expressions to be followed. Students can use the following expressions:
 Hello, my name is X….. …do you have a moment, please?
 I am doing an interview on whats students like or don`t like to do at the weekend….
 I like/I don`t like playing, watching, etc……at the weekend.

55
 Well, I hate d oing my homework at the weekend.
 And you, John, what do you like doing at the weekend?

Role Play Cards
Role 1 – Reporter
As a reporter, your role is to interview the three students on what they like and don`t like doing
at the weekend. You can use questions like: ”What do you like doing at the weekend? / What are
your dislikes? / What are your favorite indoors/outdoors activities?”
Role 2 – Student
Your role as a student is to provide answers to the reporter`s questions. You can use expressions
like: ”I like playing football at the weekend, but I hate doing my ho mework” / I don`t like
feeding the cat”, etc.

The teacher also provides an example of a role play involving their topic:
Reporter (happily approaching the three students): Hello! I am George Harold, a news reporter
from Children`s Express magazine! I am doing an interview on what students like and don`t like
doing at the weekend, for a survey that will be published in a couple of weeks! Do you have a
moment, please?
All three (very interested in the approach): Yes, of course! (They are then introducing
themselves, shaking hands): I am Martin, I am Walter….and I am Casey!
Reporter: Ok, Martin, can I start with you? What do you like and don`t like doing at the
weekend?
Martin (feeling excited yet nervous): Well, I like doing a lot of outdoor activities, like riding my
bike, eatinc ice -cream in the park or hanging out with my friends. What I dislike is visiting my
relatives and I definetely hate playing football.
Reporter (feeling confident): What about you Casey?
Casey (thinking): I love cooking dinner a t the weekend. I am also crazy about indoor activities,
such as surfing the internet, playing with my dog or just daydreaming.
Walter (feeling very proud): I particularly love traveling with my family and jogging in the
morning. But what I realy hate is d oing my homework at the weekend.

II. During the role play
Based on the warm up activity, situation and the example model given by the teacher, students
perform their own roles, while the teacher monitors their roles and prepares to give feedback
based on the language use, body language and the process itself. The entire process is also video –
recorded for a proper feedback. After one round of role play, students switch the roles and act

56
their roles, based on the teacher`s suggestions from the previous role pla y. The second round of
role-play gives students the chance to practice vocabulary and grammar, build confidence,
become more comfortable, while the benefits of the activity will be extended.

III. After the role play
When the role plays are finished, the tea cher provides a final feedback with the group,
commenting on language use, creativity and the whole process. The teacher also discuss their
activity by reviewing the video -recordings, which will help students become aware of their
strengths and weaknessess with English, will help them become aware of body language, facial
expressions, gestures. The video -recordings can be watched individually or with the whole group
and will help each students improve their next roles. The teacher can also provide students with
questions which guide their reflection. (See Appendix).

Lesson Plan 4 – topic: “Clerk and lost tourists at a tourist information center”. Main objectives:
to practice “giving directions.”
Objectives:
a) Cognitive objectives:
– to practice vocabulary rel ated to giving directions.
b) Affective objectives:
– to show interest in the topic.
– to make students confident in using their skills.

I. Before the role play
In pairs, students are asked to discuss questions related to the topic, situation and the roles
involved . The teacher can also elicit answer from individual students.
Discussion questions:
 Which way you go to arrive to school?
 Where would you arrive if you got out of the school?
 You are looking at the map. How do you get to this direction? Do you turn righ t or do
you turn left? Do you walk under the railway bridge or go past the church?
After the discussion questions and answers, in pairs, students role -play a short situation based on
the topic. One student is a clerk at a tourist information center and the other one is a lost tourist
in a new town. The tourist wants to reach his/her address but has lost his/her map and doesn’t
know how to arrive there. The clerk provides information on how to get to the address by using
vocabulary related to GIVING DIRECTIO NS.

57
Overview
After the short situation based on the topic, students are given an overview of the roleplay they
will be doing, based on the situation given by the teacher. The situation for topic 4 is provided
below.
Situation : An English teacher and two students are in a new town abroad for a visit and have to
meet up with the rest f the group at the town library. Unfortunately, they lost the map and had to
ask the clerk for directions at the tourist information center near the airport. Having to buy a
town map, the two students offer to help their teacher, each one giving directions on the map.
Each one thought its route was the correct one, but the teacher suggests they should follow the
route to their destination step by step.
Vocabulary to be used:
 GIVING DIRECTIONS: get off, go along, go past, go into, turn left, turn right, go out
of, get on, cross over.
The teacher discusses the situation with the students and decide on how to arange the classroom
to make it more suitable for the activity.
Four cha racters: Clerk, English teacher, student 1, student 2.
After students chooses a role to play, the teacher explains each role and provides useful language
with expressions to be followed. Students can use the following expressions:
 Excuse me, sir! Can you p lease tell us how to get to this address?
 We got lost and need to arrive at this address.
 You can buy a map with town directions.
 From this point, we have to turn left/right until we reach……..
 Go past the church and turn left on Huffington Post.
 Get on /get off the bus at the following bus station.

