luận văn thạc sỹ bằng tiếng anh the effects of role play on students’ english speaking ability and attitudesmotivations

Son La Department of Education and TrainingThuan Chau Junior High SchoolThesis for the Degree of Master The Effects of Role-Play on Students’ English Speaking Ability and Attitudes/Motiv

Son La Department of Education and Training

Thuan Chau Junior High SchoolThesis for the Degree of Master

The Effects of Role-Play on Students’ English Speaking Ability and Attitudes/Motivation -A Case of Thuan Chau Junior High School

Tran Trung Dung

ABSTRACT Role-play has been widely used as a teaching method in the ESL/EFLclassroom This research study aimed to investigate Thuan Chau JuniorHigh School EFL students’ attitudes/motivation towards the role -play course.This study was designed to explore how role-play could increase Thuan ChauJunior High School EFL students’ interests in learning English, improve theirEnglish speaking proficiency, and overcome their shyness when speakingEnglish on stage

During the one -month experiment, thirty-two (32) tenth graders in ThuanChau Junior High School in Thuan Chau District were divided into groupsaccording to their role-play dialogues used each week First, the participantsreceived the role-play instruction and then were required to perform role-play infront of their classmates Both qualitative and quantitative methods wereconducted in this research Oral tests were given to participants to comparetheir English speaking proficiency improvement prior to and following theexperiment The pre-course and post-course questionnaires were also given forthe purpose of assessing students’ attitudes/motivation toward role-play, and theirshyness overcoming Additionally, in order to deeply understand how role -playaffected these participants, observations and interviews were also used as datacollection methods

The result of the study showed that overall the participants hadpositive attitudes/motivation toward the role-play course After the studentsattended the role -play course, there was an obvious interest in learning English.Inversely, the participants not only improved their English speaking proficiencysignificantly but also overcame their shyness when speaking English on stage Based on the findings, this study produced several valuable contributions

to many different aspects of English education Therefore, this researchprovided not only a framework for understanding how role -play affectedThuan Chau Junior High School EFL students in learning English, but alsoprovided useful suggestions for junior high school English teachers, junior highschool ESL students, the Ministry of Education and Training, and researchers inthe field of TESOL

Key words: role -play; speaking ability; learning attitudes/motivation; overcome shyness

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is a pleasure to thank the people who have helped me make this researchproject a success: Professor Phan Thanh Duong, Professor Vu Sy Tuan, ProfessorPham Hong Chuong, Professor Le Thi Phuong, and my family

Professor Phan Thanh Duong, as the Chairperson of the Department ofApplied Foreign Languages, provided me with useful academic guidance andgenial support Furthermore, Professor Duong encouraged me to put an efforttoward developing my research skills.I sincerely appreciate the Chairperson’shelping hand

I give my appreciation to my advisor, Professor Vu Sy Tuan for guiding

me and encouraging me with great energy in my abilities When Iencountered difficulties, Professor Tuan always gave me immediate support andadvisement Professor Tuan was also an enthusiastic mentor for my conferencepublication I would not have been able to finish this thesis without ProfessorTuan’s help

The members of my thesis committee, Professor Le Van An and ProfessorPhan Manh Hung, who gave me useful suggestions and considerableencouragements, were much appreciated

Last but not least, I would like to thank my family, who supported me duringthe thesis training and have been with me through all the ups and downs of my life.Without their love and thoughtful understanding, I would not have completed thisachievement

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES x

LIST OF FIGURES xii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1

Background of the study 1

Statement of the problem 4

Purpose of the study 5

Research questions 7

Significance of the study 8

Definitions of terms 9

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEWS 11

The disadvantages of the BCT 11

The role of role-play in language learning 13

The influence of the attitudes/motivation 15

The development of language skills 18

The facilitation of overcoming the shyness 19

Vii

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY 23

Subjects 23

Instruments 25

Questionnaires 25

Lesson plan 25

Evaluation Form 25

Oral tests and interviews 26

Teaching materials .27

Research Hypotheses 28

Procedures of the study 28

The data analysis used in this study 29

CHAPTER IV RESULTS 30

Results of questionnaires 30

Results of oral tests 39

Descriptive data of interviews 47

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION 55

Discussion 55

Pedagogical implications 65

Limitations of this study 68

viii

Suggestions for further research 69

Conclusion 70

REFERENCES 72

APPENDIX A 76

APPENDIX B 77

APPENDIX C 79

APPENDIX D 80

APPENDIX E 81

APPENDIX F 82

APPENDIX G 83

APPENDIX H 84

APPENDIX I 85

APPENDIX J 86

LIST OF TABLESTable 1 the interviewees’ personal information … … … …

… … … 24 Table 2 Time table for the interviews … … … …

Table 4.1.3 Comparison students speak in L2 in daily time before and

after the experiment 33 Table 4.1.4 Comparison of how hard words

students would use from role-play in their daily life before and after

Table 4.1.9 Comparison of how confident students feel about their pronunciation before and after the experiment

