Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Using Role-plays in Teaching Speaking

Learning a language is a complex and long process as anyone who has tried will agree. One of the most difficult and frustrating things is making the transition from the classroom to the 'real' world. In the classroom, everyone knows you are a student and mistakes are allowed, and the environment is contained and safe. Speaking another language outside the classroom is completely different and often students are lost at sea as soon as they step outside the door. Lists of memorized vocabulary are suddenly useless when ordering in a restaurant.

The problem becomes more complicated when it comes to Vietnam setting. English teachers in Vietnam have just adopted communicative approach for just a few years since the using of the new textbooks. However, they have not paid enough attention to speaking skill. The speaking tasks are simple, and more importantly, impractical.

In this writing, I would like to recommend a more practical way of teaching speaking in high school classrooms; that is using role-plays and simulations. Role-plays, or simulations are one of the ways ESL instructors can ease students' transition into using English in real world situations. A simulation is where students act out a real-life situation, for example checking into at a hotel, but do not act out a different personality. Role-plays are where students take on different personalities. In a role-play, for example, one student may be asked to take on the role of "an angry neighbor" which is out of character for the student.

The purpose of role playing is to give the students an opportunity to work with others in determining how an individual or group might behave in response to a particular situation. Role playing is often used primarily to promote classroom discussion. The use of role playing as a cooperative learning model also includes class discussion as a vital step, but in this approach the entire class is involved in preparing and presenting role plays through group activity.

40 trang SKKN Tiếng Anh 18/03/2025 260

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think it would be a good idea to change to renewable energy but you are worried that changing to renewable energy is very expensive. You want to spend the school’s money on other things.
Unit: The Asian Games (English 11)
Roles for Planning Debate
Version 1
James Nicholson (Factory owner Lea Valley)
I owned a factory in the Lower Lea Valley. The Olympic plans meant my business headquarters had to be bulldozed to make way for the Olympic park.
I employed 15 local people who relied on the company for jobs. It is not simply a case of just moving the business. Many of my workers did not own cars and walked to work. They have had trouble getting to work since the factory relocated to the edge of the city.
I am sad that the long-established, thriving business and industrial community in the lea valley have been wiped about by the development. In the end some of businesses were evicted before they could get new premises.
I do agree that the area needs regenerating but I think it should be in a way that will benefit all local peole.
Peter Connor (14) member of the Eastway, Lea Valley, cycle group
I have been training at the Eastway cycle club since I was 11. When the old Eastway cycle park was bulldozed to make way for the Olympic park we were promised improved cycling facilities on the new Olympic site.
In fact, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has scaled-down the plans to provide these cycling facilities. We believed that the new 34-hectare site would include a 6,000-seat velodrome, along with a one-mile road-racing circuit, a BMX track, a full-scale mountain bike track and a cycle speedway circuit.
The plans have now changed and the new cycle park will not be of the same standard as the one that had been demolished. I would like to compete in the Olympics as I am ranked in the top 10 nationally. I hope I will have adequate facilities to train.
Mrs Cessario (Local community spokesperson)
There are fears that this first burst of development for the Olympics will not benefit the people actually living in Newham.
Areas around the Olympic site are already becoming hot property for developers. Property investors are moving in; buying up cheap housing and hoping for a housing windfall as gentrification drives up property prices. The 'real' residents are being pushed to the edges of the borough, and into next-door Barking and Dagenham where they can afford rents. It is sad that young people will not be able to get a foot on the property ladder in their own area.
Miss B (Local councilor for Newham)
£2 billion will be invested in the Games, much of which will be in Newham, bringing many benefits. The area will be improved to provide the biggest new park in Europe and provide a better sense of security and openness with improved access for pedestrians and cyclists. More than 9,000 new homes will be built, with schools, health and community facilities to match. The Games will provide hundreds of jobs and improving the image of Newham. The Games will bring great sporting facilities and help to promote sport and healthy lifestyles in an area that has one of the worst health records in the UK. Stratford and West Ham stations will be improved. Lastly, the Games will boost London's tourism industry. Newham businesses will be gearing up to take advantage of this opportunity.
Mrs A (Representative of the ODA Olympic Delivery Autority)
Our job is to create one of the largest new urban parks in Europe for 150 years with a lasting legacy of world class sporting facilites, homes for the community that will live in the areas and unrivalled green open spaces around the Park after the Games. Benfits resulting from the Olympics include a World class Stadium, velodrome, Aquatics Centre and indoor arena, 110 hectares of improved open space and significant employment opportunites. Approximately 4,500 homes will be converted from the Olympic Village and there will be 150,500sq metres of new retail space at Stratford City and 465,000sq metres of new office space.
Zara Daniels (Local school leaver)
What I want from the Olympics is for jobs to be created in my local community. At the moment Newham has a high youth unemployment rate of 25.2%. The overall unemployment rate is 6.7% the second highest in London below Hackney. What I want from the Olympics is a good job in the future and a lower unemployment rate.
I have heard that up to 34,000 new jobs could be created in the Stratford city development alone as London prepares for the 2012 Olympics. My Main concern is that I may not be able to afford to live in the borough in the future unless I can get a well paid job.
Debate/ Role play:
Each pupil takes the role of one of the people on the cards. In groups they have to decide if they think the Olympic Games will benefit the local people of Newham. A spokesperson from each group should feedback the group’s decision to the rest of the class.
Unit 12: The Asian Games (English 11)
Version 2
London Olympics Role Play
Local businessman
You are a local businessman living in Newnham. You own a small computer shop but would like to expand if you could get more customers. You have heard about the plans for developing the area for the Olympics, and whilst it may be good for business, you have some concerns.
Think about the following points:
Will there be any disruption to your business during the building phase?
What will happen to you number of customers a) during construction, b) after construction
When redevelopment is complete, what will happen to land prices and rent?
Fill in the table below to show the advantages and disadvantages for you of London hosting the Olympics
Advantages (good things)
Disadvantages (bad things)