Role play cards

Role 1 – Clerk at the tourist information center
As a clerk at the tourist information center, your role is to provide all the necesary information
on how to get to a certain place or addres s. You can use directions to guide the English teacher,
like turn left/turn right on Huffington Post, etc, or you can suggesst buying a town map with the
necessary directions.
Role 2 – English teacher
As an English teacher, your role is to ask ques tions on how to get to a certain destination. Use
polite requests, like: ”Excuse me, could you please tell us how to get to…?” / ”Could you please
tell me how to get to……?” After buying a map, you could encourage your two students who are
accompanyin g you to help you in giving directions.
Role 3 – Student 1

58
As a student, your role is to assess your English teacher in finding the destination. You could
suggest a specific route from the map, using directions like: ”We could turn left/right here” /
”Why don`t we go out of the railway station and go along the alley, until we reach the town
library? / ”Shouldn`t we go past the museum and cross over the bridge?”
Role 4 – Student 2
As a student, your role is to assess your English teacher in finding the destination. You could
suggest a specific route from the map, using directions like: ”We could turn left/right here” /
”Why don`t we go out of the railway station and go along the alley, until we reach the town
library? / ”Shouldn`t we go past the museum and cross over the bridge?”

The teacher also provides an example of a role play involving their topic:
Clerk: Good afternoon, how may I help you?
English teacher (feeling a little bit confused): Good afternoon!I was wondering if you could give
us a hand! We are new in town, lost the map and have to get to the town library to meet our
group there!
Clerk: Well, it should be quite easy getting there! We have got all sorts of town maps. If you like
to buy one, it`s cheap, just £2.
English teacher : Ok, I will buy one. Students, let`s find our way to the library!
Student 1 (feeling really confident): Teacher, may I help? According to the map, we should take
left on Lane street, walk under the railway bridge and take the first turning on the right un til we
see the sign with the town library.
Student 2 (trying to impress, too, and taking matter into his own hands): Well, you`re wrong! We
are supposed to go past the park and the cinema, and on the left, in front of the bank, there is an
imposing library . I think that is our library.
English teacher: Ok students! I think you are both right! Let`s follow the steps one -by-one and
try to get there on time for our meeting!

II. During the role play
Based on the warm up activity, situation and the example model g iven by the teacher, students
perform their own roles, while the teacher monitors their roles and prepares to give feedback
based on the language use, body language and the process itself. The entire process is also video –
recorded for a proper feedback. Af ter one round of role play, students switch the roles and act
their roles, based on the teacher`s suggestions from the previous role play. The second round of
role-play gives students the chance to practice vocabulary and grammar, build confidence,
become more comfortable, while the benefits of the activity will be extended.

59
III. After the role play
When the role plays are finished, the teacher provides a final feedback with the group,
commenting on language use, creativity and the whole process. The teacher also discuss their
activity by reviewing the video -recordings, which will help students become aware of their
strengths and weaknessess with English, will help them become aware of body language, facial
expressions, gestures. The video -recordings can be w atched individually or with the whole group
and will help each students improve their next roles. The teacher can also provide students with
questions which guide their reflection. (See Appendix).

III.3 .4 Graphic interpretation of group performers during the role play activities

Graphic interpretation of group performers during the role play activities

RP – Role Play
This graphic above represents the interpretation of the group students while performing the role –
play activity. It also shows the gradual progress of each individual during all four acts, each one
being assessed on fluency, language, body expression and spontaneity during their role -play
activities. The first three columns represent the result of their performance based on a lot of
preparat ion prior to the acts, while the last column indicates their performance of the fourth act
with little preparation. Each column also shows the percentage of scores of each student.
As we can depict from graph, in the first column, the 1st student scored 30 %, the 2nd scored 33%,
the 3rd 37% and the 4th 45%. In the second and third columns we can observe the gradual
progress of which students, while the fourth column shows the students` improvement scores as
follows: the 1st student had a 15% improvement com pared to the first act, while the 2nd student
had a 17% improvement, followed by the 3rd student with the same 17% and the fourth student
with a 20% improvement.
Limitations

60
Given the small primary school where I teach and the good results student had at the end of the
four acts, I can say that, at least on a small scale, role -play can be beneficial in an EFL
classroom, improving students` speaking tools and self -confidence when speaking in public.
However, there are some limitations of the case study. S ince the entire research process lasted
for 4 months, I couldn’t apply all the techniques I had planned, as students had to sit for the
research process besides their daily classes, with the necessary preparations taking a lot of time.
This is another reas on why I chose just one small group of four members for the role play
activities . Even so, the case study can be extended over a longer period of time, involving other
participants as well, with rather the same positive effects on their speaking skills imp rovement.

Research findings

Every time students are engaged in activities other than the ones used on a regular basis in the
class, they become enthusiastic about role -play, even if they tend to lack confidence and feel
hesitant at a certain point in the process. Gradually, by playing the role effectivelly and being
one with the characters, by reviewing their performance and analysing their own streghts and
weekness, students became more confident and started expressing themselves without any
restrain. Al so, the feedback they received for further improvement helped them to better use the
language skills in the aforementioned situations.

