Role-play: A technique to improve communication in a foreign language
37
Jineth Ximena Chamorro Cifuentes
Revista Criterios - vol. 31 n.o 1 January-June 2024 - pp. 37-52
Rev. Criterios ISSN: 0121-8670, e-ISSN: 2256-1161
https://doi.org/10.31948/rev.criterios
Role-play: A technique to improve
communication in a foreign
language
Jineth Ximena Chamorro Cifuentes1
To reference this article / Cómo citar este artículo / Para citar
este artigo: Chamorro-Cifuentes, J. X. (2024). Role-play: A technique
to improve communication in a foreign language. Revista Criterios,
31(1), 37-52. https://doi.org/10.31948/rc.v31i1.3856
Reception date: July 26, 2022
Review date: January 25, 2023
Approval date: August 17, 2023
Abstract
This article is the result of an investigation into the implementation of role-
playing in the classroom as a technique to improve oral production in a foreign
language with 20 sixth-grade students from an educational institution in Nariño.
A eld diary and a SWOT matrix were used, following a qualitative paradigm
with a socio-critical approach. The general objective was to strengthen oral
production in a foreign language using the role-play technique. The data analysis
was carried out by emptying the information and extracting the categories and
subcategories. It was found that the sixth-grade students did not have the level
of English required by the Ministry of Education. Therefore, the role-playing
technique was used as a strategy to improve their ability to express themselves
in English as a foreign language because it is a way to increase their vocabulary,
organize sentences, imagine, and represent characters.
Keywords: Technique; ability; speaking; communication; foreign language.
1Master in Pedagogy.
Research article; it is part of the research entitled: ‘Role-Play as a technique for strengthening the speaking skill in 6th grade students
of the Institución Educativa Fátima, Tablón de Gómez municipality.
Role-play: A technique to improve communication in a foreign language
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Jineth Ximena Chamorro Cifuentes
Revista Criterios - vol. 31 n.o 1 January-June 2024 - pp. 37-52
Rev. Criterios ISSN: 0121-8670, e-ISSN: 2256-1161
https://doi.org/10.31948/rev.criterios
Juego de roles: una técnica para mejorar la
comunicación en lengua extranjera
Resumen
El presente artículo es el resultado de una investigación sobre la implementación
del juego de roles en el salón de clase, como una técnica para mejorar la
producción oral en lengua extrajera en 20 estudiantes de grado sexto de una
institución educativa de Nariño; para ello se utilizó un diario de campo y una
matriz FODA y se siguió un paradigma cualitativo con enfoque sociocrítico. En
este sentido, el objetivo general fue fortalecer la producción oral en lengua
extranjera utilizando la técnica ‘Role-Play’. El análisis de datos se hizo a través del
vaciado de información, extrayendo las categorías y subcategorías, encontrando
que los estudiantes de grado sexto no tienen el nivel de inglés exigido por el
Ministerio de Educación. Por lo anterior, se recurrió a la técnica ‘Role-Play’, como
una estrategia para mejorar la habilidad de expresarse en inglés como lengua
extranjera, puesto que es una forma de aumentar su vocabulario, organizar
oraciones, imaginando y representando personajes.
Palabras clave: técnica; habilidad; habla; comunicación; lengua extranjera.
Jogo de representação: uma técnica
para melhorar a comunicação em língua
estrangeira
Resumo
Este artigo é o resultado de uma investigação sobre a implementação da
dramatização em sala de aula como uma técnica para melhorar a produção
oral em uma língua estrangeira com 20 alunos do sexto ano de uma instituição
educacional em Nariño. Foram utilizados um diário de campo e uma matriz
SWOT, seguindo um paradigma qualitativo com uma abordagem socio crítica.
O objetivo geral era fortalecer a produção oral em uma língua estrangeira
usando a técnica de dramatização. A análise dos dados foi realizada por meio
do esvaziamento das informações e da extração das categorias e subcategorias.
Vericou-se que os alunos da sexta série não tinham o nível de inglês exigido
pelo Ministério da Educação. Portanto, a técnica de dramatização foi usada como
estratégia para melhorar sua capacidade de se expressar em inglês como língua
estrangeira, pois é uma forma de aumentar o vocabulário, organizar frases,
imaginar e representar personagens.
Palavras-chave: técnica; habilidade; oralidade; comunicação; língua
estrangeira.
