“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players” – Are you ready to play a role?

Abstract

Among the different methodologies for TEFL, role-plays / simulations have been used as a common way for fostering students’ learning and practicing the use of English, especially students’ oral skills. In Macau, such skills are especially important for college students who are preparing to join the hospitality and tourism industry. These students will need to face different people from varied backgrounds, and when working in the front line, they will need to solve problems for their clients / customers. English, as the lingua franca, will naturally be used during the process. Consequently, students should acquire adequate communicative competence besides bettering their mastery of the English grammar. The objectives of this qualitative study were to find out students’ opinions on the effectiveness of role-plays for practicing oral skills and what the barriers were. Five Year 1 students of the Institute for Tourism Studies in Macau were interviewed. The responses given by these students showed their appreciation of role-play as a language learning activity and at the same time, their reluctance to be actively involved in the activity as a result of cultural and psychological barriers. The findings suggest that ESP instructors could put more thought into creating suitable environments that allow students to take up different roles with ease