Role-playing

Main idea and its purpose

Role-playing is any speech act in which you either put yourself in someone else's place, or remain in your place, but put yourself in an imaginary situation. Imaginary People - The joy of role-playing is that students can briefly 'become' anyone they like.
Role play is based on interpersonal relationships, which are realized in the process of communication. As a model of interpersonal communication, the role-playing game arouses the need for communication, arouses interest in participating in communication in a foreign language, and in this respect fulfills the function of motivation and stimulation.
Role playing can be attributed to educational games, as it largely determines the choice of language tools, promotes the development of speaking skills and abilities, and allows simulating students' communication in various speech situations. In other words, role playing is an exercise in learning skills and
abilities in an interpersonal environment. In this regard, role playing provides an educational function.
Role-playing games cultivate conscious discipline, diligence, mutual help, adolescent activity, readiness to engage in various activities, independence, ability to defend one's opinion, take the initiative, find the best solution in certain circumstances, i.e. we can talk about the educational function of role-playing.
The role-play develops the students' ability to assume the role of another person, to see themselves from the position of a communication partner. It forces students to plan their speech behavior and the behavior of their interlocutor, develops the ability to control their actions, and objectively evaluate the actions of others.

Application guidance: scope of application, for example, when working with a group of a certain age and composition; in individual work, etc.

Role-playing exercises give students the opportunity to take on the role of a person or act out a certain situation. These roles can be played by individual students, in pairs or in groups that can act out a more complex scenario. Role-plays involve students in real-life situations or scenarios that may be “stressful, unfamiliar, difficult or controversial” that force them to examine their personal feelings about others and their circumstances.
Unlike simulations and games, which are often planned, structured activities and can last for a long time, role-playing exercises "are usually short, spontaneous presentations" but can also be pre-prepared research tasks.
Using a set of guidelines can be helpful when planning role-plays:
If you plan to use the role-play as a gradual exercise, introduce small, ungraded role-plays at the beginning and throughout the semester to help students prepare for a larger role-play that will be graded. Determine the criteria for evaluating the role play.
Point out to students that the purpose of the role play is to convey a message about the topic, not to focus on the actual person playing the role.
Link the role plays to the learning objectives so that students see their relevance to the course content.
Give students time to role play, even if it is spontaneous, so that they can think deeply about the role and present it in a meaningful way.
Break down large chunks of content into smaller sections that can be more effectively presented as a role-playing game.
When conducting a role play, explain its purpose and answer the questions so that students can properly prepare for the exercise. Provide guidelines for content including: general presentation behavior (eye contact, gestures, voice projection); use of properties; and the specific language to be used (content-related vocabulary) and language not to be used (profanity, slang).
When assigning role plays, challenge all students equally so that everyone is evaluated equally.
The same game can be used in different stages of the lesson. However, everything depends on the specific working conditions of the teacher. The only thing to remember is that with all the attractiveness and effectiveness of games, a sense of proportion must be observed, otherwise they will tire students and lose the freshness of their emotional impact.

The results of applying the method, for example, increasing the ability to go beyond standard solutions, etc.

The method helps to delve into a real problem or conflict situation that a participant has encountered.
Role play can be used effectively in the classroom to:
1. Motivate and involve students;
2. Improve current teaching strategies;
3. Provide real-world scenarios to help students learn;
4. Acquired skills used in real situations (negotiations, debates, teamwork, cooperation, persuasion);
5. Provide an opportunity for critical peer observation.
Role playing gives students the opportunity to participate in activities that reflect career-related scenarios. To help students understand the use of role-play sessions, role-plays should be content-focused, relevant to learning objectives, and relevant to real-world situations. Role play exercises encourage students to think more critically about complex and controversial subjects and see situations from a different perspective. Properly employed, role plays can motivate students in a fun and engaging way.

Instructions for combining creativity methods

  • 1. Determine the goal

    Determine why you want to use creative methods in your work and for whom, that is, what is the purpose, goals, meanings, audience, for whom it is happening.

  • 2. Read

    Read the description of the methods and recommendations for their use.

  • 3. Choose

    Choose those that best suit your purpose and tasks. When choosing methods, pay attention to the fact that they can be conditionally divided into several groups:● procedural, those that help answer the question HOW TO DO IT? How to optimize the process? How to do the process differently?● horizontal, those that answer the question WHO? WITH WHO? FOR WHOM? This is about the distribution of responsibility, and about clarifying the interests, association or for whom we are doing it.● vertical, those related to WHY? WHAT IS A PURPOSE? WHAT IS THE MAIN? It is about clarifying the hierarchy in the structure, the essence of the problem and its solution, what it consists of and what one wants to achieve.

  • 4. Make it specific

    Add the missing aspect to the vector. Depending on the task, one of the vectors will be the main one, and the other 2 will be auxiliary.● For example, you need to start the learning process in a different, new way: you choose the most suitable methods for your task and audience, and add methods for vertical and horizontal questions. This will add specificity towards the goal of this process and the distribution of tasks for everyone in the process, will help determine who and what it will be useful for. This creates a habit of thinking in different directions and structuring the process.● For example, the "Blooming Lotus" method allows you to determine the vertical vector, disassemble the problem into components, detail it by seeing the entire system of the problem at the same time, show the connections between different elements and find a solution for each element separately. If we add a horizontal and procedural layer of questions from the SCAMPER method, adding and concentrating on what is still missing, what can be added, what aspect has not yet been revealed, then we will get an even more complete picture and a solution that will cover the maximum fields of the same problem.

