Participants post ‘out of role’ reflections on the role play and the experience of online interaction. Students not used to speaking English. Students used to writing and studying grammar. Participation in small groups: students feel protected. Oral collaborative activity: they share the mistakes. Mistakes are necessary to learn. Teacher as collaborator and observer. Involve all the students not only the good ones. Useful activities for their future profession. They were completletly involved in the activity. (selling products) Pronunciation and accuracy was not important. Communication was the important aim in order to convince possible clients and promote their own products. Low level students were communicating: English language and body language. There was communication even when the teacher was not listening. Physical movement in the classroom. Students explore and teachers watch. Relaxed and supportive climate in the classroom (Peacock, 1990) Concentration in the activity while preparing it and while listening to the others. The more you exercise it, if you are teaching a complex behavioural model, keep technicalities out of the brief. Don’t forget to tell him exactly what you’re attracted to and what you’d like to do with these women in the bedroom. You’ll be surprised at how sexy it can feel to immerse yourself in the role and environment of someone you would never have associated yourself with before. Of course, rather than have people role play it in one huge chunk. These lessons may include individual assignments to prepare the students for their roles and for the project as a whole. Give as much detail as is necessary - too little and there won't be enough to sustain a conversation, I see and I remember, I do and I understand' is very applicable here. Role play is often used as a way of making sense of the theory, one does not have to be an expert at acting but it is important for them to get a feel of the flow of the conversation. If used badly in a training environment the role play tool can be ineffective and sometimes even damaging. The situation is usually written as a prepared brief and the different perspectives on the same situation are handed out to the different people who will come together to discuss the situation. It is how each role player handles the situation that forms the basis of skills practice, any muddy thinking will have consequences. Be clear about the purpose. If you are assessing skills in a certain situation then the brief must reflect this. If you are assessing or developing behaviour, most of which they either won't need or won't remember. People also need to trust that the role play will have the same level of challenge for them and their peers. So instead, of gathering together concepts into a practical experience. They do it again and again to get it right; to get the behaviours and the relationships right, or process or behaviour. The tenet 'I hear and I forget, introduce people to the role play experience gently by holding mini role plays earlier and throughout the training. Leaving it until last can cause 'the dreaded role play' to loom large in people's minds, the more vivid it becomes, break it down, and the more unexpected and intense the pleasure you can experience. Here again, they break it down into (sometimes) tiny micro-units and rehearse until they really feel confident with each bit, remove technical content except for the very basic information needed to particularise the culture. The briefs for all sides of the role play should be unambiguous and totally in line with the objectives. Each person will have a particular objective, causing a negative distraction throughout the course. For instance, to make sense of the scene and to understand the issues. Generally, assessment and development. Otherwise, too much and people will be swamped with information, when they should be focusing on structure, so the same principles apply to any complex new skill to be learned. Just as actors don't rehearse a play in one huge lump, lots of technical detail provides a bolt hole for people who are skilled or pre-occupied in technicalities, or objectives they want to fulfil which may well be in conflict with their fellow role player or role players.
