TEFL TIPS – ROLE PLAYS

CHARACTER ROLE PLAY: Each student takes one of the central characters in the article. The teacher can add more. Students with the same roles discuss their characters and plan what they will say in the role play. The teacher sets the scene for the role play.
STUDENT DECIDED ROLES: The teacher outlines the nature / situation of the role play. In pairs / groups, students decide what role they want to be they invent the characters. Before the role play begins, students introduce themselves to the other role players. Once the role playing has stopped, students talk about their performance and whether they believed in what they said. Students also talk about the mistakes made in the role play and how different students’ arguments could have been improved.
ANIMALS: Most of the time role plays involve people. In articles where animals are central, create a role play using animals.

VISA CONTROL: Your country has imposed the strictest immigration controls. The central figure in the article has applied for a permanent residence visa in your country. In pairs / groups, create the visa questionnaire. Take turns in role playing the character from the article and the immigration officer.
AT THE DOCTOR’S: In pairs / groups, students write down a list of medical questions a doctor would typically ask. Students role play a consultation between the character in the article and the doctor.
THE ARTICLE COUCH: Students take it in turns to be on the counselor’s couch. They have to report to the counselor everything they remember or know about the article.
TWO ROLES: If the teacher has little time to prepare, just create two roles. The other students have the simple role: “Agree with everything the person on your left says; disagree with everything the person on your right says”.
TAG ROLE PLAY: The class observes one role play. The participants have their “team” behind them. If one of the participating members seems to have run dry of ideas, they are tagged and replaced by a member of their team.
TEXT INTERVIEWS: Students role play the characters in the text. They interview each other about the story for their own private newspapers. Students playing the same character must sit down together and think of the questions to ask the other characters.
INTRODUCED IDEAS: The teacher prepares additional information to be given to role players at appropriate times. This information could be quickly scribbled down and given to players to revive a role or change the direction of the role play.
CELEBRITY STUFF: In improvised role plays, students pretend to be friends of the characters in the text. They show other students around the lives of the character, showing them the car, house, pet, wardrobe etc of that character. Their partner(s) must analyze these things and decide what it says about the characters.
FORTUNE TELLERS: Students play fortune tellers. Their “clients” are the characters in the story. Before the fortune telling, students must think of as many questions as they can to ask. After they ask their questions, speculate on what the real answers to those questions might be.
VARYING LOCATIONS: Do the same role play several times, each time changing the location to change the dynamics and participants of the role play (i.e. a no-smoking role play could take place initially in a bar, then a hospital ward, then the headquarters of a tobacco company).
ROLE SWAPS: Once the roles and arguments have been established (after the role play has been under way a while) the teacher switches everyone’s roles. Participants must continue in their new roles.
REHEARSAL: Students do the role play initially just for practice. Go back to their teams to “fine tune” their arguments and do the role play proper.
PATENT PENDING: If the story is about a new product or discovery, students pretend to work for a patent office. They have to rigorously assess the product and put it through its paces by creating a set of tests. Change partners. Pretend to be patent workers and inventors. Students A ask the questions, Students B defend the product.
ROLE PLAY COURT CASES: Conduct the role play in a court. Additional characters are the judges.
NATURE WON’T BE HAPPY: In pairs / groups, think of five reasons why nature would not be happy about the contents of the news article. Decide on what the fish, trees, animals, etc. might say to the people in the article. Discuss what could be done to rectify the situation. Change partners and share and compare what you discussed. Students role play the animals and things from nature and the people responsible for destroying their world.
NEW PRODUCT COMPLAINTS: For lessons that are about new products or services, students pretend to be customers. They must brainstorm all of the things that could possibly go wrong with the product. Change partners and share and compare their ideas. Part II: Imagine these things have gone wrong. Role play the customers visiting the customer relations department of the manufacturing company.
SMEAR CAMPAIGN: For articles profiling new products, students pretend to be from competitor companies. Students must decide on all the bad things about the product. In a role play, the competitor confronts the manufacturer with the problems. The manufacturer retaliates by defending its product.
VENTURE CAPITALISTS: For articles that feature new products, designs or inventions. Students must think of ideas to raise funds to launch and promote the product. Change partners and share and compare ideas.
“KIDS” ROLE PLAY: Role play the children of the characters in the article. The children must defend and stick up for their parents.
LONG TIME NO SEE ROLE PLAY: Students A pretend they are long-time friends of the main character in the article (Students B). The scenario is that the two friends, who have not met for many years, suddenly bump into each other. They must catch up with all their latest news. They must talk about the past, what it’s like to be president / an actor etc, plus the issue in the news item.
PRESS CONFERENCE ROLE PLAY: All students are at a press conference. They must ask the person giving the press conference (someone from the article) questions from their national perspective.
TOUR OF MY LIFE: Students A pretend to be a person from the article and take Students B on tours of their daily lives, homes, offices, histories etc. Student B must ask questions. After taking turns doing this, change partners and share and compare what you heard.
COMPLAIN TO REPORTER: Students are unhappy with news report. They write down five reasons for their unhappiness. Students change partners and share and compare their ideas. Role play the conversation between the unhappy reader and the reporter (who must stick to his / her guns).
I COULD DO BETTER: For articles that are based on politics, elections, economic policies, etc, students pretend to be opposition politicians who can do everything much better than the politicians in the article. Students take part in a mock election. They have to create their manifestos and say why they could do better. Change partners and give each other feedback on manifestos.

Tags: teaching, TEFL TEACHING, tefl.teaching