Role-play: A technique to improve communication in a foreign language
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Jineth Ximena Chamorro Cifuentes
Revista Criterios - vol. 31 n.o 1 January-June 2024 - pp. 37-52
Rev. Criterios ISSN: 0121-8670, e-ISSN: 2256-1161
https://doi.org/10.31948/rev.criterios
Introduction
The present research article reveals the
importance of strengthening the teaching-
learning process in a foreign language,
especially in English, and also of forging in the
students a meaningful learning that focuses on
the interconnection of their basic knowledge
with the new ones, favoring the development
of the four skills in English: listening, speaking,
reading, and writing, necessary to master
a language. To this end, the research work
proposed to strengthen the ability to speak
in English using the technique of ‘role play’
with sixth-grade students of an educational
institution in Nariño.
The teaching of a foreign language has
been characterized as an ally in the search
for alternatives to contribute to the current
state of traditional teaching, so that the new
generations have a command of this new
language, in accordance with government
requirements, although these results require
perseverance in the work done inside and
outside the classroom. Although the teaching
of English is compulsory in this educational
institution, there is no evidence in any
of the documents on le of a search for
methodologies that invite students to learn
in a dierent way from the traditional one.
This became even more evident when, at the
beginning of the school year, the sixth-grade
students showed their apathy towards the
subject, not only with their gestures, but also
with demotivating comments.
This has become a challenge for teachers,
who are constantly searching for adequate
methodologies that allow them to successfully
teach their classes. Therefore, in order for
teaching to be seen as a commitment to the
learners, it is necessary to meet the educational
expectations set by the Ministerio de Educación
Nacional (MEN, 2006), responding to current
social demands. Therefore, the general objective
was to strengthen the oral skills in English
by using the role-play technique with sixth-
grade students, even knowing that the basic
standards of competence in foreign language
(English) include monologue and conversation
as the only technique to practice oral skills. So,
with the technique of role-playing, based on
every day and recurrent vocabulary, we tried
to improve the uency and accuracy of their
conversations, so that from the lower grades
they could be placed at the appropriate level to
complete their high school studies, given the
current demand for people who have mastered
a second language. While it is true that there
is an urgent need for educational institutions
to promote the learning of English, as it is a
universal language, learning it should not be a
torture for students.
Accordingly, this research article has been
carried out for the academic motivation of
presenting a technique for teaching a foreign
language that emphasizes the strengthening of
communicative skills (speaking) and, likewise,
to show a way for students in a certain grade
to reach the level proposed by the MEN and
thus comply with governmental and social
requirements regarding the mastery of a
foreign language, which is why learners should
be in contact with communicative skills without
producing negative emotions and adverse
eects on their learning that prevent them from
eective communication (Moreno et al., 2018).
For all of the above, it is intended to involve
students in the use of role-playing, as a
dierent and novel technique with respect to
the traditional ones normally used in some
educational institutions; thus, the technique
mentioned, taken to its practice, tends to
improve communicative ability in the foreign
language, since oral communication allows the
transfer of information of any kind, including
interaction (Nunan, as cited in Vinueza, 2017).
Concern about the teaching and learning of
second languages has led many researchers
to get involved and provide initiatives that
try to remove the barriers to progress so that
the instruction provided produces the results
needed for learning. Under this understanding,
it is necessary to mention Otoya (2019), who
proposed as a general objective, to determine
the inuence of the application of role-playing
in the oral expression of the English language
in students of a private university in Lima,
Peru. A quantitative methodology using the
hypothetical-deductive method was used. The
technique used was structured observation
through a checklist. The author found that
the application of the technique increased the
students’ level of oral expression in English,
improving comprehensibility, intonation, and
the use of non-verbal resources.
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Revista Criterios - vol. 31 n.o 1 January-June 2024 - pp. 37-52
Rev. Criterios ISSN: 0121-8670, e-ISSN: 2256-1161
https://doi.org/10.31948/rev.criterios
We also allude to the work of Vargas (2018),
developed in Bogotá, Colombia, with fourth-
grade students of a private school, with the
general objective of analyzing their oral
uency through worksheets based on role-
playing games. The methodology used was
qualitative. The techniques used were:
focus group and participant observation,
carried out through instruments such as the
questionnaire and the eld diary. The author
concludes that the role play helped the
students to improve their speaking skills as
well as interaction and teamwork.
Third, we highlight the study of Barrera (2016),
who tried to implement a methodological
proposal to improve orality in English among
eleventh-grade students of an educational
institution in Chía, Cundinamarca, Colombia.
