students of English for Specific Purposes ESP. This activity has three distinct advantages. First, they can be good fun and motivating activities. Second, it
allows hesitant students to be more confident in speaking since they do not have to take responsibility for what they are saying. Third, they allow the students to
use a much wide range of language. In addition, Chen Jun 2006 states that this technique is virtually one of the ways we can give our learners the opportunity to
practice improving a range of real-life spoken language in the classroom. Even, it is suggested for ESP students, in teaching and learning activities,
teachers can apply this activity for students to learn pronunciation, and other speaking skills.
Teachers and practitioners are strongly recommended to take into account some important considerations while intending to practice role-play. For instance,
Baker 1989 believes that since in all role plays the candidate is required to play a part, she needs to be given clear instruction and sufficient time to understand
them.
3. Advantages of Group Work
However, like all teaching activities, Nation 1989: 20 states that it can only be effective if the teachers plan the activities properly. Therefore, P. Nation
suggests teacher pay a good attention to several principles to conduct group work activities. In his book entitled Group Work and Language Learning he suggests
five principles about planning group work activities to make every students involved, those are, 1 the learning goals of group work, 2 the task, 3 the way
information is distributed, 4 the seating arrangement of the members of the group, and 5 the social relationship between the members of the group.
Based on Nation’s statement 1989: 20, there are five goals of group work that can be achieved in teaching and learning activities. These five goals are:
a. Negotiation of Input
Through group work, students have opportunities to get language exposure that they can understand. In addition, if teacher can handle the group work well, it
can be one of the most valuable sources. b.
New Language Items Almost the same as negotiation input, by group work, students can have
opportunities to get a range of language items and language function exposure. The student will have better opportunity than what they get in teacher-led classes.
c. Fluency
Group work allows learners to develop fluency in the use of language features that they have already learn.
d. Communication Strategy
There are several communication strategies that learners should comprehend. By group work, students can learn about those communication
strategy like negotiation strategy to control input, strategy to keep conversation going, and strategy of making up the lack of language items or fluency.
e. Content
Since the formal education is run based on curriculum, the goals of group work is to achieve the mastery of the content curriculum subject that the learners
are studying. While Nation simply focuses on speaking, Brown 2001: 177-179 defines
a broader view of the advantages of the group work not merely about speaking. At least, Brown mentions four advantages of group work, those are:
a. Generating Interactive Language
In traditional language class, teacher talk is dominant whereas the students talk is very limited. By creating group work, it is possible for students to have
more change to speak and share knowledge together or simply solve problem. Group activities, in addition, also provide opportunities for students’ initiation, for
face-to-face give and take for practice in negotiating meaning. b.
Offering an Embracing Affective Climate Group work can be a community of learners cooperating with each other
to achieve a certain goal. In addition, it can also be activities to increase students’ motivation.
c. Promoting Learners Responsibility and Autonomy
Group work places responsibility for actions and progresses upon each of the group member somewhat equally. Related to this advantage, Brown gives a
case in which teachers do not make groups in their teaching and learning activities and merely ask each student to translate sentence by sentence in turn. In this case,
students who are not in turn often ignore feedback or comment given by the
teacher to students that is translating a sentence. This case shows up clearly that students are not involved in teaching and learning activities Brown, 2001: 178.
Related to the learners autonomy Jenny Des Fountain states “school knowledge is the knowledge which someone else present to use, we partly grasp it, enough to
answer examination question, but it remains someone else’s knowledge not ours. If we never use it we probably forget it. Therefore, we have to use knowledge for
our own purpose and incorporate it into our view of world” Fountain, 1994: 48 d.
Step toward Individualizing Instruction Group work can help students with varying abilities to accomplish
separate goals since in the classroom there will be different characteristics of students with different proficiency and objective. Therefore it can help teachers to
help them achieve their goals. The other advantage of group work is found by Reza Pishghadam and
Mostafa Morady Moghaddam from their research study. The result shows that the class which was taught on group work as the main tool for teaching enjoyed
considerable advantages, especially in memorizing conversations and learning new vocabularies. Although it was found that there was also a little variation in
term of phonological and grammatical that was produced by the students Pishghadam Moghaddam, 2011. Similarly, Eveyik-Aydin 2003 also states
that teachers agreed that grouppair work activities developed oral conversational and communication skills, encouraged student involvement, and increased the
quality of language practice and students motivation to use English. This statement is based on his research study finding conducted in Turkey.
