How Do EFL Learners Interact and Learn English Communication Skills during a Role-Play Strategy?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the comparative effectiveness of a role-play strategy vs. traditional learning methods in the achievement of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners to gain proficiency in communication skills. This paper reports results of an investigation on the effects of a role-play strategy in enhancing EFL students’ English communication skills when learning English as a foreign language. The current study took 2 months and used the English Achievement test and an observation timetable of communication skills with a sample of elementary school students in Saudi Arabia. The sample included 43 male pupils aged 10-13 years, at level five in an elementary government school in Al-Baha City.The results of the study show the existence of significant statistical variances between the pre- and posttest average scores of the EFL students who used role play for learning English skills, as well as those who did not use role play, hence learning English via traditional methods. The results favor the participants who used role play for learning the English language. The findings also show favorable variances for the experimental group while the pretest scores show no statistical variances among the EFL learners in the initial group and the other groups in their English skills achievement.Moreover, on the determination of the effectiveness of the role-play strategy on the improvement of the EFL learners’ communication skills, the results note a significant difference between the control and experimental conditions in terms of improving communication skills such as confirmation, repetition, imitation, and responding to other people by giving them examples, which was not available for learners in the control group. On the other hand, the participants in the control group improved their communication skills in areas such as clarification, explanation, and making statements during the application of the role-play strategy compared to their peers in the experimental group.