Enhancing oral communication through role-playing in EFL primary and secondary school contexts

Abstract

This study focused on the improvement of oral communication in the classroom. The main concern was to attain better EFL oral communication results through the implementation of classroom role-playing, emphasizing the relevance of certain spoken fluency features. The study was conducted with two A1 groups of eighth and fifth graders aged between 10 and 13 years average at 2 public schools in Bogotá. Data were collected mainly via interviews, videos, a rubric, and teachers' journals. Results show that role-playing activities allowed students to focus more on realistic oral exchanges and to reach higher levels of motivation in their classroom practices. Additionally, the study proposes that EFL classroom practices should focus on helping students develop fluency from early EFL learning stages. Finally, accuracy and complexity should not be overemphasized as language output, but instead they should be considered EFL learning goals.​​​