Application of role-plays to develop conversation skills in the 9th and 10th grade of basic education in a rural School Azogues-Ecuador

Abstract

The importance of Ecuadorian students attaining a functional use level in the English Language has recently become a primary objective for the Ecuadorian government. However, many students have difficulty with using English to convey an idea, thought or opinion. This situation has led to the development of this study, which consists in applying role-plays to develop conversational skills in the 9th and 10th grades of basic education in a rural school. For this study, the 9th and 10th grades were unified due to the small number of students in both grades. In total, twelve students participated as subjects for this research. Speaking and listening pre-test and post-test, role-play rubrics, videos, and follow-up activities were the data collection instruments used. In order to develop a theoretical framework, a bibliographic method was used. Moreover, quantitative method was applied for data collection. The analysis of data results was developed by observing the videos of the different role-plays, applying a speaking and listening pre-test and post-test, and using two types of statistics study: descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings show that despite students’ slight problems in fluency, accuracy, and confidence while using the English Language in the post-test, they improved their grades in comparison with the pre-test. The students’ improvement in the post-test could be connected to the different types of role-plays and activities used, demonstrating the effectiveness of the role-plays to improve speaking and listening skills.