An investigation into effects of role-play in an EFL speaking course
An investigation into effects of role-play in an EFL speaking course

Summary/Abstract: English is spoken all over the world, especially it has been an international language in recent years. The need to master English language, thus, has been increasing rapidly. Of four language skills, speaking skill is paid much attention to in language teaching and learning as it is seen as the process of building and sharing meaning in a variety of contexts. In other words, it is used for communication. That is why this paper attempted to investigate the effects of role-play, another of communicative techniques with the hope that it could help learners improve their speaking skill. This paper was quantitative research with the employment of the closed-ended questionnaire and the tests. The participants included thirty-three first year English majors and ten Vietnamese teachers of English at Nong Lam University in Ho Chi Minh city,Vietnam. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and paired samples t-test were used to analyze the data obtained from the questionnaire and the tests respectively. The study discovered that (1) in addition to poor pronunciation and vocabulary, some psychological factors such as shyness, anxiety, and fear of making mistakes prevented learners from using the target language and (2) role-play provided students with many opportunities to practise spoken English effectively in real life situations and promoted students’ interaction. As a result, students could speak English confidently, naturally, and fluently with English native speakers or those who used English as a means of communication in any circumstances.

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