ROLE PLAY STRATEGY USING FABLES IN LEARNING AND TEACHING ENGLISH

CIELO CATALINA MONTENEGRO

JENNY PAOLA NIÑO TORRES

YEIMY LORENA RUIZ CAMARGO

MARÍA TERESA ESTEBAN

PEDAGOGICAL AND TECNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBIA

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

MODERN LANGUAGES ENGLISH - SPANISH

APPLIED LINGUISTICS

TUNJA

2015
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ROLE PLAY STRATEGY USING FABLES IN LEARNING AND TEACHING ENGLISH ........ 4

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 4

JUSTIFICATION ............................................................................................................................ 5

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .............................................................................................. 6

RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................. 7

OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................................. 7

General objective: ....................................................................................................................... 7

Specific objectives: ..................................................................................................................... 7

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................. 8

CORE CONCEPTS OF OUR PROJECT ................................................................................... 8

Role play: .................................................................................................................................... 8

Classroom interaction: ................................................................................................................ 8

Communicative Interaction:........................................................................................................ 9

Fables: ....................................................................................................................................... 10

First view: ................................................................................................................................. 10

Second view: ............................................................................................................................. 12

LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................................................................. 13

First study.................................................................................................................................. 13

Second study ............................................................................................................................. 14

Third study ................................................................................................................................ 15

Fourth study .............................................................................................................................. 16

RESEARCH DESIGN .................................................................................................................. 17

Type of study: ........................................................................................................................... 17

Population: ................................................................................................................................ 17
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Context: ..................................................................................................................................... 17

METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................ 17

Method: ......................................................................................................................................... 17

Instruments:............................................................................................................................... 18

DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................... 19

Objective of the survey ............................................................................................................. 19

FINDINGS .................................................................................................................................... 23

CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................... 24

Reference....................................................................................................................................... 25
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ROLE PLAY STRATEGY USING FABLES IN LEARNING AND TEACHING ENGLISH

INTRODUCTION

The main core of this project is in terms of how role play activities could encourage to
explore interaction in students of first semester of modern languages at UPTC through performing Commented [U1]: Word order

and interpreting fables. Besides this project is based on role play activities for knowing the attitude,
interest, needs, abilities and weaknesses in the students with English language learning process.
Therefore this project attempts to give students the opportunity to increase the knowledge through
literature based on fables.

Likewise, this research can be taken as an important advance, for carrying out the role play
activities, and at the same time students would be introducing in an early interpretation of literature.
It would help in students English learning process who prove any kind of problem in speaking and
communicative skill. Moreover, this proposal is emphasized on applying role play activities using
specific literature as fables, for exploring and starting an interaction with English by dynamic,
attractive and motivating way for students of first semester of modern languages. Then, these kinds
of role plays activities could give them the opportunity to discover that a foreign language is not
traditional, repetitive and routinely as most of them perceive it

This research comprises the development of the following aspects: the justification, a literature
review which is supported this project followed by the research question and objectives.
Furthermore, it is centered on a descriptive method; since, the research is based on observation and
analysis of role play activities. Nevertheless, the tools that will be used are the observations,
interviews, and audio-record. Thus the information is collected, selected and analyzed with the
purpose of presenting an educative help in the English learning. Finally, the data analysis is
represented to be read by students and teachers of modern language program with the purpose of
improving the English learning process.
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JUSTIFICATION

This research can be considered as an important inquiry, because with role play activities, the
students explore and begin their interaction with English language and interaction among
themselves. It can contribute to improve their quality of education and the students could establish
meaningful contact with language. Interpersonal relation could be more enjoyable, because students
interact often with their classmates and they share moments, knowledge and feelings through
performance of fables. Role play gives students the opportunity to interact because they would be
able to use different language and vocabulary according to real uses of those.