The methodology was mixed. The techniques
implemented were: a survey with closed
questions and non-participant observation,
which led her to conclude that oral communication
in English improved signicantly with the
diverse combination of work done at home
and in class, with the help of electronic media,
and the continuous eorts of teachers inside
and outside the classroom, allowing students
to lose their fear of speaking and expressing
themselves in a foreign language.
Therefore, it is essential to point out that
in order to learn a foreign language, it is
necessary to nd an adequate teaching
methodology, with the intention that students
develop their communicative skills in that
language, emphasizing the practical mastery
of English (López, 2018). However, today’s
society demands that a person not only be
able to understand texts, but also have the
ability to communicate and interact in the
foreign language, which has given way to the
development of the communicative approach
as a dierent and innovative alternative
(Retreage, 2017). It should be claried that
the previous teaching methods have not been
abolished, but their principles and foundations
have been re-adapted to improve English
language teaching.
Accordingly, the contribution of the
communicative approach is highlighted,
since it allows students to make use of real
language in the classroom, where they try to
immerse themselves in real communication.
Authors such as Allen and Widdowson (as cited
in Saura, 2017) refer to the need for a new
approach to language teaching that minimizes
the emphasis on grammar and focuses on the
communicative aspects of the target language.
It can be inferred from this that the methods
that preceded the communicative approach
gave great importance to grammar and
translation, which caused students to learn far
from their contexts and thus prevented them
from facing real communicative situations.
On the contrary, the communicative approach
intends that students learn to express
themselves in a foreign language in an
appropriate and real way; this suggests that
they should know the linguistic system and,
at the same time, use it correctly, since every
language is a social phenomenon and the
learning objective is focused on interaction,
as a basis for exercising their mastery among
subjects of a given group (García, as cited
in Moreno et al., 2017). In this sense, this
approach aims to give more importance to
the language itself, so that the learner uses
the language correctly and thus generates
appropriate communication in the foreign
language, trying to imitate a real context in an
interaction between them.
For Irmawati (cited in Sánchez & Pérez,
2020), the communicative approach is
characterized by promoting eective and
ecient communication, emphasizing uency
and precision; in this way, the objective of
learning the language is for communicative
purposes, highlighting the appropriate use of
its meaning and understandable pronunciation,
combining the four skills and resorting to the
native language or translation when necessary,
obtaining benecial learning.
As for the students, this approach allows
them to take ownership of learning, since
teamwork or, to a greater extent, working
with their peers, gives them the opportunity
and availability to listen carefully to their
classmates, give feedback and, at the same
time, generate autonomy during the process,
leaving aside the teacher as the center of the
class, turning him/her into a facilitator and
guide of knowledge (Richards & Rodgers, cited
in Hernández, 2021). This approach promotes
communicative practices in a more eective
way, valuing the role of the teacher and the
peers, since the achievement obtained is
achieved together, through eort, dedication,
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Revista Criterios - vol. 31 n.o 1 January-June 2024 - pp. 37-52
Rev. Criterios ISSN: 0121-8670, e-ISSN: 2256-1161
https://doi.org/10.31948/rev.criterios
and desire to learn, from their autonomy and
the support of the teacher.
For its part, the teacher’s role is to be an
advisor who intervenes when students have
a problem with the content or design of the
activities, becoming an interlocutor who
promotes dialogue, interaction and reection
between them, which allows him/her to take
mistakes as a means to strengthen skills and
make them progress in their learning process.
Based on this, it is possible to carry out activities
to improve communication deciencies
(Richards & Rodgers, cited in Hernández,
2021); with this, it is evident that he/she is
a mediator to give them the opportunity to
appropriate knowledge and become actors
of learning, with varied activities and tasks
that allow them to develop their skills in the
communicative process.
On the other hand, meaningful learning
becomes relevant when using the role-playing
technique because it allows students to learn
English in a real way without being forced
to perform activities that cause unpleasant
sensations. The aim is for them to feel pleasure
in what they are doing in the classroom, tending
towards signicant learning, which helps them
to connect their previous experiences with
the situations they are living, facing daily
challenges, so that their learning is real and
true, and these are correctly directed by the
teacher, consequently that they go towards the
knowledge of the students (Ausubel, as cited
in Madero, 2018). Likewise, this signicant
learning, in accordance with the role-play
technique, makes the students have direct
contact with the language they are going to
learn, helping them to acquire the necessary
skills so that they can express themselves;
their role is that of a main character, being
the architects of their learning, making
connections between previous knowledge and
new knowledge (Fernández et al., 2018).
