ROLE PLAY IN TEACHING SPEAKING ENGLISH TO FUTURE ENGINEERS

Authors

Keywords:

role play, communicative approach, English for Specific Purposes, speaking skills

Abstract

The paper deals with the problem of using role playing techniques for teaching English to future engineers, paying special attention to the development of oral skills. The notion of a role play is defined and compared to the notion of a similar technique – simulation. Several classifications of role plays based on various criteria, such as the number of participants, the location, and the use of aids are given in the paper. Fully scripted, semi-scripted, and non-scripted role plays that may be used in the process of teaching English for specific purposes are described. A number of useful functions (compensative, motivational, educational, instructional, communicative, and entertaining) make this technique a valuable tool in the classroom. Critical structural features of role playing activity, vital for its implementation, are studied in the article. The main elements of a role playing activity, which are supposed to be taken into consideration, are topic; situation; scenario; roles; participants’ actions; task and instruction; real relations between the players; and the use of objects substituting or representing the ones used in the similar real-life situation. The key stages of a role play having various terms by different authors are preparation, explanation, performing the role and debriefing. Language skills are developed at every stage of the activity. The advantages of the use of role play are listed in the paper.

Author Biography

A. L. Kotkovets, National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”

Department of English for Engineering №2

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Education