61
Conclusions

When I first began my study on “The Benefits of Role -Playing in the EFL Clas sroom”, I have to
admit that I was a little bit reluctant on the success that role -playing would have in the
development of my students` speaking abilities, without the fear of them failing at it. This
strange feeling was also fueled by the lack of in -depth studies that deal with role -playing in the
EFL classroom, and that because, according to researches, modern teachers nowadays feel
reluctant in using this extraordinary and powerful tool as an effective mean of communication
for their students; they also feel that their students are not linguistically well -prepared in order to
tackle different real -life situations required when using role -playing.
Digressing a little bit from my topic, I have always believed that, no matter how well -prepared
students are or are not, I as a teacher, have all the necessary tools and methodology to make them
talk in English, without thinking one bit I might fail. And while at it, I just remembered what
Jeremy Harmer, a famous ELT writer, teacher and trainer has said in his s tudy “The Practice of
English Language Teaching” and that was: “Talk, Talk, Talk.” Indeed, this would be an
extraordinary motivation for students to abandon all their fears and start talking, and I can assure
you that this method really worked in my EFL cl asses.
In order to prove that role -playing is beneficial in the EFL classrooms, I had to divide my study
into three chapters.
The first chapter revolved around “The world of English”, which provided a useful inside on the
influences that English language has had on mankind throughout the centuries . Next, I
approached language from a theoretical perspective, highlighting language as a system, as a
discourse, and as an ideology, following a pedagogic approach which dealt with the types of
competences of Eng lish language. I consider that these general information about English
language must be known and studied in order to further demonstrate role -playing as a useful
speaking skill. Finally, I presented the receptive and productive skills, which are extremely
necessary in language development, with focus on speaking and writing skills, as it stands at the
foundation of my case study.
The second chapter was really demanding, as I had to demonstrate the connection between the
EFL clas sroom and role -playing, and how role -playing can be beneficial in the classroom. I
started by making a distinctive note between an ESL classroom and an EFL classroom.
An ESL classroom is in a country where the dominant language is English, and where
students learning the language ar e visitors or immigrants. We are dealing here with mixed
nationalities that do not share a common culture, while outside the classroom their need to learn
and speak English is limited by their language skills, even if they directly come into contact with
English culture.
When trying to teach English in an ESL classroom full of visitors or immigrants, the first rule
would be to explain them the cultural norms, because understanding culture is actually the first
step in learning English.
An EFL classroom is in a country where the dominant language is not English, and
where student s use the same language and culture. The teacher may be or may not be a native

62
English speaker (in Romania most of the English teachers are not native English speakers).
Outside the classroom, students have limited exposure to different aspects of the English culture.
Their contact with English might be made at a lower scale through media, TV, music,
documentaries or films.
When trying to teach English in an EFL classroom, the main r ule would be engaging your
students in oral activities. Unfortunately, the language barrier or the lack of basic speaking
skills, harden the process of learning English. This would automatically lead to other useful
tools, like exposing and engaging studen ts to different English cultural aspects. And there are a
lot of ways of making your students learn and use the language on a regular basis. Field trips,
pen pals, foreign student exchanges, may all be part of a long and fruitful learning process.
Another handy tool for making an EFL classroom learn English might be the online English
communities, where students all over the world connect and tie -in different areas of interests.
Providing the aforementioned distinction, I proceeded with defining role -playin g as a useful
speaking tool in the EFL classroom, following other definitions of role -playing from different
linguistics` perspective. The same chapter also dealt the advantages of role -playing. I concluded
this chapter with proven facts on the benefits th at role -playing has in the EFL classroom.
The third chapter was the main core of my study, as I had to clearly point out and demonstrate
how beneficial role -playing was in my EFL classrooms, starting with successful case studies
proposed and successfully carried out by different educators like Ments (1999), Woodhouse
(2007), Al -Senaidi (2009), Liu and Ding (2009) or Qing (2001).
My study was carried out over a period of 4 months, which I think was just enough to
demonstrate the effectiveness of role -playi ng during and after my English classes.
The next step was carrying out my own study. For that, I chose a group of four students from
Grade 6 – and that because in a small group the teacher has complete control on the situation,
without the fear that it co uld get chaotic at a certain point. After each act, their performance was
video -recorded so that they could receive a feedback on how they played their roles. We watched
the videos together for an in -depth analysis and feedback. Gradually, after each act, students`
performance improved and their dialogues became more fluent and less hesitant. At the end of
all four acts, I presented a graphic with the students` gradual improvement. By playing the role
effectivelly and being one with the characters, by revie wing their performance and analysing
their own streghts and weekness es, students became more confident and started expressing
themselves without any restrain. Also, the feedback they received for further improvement
helped them to better use the language s kills in the aforementioned situations.

After establishing a strong connection between role -playing and the EFL classroom and
providing proof that this activity is indeed beneficial in my EFL classrooms, I firmly conclude
that role -playing tec hniques hav e a positive impact o n improving students` own speaking skills,
and give them the chance of experimenting different real -life situations, eventually allowing
them to speak more accurately and confidently in the target language.