Consequently, to learn a foreign language,
students must make a mental process that
allows them to gradually understand and
use the dierent rules and structures of the
new language; in this way they can make
an involuntary contrast between the target
language and the mother tongue; this means
that the more interest, curiosity, and self-
evaluation of the knowledge learned about
the foreign language, the more eective
control they will have (Mirmán-Flores, 2018).
Although a person learning a new language can
use his or her native language as a medium,
it is important that he or she tries to change
various elements that can cause frequent
confusion. Buitrago et al. (2011) point out that
students go through a process of assimilation
into the new linguistic system, which will allow
them to communicate eectively with the new
language they have learned.
It is true that the foreign language is used
and developed only in the classroom, and
when students leave this space, they continue
to use their mother tongue as a means of
communication; however, the development
of the classroom is fundamental to achieve
adequate acquisition and comprehension of
the language; this includes the constant use
of it, the use of dierent visible and tangible
means for the students to understand and
deduce what is spoken (Rivera, 2015), helping
them to feel the taste of using the language
they are learning in the classroom through role
plays; this can become a motivation because
they are the protagonists of their own learning.
Therefore, there is a need to address the
linguistic skills, such as reading, writing,
listening, and speaking, that people need
to make themselves understood in a given
language so that they can generate an
appropriate conversation (Valles et al., 2019).
In the learning of a foreign language, it
is necessary to use the skills of listening,
speaking, reading, and writing in an integrated
manner, with the aim of achieving that the
student reaches eciency in the mastery of
the language he/she is learning, highlighting
that the ability to speak in a foreign language
is considered one of the most important
to develop, because through it you can
express ideas and therefore have an eective
communication. (Leong & Ahmadi, 2017). In
the same sense, Hamidova et al. (2020) arm
that for the teaching of speaking it is necessary
to make an adequate use of words, since they
must have a correct order, with an adequate
pronunciation; in this way the message will be
well received, since it will be clear and precise,
making clear who is the speaker and who is
the receiver, in addition to the circumstances
in which the interaction takes place, as well as
the what, why and for what reason.
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In view of the above, it is necessary that the
teaching of language skills is carried out and
managed in such a way that the students
want to express themselves voluntarily and
use the language they are learning, trying to
make themselves understood, arousing self-
condence and the desire to continue using it,
always trying to improve every day.
In this order of ideas, and in line with Tabak
and Lebron (2017), the role-playing technique
is generally carried out in a group way, in which
there is a great participation of the students, as
they play dierent roles according to a proposed
situation; this implies that they think and act
in the way the character they have decided to
reproduce in their representation would do it.
According to Domene and Romero (as cited
in García-Barrera, 2015), the role play can be
worked by forming small groups, since each of
them will have dierent themes to show and
each team will present individually, so that the
other participants can pay full attention to them
and make some comments about them if they
think it is necessary. It is also possible to use
the same theme with all the groups, with the
aim of creating contrasts in the presentations.
Role-playing in the classroom serves as a
teaching technique that encourages students
to participate in the activities, allowing them to
learn English as a foreign language in similar
situations to those that occur in a real context,
thus allowing them to lose the shyness and
stress that other activities can generate
(Tompkins, as cited in Mizhir, 2017), because
they work in small groups, where everyone
takes their place and focuses on their role,
which inhibits the aspects that can create fear
and uncertainty.
Similarly, the role-playing technique helps
to develop certain skills in English related to
speaking. Cornet (as cited in Neupane, 2019)
emphasizes that the trainees not only improve
some communicative aspects, which allows
them to reach a certain uency and ability to
express themselves in their interpretations, but
they also manage to use their body language
as a support tool in direct communication with
their peers. In this sense, working in groups
and teams generates mutual learning among
peers, since they have the opportunity to
listen to their friends and colleagues and to
express their opinion on the work developed
by themselves and by others. After that, they
have to do a collective work so that their
presentation to the audience is pleasant and,
of course, understood, as Mitchell (as cited in
Mizhir, 2017) arms when he mentions that
all teamwork is based on receiving feedback
from teachers and peers, which strengthens
the group so that in future presentations they
improve their weaknesses and increase their
abilities to achieve the goals they have set.
Methodology
The methodology used was the qualitative
paradigm, action-research with a critical-social
approach.
