The department of roman-german philology theme: importance of using role playing in teaching course work done by

CHAPTER II. TYPES OF ROLE PLAYING IN TEACHING LEARNERS 
Roleplaying is where you pretend to be another character in a make-
believe setting. There are three main types of roleplay: text-based, live-
action, and tabletop. Text-based roleplaying takes place online and 
focuses on writing. Live-action roleplaying takes place face-to-face; you 
interact with other people through talking, acting, and occasionally 
combat. Tabletop roleplaying can be done in-person or online, and 
focuses mainly on verbally describing your character's actions. All three 
are fun, immersive, and a great way to meet new friends. 
2.1.How to teach by using role-playing
Key Features of Role Play 
Learner places themselves in another’s shoes. 
Role play should build on the learner’s previous knowledge and 
experience. Role play enables people to experience a situation from the 
past or to prepare for a future situation. Role play is valuable in learning 
situations where it is not reasonable to practice the required skills 
directly in the field. For example, role playing a public meeting with 

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irate citizens or a child protection worker removing a child from their
home. 
Debriefing and reflection are important aspects for a successful learning 
situation.
Learning Goals for Role Play: 
The main learning goal for a role play is for the student to learn the 
knowledge and ability required to approach or deal with a specific 
situation. The learner gains this knowledge and ability by acting out the 
situation in a controlled environment, and by reflecting on that 
experience. Specific learning goals will differ based on the lesson plan 
objective. For example, in a customer service environment, the learning 
goal of the role play may be strategies for how to deal with an irate 
customer. In a media and communictions course, the learning goal of 
the role play may be gaining the knowledge and ability required to 
interview a politician. 

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Role-play provides opportunities for learning in both the affective 
domain and the cognitive domain. In the affective domain, emotions 
and values are involved, and in the cognitive domain, experiences are 
analyzed. While participating in the role play, learning is occurring in 
the affective domain, as the learner is experiencing the emotions 
associated with the role. Following the role play, during debrief and 
reflection, the learner is analyzing their experience, therefore, learning is 
taking place in the cognitive domain. 
Role play is based on experiential learning theory. Many influential 
education theorists, such as Dewey, Lindeman and Kolb, write about the 
importance of experiential learning. Cranton (2009) states that “these 
two concepts – learning by experience and reflection –remain integral 
elements of all modern-day descriptions of adult education” (p. 9). Role-
play is a prime example of an experiential learning technique that can 
enhance learning in the adult student. Students assume roles in a real-
world scenario, and must apply and develop the actual skills required to 
handle the situation or solve the problem presented. 

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Process for Implementing Role Play:
A successful role play learning situation must be set up and framed 
correctly, especially if the learners have never participated in a role play 
before. The facilitator must be clear about the learning objectives and 
the students must be provided with the necessary background 
knowledge. The learners should also be provided with time to prepare 
their role play and reflect on their experience. Merrill’s first principles of 
instruction could be utilized in implementing the role play to encourage 
more effective learning. 

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Situational ConstraintsL:
As with every instructional method, there are some constraints to 
consider when deciding whether or not to utilize role play as an 
instructional strategy. Constraints include the following: 
-
Time consuming to design and implement. 
-
Students may be hesitant to participate; for some “role play” can 
cause immediate anxiety. 
-
Role-play situation can quickly get out of hand and disrupt the 
learning activity and/or turn into a comedy show. 
-
The situation can elicit strong emotions related to previous events. 
-
Role plays can lack focus if not well planned. 
-
Success depends heavily on the learner's willingness to participate. 
Relevance of Role Play to Adult Learning Environments:
Role play is an instructional strategy that is very relevant to adult 
learning environments. Some theorists believe that for any learning to 
be effective, it must contain an experiential aspect. Role-play is an 

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instructional strategy that utilizes the previous experiences of the adult 
learner, provides an experiential learning opportunity, and encourages 
reflection. These are all conditions of a learning situation that many 
adult education theorists have concluded better facilitate learning in the 
adult student. 
How to Teach Using Role-Playing:
Role-playing exercises can be hard work for the instructor, both in 
preparation and in execution, but the work tends to pay off in terms of 
student motivation and accomplishment. As with any big project, it's 
best to take it one step at a time: 
1)
Define Objectives 
2)
Choose Context & Roles 
3)
Introducing the Exercise 
4)
Student Preparation/Research 
5)
The Role-Play 
6)
Concluding Discussion 
7)
Assessment 

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Define Objectives:
The details of what you need to do depend entirely on why you want to 
include role-playing exercises in your course. 
What topics do you want the exercise to cover? 
How much time do you and your class have to work on it? 
What do you expect of your students: research, reports, presentations? 
Do you want the students role-playing separately or together? 
Do you want to include a challenge or conflict element? 
Choose Context & Roles:
In order to prepare for the exercise: 
Decide on a problem related to the chosen topic(s) of study and a setting 
for the characters. It is a good idea to make the setting realistic, but not 
necessarily real. Consider choosing and adapting material that other 
instructors have prepared. For problems and settings with lots of detail, 
have a look at examples in the Starting Point Case Study Module. The 
module itself contains more information about using cases to teach. If 
the characters(s) used in the exercise are people, define his or her goals 
and what happens if the character does not achieve them. You should 
work out each characters' background information on the problem or, 
better yet, directions on how to collect it through research. If possible, 
prepare maps and data for your students to interpret as part of their 
background information rather than the conclusions upon which they 

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would ordinarily base their decisions (especially if the characters are 
scientists). 
Introducing the Exercise: 
Engage the students in the scenario by describing the setting and the 
problem. Provide them with the information you have already prepared 
about their character(s): the goals and background information. It needs 
to be clear to the student how committed a character is to his/her goals 
and why. Determine how many of your students have done role-playing 
before and explain how it will work for this exercise. Outline your 
expectations of them as you would for any assignment and stress what 
you expect them to learn in this lesson. If there is an inquiry element, 
suggest a general strategy for research/problem solving.