Role play activities would encourage students to express in different situations. It is a simulation
that enables students to find situations that include love, dreams, wishes and messages. It is a place
where culture and experience convene and where a world is constructed using a foreign language in
a playful environment. Role play activities using fables could encourage students to communicate
effectively without feel ashamed because with this tool they will have to speak with an specific
character role and it allows them to be more confident with themselves when speaking in real
situations, and it also could help them not to feel shy in front of those classmates who have a better
language level.

In the language exploring, the students have the capacity of improving their knowledge through the
activities that develop their skills, interest along the role play activities, the students increase their
vocabulary and interaction with English; likewise, the students would produce their own story
using the new language with the purpose of stimulate their creativity and imagination in fables’
creation so as to they and their classmates can use these fables to represent through role play.

Also, role play would allow students to show their emotions and transmit them destroying shyness
and exploring themselves and their feelings. Not only respecting others but also themselves not to
making fun of the classmates’ performance.
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STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The students of first semester of modern languages at UPTC have difficulties to interact and
produce in English language. Those learners feel ashamed to express their ideas in group. They
need to begin and explore their knowledge in English and also their skills and interests using
material according with their needs.

Accordingly, it is necessary that those kinds of learners improve their interaction in English
language and interaction among them based on role play activities. The teacher should create an
adequate environment for the learning process. In general, the problem is to begin the interaction
with English language, which young learners would use in the future for communication and
exploring other cultures.

Students of first semester of modern languages at UPTC, come from different regions of the
country what implies that they have different English language levels for that reason those who
have not a good level, would feel less confident to participate actively during the develop of the
classes than those who come with a previous knowledge of English and have a good level.

Based on the observations developed we found students came to the university with a lack of basic
concepts and it makes they could not produce and understand most of the topics developed during
the class, for that reason the teacher cannot advance and most of the time he/she has to teach them
the previous knowledge that is supposed they should have.

Even the Modern Languages Program offers conversational clubs, students do not take advantage
of those. However some of them use this tool not only to improve their speaking skill but also to
increase their vocabulary. So, what would happen with those students who do not assist to those
kinds of activities, and do not have autonomous learning? It could affect those students who are
commitment with their own learning process.

This problem is not only student’s fault it is also about teacher’s proficiency. Based on the
observations teachers are more focused on grammar structures teaching than activities related to the
reinforcement of skills. To overcome those situations teachers should motivate students to use
different tools to increase and improve their communicative competence.
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 How does the role play strategy could encourage students of first semester of modern
languages at UPTC to begin the interaction with English among themselves through the
performance of fables?

OBJECTIVES

General objective:
 To establish how role play activities, as strategy helps to begin the interaction with English
and among students of first semester of modern languages at UPTC through the fables.

Specific objectives:
 To determine the effect of using role play activities for beginning the interaction with
English.
 To identify the interaction with English through role play activities based on fables.
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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

CORE CONCEPTS OF OUR PROJECT

Role play:
There are many strategies for teaching English, although it is important that the strategies
contribute to improve student’s difficulties and environment inside the classroom, since this
research tries to show that the role play could help to improve student’s difficulties to interact in the
classroom

Role play is an effective communicate source for helping the students to overcome different
problems and to speak in front of the public. Most of the cases, students feel apprehensiveness to
use foreign language and to feel embarrassed for making a mistake. Brown (114, 45). Likewise,
Holland. C.E (1978, 168) describes that role play permits student to express their ideas and
situations demonstrating their oral abilities, furthermore, role play allows the students to
experiment their mental capacity with new roles improving their own concentration by the
application of new knowledge and so, imagination, creativity and analysis will be manifested in
great dimension.

We focused on a singular kind of role play: “story role play” that is related with the game that most
of the time with a self-made character. When people do not have a self-made character, they play
whit the name where they are known with.

