2013-The Effects of Role-Play On Students' Attitude and Motivation To Speak and Interact in The Esl Classroom PDF

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THE EFFECTS OF ROLE-PLAY ON STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE

AND MOTIVATION TO SPEAK AND INTERACT
IN THE ESL CLASSROOM
BOJEESWARI D/O BOSAN
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the
Requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Education in
Teaching English as a Second Language(TESL)
Faculty of Education
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
JUNE 2013
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Beloved father MR. Bosan for his love,
My Beloved sisters and brothers for their love and care,
Mr & Mrs Ravindren, Mr & Mrs Rajan, Mr & Mrs Jaya Kumar,
Miss Sarala Devi and Mr Saravana Kumar.
Good friend of mine R. Sheila Devi for her support
And
Mr Selva Kumar for his support and encouragements,
Not forgetting
All my friends for their prayers.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Om Guru Bharma, thanks to the Almighty God because of His shower of

blessings, I am able to complete this study within the given time and successfully.
Firstly, I wish to express my greatest and sincere appreciation to my

supervisors Puan Zanariah binti Md Saleh and Associate Professor Dr. Norazman
bin Abdul Majid for their comments, guidance, patience, motivation and support in
the pursuance of this research.
I would also like to thank my examiners Associate Professor Madya Dr.

Abdul Halim bin Abdul Rauf and Puan Haliza binti Jaafar for their constructive
comments and feedbacks for the improvement of this research.
My gratitude also goes to my beloved family members for their endless love,
support, encouragement and prayers.
BOJEESWARI BOSAN
2013
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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of role-play activities

on students’ attitude and motivation towards speaking and interacting in the ESL
classroom. This experimental research adopted a mixed methodology where data
were obtained by using questionnaire, observation and interview. The questionnaire
was adapted from several studies. The data obtained from the questionnaire were
analyzed using SPSS 20. Observations were done on both the control and
experimental group based on the checklist designed by the researcher. The
experimental group which underwent the role-play activities were video-recorded
and the recordings were analyzed using Transana 2.22. Interviews were conducted
to gain further insight on students’ opinion of the role-play activities. The
respondents of this research consisted of 28 Year 4 students from one primary school
in the Johor Bahru district. The findings of the study showed that role-play activities
did have significant effects in motivating students to speak and interact in the ESL
classroom. Students also perceived role-play activities to be beneficial in helping
them to improve their speaking ability through the use of the language and
enhancing their interaction in class. Thus, it is recommended that ESL teachers
adopt this approach in order to improve students’ communicative and interactive
skills.
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ABSTRAK
Tujuan kajian ini dijalankan adalah untuk mengkaji kesan aktiviti main
peranan terhadap sikap dan motivasi pelajar untuk bertutur dan berinteraksi di dalam
kelas Bahasa Inggeris. Kajian ini adalah berbentuk eksperimen dimana instrumen
yang digunakan adalah soal selidik, pemerhatian dan temubual. Soal selidik yang
digunakan telah diadaptasi daripada beberapa kajian lepas. Data dari soal selidik ini
akan dianalisis dengan menggunakan SPSS 20 manakala pemerhatian keatas
kumpulan eksperimen dan kumpulan kawalan dijalankan dengan berpandukan
senarai semak yang telah dibentuk oleh penyelidik. Aktiviti kumpulan uji kaji telah
dirakam dan data dianalisis menggunakan Transana 2.22. Temubual juga telah
dijalankan untuk mengetahui pandangan pelajar terhadap aktiviti main peranan ini.
Seramai 28 orang pelajar Tahun 4 dari salah sebuah sekolah rendah dari daerah
Johor Bahru dipilih sebagai responden untuk kajian ini. Hasil dapatan kajian
menunjukkan bahawa aktiviti main peranan ini dapat meningkatkan tahap motivasi
pelajar unuk bertutur dan berinteraksi didalam kelas Bahasa Inggeris. Mengikut
pendapat pelajar, aktiviti main peranan ini dapat meningkatkan mutu atau kualiti
mereka bertutur dan berinteraksi di kelas Bahasa Inggeris. Oleh yang demikian guru
Bahasa Inggeris disarankan untuk menggunakan aktiviti main peranan ini di dalam
kelas Bahasa Inggeris supaya pelajar dapat meningkatkan kebolehan mereka untuk
bertutur dan berinteraksi di dalam kelas.
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CONTENTS
CHAPTER TITLE PAGE
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
ABSTRAK vi
CONTENTS vii
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES x
LIST OF ACRONYMS xi
LIST OF APPENDICES xii
1 INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Background of the Study 2
1.2 Statement of the Problem 3
1.3 Conceptual Framework 6
1.4 Research Objectives 8
1.5 Research Questions 8
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1.6. Significance of The Study 9

