There are three parts to this role play activity: form, meaning and creation. In the first exercise, students are asked to identify the verb forms in the dialog. In the meaning activity, students must collaborate to tell what they think happened in the given situation. In the third activity, students must collaborate to create their own role play given a general situation. Students may work individually, collaboratively or as a whole class with the teacher or a selected student making notes at the board.

 

Here are the procedures (they may also be found in the flash files):

 

1) Go to the third slide. Have the students identify the requested verb forms in the role play. Write them down or simply ask the students to point them out on the screen. The following slide will highlight the verbs in red.

2) Have the students read the role play chorally. Address any problems with vocabulary.

3) The students may work in pairs, groups or as a whole class. In the latter case, the teacher or a more able student will guide learners using the flash files and a white board. Have the students write or orally create a story about what happened in the role play situation. They may include the environment, the speakers and their relationships, their actions and emotions along with anything else they can think of. ‘The more the better’ in this case. These role play interpretations may be presented to the class and discussed as well, depending on time constraints.

4) Next, there is an ‘role play reduction’ exercise. This is simply the given role play/scripted dialog gradually reduced to spaces instead of words. The rationale for this is that role plays often contain 'formulaic chunks' or common and useful patterns of words that are used over and over again in everyday speech. See if the students can identify some of these in this dialog. At the same time, encourage them to notice the order of words (subjects, verbs and objects) and advise them to make an effort to remember some of the vocabulary.

5) Have the students follow the situational cue in the on the following slide. Work together to create your own role play. Have the students perform the role play (random selection, pairs or members of a group). Student’s shouldn’t attempt to memorize every word as in a script nor should they be concerned about grammaticality. The teacher (or, ideally, more able students) may employ mild forms of corrective feedback should there be a problem in expressing an idea. Have them communicate for meaning. Note: the situational cue (the environment and speakers) can be created by the students as well... And have fun!

6) Additionally, students may discuss the performance of role plays in a constructive and positive manner. They may wish to point out common errors, misunderstandings, and suggestions for improvement, along with the more positive feedback such as success in organizing the dialog, quality of communication and overall creativity.