Classroom interaction:
Before speaking about interaction, it is relevant to talk about communication Ann Thomas
mentioned in Baron (2005, 23) (1991, 13) considered that classroom communication of an
administrative or organizational nature is carried out through a mixture of language and gesture, the
teacher gives order or instructions, or makes gestures like painting to student and the primary
purpose of classroom communication, it is a pedagogic one, the teacher is a command of a body of
knowledge and of skills that s/he is to need to transmit to the students, create a friendly
environment: teacher should invest some class time in learning students names, asking about other
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classes, inquiring about student’s life outside class, or sharing something about their own. These
informal interactions offer a chance to use facilitative responses.

Communicative Interaction:
Communicative interaction describes the interactive process that exists amongst members of an
organization. In this process, knowledge emerges from the social act of gesture-response. Identity
is reinforced, shaped, and sometimes transformed -- as the interaction both results in continuity and
has the potential for transformation.

Communicative interaction is a self-referential process in which individual minds are formed by

power relationships while they are, at the same time, forming those power relationships in both
private relations with themselves and public forms of power relations with other. (Stacey, 2001,
150)

Process of communicative interaction --

communicative interaction is a process of perpetual construction in the living present between

human bodies and the context they find themselves in the detailed, self-organizing process of
bodily communicative interaction forms and is formed by itself as the same time, in a circular,
reflexive, self-referential causality and is the cause of the movement toward a known-unknown
future is self-organizing self-organizing the patterns of communicative interaction between people
as narrative themes propositional themes which results in variation (novelty) when those interacting
are diverse produce themes, patterns of communicative interaction, having characteristics of habit
and spontaneity the interaction itself amplifies small differences in communication into
discontinuous, novel change, so operating as formative cause fantasy and imagination may
laborate and amplify small fluctuations in individual experience into unique, different forms of role
play/silent conversation unique differences between individual persons may be further amplified in
their public interaction with each other from the interactions emerges meaning, or knowledge,
emerges in this local communicative process in the living present freedom of choice and intention
within the conflicting constraints of power relations knowing is the process of communicative
interaction
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Fables:
The word fable is derived from a Latin word “fibula” which means a story that is a derivative of a
word “fari” which means to speak. Fable is a literary device which can be defined as a concise and
brief story intended to provide a moral lesson at the end.

In literature, it is described as a didactic lesson given through some sort of animal story. In prose
and verse, a fable is described through plants, animals, forces of nature and inanimate objects by
giving them human attributes wherein they demonstrate a moral lesson at the end.

Features of Fable:
A fable is intended to provide a moral story.

Fables often use the main characters as animals that are presented with anthropomorphic
characteristics such as the ability to speak and to reason.

Fables personify the animal characters.

The purpose of writing fables is to convey a moral lesson and message. Fables also give readers a
chance to laugh at the follies of human beings and they can be employed for the objective of satire
and criticism. They are very helpful in teaching children good lessons based on examples.
However, in literature, fables are used for didactic purposes at a much broader level. Commented [U2]: Que autor habla sobre esto

First view:
From the discussion of communicative teaching methodology, we can find that the function of
language is not elicited from the forms of language, but its obligatory contexts. The contexts may
be various; however, the forms of contexts still have some regular patterns to follow. D, Wilkins
0(1976) thus raised the notional syllabuses, which arranged teaching program mostly on the basis
of contexts instead of being limited by the forms of sentences. To apply to the teaching contents to
the desire of language application, communication becomes a widely used technique. According to
it, Wilkins put forward the issue of role-play, which is actually an imitation the reality. The
students are required to speak properly in line with the contexts and their "roles". The whole
procedure is as follows:
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When organizing the practice of role-play, the teacher must provide a context and several roles for
students to prepare and then perform in the class, the performance can be developed by several
groups. When one is performing, the other students are audience and discuss its advantages and
disadvantages afterward, the discussion itself is also a kind of practice.