1.7 Scope of Study 9
1.8 Definition of Terms 10
1.9 Conclusion 12
2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction 13
2.1 Communicative Language Teaching 13
2.2 Second Language Acquisition Theories 15
2.2.1 Affective Filter Hypotheses 15
2.2.2 Social Interaction 16
2.3 Attitude and Motivation 17
2.3.1 Attitude and Language Acquisition 17
2.3.2 Motivational and Language 18
Acquisition 19
2.4 Speaking and Interacting 20
2.4.1 Students’ Speaking Ability 20
2.4.2 Factors Affecting Language 21
Learning
2.5 Role Play In The ESL Classroom 23
2.6 Conclusion 25
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3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction 26
3.1. The Research Design
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3.2 Respondents 28
3.3 Research Instruments 30
3.3.1 Questionnaire 30
3.3.2 Observation 32
3.3.3 Interviews 33
3.4 Research Procedures 33
3.5 Data Analysis 38
3.6 Conclusion 39
4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.0 Introduction 41
4.1 Research Question 1: What are the Students’
Attitude and Motivation Towards Speaking
and Interacting in the ESL Classroom
(Control Group)? 42
4.2 Research Question 2: What are the Effects
of Role-play Activities on Students’ Attitude
and Motivation to Speak and Interact in the
ESL Classroom (Experimental Group)? 48
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4.2.1 Findings from the Questionnaire 48
4.2.2 Finding from the Observation 57
4.2.2.1 Observations Made on the

Control Group 58
4.2.2.2 Observations Made on the

Experimental Group 62
4.3 Research Question 3: What are the Students’
Perceptions Towards the Role-play Activities? 68
4.4 Conclusion 76
5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
5.0 Introduction 77
5.1 Summary of the Findings 78
5.2 Pedagogical Implication 79
5.3 Limitations of the Study 80
5.4 Recommendation for Further Research 81
5.6 Conclusion 81
REFERENCES 83
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APPENDICES 90- 129

LIST OF TABLE
TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE
3.1 Information about the Respondents 29

3.2 Role-play Activities 35
3.3 Research Procedure 37
3.4 Details of Data Analysis 39
4.1 Questionnaire with Motivation and Attitude Items 42

4.2 The Mean for Each Question Before and After 3
Weeks of Activities for Control Group 44
4.3 Summary of Mean According to the Attitude and
Motivation Questions for Control Group 47
4.4 The Mean for Each Questions Before and After 3
Weeks of Activities for Experimental Group 49
4.5 Summary of Mean According to the Attitude and
Motivation Questions for Experimental Group 51
4.6 Checklist and the Group Activities 58
4.7 Item 8 – Checklist 7 59
4.8 Item 8 – Checklist 9 59
4.9 Item 4 and 5 – Checklist 7 60
4.10 Item 8 & 9 – Checklist 9 61
4.11 Item 8 & 9 – Checklist 10 61
4.12 Role-play Activities 63
4.13 G1S1 Involvement in the Conversation 64
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4.17 Interview Question 1 68
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LIST OF FIGURE
FIGURES NO. TITLE PAGE
1.1 Conceptual Framework 7
3.1 Triangulation of Research Data 27
4.1 Two Tailed T-Test 53
4.2 T-Test for Pre-Test and Post Test for Control Group 54
4.3 T-Test for Pre-Test and Post-Test for Experimental Group 55
4.4 T-Test for Post-Test for Control and Experimental Group 56