63

Bibliography

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to develop speaking skills in Malaysia”, University of Auckland, New Zealand .
2. Crystal, David. “The future of English as a world language”. Concord. January, 2000.
3. Crystal, David. The Future of English as a World Language . Concord, January 2001.
4. Graves, Elizabeth Ann. Is role -playing an effective teaching method ?, 2008.
5. Haage, Diane /Janet te K. Klinger/Terese C. ACEVES. How to Teach English Language
Learners . Effectiv e Strategies from Outstanding Educators, 2010.
6. Harmer, Jeremy. How to Teach English . Pearson Longman Education Essex , 2007.
7. Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching , Longman Third Edition,
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8. ISLAM , PRISCILLA & TAZRIA ISLAM. ”Effectiveness of role play in enhancing the
speaking skills of the learners in a large classroom: An investigation of tertiary level
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San Jose State University, 2006.
11. Lamy, Marie -Noelle & Regine Hampel. Online Communication in Language Learning
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Windsor , 2009.
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64
14. Macalister, John. Teaching with Information Texts: Comparing the Beliefs of Malaysian
and New Zealand Trainers . Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand , 2011.
15. Murray, Denise E. & MaryAnn Christison. What English Language Teachers Need to
Know, Volume I . New York, 2011.
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Know, Volume II. New York, 2011.
17. Pachler, Norbert & Ana Redondo . A Practical Guide to Teaching Modern Foreign
Languages in the Secondary School . 30 Oct, 2007.
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Longman Group Limited. Harlow, Essex, UK, 1994 .
19. Philipson, Robert. Linguisti c Imperialism . Oxford. Oxford University Press, 1992.
20. Phillips , Brian David . Role-playing games in the English as a foreign language
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Internet Source
1. Common European Principles for Teacher Competences and Qualifications –
http://e c.europa.eu/education/ policies/2010/doc/principles_en
2. http://www.academia -de-engleza.ro/Limba -engleza/Divers e/false -friends -in-engleza.html
3. http://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_today.html
4. http://www.britishcounci l.org/blog/whats -future -english
5. https ://www.verbling.com/articles/5 -biggest -differences -between -speaking -british –
english -and-american -english/
6. https://www.englishclub.com/ vocabulary/british -american.htm
7. http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/source/framework_en.pdf
8. http://iteslj.org/Techniques/T ompkins -RolePlaying.html.

65
9. http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities -speaking/roleplays/
10. http://iteslj.org/Articles/Lessard -Clouston -Strategy.html
11. https://prezi.com/7blzfig93mnl/role -play-in-the-classroom/
12. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/role -play
13. http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/interactive/roleplay.html

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Apendix

Chapter II
Role -Playing Games Used in the EFL Classroom

1. TABLOID MAGAZINE REBRANDING – ACTIVITY LESSON

This is a reasonably simple lesson to run, which my s tudents seem to enjoy. Students work for a tabloid
magazine, which is suffering from poor sales, because it is very boring. They must come up with a new
name, and some new, interesting stories.

I prepare in advance, by telling them to bring in photos of t heir favourite celebrities. Make it clear that
these should not be on their phones, they should be printed photos. It works either way, but it works better
with printed photos.

The format of the lesson is to arrange the students in groups of about four, a nd show them a picture of
their "boss" for today (see the end of this document). Introduce the scenario, discuss tabloid magazines
(maybe show them some examples if you have any) and tell them they will be creating their own one
today.

Creating the magazi ne really just means giving it a name, and giving the outline for a couple of stories.
To create the stories, students just choose two or more photos, and decide on a gossipy, salacious story
that relates to the photos. Throw in some photos of your own for them to choose from, to add variety.

When they are ready, students can share their stories any way they want. They can either vote on the best
stories, or just have fun sharing them, going between the different groups.

After the lesson, collect any phot os the students don't need. You will find you have crowdsourced your
picture collection – it's a good way to make it grow, especially in a foreign country where you won't have
room in your suitcases to carry your magazines etc.

I use this as a speaking le sson. The students just discuss the stories in groups, and do not write anything
more than bullet points. You can also use it as a writing lesson. If you do it as a speaking lesson, you will
need make sure the students are using English, and keeping it sim ple. At the start, I get each person in a
group to speak in turn, and each person just says a single sentence about an idea, for example, "I like this
picture because …" Then after they have all used this sentence at least once, they do the same for a st ory,
as in "This story is interesting because …" This gets them warmed up, then they can proceed to free
discussion. If they go off course, and talk in L1, I bring them back to turn -taking. This approach has made
all the difference for me.

(http://busyt eacher.org/23358 -tabloid -magazine -activity -lesson.html )
2. TOURISM IN PARIS FOR HALLOWEEN

67
Students describe the scary attraction, make a brochure and a Halloween mask! They are tourist
guides. They can use the indicative, imperative moods and "w ill" or "be going to" for a more
advanced group.

YOU ARE A TOURIST GUIDE FOR HALLOWEEN IN PARIS …
1) Learn about the spooky places in Paris. Read the articles !
2) Choose the one you want to introduce to tourists on Halloween.
3) Make a brochure for the guided tou r :
– Location
– Opening days and hours
– Contact
– Activities
– Use adjectives, make it rhyme ! (ex : Get ready for the spooky. Here,
on Halloween, people scream !)
– Decorate it !

