Lecture 6

Lecture 6
Role playing and scenario analysis based teaching

1.What is scenario based role playing?
Scenarios and role plays involve giving participants a prompt, problem
statement or example situation and observing them interact with the issue in real
time. This may involve using actors and props that dynamically respond to
participants decisions and interactions.
2.What is the role playing method in teaching?
Role play is a form of experiential learning (Russell & Shepherd, 2010).
Students take on assigned roles and act out those roles through a scripted play. The
role play can be carried out one-to-one (individual role play) or as a group role
play with each member in the group taking on a role/character.
3.What is role playing based learning?
Role playing can be effectively used in the classroom to:
 Motivate and engage students.
 Enhance current teaching strategies.
 Provide real-world scenarios to help students learn.
 Learn skills used in real-world situations (negotiation, debate, teamwork,
cooperation, persuasion)
4.What are the 4 types of role play?

Methodologies include conflict roleplay, cooperative roleplay, information
gap roleplay, and task-based roleplay.
5. Why role playing is important in teaching?
Role-playing, one of the communicative teaching methods, is believed
to develop learners' speaking competence and help them learn the language in an
authentic context. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to examine the
relationship between the role-play teaching method and students' speaking
competence.
Role Playing
Role play exercises give students the opportunity to assume the role of a
person or act out a given situation. These roles can be performed by individual
students, in pairs, or in groups which can play out a more complex scenario. Role
plays engage students in real-life situations or scenarios that can be “stressful,
unfamiliar, complex, or controversial” which requires them to examine personal
feelings toward others and their circumstances (Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p.47).
Unlike simulations and games which often are planned, structured activities and
can last over a long period of time, role play exercises “are usually short,
spontaneous presentations” but also can be prearranged research assignments
(Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p.47).
Benefits of Role Playing
Role playing can be effectively used in the classroom to:
 Motivate and engage students

 Enhance current teaching strategies
 Provide real-world scenarios to help students learn
 Learn skills used in real-world situations (negotiation, debate, teamwork,
cooperation, persuasion)
 Provide opportunities for critical observation of peers
Role plays can be effectively used in the classroom to provide real-world scenarios
to help students learn.
Guidelines in Developing Role Playing Exercises
Using a set of guidelines can be helpful in planning role playing exercise. Harbour
and Connick (2005) offer the following:
 If you plan to use role playing as a graded exercise, introduce small, non-
graded role plays early in and during the semester to help students prepare for
a larger role play which will be assessed.
 Determine how the role play will be assessed: will observers be given an
assessment rubric? Will observers’ remarks and scores be shared with the role
players? Will the observers’ scores be included with the instructor’s scores?
Will the role players be given the opportunity to revise and present the role
play again? Will observers be taught how to properly assess the performance
(include meaningful feedback that is not purely judgmental but rather justify
all remarks that are practical and unbiased)?
 Instruct students that the purpose of the role play is to communicate a message
about the topic and not focus as much on the actual person acting the role.
 Tie role plays to learning objectives so students see their relevance to course
content.
 Allow time for students to practice the role play, even if it is spontaneous, so
they will be able to think deeply about the role and present it in a meaningful
way.
 Reduce large chunks of content into smaller sections which can be more
effectively presented as a role play.
 When assigning a role play, explain its purpose and answer questions so
students are able to properly prepare the exercise. Provide guidelines about
content to include: general presentation behavior (eye contact, gestures, voice
projection); use of props; and specific language to be used (content-related
vocabulary) and language not to be used (profanity, slang).
 Challenge all students equally when assigning role plays so everyone will be
assessed on equal ground.
Examples of Role Play Exercises
Students can gain additional (and alternative) meaning from the context of
role playing than from non-context specific book learning and lectures. By means
of guidance from clearly developed objectives and instructions, role plays can help
students gain knowledge and skills from a variety of learning situations:
Role plays provide students with the opportunity to take part in activities
which mirror career-related scenarios.
 Interview practice—In preparation for career interviews, students can assume

the role of the interviewer and/or the interviewee.
 Marketing—In preparation for a class presentation, students can assume the
position of a sales representative and sell a product.
 Retailing—To help prepare students for a guest speaker in merchandising
course, students can play the role of sales manager and sales representative to
gain better insight on the responsibilities of these positions.
 Counseling—In preparing for clinical practice, students can role play a family
therapist whose client has revealed she has committed a criminal act.
 Teaching—In preparation for a job fair, students can role play the teacher and
the student, or the administrator and the student, or the teacher and a parent.
 Debates—As a spontaneous exercise, the instructor has students briefly
prepare arguments for and arguments against positions on a topic such
as Logging in the Northwest and the Spotted Owl, Arab-Israeli Conflict or
Airline Flight Departure Delays.
Summary
Role plays provide students with the opportunity to take part in activities
which mirror career-related scenarios. To help students understand the use of role
playing sessions, role plays should be content-focused, match learning objectives,
and be relevant to real-world situations. Role playing exercises encourage students
to think more critically about complex and controversial subjects and to see
situations from a different perspective. When properly employed, role plays can
motivate students in a fun and engaging way. Role play activities for
communicative skills. Questioning skills. Feedback skills. Modeling skills. Self-
monitoring skills. Dialogue skills.

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Lecture 6

Role playing and scenario analysis based teaching

4.What are the 4 types of role play?

Benefits of Role Playing

Role playing can be effectively used in the classroom to:

 Motivate and engage students

Examples of Role Play Exercises

 Interview practice—In preparation for career interviews, students can assume

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