Role play : an EFL strategy to foster self-confidence and vocabulary in oral communication.

Abstract

The project is framed in the action research modality and part of qualitative research that has an interpretative approach since emerged from the urgent need to change the English teaching practices regarding oral communication. This study was carried out with a group of ninth graders at Colegio Liceo Femenino Mercedes Nariño IED. In the observation phase was identify the lack of vocabulary and self-confidence that the students had when they tried to communicate in English. Therefore, this project had as a purpose to analyze the impact of using role plays in self-confidence and vocabulary in English oral communication. Thus, this document displays a pedagogical proposal based on the constructivist pedagogical model as well as on the communicative language learning and task-based learning approaches since they allow students to be more active in their learning process. The present study found that by promoting spaces of oral communication through role play, students could improve their vocabulary learning and self-confidence. Likewise, the approaches used enhanced student´s collaborative work, learning, motivation, and overall allowed students to use the target language in their immediate reality. Thus, the project contributes to understand how, by using the role-play strategy, the English learning process, the vocabulary, and self-confidence in oral communication in the EFL classroom can be improved.