The Effectiveness of Role Play Strategy in Teaching Vocabulary

I. warm-up activities: (flash cards, story, watching movie, real objective ...etc) 
II. role play: 
1. preparation content: context/background information.(voc, functions, instructions, time alter, task). 
2. activity participation: (interaction, observation, counselor). 
3. evaluation content:(follow-up tasks multi-choice questions- fill in the gap, discussion, communicative competence, 
delay error correction). 
Moreover, the study used supplementary materials such as; cue dialogue: examples (visual clues, verbal clues, 
allowing students' own phrasing, cue cards, naming of situation and people involved, giving clear instruction as to what 
should be said. 
To sum up, previous studies support the idea of using role-play in learning language (Toumpaniari et al, 2015; 
Ernandez et al, 1992; Umbel, 1992; and Allman: 2005). All research asserted the importance of role-play strategies and 
some considered it as the best strategy for learning language (Sadeghi & Sharifi: 2013, Nair et al., 2014). It is clear from 
the studies that using role-play has various advantages and benefits as indicated by Afdillah (2015); Kuipers & Clemens 
(1998); Huang and Shan (2008), Altun (2015); Vincent & Shepherd (1998); Piaget (1972); Aliakbari and Jamalvandi 
(2010); and Sasaki (1998). In addition some studies examine the best procedures of using role-play, such as Liu & Ding 
(2009), and Afdillah (2015). It is hoped that the present study will help to increase and improve students' learning 
vocabulary through using role-play in their learning process.
II.
T
HE 
M
ETHODOLOGY
The current research uses a quasi-experimental method by using a “pre-test and post-test" design. It aims to see 
whether the role play technique is effective in teaching vocabulary to first year secondary school students. There were 
two classes in this research, namely, the experimental class and control class. This research was conducted over eight 
meetings. Each meeting was conducted with a lesson plan specifically designed by the researcher based on the existing 
curriculum, "Flying High". Farhady (1995) illustrates the design of this kind of research as follows: 
 
Figure 1 Research Design Method 
Sampling 
The sample of the study is EFL students at a secondary school in Al-Madinah, West Saudi Arabia. There are six 
classes in the first year. The researcher took two classes for sampling; class 1 for the experimental group and class 2 for 
the control group. Each class contained 20 students. Thus, the total populations from the two classes were 40 EFL 
female students who were in the first year of secondary school with an average age of 15 to 16 years old. Their mother 
tongue was Arabic, and they had been learning English for 4 years. 
Materials and procedures used in the treatment 
In teaching vocabulary through role play, the materials applied for the experimental group were cards containing 
roles to be practised in the class (see Appendix). The participants in the control group did not experience working with 
role play cards. Instead, they were given materials based on the traditional method of teaching a foreign language. The 
researcher asked the teacher to use the following procedures:- 
1 Present a topic based on the selected unit in the first year of secondary textbook. 
2 Use warm up activities to introduce the new topic. 
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THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES
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3. Present and discuss the new vocabulary by using different techniques such as pictures, realia, and mime, direct 
questions in order to focus on pronunciation, repetition, and meaning. Then write the new words on the board, to 
reinforce spelling. 
4. Give a scenario to students to perform (designed and arranged by researcher) about the topic discussed earlier in 
the class. Ask them to deliver meaning in short, simple, transactional and interpersonal conversation to interact with 
their surroundings, involving the new vocabulary and functions used in the lesson. As examples of speech acts: ask for, 
give, or refuse a favour, accept and reject things, admit and deny, and ask for and give opinions. 
5. Ask students to learn about the scenario several days before performance activity. 
6. Divide the class into groups of students, consisting of five or six girls per group. 
7. Explain and give instructions to achieve communication competence and timing. 
8. Select a group of students and ask them to play the prepared scenario 
9. Observe and monitor the scenario being performed 
10. Discuss and evaluate each group's performance. 
Instrument 
The researcher developed an achievement test based on the instructional material of the English book “Flying High”. 
The aim of preparing the test was to achieve the following objectives: (1) measuring the effectiveness of using role-play 
in enhancing female students' vocabulary competence and accuracy compared to the traditional methods and (2) 
providing data about the students’ vocabulary progress before and after the study. Both groups, the experimental group 
and the control group, were taught by the same teacher. 
The test contained 42 items divided into three main parts which tested vocabulary. Students were asked to choose the 
correct words to fill in the blanks in conversation; they had to match some words with their meanings; they were also 
asked to write the spelling of the relevant word under each of a set of pictures (14.14.14 respectively). Each item scored 
one mark. The final question was a multiple choice question with 8 items. The total score was out of 50 points. 
A t-test was conducted at the start of this programme to make sure that there were no significant differences between 
the control group and the experimental group in their prior knowledge of English vocabulary. 
Validity and Reliability 
To confirm that the achievement test measures what it is mainly designed to measure, it was evaluated by a panel of 
experts in educational studies and EFL Specialists. Their recommendations and comments were carefully considered. 
Test questions were reformed according to their suggestions. Moreover, prior to the main study, a pilot study was 
conducted, with a group of 20 students who were excluded from the sample, to check the reliability of the pretest and 
posttests. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated for all the questions. The total value for the pretest was (0.80), while the 
alpha value for the posttest was (0.83), which indicates that the questions were highly reliable. 
Data Analysis 
Following the implementation of the pretest and post-test, the of scores were calculated and analysed by using the 
SPSS for Windows version 17. The mean and independent sample t-test were used to compare the mean scores of the 
two groups. 
III.
R
ESULTS AND 
A
NALYSIS
Regarding the results obtained from the pretest to ensure the equivalence and homogeneity of the two groups of 
participants in terms of vocabulary performance before starting the treatment, the results are revealed in table 1 
T
ABLE 
1 
D
ESCRIPTIVE 
S
TATISTICS RESULT OF PRE
-
TEST