Role-play

          It is our role, as teachers, to search for successful activities which may increase our students' talking time.  Role-plays are situational-based activities which must be performed by students as if they were experiencing real conversation. They are an excellent way of promoting speaking in class. They are fun, they forster students' creativity and fluency, they change the dynamic of the class, and they can be adapted for almost any communicative situation we may want to explore. On the other hand, this type of activity might have a negative effect if the teacher is not able to stick to a clear objective. Role-plays should be run with students whom the teacher has already stablished a good relationship. Here are some suggestions on how to use them in class.

GOAL

Specify the purpose of the role-play, set a goal and have students stick to it. Learners quite often do something completely different from what they should, simply because they do not understand the goal of the activity.

VOCABULARY

Never expect students to produce more than what they are able to. Speaking is not easy, so assign a task which they may not find difficult. Eliciting familiar vocabulary as a warm-up is a good way to have them aware of words they may use.

GROUP

Divide students in groups and point out leaders beforehand. You can save time by indicating the roles in advance.

TIMING

It is very important to set a time limit for the activity, otherwise it may take too long.

PRESENTATIONS

Give students time to get prepared before the presentations and help them out with doubts about language. Dicide the order of the presentations and give the same time limit to each group. Let them act and do not interfere while they speak.

FEEDBACK

Take notes of mistakes and make comments about them at the end of each presentation so that students may be aware of what they need to improve. Never leave a group without feedback.

PRAISE

Do not forget to praise students for the effort they made. You motivate your students by doing so.

MISTAKES

Expect mistakes, but do not care much about them. Remember that this type of activity develops fluency.