Empirical evidence derived from Wilkins' research and theories proved that role-play is an effective
technique to animate the teaching and learning atmosphere, arouse the interests of learners, and
make the language acquisition impressive. Wilkins had proposed the general figures and theories
for role-play, while some further researches were applied for this subject by the other researchers;
more problems were thus raised to be solved afterwards. Fraser, Rintell, and Walters (1980) proffer
role-play as a useful means to study learners' pragmatic competence. Therefore, many contextual
features are important in determining how a speaker will behave .in a role-play; the speech act can
be kept constant while the contextual features are varied. Many dimensions of a learner's pragmatic
competence may be explored in this way .in Fraser, Rintell and Walter's procedure; they also used
role-plays with puppets when the subjects have been children. From the two theoretical and
empirical studies, we can get general concepts of role-play. Some further and more concise issues
may be raised by the research as follows:

The purpose of role-play that applies to practical usage in communication demands the flexibility
of participants' words, generally speaking, the more approximately the activity access to reality, the
more interests students will take in .so the choice of roles and contexts become very important.
When teachers design a role-play, they must take students' ages and experience into consideration.
To sum up, the studies recited above presented the general research for role-play and affirmed the
positive effect of role-play, which is proved to be useful in communicative teaching method .The
lack of findings on this subject may be due to the fact that they did not give particular illustration
for the regulation of the relationship between the teaching roles and learning roles. In this activity,
students obviously played a center role. However, teachers should be a surveyor and control the
whole situation in order to make class going on smoothly. And how can teacher control the
procedure successfully? And how should teachers do when some negative things appear? My
proposed study will try to provide some empirical evidence for solving such problems.
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Second view:

There are many benefits of using role play. Furness (1976) stated that a child can enjoy and profit
from a role play experience "in terms of improved communication skills, creativity, increased
social awareness, independent thinking, verbalization of opinions, development of values and
appreciation of the art of drama."(p.19) He provided seventeen advantages of role-play.

Ladousse (2004) indicated that "role play is one of a whole gamut of communicative techniques
which develops fluency in language students, which promotes interaction in the classroom, and
which increases motivation." (p.7) In addition, he pointed out that role play encourages peer
learning and sharing the responsibility for learning between teacher and student. He suggested role
play to be "perhaps the most flexible technique in the range" of communicative techniques, and
with suitable and effective role-play exercises, teachers can meet an infinite variety of needs.
(Ladousse, 2004, p. 7)

Stern (1983) suggested "role playing helps the individual to become more flexible" and "develop a
sense of mastery in many situations". (p. 213) she suggested "through role play, L2 learners can
experience many kinds of situations in which they will use the language; and as they develop a
sense of mastery in them, they should be able to apply the language more easily to new situations."
(p.213)
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LITERATURE REVIEW
We could not find any specifically information or literature review about role play using fables; we
just found literature review about studies that are made about role play in EFL classrooms.

First study
Investigating Role-play Implementation: A Multiple Case Study on Chinese EFL Teachers Using
Role-play in Their Secondary Classrooms

This study explored role-play implementation in secondary school EFL classrooms in China with a
main research question: How can Chinese EFL teachers make effective use of role-play in their
classroom teaching? To explore this question, the author reviewed relevant literature and proposed
a theoretical framework for the use of role-play that incorporates three lenses: particular research
background in Chinese EFL education context (including a proposed CRCTL approach to meet
learner’s cultural needs), theoretical ground for positioning role-play in EFL education, and
introduction of particular role-play literature (concept, strength and weakness, tutor roles and tasks,
previous research studies). A multiple case study on seven Chinese EFL teachers using role-play in
their classes is the overall methodology and data were obtained from individual/focus group
interviews, direct classroom observations, and questionnaires. The findings not only reflected the
benefits of role-play as a language teaching strategy; the strength of CRCLT in particular cultural
contexts, but also responded to a complex question of the needs of teachers and students doing role-
play in EFL classrooms in China and to the question of a series of issues that need to be considered
in order to meet their needs. Based on the findings, recommendations to classroom teachers,
teacher educators and educational administrators have been made followed by a sample role-play
project “Christmas” which integrates various levels of role-play in different EFL classes. Supported
by detailed information from classrooms, this study intends to facilitate more in-depth discussions
from researchers and V practitioners regarding role-play implementation in EFL classrooms. This
study is expected not only to be helpful for EFL teachers and students in China but also for those in
other countries.
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Second study
Developing students’ speaking skills through role-play