4) Make your own scary Halloween mask for the guided tour !

68

Add the spooky places missing on the maps !

69
PARIS’ SPOOKY PLACES
The Vampire Museum
4, Rue Jules David, 93000 Les Lilas
Phone: 01 43 62 80 76
Metro stops: Mairie des Lilas
, Porte des Lilas

For goosebumps and chills, one of the best places to come is Paris's (and the world’s) only
vampire museum, which is situated in Porte des Lilas, on the edge of the city. Run by the
‘vampirologist’ Jacques Sirgent, you can find all sorts of strange objects inside the museum (just
one, packed room, with a large, gothic -style gard en). The museum’s standout pieces include an
authentic anti -vampire protection kit from the 19th century, a mummified cat, various masks and
a crossbow to fend off the bloodsuckers. Even if you’re not as passionate about vampires as
Sirgent , The Vampire M useum is a great excuse for a half creepy, half funny evening out.

The Catacombs
1, Avenue Colonel Henri Rol -Tanguy, 75014 Paris
Metro stop: Denfert -Rochereau

Open daily from 10am to 8pm, except Mondays and 1st May. Last admission: 7pm.

This Paris ian ossuary, covering 11,000 m² of underground space is called the Catacombs.
Visitors can access the Catacombs from Place Denfert -Rochereau. Six million bones from
various Parisian cemeteries rest in the 1.7 km labyrinth of tunnels. The height of the pass ages is

70
1.8 m and the temperature is 14 degrees. An unusual and fascinating tour! Please note that the
exit is located at 36 rue Rémy Dumoncel.

Père Lachaise cemetery is the most -visited cemetery in the world with good reason. Within its
walls lie famous people like Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Chopin, and so many more.
Established in 1804, Père Lachaise is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris (44 hectares or 110
acres). The cemetery takes its name from the father confessor to Louis XIV, Pè re François de la
Chaise (1624 –1709).

Le Manoir de Paris (Paris Manor) 18, rue de Paradis 75010 PARIS
Metro stops : Poissonniere (line 7) ; Bonne Nouvelle (lines 8, 9) ; Gare de l'Est (lines 4, 5, 7) ;
Bus : Faubourg Saint Denis (line 32)

Le Manoir de Paris is Paris' first haunted show, bringing to life the legends of Paris . Step into the
darkness and discover the terrible history of Paris as brought to life by ove r 30 professional
actors. Goosebumps and fun guaranteed!

Vocabulary

Goosebumps : chair de poule
Chills : frissons

71
Scary= spooky= frightening= creepy
Dark=/ Light, bright
Strange= weird= odd= bizarre
Fend off : repousser
Crossbow : arbalète
By bus/train /car
On foot

(http://busyteacher.org/23091 -paris -halloween -tour.html ).

1. MURDER STORY FOR BEGINNERS
This short exercise was used as a practice to review the Past Simple for of the verb TO BE. This
grammar exercise involves writing and speaking and it can a lso be used without role -playing as
well.
Complete the story using the verb to be (present/past) (+ or -):
Mr. Hoover _____ investigating the murder of Mrs. Elliot. She _____ found in the swimming
poll. He _____ asking questions to all the people who ____ _ at her house last night.
Friends
 Leonard _____ a friend. He _____ in the living room waiting for Mrs. Elliot to come
back from the bathroom. He _____ in the house to ask her to lend him money and she
said no.

Employees
 Samantha _____ the cook. She lives in the house and doesn’t like her job. Yesterday, she
_____ crying in the kitchen because Mrs. Elliot _____ mean to her.
 Tom _____ the driver. He _____ in the garage because he _____ washing the car. The
garage _____ next to the swimming pool.
 Lisa _____ the maid. She _____ very happy with her job and says Mrs. Elliot _____
always nice to her. But she _____ happy about her salary. She _____ sleeping last night
because she _____ sick.

Family
 James and Ciara _____ Mrs. Elliot’s siblings. They _____ friendly and _____ very good
to Mrs. Elliot, they _____ always fighting. Yesterday they _____ in their bedrooms.

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 Roy _____ Mrs. Elliot’s son. He says he _____ a web designer but people say he doesn’t
work. He _____ sad when Mr. Hoover arrived in the house, in fact he _____ a bit too
happy. Last night he says he _____ in the house.
 Carl _____ Mrs. Elliot ex -husband. He _____ in the library picking some of his books he
left in the house. People say their marriage _____ good because he _____ a good
husband and beat h er. He _____happy about the divorce because now he _____ poor.