Research Paradigm
A paradigm is understood as a model that allows
determining how research should be understood
and how it should be conducted (Ñaupas et
al., 2018); it can be classied as qualitative
and/or quantitative. The former alludes to
the fact that all research revolves around the
researcher and his or her environment; in
addition, it allows attention to be paid to the
process developed in the research and not only
to the results obtained.
Considering the above, this qualitative
paradigm is of great importance for this study,
because it is intended to obtain information
in an educational institution in Nariño about
the diculties that sixth-grade students have
in speaking in English, to then carry out the
application of the role-playing technique and
analyze the results.
Research Approach
Type of research. It is framed in action
research and, through a deep reection, it aims
to achieve a signicant change in teaching-
learning, based on the socio-critical approach,
because it allows a social transformation of the
practical and observable aspects; in addition,
social needs and particular interests cause the
development of knowledge to turn the human
being into a critical subject (Orozco, 2016).
Accordingly, this approach is characterized by
the fact that the real environment is the main
protagonist as an object of study; that is, it is
essential to observe the context to generate
greater knowledge, always making a constant
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Revista Criterios - vol. 31 n.o 1 January-June 2024 - pp. 37-52
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https://doi.org/10.31948/rev.criterios
reection to provide solutions to the various
problems that arise (Ñaupas et al., 2018).
Therefore, with the use of this approach, it is
intended to know the educational reality of a
certain group of students and try to improve
the ability to speak in English through the
participatory practices of role-playing, in
a combination of theory as a foundation
and practice as a technique to promote the
development of the participants’ abilities in
spaces where embodiment is possible, to analyze
the daily reality of their context in a way that
benets the group that carries it out, becoming
a socio-reexive experience, combining theory
and practice to achieve appropriate changes
in the place of study, without distinguishing
between researcher, object of research, and
research process (Rojas, as cited in Miranda &
Ortiz, 2021).
Unit of Analysis and Unit of Work
Unit of Analysis. The work was carried out
in a public educational institution in Nariño,
with the participation of one hundred students
in the high school section, corresponding to
the population.
Unit of Work. To describe the unit of work of
the students, Table 1 is considered; it shows
the grade and the number of boys and girls with
whom the work was done; thus, this unit was
constituted by twenty sixth-grade students.
Table 1
Number of students who participated in the
research
Grade Girls Boys Total
6° 11 9 20
Source: author’s elaboration.
For this purpose, according to Otzen and
Manterola (2017), non-probability sampling
was used in the research:
Sampling techniques of the non-probability
type imply that the selection of the
subjects to be studied depends on certain
characteristics, criteria, etc., that the
researcher considers at that moment, so
they may not be very valid and reliable or
reproducible, because this type of sampling
does not conform to a probabilistic basis;
that is, they do not give certainty that each
subject to be studied represents the target
population. (p. 224)
Similarly, the non-probabilistic convenience
sampling technique was used because it
allowed the selection of accessible cases that
agreed to be included based on the convenient
accessibility and proximity of the subjects to
the researcher (Otzen & Manterola, 2017).
For the procedure, the phases proposed by
López-Fuentes (2011) were considered:
1. A diagnosis: in this research, the way in which
students received their English classes was
identied. Specically, how speaking skills
were being developed in sixth graders, using
the technique of information gathering and
non-participant observation, which allowed
us to describe and understand what was
really happening in class.
2. Planning: identifying the existing problem
in the institution, setting the goal to be
achieved, designing and implementing the
role-play technique, and describing the
process of improving oral production skills.
3. Observation: this phase was very important
because throughout the research dierent
observations were made that allowed to
obtain information before, during, and after
the application of the technique.
4. A reection: at the end of the study, a self-
reection was made on what was achieved
or what was missing for the objective to be
fully achieved, which allowed an explanation
and some conclusions to be drawn regarding
the whole process developed.
Data Collection Techniques and Tools
Observation of participants, non-participants,
and workshops.
Observation is a technique that, according
to Marshall and Roshman (cited in Kawulich,
2006), “allows for the systematic description
of events, behaviors, and artifacts in the social
setting chosen for study” (p. 2). It is divided
into participant and non-participant; the rst
consists of obtaining information from the
context in which the research is conducted, thus
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obtaining accurate data, since the researcher
is directly involved in the eld of study. The
second tries to recognize some aspects of the
context being studied, without having to enter
it; it is only an external observer (Campos &
Lule, 2012).