37

Table 4.1.10 Comparison of the cause of pause when students speak English before and after the experiment 38

Table 4.2.1 Comparison of the influence of speaking ability before and after the

experiment 40

Table 4.2.2 Comparison of the using frequency of new vocabulary before and after

theexperiment 40

Table 4.2.3 Comparison of the accuracy of grammar usage before and after the experiment 41

Table 4.2.4 Comparison of the listening ability before and after the experiment 42

Table 4.2.5 Comparison of students’ anxiety before and after the experiment 43

Table 4.2.6 Comparison of the ability of expressing him/herself before and after the

experiment 43

Table 4.2.7 Comparison of the accuracy of pronunciation before and after the experiment 44

Table 4.2.8 Comparison of the accuracy of tense usage before and after the experiment .45

Table 4.2.9 Comparison of the pause frequency while interviewing before and after

theexperiment 45

Table 4.2.10 Comparison of how students were out of idea during the oral tests 46

Table 4.3.1 The checking list… … … 54

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Procedure of this study… … … .28

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

The most important examination for junior high school students in Vietnam is the Basic Competence Test (BCT).BCT is the main entrance exam for junior high school students

to go to senior high schools All of the applications or recommendations will depend upon the BCT grade “All the graduating students of junior high schools will be

distributed according to the results of Basic Competence Test The grading procedure includes assignation, recommendation,applcation into senior high school, and so on” (Ministry of Education and Training, 1999) Although the Grade 10,11, 12, CurriculumGuideline focuses on four skills, i.e listening, reading, speaking, and writing, the content

of BCT still covers only grammar and reading A common mistake many teachers and students make is that they pay more attention to what the BCT is focused on

“Traditional English education in Vietnam placed an emphasis on reading skill” (Adian Doff, 2002, p.3) Furthermore, “most junior high school English teachers used the grammar translation teaching method in their classrooms to meet the expectations of the national curriculum” (Adian Doff, 2002, p.3) The truth is that the only goal for mostjunior high school students is to go to senior high schools In this case, BCT becomes the students’ main goal, rather than other important and basic English skills There is thus discrepancy between students’ English speaking ability and their BCT proficiency Furthermore, BCT often discourages students from speaking in class To encourage students to talk in class is one of the ways to help them learn a second language “The more students talk, the better they learn” (Seliger, 1977) Role-play is one of the

teaching methods which help students talk more in class “Role-play enables all students to be actively involved in the lesson” (Downing, 1994, p.5).During role -play, students have to go on the stage and perform, so they must speak English in class In this case, role-play forces students to concentrate and talk in class actively English role -play also enhances three other important aspects of the students’ ability to

speak English: affecting attitudes/motivation positively, improving language skills, and overcoming shyness Attitudes/motivation is one of the most important reasons for

students to learn at school, and it also influences students in learning a second language

“Unquestionably, motivation and attitude are very important in language learning success” (Scacella & Oxford, 1992) According to Scacella and Oxford,

attitudes/motivation is very important while students are learning a second language; the researcher would use role-play to raise students’ learning attitudes/motivation Additionally, it is necessary to create a safe environment in which students can learn a second language “… in a safe and supportive classroom… students feel comfortable taking risks because they know that they will not be embarrassed or criticized if they make a mistake” (Dornyei, 2001, p.56) Students will feel safe and be more willing to speak out in class if they have the teachers’ support and do not feel stressful Role-play aims to increase students’ confidence and affect attitudes/motivation positively to excel inEnglish “Role-playing stimulates realistic conversation and effective communication in foreign language learners in particular” (Abdullan & Elhami, 1997, p.43) This is also the goal for

teachers to teach and students to learn a second language Teachers should always make it a

goal to use a range of teaching methods to help students speak out in class It is