Who do you think is the killer? Why? Write the reasons below:
_______________________________________________________________________
(http://busyteacher.org/22993 -murder -story -for-begginers.html )

2. FAMILY ROLE -PLAY
This simple role -play has worked like magic with every class I've tried it with. I've tried to
provide enough direction and suggestions that students take an interest in the activity and don't
take forever deciding what to talk about, and that students of different levels can participate in
the activity together. At the same time, I've also tried to leave room for creativity. Just print out
one copy per grou p of six, and cut the sheet into individual role cards. Give each group one set of
role cards, and explain that they are all part of the same family and should create a dialogue. You
could also set a specific time/scenario, i.e. it's Sunday evening right b efore dinner time. Also
explain that the suggested lines can be read by the students in the dialogue, but students can and
should add their own lines too. Have groups act in front of the class after preparing together.
Grandma
You think everyone in your fa mily is crazy, except for yourself, of course. Maybe when they get older
they will become wise, like you. Sometimes you are able to help them communicate and solve their
problems.
Some things you can say:
"Everyone calm down!"
"Tell me what's wrong."
"I think you should ___________"

Father
You want to be a "cool dad", so you like to play and make jokes with your children. You don't like to be
too strict with them. You can't understand why your older son likes to study so much. You think he is
too serio us.
Some things you can say:

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"Hey son, how's it hangin'?"
"Okay, you do can do that, but don't tell mom."
"Let's play a family game of basketball!"

Mother
You want your children to grow up safe and healthy, so you are quite strict with them. You wish you r
daughter would study as much as her brother.
Some things you can say:
"Eat your vegetables!"
"Tonight you must [clean your room / study / babysit you little brother / etc.]."
"Why? Because I said so."
"I'm your mother, so I know what's good for you."

Teenage Boy
You like to spend time alone to study and read books. Your mother thinks this is good, but she always
makes you do housework and eat food that you don't like.
Some things you can say:
"Why do I have to do it?"
"Just leave me alone."
"You don't understand me."

Teenage Girl
You love to play sports, but you have little time because your mother always makes you study and
babysit your little brother. You love your little brother, but he is so annoying! At least your dad likes to
play sports with y ou.
Some things you can say:
"Little brother, stop it!"
"Can I go play volleyball with my friends?"
"But mom, dad said I can go to the volleyball game!"

Little Brother

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You think the most fun game in the world is to annoy your older brother and sister. Yo u like to sing
songs loudly when they are studying, steal their things, tell your mother when they do something wrong,
etc.
Some things you can say:
"Why are you angry? I didn't do anything!"
"I'm bored."
"Mom, big sis didn't do her homework!"
"Can I have some candy?"
(http://busyteacher.org/22936 -family -role-play.html )

6.THE MYSTERY OF BOSCOMBE VALLEY
This worksheet will be good when reading Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The learning will
be more interesting when using drama and roleplays. First, you should read with students "The
Mystery of Boscombe Valley". After that you can watch the film about the book and finally play
drama. Enjoy "alive" English in action!

Sherlock Holmes and t he Mystery of Boscombe Pool (Valley)
Mr. Mc Carthy was near the pool and was calling : ”Cooee! Cooee! “. His son, James Mc Carthy heard
his fathers` calling and ran quickly to his father. The father was very surprised to see his son and very
angry.
Mr. Mc Carthy: What are you doing here? (in an angry voice)
James : I came here to shoot the birds.
Mr. Mc Carthy : So what did you decide? Did you think about my words? Will you marry Turner’s
daughter?
James : İ can’t marry her. I told you that. I can’t!
Mr. Mc Carthy : No, you can! You must marry her!
James raised his arm to h it his father. At that moment one girl of 14 years old Patience Moran was
picking up the flowers. She saw two men arguing and she saw tha t son raised his arm to hit his father.
The girl was afraid and ran away quickly to house to say everything what she saw to her parents.
But James stopped, he couldn`t hit his father. He left .
When the girl came to house, she saw her parents – Mr. and Mrs. Moran. The girl seemed to be very
scared and parents thought that something happened.
Mr. a nd Mrs. Moran (together): What happened?

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Girl: I saw two men near the pool – father and his son. They were arguing and very angry. İ also saw
that the son wanted to hit his father.
At that time Mr. Turner, who was standing behind the trees, he heard all the conversation between father
and son. That conv ersation made him so angry as he didn’t want his daughter to get married with James.
He quickly took a stone and hit Mr. McCarthy on the head. Mr. McCarthy fell down. He screamed so
much. Mr. Turner, when was escaping, lost his grey coat on the ground near Mr. Mc Carthy.
James heard a terrible s cream so he ran back to the pool again. He found his father on the ground. He
was dying. He just sim ply said a word – a rat . James ran to the nearest house to ask for help. James
entered the house and cried:
James: I have just found my father by the pool. He is dead! Please help me!
Mrs. Moran : Oh my God! How could it happen?
Mr. A nd Mrs. Moran ran with Jame s immediately and found dead Mc Carthy lying on the grass.

7. CRIME MISTERY
Who is the criminal? An engaging jigsaw reading comprehension mystery. It is an excellent role
play reading best for upper -high intermediate who find working in groups an enjoyable activity.
The information missing in the texts are found in the text of other group members. The mystery
is solved after filling all missing evidence. The activity entails reading, discussing, and debating
to reach educated conclusion.