You are going to go to a local planning meeting about the development of the Olympic area. Write a statement and the back of this sheet to take with you. You will have to say:
Whether or not you think the development should go ahead and why
What restrictions or conditions you would like to see in the development of the area (e.g. the development should go ahead, but only if .)
Questions to ask the Olympic planning committee
London Olympics Role Play
Elderly residents
You are an elderly resident living in Newnham. You have lived here all you life and have seen a lot of changes. How does the prospect of redeveloping the area make you feel? Consider the following things:
There is a lot of building that has to take place to make stadiums, roads, accommodation etc. How will this affect you?
How will local transport be affected?
What will it be like for you during the Games?
Who do you think is paying for the Olympic Games?
What will happen to the area after the Olympics?
Fill in the table below to show the advantages and disadvantages for you of London hosting the Olympics
Advantages (good things)
Disadvantages (bad things)

You are going to go to a local planning meeting about the development of the Olympic area. Write a statement on the back of this sheet to take with you. You will have to say:
Whether or not you think the development should go ahead and why
What restrictions or conditions you would like to see in the development of the area (e.g. the development should go ahead, but only if .)
Questions to ask the Olympic planning committee
London Olympics Role Play
Local youth community sports centre
You run a local youth sports centre. Naturally you are very excited about the Olympic games coming to Newnham, but you also have some concerns. How will the development of the area affect you? Consider the following points:
Young athletes need role models and something to inspire them
Your current facilities are old and quite basic
Will you b able to use the new facilities and how much will they cost?
Fill in the table below to show the advantages and disadvantages for you of London hosting the Olympics
Advantages (good things)
Disadvantages (bad things)

You are going to go to a local planning meeting about the development of the Olympic area. Write a statement on the back of this sheet to take with you. You will have to say
Whether or not you think the development should go ahead and why
What restrictions or conditions you would like to see in the development of the area (e.g. the development should go ahead, but only if .)
Questions to ask the Olympic planning committee
London Olympics Role Play
Olympic committee
You are members of the Olympic planning committee. You are in charge of the plans for development of the area of Newnham in preparation for the Olympic Games. You are going to hear comments and concerns from the following groups of people:
1) Local business man
2) Elderly residents
3) Young family
4) Sports fan in Manchester
5) Environmentalists
6) Local youth community sports centre
They will be asking you questions about how you are going to make the Games benefit all of them.
Read the following information so you are prepared to answer the questions and convince them that the Olympics will be good for them all.
The Games will be a zero-waste Games by avoiding landfill and using waste as a resource for recycling and re-use
The Games will transform this area into one of the largest urban parks created in Europe more than 150 years, stretching 20 miles from the Hertfordshire countryside to the tidal estuary of the River Thames.
A network of footpaths, cycleways and canal towpaths will link the communities on either side of the valley.
Riverside housing, shops, restaurants and cafes will provide new amenities for the local community.
New playing fields will sit alongside the world-class sport facilities that will be adapted for community use.
The natural river system of the valley will be restored, canals would be dredged and waterways widened. Birdwatchers and ecologists will be able to enjoy three hectacres of new wetland habitat.
And the park will be planted with native species, including oak, ash, birch, hazel, holly, blackthorn and hawthorn, providing a home for wildlife in the middle of the city.
The Olympic Park area will generate 12,000 new jobs, in sectors as diverse as construction, tourism and the media.
Training programmes and volunteering opportunities will improve skills for local people, opening up access to new jobs
9,000 new homes will be created, alongside new schools, health and community facilities. Half of these homes would be designated as affordable housing.
A new generation of Londoners will enjoy access to state-of-the-art sports facilities, from elite Olympians and Paralympians to national and local leagues.
V. Conclusion:
Role-plays require more imagination by students and teacher and can be difficult to manage because they are unpredictable. The initial scenario develops from the students interacting with each other and can literally go in any direction. This gives students practice in a non-threatening environment, and gives the motivation and involvement where they have to think in English. Role-plays are interesting, memorable and engaging, and students retain the material they have learned. In their assumed role, students drop their shyness and other personality and cultural inhibitions, making them one of the best tools available for teaching a second language.
Staging role-plays can be challenging for an instructor, but is also great fun. After you have done a few, you will know what to expect and feel more confident. My experience is students love them, retain what they learn, and often leave the classroom laughing and still arguing!

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