ELT365 · Day 187 — Role play — three reasons it fails

Idea — Role play fails when learners do not understand the situation, lack the language for it, or care too much about accuracy to speak at all. Fix the scenario card, not the activity.

Example — “Be a customer in a shop” fails at A2. “You want to return a blue jacket bought yesterday — it has a broken zip” gives learners something specific to say.

Try — Take a role play that went badly in your class. Rewrite the scenario card to be more concrete and contain the key vocabulary.

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