Role-play is a very common teaching method for teachers to use It iswidely used in foreign countries, especially for junior high school students.Following from the introduction, we know that most students study English forthe purpose of the BCT For that reason, most of the students in Vietnam can readEnglish but seldom speak it Many are thus unable to talk to native Englishspeakers out of the classroom There is very little research examining how role -play affects the speaking ability of junior high school students In Vietnam,much of the research examines role-play focuses on junior high school students

in foreign countries, such as Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea There is currentlyvery little research exploring the benefits of role-play on junior high students inVietnam There is also very little research pointing out how role-play influencesstudents’ learning attitudes/motivation.Most researchers talk about “using pairwork, group work, or cooperative learning activities [student-centeredlearning], helping in not putting too much pressure on individual students in front

of the whole class ” (Scarcella & Oxford, 1992, p.54), or encouraging andstimulating students In addition, a great deal of research shows that differentaspects of attitudes/motivation vary in important points For example, “internal,cognitive and affective aspects of motivation might be more important in foreignlanguage contexts, where most of the language learning took place in the formalclassroom” (Schmidt et al., 1996; Dornyei, 1996) There is little research thatindicates how role-play could influence students’ learning attitudes/motivationdirectly

There is little research explaining how students overcome shyness andwithdrawal

The research explains how students’ shyness is minimized to the point that role

-play can help

students conquer this natural feeling Most of the researchers talk aboutstudents’ shyness,

and the way that teachers treat those shy students, such as “(1) minimizingstress or

embarrassment, (2) engaging shy students in special activities, (3) changingthe social

environment like seating them among friendly classmates, (4) encouraging orshaping

increased responsiveness, (5) involving them in frequent private talks” (Lacina Gifford et al.,

-2002, p.7) Again, this research does not show direct evidence indicating thatrole-play can

help students overcome shyness Therefore, this particular research is intended tohighlight how little research has gone into three areas Firstly, little researchconcerns role-play as the teaching method for junior high school students inVietnam Secondly, little research shows how role -play has a direct effect onattitudes/motivation.Thirdly, research seldom presents that role-play can helpwithdrawing students to overcome their nervousness

Purpose of the study

In spite of the possible teaching methods that may help students learn a secondlanguage, there is still a need to discover other teaching methods that studentswould prefer Due to the fact that BCT focuses more on reading and writingcomprehension, there is an obvious lack of focus in the areas of speaking practice.Therefore, there are three purposes in this research study: improving students’language skills, affecting students’ learning attitudes/motivation positively, andhelping students overcome shyness in their speaking

Many junior high school students in Vietnam study English in order to entergood senior high schools Therefore, teachers and students often strictly adhere

to the BCT curriculum In this case, students may lose focus developing theirspeaking ability The BCT focuses on grammar and reading Although both

grammar and reading are very important in learning a second language, teachers orstudents should not ignore other language skills Furthermore, speaking is themain method of communication in daily life One of the main focuses of thisresearch study is the use of role-play to help students improve their speakingability, so that they can have a better use of English in practical every daysituations Therefore, the first purpose of the study is to explore how role-playaffects students’ English proficiency As for improving students’ learning attitudes/motivation, the researcher discovers that many students in Vietnam have poorattitudes/motivation while learning a second language, because of the boringteaching methods used in the classroom Most of the teachers offer a great deal

of paper tests and reading articles for students, so these affect students’attitudes/motivation What the researcher hopes to work on in this part is to use

an active teaching method to influence their learning attitudes/motivationpositively “A key requirement of role -playing is that all students be activelyinvolved” (Chu Quang Binh, 1993, p.3) Hence, the second purpose of thestudy is to claim how role -play affects students’ attitudes/motivation inlearning L2 The third part is to help students overcome their shyness One ofthe reasons that students seldom use English or talk to native English speakers

in daily life is that they are often afraid to do so Allowing students to act out theroles in the dialogues in class offers them more opportunities to speak out inEnglish It may also help students overcome their shyness Through this kind

of training, the researcher hopes that students would become brave enough to useEnglish in their everyday lives, and be able to converse freely with native Englishspeakers Thus, the third purpose of this study is to examine how role -play overcomes students’ shyness In summary, the purpose of this study is

to improve language skills, affect attitudes/motivation significantly, andovercome shyness of students by using role-play as the teaching method

Research questions

There are three research questions to be addressed in this study:

1 What is the value of the English speaking proficiency improvement

of Thuan Chau Junior High School tenth graders after they attended the role play course?

