E-LEARNING CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE PLAYS

The researchers investigated the implementation of constructive role plays via New Horizon College English (NHCE) e-learning and its effect on Chinese EFL learners’ speaking performance with different levels of proficiency and students’ opinion toward e-learning constructive role plays in college English class, and then they compared it to the existing behaviorist role plays on NHCE (Shen & Suwanthep 2011).

Asian EFL Journal. Professional Teaching Articles. Vol. 49 January 2011

E-LEARNING CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE PLAYS FOR EFL LEARNERS IN CHINA’S TERTIARY EDUCATION

By:

(Lin Shen & Jitpanat Suwanthep)

Reviewer: Saidna Zulfiqar bin Tahir

The researchers investigated the implementation of constructive role plays via New Horizon College English (NHCE) e-learning and its effect on Chinese EFL learners’ speaking performance with different levels of proficiency and students’ opinion toward e-learning constructive role plays in college English class, and then they compared it to the existing behaviorist role plays on NHCE (Shen & Suwanthep 2011).

As the background of the research, they described the low ability of china’s students to communicate in English well; they are passive in communication using English, even they finish their course by good score but poor in speaking, caused of the lack opportunity in practicing their language and the failure of the NHCE traditional method, that is, e-learning behavior role-playing, recording and comparing, and listening and retelling which made the students repeat the material again and again till they got the boredom and loose of their interest in learning speaking, This phenomenon was categorized as “Dumb English” (Hu and Weng, 1996), (Wang and Moteram, 2006).

To solve the problems, the researchers intended to apply and examine the NHCE e-learning contractive role-playing to improve students’ speaking skill by increasing their interest in learning via this medium. They convinced that the medium can increase the students’ interest by engaging in speaking freely and creatively. So they formulized the purposes of study to find out the effect of medium toward speaking skill and also the students’ opinion toward the medium.

The research method applied Queasy Experimental Design. The total population of study is 300 students divided into two groups; 130 samples in Experimental and 130 samples in Control group. It used 4 instruments, they are; speaking test, record analysis, questionnaire and students’ interview. The data of speaking test analyzed using quantitative, and others data analyzed using qualitative analysis.

The Results shown that the e-learning constructive role plays have positive effects on improving students’ speaking in terms of language quality and language production, and students express positive opinions towards the implementation of e-learning constructive role plays. They claimed that the findings from this study were directly beneficial to other researchers aiming at developing students’, as well as teachers’, L2 speaking instruction (Shen & Suwanthep 2011).

Nevertheless, the findings cannot be generalized to entirely successful way of implementing constructive role plays which was existed some of deficiencies that can be explained as follows:

1.      The researcher did not consider the students’ background historically as another variable affected on improving their speaking. Because they already had experience speaking skill trainings and were familiar with using the existing NHCE e-learning.

2.      Every single new method or tool in teaching will be influenced the students’ interest and motivation in learning. Here, the researchers did not make a clear about what extent contribution of e-learning constructive role-playing toward speaking.

3.      Queasy experimental design used T-test was not an appropriate approach to explore the effect of e-learning constructive role plays in teaching speaking. But it must be used f-test to see the effect.

4.      In implementing learning process of experimental class, the students only used computer lab class provides the platform to practice speaking by interacting with their classmates actively. Of course, there was not something new unless the media. So what was the different then in practicing by interacting with their classmates in the classroom and using e-learning. It meant that the use of e-learning was useless. To make the tool is useful; the researcher must conduct integrated class of learning with native speakers of English that can improve students’ speaking skill.

5.      Statically, the T-value of data analysis must show plus value not minus value. In other word, t-value must be more then t-table to show the significant different. The mistake in using T-test here where the researchers put pretest first then posttest scores. To compare the score, they ought to put posttest scores first then pretest so that the t-value will become plus.

Based on the deficiencies above, here some suggestions for the next researcher who will conduct a research on the use of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) in improving students’ speaking skill to chose an appropriate technique of implementing such as consideration of students’ historical background, research design and method where the researcher may use mixed method to explore language production and performance, also the technique of data analysis.

REFERENCES:

Lin Shen & Jitpanat Suwanthep. 2011. E-learning Constructive Role Plays for EFL Learners in China’s Tertiary Education. Asian EFL Journal. Professional Teaching Articles. Vol. 49 January

Wang, W., & Motteram, G. (2006). CALL in China. IATEFL Voices, May-June (190), 7-8.

Weng, Q. F. (1996). English study strategies. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.