19 Angela
: Good morning. I want to send a letter to Singapore. Clerk
: Yes, do you want to send it by air mail or ordinary mail? Angela
: I think, I’ll send it by air mail. I want it to get there quickly. How much does it cost?
Clerk : To Singapore? That will be 30 pence, please.
Angela : give the 50 pence Here you are.
Clerk : Here’s your stamp and here’s 20 pence change.
Angela : Thank you. Where is the post box?
Clerk : You want the air mail box. It’s over there, by the door.
To demonstrate a role play activity based on the dialogue, the procedures that are given by Doff 1988 is as follows:
1 The teacher guides the role play by writing these prompts: where? air
mail how much? post box? thanks. Talk as you write to show what the prompts mean.
2 If necessary, go through the prompts one by one, and get the students to
give sentences or question for each one. 3
Call two students to the front: one play the role as Angela and the other as Clerk. They should improvise the conversation using prompts to help them.
Point out that the conversation should be similar to the one in the textbook, but not exactly the same; the conversation can be shorter than the
presentation dialogue. It should just cover the main points indicated by the prompts.
20 4
Call out a few other pairs of students in turn, and ask them to have other conversation based on the prompts.
Besides the nature of a role play, there are the elements of a role play that will be explained in the next section.
b. The Elements of Role Play
There are four basic elements of a role play according to Paulston and Bruder 1976:
1 Situations
The situation sets the scene and plot; it explains the situation and action to be accomplished. The situation is also the place to introduce the specific cultural
information to play, whereas the roles assign the list of characters that include personality, experience, status, personal problem, and the like.
2 Roles
The role session assigns the roles and the list of characters. The roles should have fictitious name, status, personal problem, and desire. The roles are
related to the situations given in the scripts.
3 Useful Expressions
The useful expressions contain the information, primarily expression, phrases and vocabulary. Every plot has the expressions which are acted by the
actress or actor, such as; anger, happiness, sadness, and so on.
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4 Background Knowledge
The students who want to act the role play must have the subject matter information prior to it. Some sources of knowledge are necessary or the role play
will not come off. Those four elements of a role play are unity. If only one or two basic
elements are used by the students, it is not called as a role play. In preparing a role play, the teacher should build an imaginary situation close to the students’
background of knowledge. Accordingly, in the role play it must be a fictitious role and what should students’ act. A role play also influences students’ motivation
and it will be explained after this section.
c. The Influences of Role Play on Students’ Motivation
Cahyani 2003 states that when the students find themselves a comfortable learning situation, it leads to an enjoyable learning situation and
makes them motivated. It means that a role play which has conversation like in the real life makes a comfortable learning situation because the students know how to
act the action in the real life. People become motivated to achieve and do better when they have
experienced the feelings of success and achievement Tomskin, 1998. The use of a role play exercises is an especially effective motivation and visualization
technique. By doing a role play, the students might have an experience which is close to their real life. In addition, they can be creative to create the action and
atmosphere of doing a role play. They also improve their speaking ability and