2 What are Thuan Chau Junior High School tenth graders’ attitudes/motivation toward the role-play course?

3 Do Thuan Chau Junior High School tenth graders overcome their shyness significantly when speaking English on stage after attending the role-play course?

Significance of the study This study believes that the analysis of role-play can benefit English teachers,Ministry of Education and Training, scholars, and students in many aspects ForEnglish teachers, the researcher hopes that the English teachers in Vietnamcould adopt role-play as one of the teaching methods The finding of thisstudy provides an insight into role -play and helps students improve theirspeaking skill Teachers may also improve students’ perception of learningspeaking Ring (1995) noted that “speakers speak like a book, because theirEnglish is modeled on an almost exclusive written version of the language”

(as cited in Huyen & McCarthy, 1995) With regard to this, role-play notonly serves as a useful source for students to practice speaking daily Englishconversation, but also helps them improve their style of speaking skill— that is,they will not speak like a book

This research suggests that the class schedule and content should not always focus on grammar and reading The Ministry of Education and Training could include speaking skill

in junior and senior high schools’ class schedules Furthermore, the BCT might be changed

to a different type of testing students’ English level If the BCT contains the four skills ofEnglish, the learning and teaching center would tend to be the four skills It may help

students improve their language skills equally

The third part is for the scholars in the TESOL area.This research papernot only offers a relationship between role-play and improving languageskills, but also affects students ’ learning attitudes /motivation, helps themovercome shyness and shows good performances in class.The research is forscholars to see role-play as one of the important teaching methods to relate withother kinds of motivational aspects while using it

For students, the researcher expects students to be aware that they shouldimprove the four skills equally when learning English No matter which skill inEnglish is more emphasized in the BCT, students should learn and study these

four skills at the same time In addition, students should not only focus on theBCT, but they should also know that learning a second language will help thembecome more competitive

In conclusion, there are four significant parts of this study Teachers shouldadjust their teaching methods to make the class more interesting.The Ministry ofEducation and Training may also consider speaking ability as important asother language skills and change the class curriculum for junior high schoolstudents Scholars in the TESOL area might also bring out more views about role-play and other learning responses The last part is that the learners should learnEnglish for their own good

Definitions of terms

Role-play: Role-play can be separated into “role” and “play” “Role” refers to

“play a part (either their own or somebody else’s) in a specific situation”(Gillian, 2002, p.7) “Play” represents “the role is taken on in a safe environment

in which students are as inventive and playful aspossible” (Gillian, 2002, p.5)

By using this teaching method, students can enjoy the experience of havingconversations with people in reality and develop their social ability withpeople

Attitudes/Motivation: It means students’ thoughts and behavior It also showsstudents’

wants and desires Zoltan indicated that “motivation is related to one of the mostbasic aspects of the human mind, and most teachers and researchers wouldagree that it has a very important role in determining success or failure in anylearning situation” (Zoltan, 2001)

Shyness: The meaning of shyness is that students would be afraid while they are

performing in class Leary pointed out briefly: “Shyness involves anxiety and

behavioral inhibition in social situations” (

CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW The purpose of this study is to explore the disadvantages of BCT and how role-play can improve Thuan Chau Junior High School tenth graders’attitudes/motivation as well as their speaking ability.This chapter is dividedinto five parts: the disadvantages of BCT, the purpose of role -play, theinfluence of the attitudes/motivation, the development of language skills, and thefacilitation of overcoming shyness

The disadvantages of the BCT

The Vietnam educational system has been criticized for decades due to itsemphasis on examination.The old curriculum was developed in 1985.There is acloud of serious criticism that it fails to provide proper instruction, such aslanguage communicative ability for junior high school students In fact, most ofthe junior high school students were learning how to study for the scorereasonably well on written tests, but they could hardly have good Englishcommunicative ability.Due to this kind of problem, the Ministry of Educationand Training actively created new textbooks for junior high school students in1997.Its purpose was to reform the educational system and help studentsbecome proficient in the four skills of English: reading, writing, speaking, andlistening “The revised curriculum places an emphasis on promoting students’communicative competence” (Adian Doff, 2002, p.3)