For the present study, both types of observation
were used because the researcher was not a
teacher in the educational institution and it
was necessary to have a direct approach with
the students, but also to look from the outside
at some aspects relevant to the research.
The workshop, according to Cano (2012),
is a technique that helps to study and
evaluate dierent factors in the classroom; it
allows working in groups and follows certain
objectives, making it possible to unify both the
theoretical and the practical.
Data collection tools. Workshop guide, eld
diary, and SWOT matrix. The rst, because it
is a exible tool that facilitates the adequate
organization of the workshops that were
applied, designed according to the needs and/
or objectives to be achieved. The eld diary
allowed the researcher to record the dierent
events that occurred during the observations
to obtain important information that would
allow her to continue her research process. The
objective of the SWOT matrix was to provide
aspects that would allow the identication of
situations that occurred in a given space, in
this case the classroom, and thus be able to
combine strategies that would help to have
a progressive and signicant progress. Thus,
strengths refer to activities or aspects that are
done correctly; opportunities are the possibility
of implementing mechanisms that allow
improvement; weaknesses are elements that
are still fragile and need to be consolidated;
and nally, threats refer to the situation that
is generally dicult to control and may aect
the process being carried out (Sanchez, 2020).
Results
For the analysis of the results, the application
of the role-playing technique workshops, the
collection of information in the eld diary,
and the completion of the SWOT matrix were
considered.
Field Diary Analysis
This section specically describes the
information collected in the eld diary during
the application of the role-play technique.
This collection was done by recording in detail
what happened in the classroom during the
development of the activities; thus, special
emphasis was placed on the categories related
to speaking skills and the role-play activity.
(See Figure 1)
Figure 1
Deductive Categories and Subcategories
To discern the information collected in the eld
diary, it was necessary to empty it, allowing
to determine a coding of the categories of
Speaking and Role-play, each one with its
deductive subcategories. The former includes
precision and uency, and the latter includes
motivation and tone of voice; in addition, the
inductive subcategories were obtained from
this process.
It should be noted that when the information
was collected, the content was organized in
such a way as to make visible what really gave
meaning to this research; therefore, the most
relevant of what was collected was placed
in bold. A spreadsheet was used to code the
information: subcategories, diary information,
and codes/recurrences. Recurrences refer
to the number of times a particular phrase
belongs to a subcategory, which refers to the
number of times a phrase or word appears in
the diary. Similarly, a matrix was created to
analyze the information: Categories, Deductive
and Inductive Subcategories, Unit of Meaning,
which corresponds to the eld diary, Theoretical
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References and, Analysis, made by the researcher; this allowed a better understanding of what
was recorded in the eld diary, in addition to the elaboration of a graphic organizer, a taxonomy,
in which the origin of the inductive subcategories is observed (see Figure 2).
Figure 2
Taxonomy: deductive and inductive subcategories
The eld diary reects the progressive development made by the students in the deductive
subcategories: accuracy, uency, motivation, and tone of voice, as they followed the
recommendations given in the previous activities to improve. A negative factor they presented
was the volume of their voice, since they were too shy and spoke very slowly. At the end of the last
role, they emphasized the importance of making themselves heard, especially when addressing
a large audience. They also improved their vocabulary, adding new words to their lexicon, trying
to use them with good pronunciation and, most importantly, using them in a communicative way.
Finally, it can be said that this technique is presented as a dierent way compared to the strategies
previously used in the subject of English; therefore, a motivation to learn the foreign language
was achieved because, in some way, autonomy in learning and a taste for it were generated.
SWOT Matrix
The SWOT matrix owes its acronym to the words: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats. The purpose of using it was to consider the aspects that allow a global view of the
application and eect of the Role-Play technique.
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Figure 3
SWOT Matrix Analysis
Source: adapted from Sarli et al. (2015).
So, we start with the strengths that the
students had; we highlight the motivation
to learn English, because they found it very
entertaining that the classes used the role-
playing technique, because they had the
opportunity to play dierent professions and
even learn about some that they did not know;
at the same time, they improved their speech,
because they increased their vocabulary and
optimized the way they addressed an audience
using the foreign language.
The opportunities are linked to the correct
use of time. Students used class time to
practice English. This meant that in every
room they reviewed the pronunciation
of dialogues, recalled previously learned
vocabulary, and asked questions about what
was being developed in class. This attitude of
engagement in class was used to help them
learn without them realizing that they were
doing it; therefore, this knowledge was more
meaningful to them.
