The relationship between teaching conversation through role play and speaking

Subject Areas : Journal of Teaching English Language Studies

Adel ESMAEELI ¹ , Marjan EBRAHIMI ² , Khalil MIRZAEI ³

1 - M.A. Candidate, English Dept., Islamic Azad University, Takestan Branch, Iran
2 - M.S., Extension and Education Dept., Bualisina University, Hamedan, Iran
3 - PhD, Agri. Extension and Education Dept., Bualisina University, Hamedan, Iran

Received: 2014-11-10 Accepted : 2014-12-20 Published : 2015-02-01

Keywords: conversation, teaching, role-play, speaking development, communicative needs,

Abstract :

Role-plays provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate how to use English in real life situations and make them focus more on communication than on grammar. Oral presentations like conversations are a great way for students to practice their English skills. Therefore, this paper makes an attempt to investigate whether teaching conversation through role play affects the students’ speaking development. The participants were included 50 Iranian junior high students in Iran. The findings showed that participants who received the treatment demonstrated 21% improvement in speaking skill. Thus, the findings suggested that teaching conversation through role play is supposed to be an effective technique in promoting students’ speaking ability.

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