A Critical Role for Role-Playing Pedagogy

Abstract

This article draws from practitioners’ experience and from scholarship in a variety of disciplines to construct a rationale for incorporating what we call “critical roleplay” in the English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) classroom. We discuss the historical significance of role-play in TESOL and explore why this type of pedagogy has become less prominent in scholarship from recent decades. We argue for a new direction in role-play pedagogy that foregrounds critical thinking as essential to academic literacy. We describe several role-play activities that were successfully implemented in college-level EAP classes to demonstrate that academic role-play can be both cognitively challenging and linguistically relevant.

Dialogues on Numbers: Script-Writing as Approximation of Practice

“…Additionally, role-playing was used with English language learners, where teachers used role-playing in an attempt to move from a prescribed dialogue to an improvisational one. In this context, Shapiro and Leopold (2012) suggested that implementing role-playing in a classroom provides a "space between practice and play [which] is a fertile ground for cognitive and linguistic growth" (p. 128).…”

Invited Lectures from the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education

“…Additionally, role-playing was used with English language learners, where teachers used role-playing in an attempt to move from a prescribed dialogue to an improvisational one. In this context, Shapiro and Leopold (2012) Abstract Equity in education has been a concern of almost all countries, whether developed, transitional, or in the progress of developing. It is believed that unequal education implies that human potential is being wasted.…”

When Statues Come Alive: Teaching and Learning Academic Vocabulary Through Drama in Schools

“…The apparent dynamism of this particular dramatic activity was that it allowed for a range of interpretations and allowed students to share their own stories. However, in keeping with the critical nature of the investigation, this study also raises questions about what kinds of activities might teach what Shapiro and Leopold (2012) call critical role play, where students become more aware of linguistic structures and intellectual arguments by embodying voices and perspectives that are different from habitual self-expression or their experiences. Along similar lines, the statue activity did allow students to take greater artistic license with language; furthermore, it is worth considering whether students would be as successful with dramatic activities that required more technical vocabulary and register (such as a scientist introducing an invention or hypothesis).…”