شبكة المعلومات العربية التربوية

The present study is intended to examine the impact of role play teaching-learning technique in improving students speaking abilities and their engagement during oral sessions. This research has set three main objectives. First, it studies whether role-play as a teaching technique can lead first year students in the Department of English at Mouloud Mammeri University of Tizi-ouzou to develop their speaking skill. Second, it strives to explore students’ and teachers’ perceptions concerning the use of role play activities during oral sessions. Third, this study seeks to reveal how teachers implement role play to promote their students’ speaking skill. To reach these aims, the mixed methods approach was adopted using both qualitative and quantitative method either for collecting or analyzing data. For the collection of data, we opted for the use of three instruments; a questionnaire administrated to 110 first-year students, 8 classroom observations with a check list of 10 items and a structured interview conducted with 9 teachers of those students. This study is built around the theoretical framework of Ladousse (1987). The findings of students’ questionnaire have shown that students have positive attitudes toward using role play activities to promote speaking skill. In addition, the results of the teachers’ interview have revealed that teachers provide their students with an interactive atmosphere (either in pairs or in groups) which allows them to overcome their speaking difficulties such as shyness and fear of embarrassment. Furthermore, the findings of the classroom observations have also shown that role play activities enhance students’ motivation, participation and self-confidence. (Author’s abstract)