Effectiveness of Roleplay in Enhancing Speaking Skills of Tertiary Level Learners

Abstract

The changeover from the existing methodology of talk and chalk approach for language acquisition to technology driven approaches in the educational setup is recommended for improving language skills especially speaking skills. Though technical skills are important, a diagnostic test is conducted on speaking in English for the purpose of placement. Recruiters require candidates to possess excellent communication skills to adapt to international scenario. Therefore communication skills laboratory was introduced to enable task based language learning thereby equipping the student with the required speaking skills. This paper discusses the importance of speaking skills for the technical student and brings forth an analytical perception of how role play emerges as a successful task based learning for all the four skills. I. Significance Of Introducing Technical EnglishTechnical English for engineers was introduced by Anna university for the undergraduate learners of BE/ B.Tech degree programme in the first year of the study and tested in first and second end-semester examination. The purpose of introducing the course was to improve their communicative competence in the workplace. The focus of the course design was to equip the students in all the four language skills (LSRW) to meet the professional demands and also to inculcate interpersonal communication skills in English. But over the years, though the syllabus had all the four language skills, the testing was and is done only on reading and writing. Students are equipped in the knowledge of grammar, writing letters, giving instructions, suggesting recommendations etc...Due to the mushrooming of the IT and ITes sector in India, there was a pressing need to equip the student in the spoken language.

Improving the English Speaking Ability of Sixth Grade Thai Students Using the Role-play Technique

“…From this response, it can be implied that some students were still struggling during the activity. This outcome is in line with Bharathy's (2013) study that some students are passive listeners which can result in unproductive performances. Despite the drawback of the method, the results in the post-test indicate the improvement of students' speaking achievement.…”

“…Therefore, the use of role-play activities can produce a fun and suitable environment for learners to enjoy the lesson and further develop their speaking abilities as well as providing more opportunities for them to interact with other students (Rahimy & Safarpour, 2012;Arham et al, 2016;Setiawan, 2019). Bharathy (2013) stated that students that participate in role-playing have improved comprehension, motivation, and confidence. She added that it enables students to empathize with the character they are playing and inspires them to learn how to cope with the unexpected problems that occur and how to solve them.…”

Permasalahan Pertuturan Dalam Bahasa Arab Sebagai Bahasa Kedua

“…Mereka tidak digalakkan membaca daripada Volume 14(1), February 2014(http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/GEMA-2014-1401 ISSN: 1675-8021 skrip yang disediakan. Aktiviti ini didapati dapat menggalakkan pemupukan semua kemahiran bahasa ke arah kemahiran berkomunikasi (Bharathy 2013). …”

Enhancing Business Communication Skills: An Action Research

“…Bharathy (2013) supported introducing role-play to students to promote English language ability, including speaking actively. According to Bharathy (2013) the combined input of all four skills for both procedures and receptive skills helped students understand the language better.…”