The old curriculum led to develop a negative teaching method: “Teacherswould look at prior tests to assure that they covered the subject matter of the test

or test objectives” (Adian Doff, 2002, p.2) Teachers in Vietnam focus onwhat way the entrance exam will take “Traditional English education inVietnam placed an emphasis on reading skills” (Adian Doff, 2002,p.2).Furthermore, “most junior high school English teachers used the grammartranslation teaching method in their classrooms to meet the expectations of thenational curriculum” (Adian Doff, 2002, p.2).This occurs because the entranceexams don’t measure listening and speaking ability Additionally, what teachers

teach and what students study are guided by the testing type Although the

curriculum has been reformed, it still lacks a real emphasis on speaking

ability.Therefore, the BCT continues to exert a strong influence on the way

teachers teach and the way students learn

The Basic Competence Test (BCT) is the main examination for junior

high school students to enter senior high schools It contains two parts with

two different types of questions The first part consists of multiple -choice

grammar questions for each of which students must choose the best answer The

second part is a reading comprehension assessment that includes cloze tests

(Ministry of Education and Training, 1999) It was designed by the Ministry of

Education and Training which is aware of the need to reform the educational system

in Vietnam

However, BCT still can’t change the defects Junior high school students

can hardly speak and listen to English in their daily lives In addition, the old

teaching methods can’t raise students’ learning attitudes/motivation.More diverse,

lively, and interesting teaching methods must be used if language educators

hope to stimulate Vietnamese students’ attitudes /motivation toward learning

English.Furthermore, by stimulating students’ attitudes/motivation, they will be

able to increase their ability to communicate and decrease their shyness of

speaking English with native and non-native anglophones around the world There

are many interesting and motivating methods available to English teachers, but

the method that the researcher will focus on in this study is role-play, a

classroom activity in which students act out authentic scenes that can be as brief

as an exchange of greetings or as long as the actors can act out the dialogue in

English “Role-play authentic situation is one avenue leading to improved

communicative ability in the target language” (Maxwell, 1997,

p.6) Thus, role-play could be one of the most useful teaching methods used to

enhance

students’ learning attitudes/motivation, increase their speaking ability and

overcome their shyness

The role of role-play in language learning

As mentioned above, most of the teaching methods in Vietnam are grammar translation methods, repetition drills and exams Adian Doff and Maxwell (2002, 1997) pointed out

the problems of those English teaching methods, and argued that there is a need to develop more diverse English teaching methods or activities Role -play is one of the main teaching methods to help students improve their L2 learning in three aspects First, role -play might help develop students’ speaking ability.Second, role-play might meliorate students’ attitudes/motivation toward learning L2 Third, role -play might help students

to deal with “Role-play prepares learners for such unpredictabilities, adding emotion,

inventiveness, and awareness of the listener to language teaching” (Salies, 1995, p.6)

In conclusion, the literature above points out that the main function of role-play is to help students improve language skills.It also mentions that role -play involves a variety of

situations which students may need to face in real lives.Therefore, role -play helps students carry out their language skills in reality in a safe environment

The influence of the attitudes/motivation

Without adequate and appropriate attitudes/motivation, students are usually unwilling to learnwhat their teachers try to teach them, especially in junior and senior high schools Part of the attitudes/motivation problem is that memorizing grammatical factoids is both boring and useless.This kills attitudes/motivation in the classroom The longer students feel they are wasting their time on English, the lower and more inadequate their attitudes/motivation becomes.The more they realize that the only value of learning English is to pass entrance

tests with high scores to get into the schools of their choice, the poorer their attitudes/motivation toward learning becomesThis strongly suggests that the English

teacher’s job is to motivate students to learn English, not merely to memorize factoids to regurgitate on a BCT “Motivation is important because it contributes to achievement, but it is also important itself as an outcome” (Ray, 1992, p.4)

The teaching methods in Vietnam always try to give students lots of paper exercises, but students don’t understand the purpose of them “Students do not understand that repetition reinforces, tho ugh they may spend hours learning a skill for an extra-curricular activity” (Witt,

1995, p.3) Hence, students’ learning attitudes/motivation would be depressed, and students would have poor attitudes/motivation toward learning a second language In this case, changing the teaching method has become one of the most important issues to consider Also, increasing students’ confidence can improve their learning attitudes/motivation Role-play can help students become familiar with the learning content, so they would feel as if thatthey can handle the content much easier “When learners feel like they can deal with the new learning content by their own ability; and the success attribute to controllable self-performance; also the learners have expectation to success, their learning confidence is built This leads to a successful learning opportunity” (Lin, 2002, p.43) Miccoli (2003) also indicated that “students were unanimous in saying that if they had had the play in their hands while reading the handouts on emotions, for example, they would have related much better to the content of the handouts ” (Miccoli, 2003, p.128) Therefore, the better way to have students learns a second language is that the teacher lends a helping hand