Also, the existence of some weaknesses is
noted, since not all students improved their
speaking skills, due to the fact that some of them
missed classes because of illness; this made
the learning process dierent from those who
attended regularly. Similarly, at the beginning
of the application of the role play, some
students did not follow the recommendations
previously given to them; however, as they
received feedback on the dierent aspects,
they accepted the advice given to them and
thus improved. Others did not agree on who
should play a certain role, so it was necessary
to explain to them in detail the function of each
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part so that they could decide which one they
liked the most and could play it best.
Finally, the threats that arose during the
application of the technique: Among them,
that due to dierent circumstances, such as
the arrival of the rector in the classroom to
give a lecture, or the visit of the psychologist
to work with the students, some roles were
prolonged beyond the established time and the
step by step that was being carried out was
interrupted; consequently, it was necessary to
make a reminder of what was seen, so that
they would again focus on the technique,
running the risk of not liking it; but, since this
was dierent from the way they had learned
English, the attitude towards learning the
foreign language gradually changed.
Discussion of results
The union of two or more theories, sources
or methods that is carried out in a scientic
research allows to take data from dierent
sources and integrate them in an investigative
process to compare the information and also
to determine the relationship between what
was collected, keeping what is relevant and
discarding what is unnecessary (Feria et
al., 2019). Therefore, for the discussion of
the results, the SWOT matrix, the emptying
of the information from the eld diary and
the theoretical contributions were used to
support what was found during the research
process. In addition, the researcher reected
on the results obtained and so used the
aforementioned tools as a basis, highlighting
the most relevant elements.
Thus, it is worth mentioning that the
sixth-grade students showed diculties in
communicating in English, even when it came
to basic, everyday personal information, since
the results obtained were very poor, that is,
extremely low; in addition, they showed a
certain shyness in expressing themselves in the
foreign language, which indicated the need for
an intervention to help them become familiar
with the language in question. In this sense,
the lack of uency and the excessive softness
in the tone of their voice were evident, which
signicantly aected the understanding of what
they wanted to express. In contrast, it is worth
mentioning what was expressed by Hamidova
et al. (2020): for good communication to
take place, it is necessary to have a correct
pronunciation and understanding of the
audience being addressed; thus, everything
expressed will be clear.
Therefore, ve workshops according to the
role-playing technique were developed with
the sixth-grade students, emphasizing the
representation of professions, encouraging
them as foreign language learners to acquire
self-condence and nd pleasure in speaking
another language, with a pleasant atmosphere
to express themselves freely and condently.
In accordance with what was proposed by
Tompkins (as cited in Mizhir, 2017), role-
playing is a technique that constantly
motivates students to participate in it and
learn a foreign language, making them lose
the shyness and stress that other activities
can generate. In reciprocity with the above, it
can be armed that by using this technique,
it was achieved that students improved not
only the communicative part, but also the way
of acting and expressing themselves in front
of an audience, as expressed by Cornet (as
cited in Neupane, 2019): learners improve the
ability to express themselves through their
body language and also become more uent
in speaking.
The above leads to the idea that dierent ways
of teaching English should be sought to create
an environment of cordiality and tranquility,
because, according to López (2018), to learn
a foreign language, appropriate teaching
methods should be required that aim to
achieve a practical mastery of it. In this way,
the technique of role-playing, which was
applied in the form of workshops, promoted
the improvement of speaking skills and had
as an additional purpose to create a pleasant
environment for the students, so that they
could enjoy the step-by-step creation of these
roles and could culminate in a successful
presentation, thus achieving that to a large
extent what was learned in each workshop
is internalized and becomes part of their
knowledge, encouraging them to be the main
character of their learning and to be able to
make connections between previous and new
knowledge to achieve meaningful learning
(Fernandez et al., 2018).
In this scenario, the eectiveness of the
proposal is reected in the gradual change in
the coherent participation of the students in the
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adequate use of vocabulary, highlighting that
the role-playing technique has contributed to
their knowledge, since a signicant change was
noted in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar,
and communicative interaction. Thus, it can
be said that the use and application of the
technique was of great importance, since a
progressive improvement in their speaking
was achieved. At this point, it is appropriate
to mention Rivera (2015), who argues that it
is essential to have an adequate management
of classes to ensure that students learn a
foreign language. With this, the researcher
wants to emphasize that the progress achieved
should be gradual in the dierent classes,
without losing the main horizon, which is the
development of the speaking skill, without
downplaying the importance of the other skills,
because the human being, to understand a
certain language, must know how to read,
write, listen, and speak (Valles et al., 2019).
