Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[shahrilfaidzal]

Hi everyone,

Can you all give what the pros and the cons of the free discussion, role play and gap activities?

[musica]

what do u mean by speaking..and pross...
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[shamini]

pros.........
* based on real life situation
* encourage participation of large number of students
* involve competative and o-operative elements
*involve all students and oblige practice
* enrich the classroom environment

cons........
* not suitable for low profieciency students
* students are asked to take the role whether they are able toemphatize with the role given
* degree of distance between the reality of the students own roles in life and the 'fantasy' role imposed.
* begin to face problems in profeesional roles because it involves transactioanal language assign[/list]

[shamini]

pros.........
* based on real life situation
* encourage participation of large number of students
* involve competative and o-operative elements
*involve all students and oblige practice
* enrich the classroom environment

cons........
* not suitable for low profieciency students
* students are asked to take the role whether they are able toemphatize with the role given
* degree of distance between the reality of the students own roles in life and the 'fantasy' role imposed.
* begin to face problems in profeesional roles because it involves transactioanal language assign

[sarrah]

there are many advantages using role play in the classroom....

The proverb �I hear I forget; I see I remember; I do and I understand� is well known in the field of education if we consider the meanings. This proverb shows that in making the students able to understand what the teachers have thought them for the day is to make them to do something, in other words making them involve in the learning process and making them active learners. For this situation, using role play is hopefully will be one of the best methods in making students participate in the class. This is due to the believe that �role play� can generate students understanding where these activities make the learners participate in the learning process.


The learners will easily remember the story that they have acted or their friends acted as they are involving themselves in the role-play. The story in the literature that they have to learn will become more interesting, understandable and fun to learn comparing it with learners who just read the story. It will give them a deeper insight into the character�s motives or actions. As in the role-play, they use their five senses that are they hear, they see, they react, they touch and they feel and that makes the learning becomes more interactive and the information will last longer in their memory. As Felder (1995: 24) points out, �[color=cyan]The more opportunities students have to both participate and reflect in the class, the better they will learn new material and the longer they are likely to retain it.�[/color]