Students need to feel the belongingness, and they will perform actively in class Researchers indicated that “role-play involves students’ active participation” (Joyce & Weli, 1986; Kunze, 1991; Shaftel & Shaftel, 1967) Students will be more motivated to learn if they are recognized as a part of the class Role-play can be performed in pairs Students learn to cooperate with each other through working and discussing English together, and this will lead to mutual affection “Affect (emotional climate) is a very major motivational factor during learning” (Ray, 1992, p.9) Moreover, “the role-play strategy is a ‘comfortable’ Teaching/Learning strategy to use in the classroom.It is both easy to understand and interpret as well as to implement” (Downing, 1994, p.15)

A safe environment can offer students a smooth mood to learn a L2 “Skinner

believed

that one’s behavior was determined by his or her reinforcement history and the

less pressure and nervousness

As mentioned in the last paragraph, students cooperate with each other tolearn a second language through role -play.In addition; peer relationships havebecome very important in improving attitudes/motivation “Competition or

‘achievement motivation’ and peer approval become of greater importance.The main motivational factor in the junior-senior high school years is the socialincentives reflected in peer relationships” (Ray, 1992, p.13) Students worktogether as a group, and groups compete with groups as a class By this kind ofbenignant stimulus, students are able to increase their learningattitudes/motivation, and to learn the second language further

Therefore, in the context of this research study, the findings above are critical

because they show role-play could affect students’ attitudes/motivation

positively in four aspects: making class content interesting, increasing

students ’ belongingness, offering a safe environment, and improving peer

relationships through moderate competition In addition, they also indicate that

there is a need for Ta iwanese English teachers to explore how role -play could

affect Vietnamese students in meliorating their learning attitudes/motivation

The development of language skills

One of the goals in learning a second language is to have good speaking ability

Researchers argue role-play can help learners improve it Miller (1990) claims

“communication instructors should be wary of the general ability of the role-play activities in the classroom” (Miller, 1990, p.21) First of all, role-play could improve students’ listening ability “Role-play makes students aware of the listener” (Salies, 1995, p.8) Lin (1995) also pointed out that “listening comprehension is best achieved by wide exposure to the target language” (Lin, 1995, p.19) Therefore, listening ability is as important as speaking ability Role-play might help to improve this skill Second of all, role -play can improve speaking ability Besides, to speak well in a daily conversation, one should consider the

pronunciation as well “Clear pronunciation helps speaking become two -way

communication in that people can focus on what a speaker intends to say and give responses without having to guess what was said ” (Lin, 1995, p.22) In such case, while students are performing in class, teachers are able to listen to each student’s pronunciation and correct him/her one by one during class

In conclusion, the study above presented that role -play can help students

improve their speaking ability Therefore, the context above is critical because it

indicates that there is a need to examine how role-play can facilitate students’

speaking ability in Vietnam’s education environment

The facilitation of overcoming the shyness

There must be some shy students in any given classes For those shy students, one of the main problems for them is that it is hard to speak and act in public In such cases, how couldthey improve their speaking ability and have English conversation with people in daily life? Role-play might help to fulfill this role

“Shy students” refer to those who “avoid personal interaction, are quiet and unobtrusive, and

do not respond well to others” (Brophy & McCaslin, 1992, p.19) In order to enable shy

students to interact with others, Brophy (1996) offers some suggestions for teachers “To develop confidence and comfort in the classroom to shy and inhibited student, as well as closer monitoring, improved nonverbal communication, environment engineering, and instructive suggestions or demands for improved concentration designed to maintain the attention of students prone to withdrawal or daydreaming” (Brophy, 1996, p.44) In this quotation, role -play can help achieve closer monitoring, environment engineering and instructive suggestions First, role -play proceeds under a teacher ’s supervision, so the teacher can observe each student ’s learning circumstance Second, role -play provides students with a safe environment to practice and speak English And environment is an important issue for students who are learning a second language through the use of role-play.Third, after students’ performance or practice, teachers as the instructors would give students suggestions on their acting, speaking, or pronunciation Therefore, role -play can achieve three out of the four conditions that are mentioned above “Role-play helps shy students by providing them with a mask” (Gillian, 2002, p.7)