Although the role-play technique is excellent,
it can be seen that students need dynamic,
attractive, interactive, and non-monotonous
activities, especially those that seek to improve
the level of communicative interaction, so
that their learning has a clear purpose and
is related, as much as possible, to situations
that may be part of their daily lives, so that
learning the foreign language becomes
natural. Consequently, in classrooms, the way
the foreign language is taught needs to be
rethought, as more emphasis needs to be placed
on the communicative part of the students. In
this regard, Allen and Widdowson (as cited in
Saura, 2017) point out that a new approach to
language teaching is required, minimizing the
emphasis on traditional teaching and focusing
on the communicative aspects of the language
being learned. Therefore, it is necessary to
carry out a continuous review of planning and
pedagogical work to generate real learning of
the foreign language.
It should be noted that the majority of the
students improved considerably; therefore,
it is possible to understand them when they
express themselves in a foreign language,
since their pronunciation and interaction have
been substantially corrected. For everything
analyzed, it is essential to continue using
the role-playing technique to ensure that
the students as a whole improve in the four
evaluation criteria: pronunciation, vocabulary,
grammar, and communicative interaction. The
technique used is very pedagogical because
it allows students to simulate imaginary, real,
and everyday situations that may occur in the
short and long term.
Finally, it can be said that the students
were inuenced by autonomous learning,
because they tried to recreate their minds by
researching with their classmates or at home,
with the little or much that their parents could
contribute, and they allowed the teacher to be
a guide in the process. Richards and Rodgers
(cited in Hernández, 2021) point out that
students can take ownership of their learning
by allowing them to work to a greater extent
with their peers, leaving aside the teacher as
the center of the class and turning him/her into
a facilitator and guide of knowledge.
Conclusions
After applying the proposal of this research, a
series of conclusions were produced that are
channeled to the role-playing technique and
the teaching-learning of English as a foreign
language, emphasizing the strengthening of
speaking skills in sixth-grade students. Below
are the relevant conclusions reached by the
researcher, as a product of her research process.
To teach a foreign language, especially
English, it is necessary to resort to dierent
strategies so that students can develop their
skills to facilitate the use of the language they
are learning. Therefore, it is essential to use
dierent techniques so that they have other
options to learn and develop or strengthen
their skills and competencies, which allow
them to practice the foreign language in
their immediate environment, oering them
a friendly, trustworthy space so that when
speaking in English they can overcome the
barriers they encounter when trying to express
themselves in this language.
In this way, the choice of techniques used
to teach a foreign language becomes a
fundamental tool to promote language practice
among learners; the role-playing technique is
a valuable element, since the students showed
a taste for learning, reecting in their actions a
certain degree of motivation to use the foreign
language, making the greatest eort so that
their expressions would be understood by
their interlocutors; from this it is concluded
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that teaching and learning a foreign language
requires a continuous search for strategies to
carry out a successful process.
The use of this technique is promoted as the
beginning of a pedagogical process that, when
fully developed, serves to improve the ability
to express oneself in a foreign language, which
in this specic case refers to communicative
competence and oral expression, since this
way of learning makes students apply what
they have learned in dierent situations in
their context, giving them the opportunity to
generate knowledge from the classroom to
their daily spaces, making them build new
realities from what they already have and,
at the same time, it allows them to use the
vocabulary when they need it.
On the other hand, it is essential to give
feedback after the use of the teaching-
learning techniques, so that weaknesses
can be improved and strengths maintained,
especially in the correct use of words, their
pronunciation, their coherence and cohesion
when communicating; in this way, current
deciencies can be corrected to the extent
that the foreign language continues to be
used; hence the importance of the role-play
technique; its constant use makes students
gradually lose their shyness and be able to
express themselves by constantly working with
their peers and assuming a role in the work
team.
In this technique, the respect for the other
person prevailed; this meant that they were not
afraid of making mistakes, because everyone
felt identied and the circumstances in which
they found themselves meant that they could
help each other; it also made it possible to
improve the interpersonal relations between
the students, since they always waited for what
each working group was going to present, with
the willingness to collaborate with each other.
Conict of interest
The author of this article declares that she has
no conict of interest in the work presented.
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Contribution
The author participated in the preparation of the manuscript, read it and approved it.
