THE USE OF ROLE-PLAY ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY OF KHANH HOA

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the use of role-play activities to enhance speaking skills of the first-year English major students at University of Khanh Hoa. An 8-week study was carried out and 30 first-year students of the English Linguistic class A at University of Khanh Hoa received role-play’s implementation in their speaking class. The research data were collected through questionnaires to all participants and classroom observation of the two students. The findings of the study indicate that most of the students came to admit the benefits of role-play in speaking lesson as it is an interesting, beneficial, effective and innovative activity. Particularly, the study results show many positive signs of learners’ improvement of their speaking skills. Furthermore, through the research, the author has found interesting speaking topics for their students as well as their difficulties and then has given some recommendations to improve the role-play activity in the classroom.