There will always be a small number of shy students afraid of speaking and acting Using role-play as the teaching method, students would be able to perform on the stage, forcing themselves to play in public Consequently, they might not be afraid to act in front of people,and thus talking to people in a second language would become an easy task for them since they gain the confidence from doing role –play “The more a learner is self-confident, the more rapid will be his or her progress and proficiency in the second language” (Oller, 1977, p.22) Salies (1995) also pointed out “role-play can do that: it boosts self-confidence

because it gives students an instant evidence of success, fosters retention, and stimulates involvement in a risk-free environment” (Salies, p.12)

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to point out that role -play can help

those shy and withdrawing students to increase their self-confidence.The more

self-confidence the shy students have, the better their performance in acting and

also the more their conversation will improve Additionally, it is severe to

investigate how role-play affects shy and withdrawing students in learning

geared toward passing the exams.Unfortunately; the exam items emphasize rotememory

and mechanical drills Oral communication is totally disregarded, and rotememory

strategies are rewarded ” (Lin, 1995, p.6) As mentioned above, oralcomprehension is

ignored by teachers and students Role-play can help to enhance students’ oralskills, and it

can also help students keep up with the school schedule in class “A role-playsituation can

develop spontaneously in the classroom as different issues are raised in textbooks”(Downing,

role-Role-play is one of the teaching methods that helps develop students’communicative techniques, promotes their interaction in the classroom, andaffects their attitudes/motivation positively “Speaking is as much a natural andspontaneous activity as role-play is a natural human behavior” (Salies, 1995,p.22) Teachers who ask students to speak the second language realisticallyshould use the vary characters of role -play which is the imitation of reality.Thus, teachers may give students the chance to learn to take responsibility for theirown study In conclusion: “by using role-play teachers will encourageadaptability, fluency, and confidence on the part of the students” (Salies, 1995,p.22) In other words, teachers could help students face the real communicativeworld through role-play

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

This chapter addresses subjects, research instruments, includingquestionnaires, lesson plan, evaluation form, oral interview and teachingmaterials, the procedures of the study, and the data analysis used in this study

termed “flexible” The researcher will use this period to conduct in this study.The main

teaching material is the junior high school English textbook, The English 10,

11, 12 textbook, compiled by Nani Bookstore Company.In the textbook, there

is a dialogue in every lesson, which will be performed by the students

The subjects will be divided into groups and each group consists of two to threestudents The group size depends on the dialogue they study every week.Moreover, students will be interviewed individually by the researcher to expresstheir feeling concerning role-play as the teaching activity compared with theregular English class activity during the experiment

Additionally, students need to fill out the pre-questionnaire and the

post-questionnaire to compare and investigate the result of using role-play as the

teaching method There are two oral tests separately before and after the

experiment The researcher investigates how students improve their English

speaking ability

Besides the quantitative part, there are eight students picked up to have further

interview about their opinions of experiencing the role-play teaching activity

For the purpose of confidentiality, the participants remain anonymous

Furthermore, the interviews are held in Vietnamese concerning students’ English

ability; and students’ descriptions are translated into English The backgrounds

of those students are stated below

Table 1: The interviewees’ personal information

He also has his own thoughts

He is the English teacher assistant Quiteshy, but his English is pretty good

He is not very bright

in class, but he iswilling to learn andperform in class

Her English level is medium,

but she has her own thought

of learning She is also very

enthusiastic She doesn’t talk

much Although she was

Interviewed, she didn’t have

her own thoughts She always

follows what others say

Her English is at the second

place in class She always

competes for the first place

with Vi

He likes to play a lot in class

Although his English is not

good, he is not afraid to speak

English

She likes to talk loud in class,

but not in English However,

she is not shy to perform

English levelGreat

QuestionnairesThe questionnaires are separated into two parts: one for students to fill out

The lesson plan shows the whole procedure that occurs during the class,

including how the class is carried out, how the materials are used, and what the

researcher does after students’ performances (See Appendix B)

Evaluation Form

The evaluation forms consist of two forms One is for the researcher to evaluate; the other one is for the students to comment.The researcher’s evaluation form is written in English with ten questions Students’ evaluation forms are written in Vietnamese with ten

questions.Each question in the evaluation form has the range of five-point scale, ranging from 1 to 5.Both of the forms have a blank space for the researcher and students if they want to express more opinions (See Appendix F and G)

Oral tests and interviews

Two oral tests and one interview will be conducted for this study.The first

oral test is

before the experiment, and the second oral test is held after the experiment.The