Step 1: Read the article
Group Lawyers (a)
–––––––- faced life in prison but was sentenced to treatment and juvenile correction facility in
2006 for the shooting deaths of his father, Delbert Paul Posey, stepmother Tryone and stepsister Marilea
on the ––––––––––––– owned by ABC newsman Sam Donaldosn. The 16 -year-old
admitted his role in the July 5 , 2004 shootings, but says the incident was precipitated by a life time of
physical and mental abuse at the hands of his father.
In his statement to police, Cody chronicled a volatile relationship with his father that went back to early
childhood. Accordi ng to the defense , Paul gave up ––––––––––––- in 2000, when Cody
went to live with his biological mother, but the reunion was short -lived when, three months after his
return, the young boy witnessed his mother’s death in a car accide nt and was forced to return to his father.
Paul Posey –––––––––––––––––––––––––– as ranch foreman with his
son, wife, and stepdaughter for two years when the killings occurred. The entire family contribute d to the
daily maintenance of the property, and in interviews with the media, Donaldosn characterized them as
hard-working people. He also noted that Paul was a little hard on his son, but that he never saw him “raise
his voice or his hand in anger.”
In a videotaped statement Cody Posey made to police on July 7, 2004, the teen said he goes along –––
––––––––––––––– but not with his stepmother, and often felt alienated from the rest of
his family. He described a bizarre family dynamic, claiming that every time he made a mistake, Marilea
was rewarded.
According to the defense, Tryone willingly participated in the abuse after she married Paul in 1999.
Cody’s defense lawyer, Gary Mitchell, said his client’s “breaking point” oc curred the night before the
shootings, when the couple attempted to force Cody ––––––––––––––––––- . Cody
told police that his father burned him with the welding iron when he refused.
–––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
––

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Step 2: find the answers
1. Who was sentenced to Juvenile correction?
2. Where did he shoot his family?
3. What did Paul gave up in 2000?
4. Where had Pa ul Posey worked and lived?
5. Who did Cody get along with?
6. What did the couple attempt to force Cody to have?

Step 1: Read the article
Group Lawyers (b)
Cody Posey faced life in prison but was sentenced ––––––––––––––- –––––- in
2006 for the shooting deaths of ––––––– , –––––––––– ,––––––––––– and
–––––––––––––– on the Chavez Canyon Ranch owned by ABC newsman Sam
Donaldosn. The 16 -year-old admitted his role in the July 5, 2004 shootings, but says the incident was
precipitated by a life time of physical and mental abuse at the hands of his father.
In his statement to police, Cody chronicled a volatile relationship with his father that w ent back to early
childhood. According to the defense , Paul gave up parental rights to Cody in 2000, when Cody went to
live with his biological mother, but the reunion was short -lived when, three months after his return, the
young boy ––––––– ––––––––––––– and was forced to return to his father.
Paul Posey had worked and lived in Donaldshon’s Hondo property as ranch foreman with his son, wife,
and stepdaughter for two years when the killings occurred. The entire famil y––––––––––––
–––––––––––––––– , and in interviews with the media, Donaldosn characterized them
as hard -working people. He also noted that Paul was a little hard on his son, but that he never saw him
“raise his voice or his hand in anger.”
In a videotaped statement Cody Posey made to police on July 7, 2004, the teen said he goes along with
his new stepsister, Marilea, but not with his stepmother, and often felt alienated from the rest of his
family. He d escribed a bizarre family dynamic, claiming that every time he made a mistake, –––––-
––––––––––––- .
According to the defense, Tryone willingly participated in the abuse after she married Paul in 1999.
Cody’s defense lawyer , Gary Mitchell, said his client’s “breaking point” occurred the night before the
shootings, when the couple attempted to force Cody to have sex with Tryone and he resisted. Cody told
police that ––––––––––––––––– the weldin g iron when he refused.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –
––
Step 2: find the answers
1. What was Cody Posey sentenced to?
2. Who did Cody shoot?
3. What did the boy witness few years before?
4. What did the entire family do?
5. What happened every time Cody made a mistake?
6. What did Cody tell the police about the welding iron?

Step 3: discuss
Whole Group Lawyers (a, b) Questions
1. Give the text an appropriate title.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
2. Did Cody admit the killings? What was his claim?

––––––––––––––––––––––––––- –––––-
3. Based on the text. Do you think the killings are justifiable? Give at least two evidence to support your
answer

Group Lawyers Dictionary

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Juvenile: relating to young people, adolescent
Precipitated: happened unexpectedly or prematu rely
Defense: someone who defends a person accused of a crime.
Chronicled: reported, re -counted
Volatile : unstable, dangerous
Foreman: man who supervises and directs other workers
Alienated: to make someone unfriendly or hostile and no longer belongs in a particular group
Bizarre: strikingly out of ordinary, odd, extravagant
Dynamic: energetic, vibrant, full of life
Rewarded: compensated – praised
Attempted: tried
Abuse: to hurt or injure to maltreat
Welding : headed surface to the point of meltin g