World Scientific News

The finality of some societies is to be globalized and the increase of English as a lingua franca,
allows them to be part of globalization. This is one of the reasons what communication is important
in people lifes. There are different reasons that we considered to choose this article according to
Kuśnierek (2015) People have different skills as (speaking, reading, listening and writing) to
communicate each others and the most relevant one is speaking. In that sense, it is important the
teaching for improving communicative skills because as Kuśnierek said “being able to speak a
foreign language means having communicative efficiency.” It is almost impossible to imagine a
world in what people could communicate each others.

In classroom this the most difficult one to develop because when students leave the classroom don´t
have the opportunity to improve their communicative skill because of their environment. So for that
reason the teacher’s task is to improve this skill in their students in less time but sometimes they are
not focusing in that component because they are focused on grammar things. As a preliminary
questionnaire Kuśnierek asked some students about which language skill causes the most
difficulties and the results were that some of them answered that one of the most difficult skill is
speaking. When teacher asked about the degree of difficulty in communicating in English almost
all the students answered that this depended on the topic. Before the implementation of the role
play activities, Kuśnierek found some conclusions about the use of role play in that specific context
and population.

One of the problems that she could found was that some teachers of Polish colleges didn’t focus on
speaking aspects or in developing students’ communicative skill because they were focusing on
grammar aspects. Also students were agree about that they increased their vocabulary and that they
improve their communicative competence using role play activities and finally, some students
argued that they overcame their fears during the speaking lessons and they felt confortable with the
communication in the classroom
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Third study
British council- BBC teaching English- role play

Why use role-play?

It is widely agreed that learning takes place when activities are engaging and memorable.
Jeremy Harmer advocates the use of role-play for the following reasons:

It's fun and motivating, quieter students get the chance to express themselves in a more
forthright way and the world of the classroom is broadened to include the outside world - thus
offering a much wider range of language opportunities.

J, Budden, British Council, Spain 2004.

In this Project role play is taken as an encouraging strategy and we took this article because it
mentions what is the role play’s intention as a engaging and creative way of increasing vocabulary
and improving speaking skill, furthermore we took the idea that creating real situations could
encourage the students to practice without have consequences from making mistakes so as to they
would not to feel ashamed or scared to be wrong in front of their classmates.

This article also propose that if the teacher believes that the activity works and the necessary
support is provided, it could be very successful but if the teacher thinks the role play strategy is not
going to work the activity would fail. In that way, role play also is encouraging activity not only for
learning process but also for teaching.

We decided to take this article based on the idea that Role Play take place when activities are
memorable, because it represents meaningful learning for the students and they could use that
language in their daily life or when they travel abroad reinforcing and improving their
communicative competence and English language level because role play provides more
opportunities of learn wider and different language.
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Fourth study
USING ROLE PLAY IN STUDENT’S SPEAKING ABILITY

This research uses Classroom Action Research. The classroom Action Research that is used in this
research adopting the Kurt Lewin’s design; it consist of 2 cycles. Every cycle consists of four
phases those are: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The subject of this research is the
students in VIII. In collecting data, this research uses observation, questionnaire, and test.

