Effectiveness of Three Different Types of Role-plays: Audio-Recorded, Video-Recorded and In-Person Role-plays

Some learners are highly anxious about making errors in front of peers in class, and such anxiety may hinder learners from producing output. Thus, alternative ways of promoting output other than face-to-face interaction in class may be needed. This research investigated the effectiveness of three different types of role-plays (audio-recorded, video-recorded, and in-person role-plays) with 12 participants who were EFL learners. The participants first received pronunciation instruction and practice as a warm-up activity. Then, they took part in audio-recorded, video-recorded, and in-person role-plays that were designed to encourage them to produce the targeted pronunciation communicatively. In the audio-recorded role-plays, the participants created either questions or answers depending on what the audio-recorded machine interlocutors said. As for the video-recorded role-plays, each participant first video-recorded their utterances and uploaded them on Padlet within a time limit, and then each participant watched their peers’ video-recorded utterances and created and uploaded their replies on Padlet within a time limit. The in-person role-plays were traditional face-to-face role-plays. After completing all the role-play activities, all participants answered questionnaires so that the researcher could understand their impressions and the impacts of each type of role-plays. Generally, role-plays were welcomed, and the participants were aware of their benefits. The participants enjoyed the in-person role-plays the most, but the most enjoyment did not guarantee the best performance or the lowest anxiety. The questionnaire also revealed the positive and negative impacts of peer presence and non-verbal communication. That is, the presence of peers further promoted spontaneous interaction, but their presence also put pressure on the participants to speak more precisely. Role-plays in general were perceived to be beneficial, but different types of role-plays may have to be provided to enhance learners’ linguistic skills as well as affective factors such as anxiety.