خلاصة:
This study investigated the effect of role play on improving speaking ability of Iranian pre-intermediate ESP learners. To this aim, the researchers examined the students’ speaking ability in two groups: the experimental and the control groups.24 males and femaleESPlearners at pre-intermediate level were selected by taking a pre-test. Then the participants of the current study were randomlydivided into two groups. The result of the pre-test indicated the proficiency level of participants and their homogeneity. In the experimental group, role-playing technique was conducted in performing conversation through in-group activities. Simultaneously, the control group was exposed to the conventional method of teaching speaking. After eighteen sessions, a post-test was conducted for both groups to measure their speaking proficiency. Based on the inferential statistics, the participants in the experimental group was significantly different in their performance in the post-test. Finally, independent and paired t-tests were used to analyze the data. Since the p value was p = 0.026< p = .05, it could be concluded that the experimental group hadsignificantly performed different from the control group on the post-test. That is to say, the treatment provided for the experimental group was highly likely to have a positive effect on the learners’ speaking proficiency and theparticipants' perspectives regarding role-playing tasks, and their roles in language learning were positive. It is expected that ESP teachers and textbook writers, syllabus designers, and material producers will also benefit from the findings of this research.
ملخص الجهاز:
As the title of this research shows, its underlying purpose is to investigate the effectiveness of role-playing on the speaking ability of Iranian pre-intermediate ESP learners.
Finally, an8- item semi- structured interview was used to assess how the participants of the experimental group felt about using role-playing tasks and its effect on developing their speaking ability.
The Descriptive Results of the Speaking Pre-test Pretest for Both Groups The results given in table 1 indicate that the difference between the means obtained by the control and the experimental (role-play) group is 0.
Based on the results of the pre-and post-test, it is concluded that providing Iranian ESP learners with role-play tasks is positively effective in their speaking ability development.
The questions on the interview examined attitudes and viewpoints of the participants of the experimental group towards using role-playing tasks and their effects on their speaking ability.
Then we can conclude that the majority of the Iranian pre-intermediate ESP learners had a positive attitude towards using role- playing tasks and their effects on their speaking ability.
Indeed, the results indicated role-playing tasks were effective and enhanced the speaking ability of Iranian pre-intermediate learners because they helped the ESP learners focus not only on language, but also on the learning process itself.
Also, with regard to the findings of the study obtained from the post- treatment interview, the participants of the experimental group had a positive attitude regarding the effectiveness of role-playing tasks on their speaking ability.