Based on the research findings, it can be said that using role play technique in teaching speaking is
success were achieved. The criterion of action success is 75% of students could achieve the target
score of the minimal mastery level criteria of English lesson was 65. The findings of the study are:
first, related to the test result, they were 4 students or 11.11% of students in the class who achieved
the minimal mastery lever criterion or in pretest. Next, in the result of posttest in cyle1, there were
13 or 36.11% students who achieved the minimal mastery criterion. Next, in the result of posttes in
cycle 2, they were 32 or 88.88% in the class who achieves the minimal mastery level criterion.
Second, related to the observation result showed that the students were braver and more confident
in speaking. It can be seen from their participation in the class, their participation in the
conversation, and their performance. Third, related to the questionnaire result, it is proved that the
response of the students toward the teacher professionalism and their interest in learning speaking
using role play technique is 75.00% and 78.51% that means it falls into the strong and very strong
category. It can be concluded that most of that students love role play technique. Moreover, they
admitted that their speaking ability is improved.
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RESEARCH DESIGN
Type of study:
For developing this research it is necessary to use descriptive research because according to
Sampier, R (2000, 95) the descriptive studies search to find specify characteristics of a person,
group, community or any phenomenon that can be analyze. In this project, descriptive research is
based on observation and analysis of role play activities, to know student attitude, interest, needs,
abilities and weakness with English language using and how role play activities improved their
knowledge and interaction sectioning the fundamental features that characterize oral expression.

Population:
The students of first semester of modern languages at UPTC do not have good command of the
English language, because, during the observation, some students showed a low motivation to learn
because they did not participate in the activity; we could infer it is because of their last experiences
in English according to principal and teacher’s opinions.

Context:
Pedagogical and Technological university of Colombia is a public higher education institution
located in Tunja. This university offers different programs in different cities. The research was
focused on students of first semester of modern languages Program, this program is centered on the
communicative approach. Students take four hours of classes per week for sixteen weeks
approximately.

METHODOLOGY
Method:
In this project, we interviewed different students from first semester of Modern languages to
recognize the interviewees´ opinions about role play strategy to improve their speaking skill during
the learning and teaching process.

The way in which those interviews were carried out was through audio record and these were the
questions to get their opinions.

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION BETWEEN

YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
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2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR COMMUNICATIVE

COMPETENCE?
3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?
4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?

Instruments: This research has the objective to determine how role play activities could encourage
students to initiate the interaction with foreign language and the same as the way they interacted
among themselves. It was necessary to use tools such as observation and audio-record for gathering
information. With tool is gathered many relevant and valued information of great usefulness for
this research, it carried out the following way, first, we gathered the information from observations,
then compared it with students believes through interviews, in order to answer the research
question.
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DATA ANALYSIS

Objective of the survey

Recognize the interviewees´ opinions about role play strategy use to improve their speaking skill
during the learning and teaching process in first semester of modern languages program.

FORMAT

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION

BETWEEN YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE?

3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?

4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?

STUDENT #1

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION

BETWEEN YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
- I think that it is very bad because... oh my classrooms and I perhap do not
have good relationship.

2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE?
- Strategies? Mmm I do not know. I think that. What I can say? Reinfor que
era?
I think that I do not have any strategy, because I think that I am a person and I
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do not shane my personality for any person or for I want to speak with new
person, I am a person and no more.

3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?

- No, I do not know what is it, but I think that it can could be a play,or I do not
know but perhaps is for the play for interaction with other persons.
4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
- Fable perhaps is similar like a the animals speaking in order in a story. Mmm
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?
- Creo que en nada. Well, perhaps the role play can do help me to improve my
speaking skill is because the role play I can do practice all the grammar
because is a pronounce because is a pragmatic, other things I can do practice
that and for this reason I can do improve my skill.

STUDENT #2

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION

BETWEEN YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
- Eee I consider that the interaction between my partners is bad, because we do
not speak English very well.
2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE?
- I use , I like to listen music and watch videos.

3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?

- No
4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
- No, tampoco.
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?
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- I think that these activities we help because these activities are funny and
creative.

STUDENT #3

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION

BETWEEN YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
- I consider that this interaction is just when I need to do any work or
something that I need in class, but not like to talk to make like a friendship.
2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE?
- I use like a internet, talking with different people in a page called (______) or
sometimes i talk in English with my cousin.

3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?

