Role Play to Improve ESL Learners’ Communication Skills: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The used of role play in classroom allows students to act out a situation or adopt the role of someone else in order for them to practice their communication skills. When compared to other language abilities such as reading, and writing, communication skill is said to be the most challenging skill to learn. This study includes a systematic assessment of 20 relevant published studies from Google Scholar, Research Gate, Semantic Scholar, Academia, SAGE, ProQuest and Educational Resources Information Centre (ERIC) database on the use of role play in the classroom to improve ESL students' communication abilities from the year 2011 to 2021. The goal of this study is to see how successful role-playing is at helping ESL learners improve their communication abilities. The results show that role-playing influenced and improved students' speaking abilities, particularly fluency, understanding, context, and interactive ability. Other than this, role play can also assist students gain confidence in their ability to communicate in English and increase their drive to speak English in the classroom. Future research and practise objectives, as well as the limits in regards to prior pertinent studies were more thoroughly evaluated.