DEVELOPING PRE INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS’ COMMUNICATIVE AND SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCES BY MEANS OF ROLE PLAY: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

The article presents a study of the peculiarities of the development of communicative and sociocultural competences of pre intermediate students by means of role play. The aim of the article is to develop and implement into educational process original and productive tasks within the concept of role play as an interactive method of teaching in order to promote the development of students’ communicative and sociocultural competences.The following research questions were formulated in order to develop relevant methodology and expect trustworthy findings: Can role play enhance the productive skills of students (in particular speaking)? How does the use of role play influence the development of students’ communicative and sociocultural competences?The research methodology is based on the use of relevant data collection tools, namely introductory questionnaire with the subsequent experimental intervention, teacher survey and post intervention questionnaire.The results of the intervention indicate that the use of role play in the English classroom develops both communicative and sociocultural competences of language learners, primarily because they become more motivated to participate in productive activities, develop self-confidence and creativity. Participation in role-playing activities allows pre intermediate language learners to become more fluent in English, increases their vocabulary volume, expands their conceptual spheres and variety of speech patterns that can be used in appropriate communication situations. However, educational process should not be overloaded with role playing activities as it can become boring and predictable for students if used regularly.The study proves that role play is of great pedagogical importance in the English classroom for improving learners’ communication skills and developing their communicative and sociocultural competences.
 Keywords: role play; communication skills; communicative competence; sociocultural competence; case study; pre intermediate students; motivation; simulation.