The use of role-plays to reduce esl students’ speaking anxiety: a case study of grade six bhutanese classroom

Abstract

Speaking anxiety is a major concern for the debilitating effect on English-speaking competency. This paper reports a mixed methods case study of investigating the effectiveness of role-plays in reducing speaking anxiety in Bhutan. In addition, it explores the opinions of students on effectiveness of role-plays in the classroom of English as a Second Language (ESL) grade six students to reduce speaking anxiety. The researcher administered Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) to study the anxiety level in the current ESL classroom as pre-survey and post-survey. The four lesson plans integrating role-plays were employed for the treatment sessions. The classroom observations and focus group discussions were carried out to evaluate 30 informants on the effectiveness of role-plays in reducing speaking anxiety. The result showed the significance level (p) 0.001 indicating statistically significant in reducing speaking anxiety after the treatment. The findings were supported with positive opinions towards role-plays in reducing speaking anxiety. This study further discussed a number of implications for students, language teachers, and curriculum developers on role-plays implementation.