  • 5. Сombine methods

    Find and add polar aspects. You can combine methods that are more structural with playful ones based on the principle of combining polarities. This can make the process emotional but also structured at the same time. Yes, you can first choose the method that, in your opinion, is most suitable for your problem and task, then immediately determine the one that you would rather not use, which highlights the opposite sides. Moreover, your determined polarity can be conditional, that is, you yourself can determine what is polar in your case, what is the opposite. ● For example, if in one method there is a lot about the connections between elements, their detailed description, diving into the essence of details, then choosing a method that will consider the system of the problem from above, the whole whole, the system as a separate element in the environment around it, this will add scaling in finding a solution.

  • 6. Application time

     Different methods require different periods of time when applied. When combining methods, it is better to take this into account by adding a simpler and time-limited method to a method that is time-consuming and more difficult to use.

  • 7. Calibrate the original purpose

    During the whole process, calibrate from time to time with the original purpose, goals, meaning for what it all happens and for whom, because in the exciting creative space it can be easy to lose the axis on which the whole process should rest.

  • 8. Experiment

    Having created a combination of methods, it is important to experiment and be ready for changes and adaptation of the newly created to the needs, goals and tasks even more, because during the approbation we can just see the fact that was not taken into account. Here we can go back to points 4 and 5, adding aspects that are missing.● Note: try to feel the process, be present in it as much as possible, and allow imperfection and something spontaneous to arise, because the marker of novelty is your surprise, expansion of space and emergence of unexpected details, solutions, ideas.

Instructions for combining creativity methods

  • 1. Determine the goal

    Determine why you want to use creative methods in your work and for whom, that is, what is the purpose, goals, meanings, audience, for whom it is happening.

  • 2. Read

    Read the description of the methods and recommendations for their use.

  • 5. Сombine methods

    Find and add polar aspects. You can combine methods that are more structural with playful ones based on the principle of combining polarities. This can make the process emotional but also structured at the same time. Yes, you can first choose the method that, in your opinion, is most suitable for your problem and task, then immediately determine the one that you would rather not use, which highlights the opposite sides. Moreover, your determined polarity can be conditional, that is, you yourself can determine what is polar in your case, what is the opposite. ● For example, if in one method there is a lot about the connections between elements, their detailed description, diving into the essence of details, then choosing a method that will consider the system of the problem from above, the whole whole, the system as a separate element in the environment around it, this will add scaling in finding a solution.

  • 6. Application time

    Different methods require different periods of time when applied. When combining methods, it is better to take this into account by adding a simpler and time-limited method to a method that is time-consuming and more difficult to use.

  • 3. Choose

    Choose those that best suit your purpose and tasks. When choosing methods, pay attention to the fact that they can be conditionally divided into several groups:● procedural, those that help answer the question HOW TO DO IT? How to optimize the process? How to do the process differently?● horizontal, those that answer the question WHO? WITH WHO? FOR WHOM? This is about the distribution of responsibility, and about clarifying the interests, association or for whom we are doing it.● vertical, those related to WHY? WHAT IS A PURPOSE? WHAT IS THE MAIN? It is about clarifying the hierarchy in the structure, the essence of the problem and its solution, what it consists of and what one wants to achieve.

  • 4. Make it specific

    Add the missing aspect to the vector. Depending on the task, one of the vectors will be the main one, and the other 2 will be auxiliary.● For example, you need to start the learning process in a different, new way: you choose the most suitable methods for your task and audience, and add methods for vertical and horizontal questions. This will add specificity towards the goal of this process and the distribution of tasks for everyone in the process, will help determine who and what it will be useful for. This creates a habit of thinking in different directions and structuring the process.● For example, the "Blooming Lotus" method allows you to determine the vertical vector, disassemble the problem into components, detail it by seeing the entire system of the problem at the same time, show the connections between different elements and find a solution for each element separately. If we add a horizontal and procedural layer of questions from the SCAMPER method, adding and concentrating on what is still missing, what can be added, what aspect has not yet been revealed, then we will get an even more complete picture and a solution that will cover the maximum fields of the same problem.

  • 7. Calibrate the original purpose

    During the whole process, calibrate from time to time with the original purpose, goals, meaning for what it all happens and for whom, because in the exciting creative space it can be easy to lose the axis on which the whole process should rest.

  • 8. Experiment

    Having created a combination of methods, it is important to experiment and be ready for changes and adaptation of the newly created to the needs, goals and tasks even more, because during the approbation we can just see the fact that was not taken into account. Here we can go back to points 4 and 5, adding aspects that are missing.● Note: try to feel the process, be present in it as much as possible, and allow imperfection and something spontaneous to arise, because the marker of novelty is your surprise, expansion of space and emergence of unexpected details, solutions, ideas.

Other methods of creativity activation

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Сinquain

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Focal object method

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Mine-mapping

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6 hats method

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Brainstorming

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Ishikawa diagram

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Role-playing

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Synectics 

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Morphological analysis

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The method of lateral thinking

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The method of associations

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The method of garlands of associations

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