- Something like that. Role play is like to act.
4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
- No, I do not know.
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?
- It could improve a lot because this is a different way to learn something new

STUDENT #4

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION

BETWEEN YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
- I think so this my interaction with my parents in the classroom was very well
because there is confidence and no more.
2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE?
- Different activities like listening, speaking, and playing roles. Yes.
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3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?

- Yes, I think so this is a play that I look like with a different person.
4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
- En Inglés también? It is a… no, I do not know.
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?
- Well, this activity improve communication with my parents and improve
expressions with other persons

STUDENT #5

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION

BETWEEN YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
- Well, in the classroom the interaction with my friends is really active and is so
good because the teacher teach us how to speak in a good way.
2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE?
- Well, I guess listening some music, watching some programs with subtitles and
I guess the video games can improve a really help.

3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?

- I do not know
4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
- Neither.
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?
- Well, I guess that the role play could help us to be more interactive on our
speaking and conversations because we get life on a character maybe on
animals or some epic characters and I guess is good.
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STUDENT #6

1. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER IS THE SPEAKING INTERACTION

BETWEEN YOUR PARTNERS AND YOU IN THE CLASSROOM?
- Sometimes is very difficult because too much people do not have the same
level and it is very difficult for that but we working at the end of the classes we
have a progress.
2. WICH STRATEGIES DO YOU USE TO REINFORCE YOUR
COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE?
- I try to listen in movies video games music and I try to share that information
with my close friends and I think that is the most strategy that I use

3. DO YOU KNOW WHAT ROLE PLAY IS?

- I do not know.
4. DO YOU KNOW WHAT A FABLE IS?
- It is like a short history acting with animals.
5. IN WHAT SENSE ROLE PLAY USING FABLES COULD HELP YOU TO
IMPROVE THE SPEAKING SKILL?
- I think it is very useful because the person that is acting forget the pressure
and can moving on and have a biggest progress.

As Data Analysis we could say most of students have not the English level to interact and to
communicate among themselves. They do not react in front of basics answers and simple structures
at the moment to speak. We could identify some problems related with students and teacher too.

FINDINGS
During the observation, students showed a little interaction in English language. Due to their
mother place most of them present shyness attitude in front of the teacher and also with their
partners. We found most of them have not the required level to interact and to be understood in the
 24

field. Along the interviews we could notice that students are introverted and based also on the
interviews we could say students do not have the level required for their studies.

During the observation class most of students were bored with standardized textbooks and lectures,
and some of them had already become “mute” English learners who would never communicate. In
one session we had, students retell a fable they learnt the day before in small groups when suddenly
a student asked us whether his group could make some changes to the fable. We were surprised, yet
happily agreed. Amazingly, most groups changed the story by adding exciting plots, and
automatically, they selected and performed different roles in the fable and acted them out. We were
fascinated by their outstanding performance, and later on, we tried our best to offer them chances to
use this activity which we found greatly motivated them to enhance their oral skills as well as
grammatical knowledge.

CONCLUSIONS
 We realized the importance to redefine what is meant by role-play in EFL education from a
broader perspective so that language instructors can approach it in a systematic way.
 We began to feel the need to promote discussion and communication among teachers using
role-play to better understand this method and make effective use of it to deal with the
problems.
 Role play is an educational technique, known to generate a lot of fun, excitement, joy and
laughter in the language class as ‘play’ itself guarantees a safe environment in which
learners can be as inventive and playful as possible.
 Role-play in language class has little connection with public theatre. Its purpose is not to
produce a theatre play for an audience but to contribute to students' personality growth and
facilitate their learning by having them respond to situations, dilemmas, or conflicts as they
assume the role of imagined characters.
 The use of fables in role play activities can develop students’ language skills, increase their
motivation and interest and make it possible for teachers to teach the language as well as
cultural awareness.
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Literary Deviceshttp://www.createadvantage.com/glossary/communicative-interaction