Step 1: Read the article
Group Defendant (a)
–––––––––––––––––––- , Cody maintained his innocence in the shootings and
said he also saw his family the morning of July 5, 2004, when he left following a fight with his father
over cleaning the corrals. When pressed by police, however, he admitted to retrieving a gun from his
sister’s saddlebag after the fight and returning to the home intending to kill his father.
Cody told police that he shot his father as he was entering the home. He also said his stepsister Marilea
was right behind his father as he came in, so he decided that he –––––––––––––––––
––––––– . Cody said that he envied her intelligence and was jealous of th e attention she received
from his parents.
Cody also told police that he shot his stepmother Tryone twice in the head as she sat reading a book on
the couch ––––––––––––––––––––––––– . He attempted to dispos e of the
bodies by loading them into a backhoe and burying them in a manure pile, but investigators later
followed the tracks to the shallow grave.
–––––––––––––––– was the first to report a disturbance at the Posey home. He did not
see the bodies, but found the home littered with broken glass and blood spatter on July 6, 2004 and went
to police. He described the layout of the sprawling ranch where the Posey family lived and worked as of
2001. Paul Posey was the foreman of the three ranches located on the property, which were as far as 23
miles apart in some places.
Cody is –––––––––––––––––––––––– , which, under New Mexico law,
means that if he is convicted. A judge will decide wh ether to subject him to juvenile or adult penalties
for killing his family.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –
––-
Step 2: find the answers
1. Where did Cody maintain his innocence?
2. Why did he shoot his stepsister Marilea?
3. Why did Cody have to shoot his stepmother?
4. Who was the man who reported disturbance in the Posey’s home
5. Where is Cody tried and as what?

Step 1: Read the article
Group De fendant (b)
At the start of the 90 -munutes confession, Cody maintained his innocence in the shootings and said he
also saw his family the morning of July 5, 2004, when he left following a fight with his father over
cleaning the corrals. When pressed by po lice, however, he admitted –––––––––––––––
–––––––––– after the fight and returning to the home intending to kill his father.
Cody told police that he shot his father as he was entering the home. He also said his stepsister Marilea
was right behind his father as he came in, so he decided that he had to shoot her also so she wouldn’t tell

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anyone. Cody said that he ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––- .
Cody also told police that he shot his stepmother Tryone twice in the head as she sat reading a book on
the couch for being “ mean ” to him and for hitting him in the past. He attempted to dispose of the bodies
by lo ading them –––––––––––––––––––––- , but investigators later followed the
tracks to the shallow grave.
ABC newsman Sam Donaldson was the first to report a disturbance at the Posey home. He did not see
the bodies, but found the home littered with broken glass and blood spatter on July 6, 2004 and went to
police. He described the layout of the sprawling ranch where the Posey family lived and worked as of
2001. Paul Posey ––––––––––––––––- –––––- located on the property, which
were as far as 23 miles apart in some places.
Cody is being tried in Otero County’s Children Court as a youthful offender , which, under New Mexico
law, means that if he is convicted. A judge –––––– –––––––––––––––––––-
–– for killing his family.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– –
–––––––
Step 2: find the answers.
1. From where did Cody retrieve a gun?
2. Why did Cody envy his stepsister Marilea?
3. Where did he think of getting rid of the bodies?
4. Who was Paul Posey?
5. What will the judge decide?

Step 3: discuss
Whole Group ‘De fendants’ (a, b) questions
1. Give the text a title

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
2. Do you believe Cody is guilty of killing his family? Give reasons to justify your answer.

Group Defendant
Dictionary
Corrals: cattle on a farm or ranch
Retrieved: recovered, regain possession
Envied: be jealous of
Mean: unkind, cruel
Dispose: kill or get rid of by throwing away
Manure: animal dung used for fertilizing land
Convicted : found guilty of a crime
Verdict: a judgment or a decision in a criminal case
Sprawling: a spread out over a large area of land

(http://busyteacher.org/18915 -crime -mystery.html )

8. WHAT`S YOUR ALIBIY? ROLE -PLAY – PAST SIMP LE VS. PAST
CONTINUOUS

Any kind of “Alibi” game is perfect for practicing past tenses (esp past simple and past
continuous). Make up any story that something was stolen at the party at 10 pm last night. You
can always change the plot and the worksheet a bit to make the situation truer to life. Divide the
ss into policemen and suspects. Policemen have to write down questions. Suspects work in pairs
to come up with their answers and memorize them. Once everybody is ready police men question

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suspects separately. If the information suspects give is the same they are free to go. But the more
different answers they give, the more likely they are to be the thieves

Chapter III

Role -play video reflection form
Directions: Watch the video recordings of your roleplay and answer the questions below:
1. How was your video? Was it too loud, too soft, too flat? How could you improve?
2. How was your pronunciation? Was it clear, did you speak too fast? How could you improve?
3. How was your body lan guage? Did you use gestures, posture, facial expressions to help you
communicate your feelings, attitudes and ideas? How could you improve?
4. How was your grammar? What grammar mistakes did you make and how would you correct
them? List the mistakes and corre ct them.
5. How was your vocabulary? What mistakes did you make with vocabulary and how would
you correct them? List your mistakes.
6. Were there any things you wanted to say but did not knwo the English words?
7. What do you think you did well in the roleplay?
8. Did you notice anything else you`d like to improve?