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LIST OF SYMBOLS
CA Communication Apprehension
CLT Communicative Language Teaching
ELT English Language Teaching
ESL English for Second Language
EW20 English Within Twenty Minutes
KBSR Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah
L1 First language
L2 Second Language
MBMMBI Memartabatkan Bahasa Melayu Dan Memperkukuhkan

Bahasa Inggeris ( To uphold Bahasa Melayu and to
strengthen the English Language)
SLA Second Language Acquisition
SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.
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LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX TITLE PAGE
A Questionnaire 90
B Observation Checklist 97
C Interview Questions 99
D1 Week 1 : Group 1 (Activity) 101
E1 Week 1 : Group 1 (Transana) 113
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
English is considered as a second language (L2) in Malaysia. It is taught at

all levels of education and it is essential for learners to master the language as it is an
international language which is spoken globally. The English Language Teaching
(ELT) emphasizes on the acquisition of the four basic language skills which are
reading, writing, listening and speaking. Speaking is “the process of building and
sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbol in a variety of
context” (Chaney, 1998: 13). By speaking with others, we are able to share
knowledge and information with one another.
Spoken English is very important for all level of learners as we could judge a
person’s English competence and his English knowledge through his speaking
competence. According to Bygate (1987), speaking needs more attention due to its
usefulness in the learner’s current and future lives. Therefore, it is very important
for the learners to learn how to speak English.
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Motivating the learners to talk in class is one of the best ways to help them
learn English as a Second Language (ESL). Seliger (1977) emphasized that, the
more the learners talk, the better they learn. Hence there is a need for ELT teachers
to create conducive learning environment for the learners to feel comfortable to use
the language in the ESL classroom. In other words, ELT teachers have to create a
platform for the learners to practice the language and enable them to interact with
one another. ELT teachers have to give close attention on applying different
teaching approaches in their teaching for better output from the students.
1.1 Background of the Study
English is one of the compulsory subjects in primary and secondary schools

in Malaysia. Students in primary schools had been taught this language since they
were in kindergarten. However after many years of learning the language students
still could not achieve an acceptable level of competence in English.
There are two main reasons why some students are still not proficient in
English. Firstly, Bahasa Melayu is considered as the main medium of
communication in Malaysia and also in the classroom. Learning English is not much
emphasized and therefore, students tend to neglect the importance of learning
English as they have limited exposure to this language. Students only have three to
four learning hours of English per week in school. Ambigapathy (2002; 2006) and
Zaira Abu Hasan (2008) claimed that English is not perceived as an important
medium for communication as the students use Bahasa Melayu both for academic
and personal interactions and as a result students do not consider learning English is
important.
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Secondly, the development of speaking skills has not been greatly

emphasized in the curriculum where more priority is given to the teaching of
reading, writing and grammatical skills. According to Razianna Abdul Rahman
(2005), these are the skills that are tested in the Malaysian schools national
examinations. Hence students pay more attention on improving these skills (reading,
writing and grammatical skills) compared to speaking skills.
Another reason for students not being able to speak good English is due to
the interference of the first language (L1). As stated by Ambigapathy (2002) and
Nambiar (2007), the interference of Bahasa Melayu contributes to the wrong usage
of grammar, morphology and syntax which occurs during direct translation.
The Ministry of Education had launched many programmes to improve the

standard of English language among the students. One of the new programmes
introduced by the Ministry is “To uphold Bahasa Melayu and to strengthen the
English Language” or in Bahasa Melayu it is known as “Memartabatkan Bahasa
Melayu Dan Memperkukuhkan Bahasa Inggeris” (MBMMBI). The aim of this
program is to give importance to both languages and improve the students’
proficiency level especially in speaking skills which focuses on “Entertainment in
Learning”. In other words, English teachers have to conduct their teaching in a more
fun and creative way which can reduce students’ anxiety level and attract them to
learn English.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The New Primary School Curriculum or in Bahasa Melayu it is known as

“Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah” (KBSR) is the guideline for the Malaysian
primary school education system. The objective of KBSR is to equip students with
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basic skills and knowledge of English to ensure that students can communicate
orally or in written form (Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, 2001). One of the aims
of KBSR is to produce students who can speak and understand simple spoken
English and respond to it appropriately.
One of the ways to enhance students’ speaking and their interaction skills is
through student-centered activities. However not many ESL teachers especially
those in the primary schools are adopting this approach due to several constraints
such as classroom management and time constraint where they need to finish the
syllabus on time and prepare the students for the public examination. As a result the
teachers resorted to the traditional teaching method which is teacher-centered
(Ministry Of Education, 2003) and communication and interactions skills among the
students are not given much priority.
Attitude is also one of the factors that play a role in language learning among
the students (Spolsky, 1969). Spolsky emphasized that attitude is the inner character
of a person that leads him or her to react positively or negatively towards something.
Students with negative attitude will never show positive achievement on learning to
speak a language. Negative attitude can cause the learners to lose interest towards
learning the language as it can produce an obstacle in the learning process and
prevent them from obtaining new L2 knowledge. Some of the problems faced by the
students in the ESL classroom are anxiety, afraid of making mistakes, low self-
confidence and shyness which are related to attitude.
Some students are afraid to use the English language when they have to
speak in public because they do not want their peers to laugh at them as this can lead
to social embarrassment especially when they make mistakes (Jones, 2004). They
do not want their peers to laugh at their weakness in handling this language in
public. This anxiety can have negative effects on language learning (Oxford, 1990;
Jones, 2004; Von Worde, 2003 and Turula, 2004). Anxiety prevents the students
from successfully speaking the L2 language. According to Noor Hashimah Abdul
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Aziz (2007), learners feel very nervous when speaking in English and she also
concluded that the learners face difficulty to express themselves in English.
Students tend not to produce a good oral performance when they are nervous or
afraid as their anxiety level is high and their self-confidence is very low. Having self
confidence is very important for the students to perform well in the given task as
anxiety and self confidence are related to one another. Less anxiety and high
confidence level can lead to good oral performance (Oxford, 1990; Jones, 2004; Von
Worde, 2003 and Turula, 2004).
Self-confidence involves having confidence in oneself and abilities.

According to Heyde (1979), high self confidence can be positively correlated with
oral performance. The higher their self confidence, the better students will perform.
On the other hand, highly anxious students will deal with L2 language differently,
depending on their confidence level.
In the ESL classroom, it is important that students have high motivation and
positive attitude towards the English Language. Gardner and Lambert (1972),
explained that motivation and attitude are related closely to the successful learning
of a second language. According to the linguistic language experts, the higher level
of motivation and more positive attitude will produce a more successful second
language learner. Many students are not motivated to speak in the ESL classroom
due to their own attitude, classroom setting, teaching method, teaching material,
their background knowledge of English Language and L1 interference.
Hence, motivating students to learn to speak a language is the best method to

create a positive attitude of oneself towards the target language. As stated by Seliger
(1977), the more the learners talk, the better they learn. Thus teacher must ensure
the environment of the classroom to be more conducive and safe for the students to
react appropriately. The teachers must conduct classroom activities that motivate the
students to engage in the activities. They need to create more opportunities for the
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students to speak the target language by providing collaborative work, authentic

materials and tasks, and shared knowledge. Activities that enhance the students to
participate actively are recommended to be conducted in the classroom, for example
activities that are related to their real life situation such as role-play activities. Thus,
it is the purpose of this study to investigate the effects of role-play on students’
attitude and motivation towards speaking and interacting in the ESL classroom.
1.3 Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework of this study is shown in Figure 1.1. This

conceptual framework shows the important keys concepts of this research study.
The main key concept in this research study is communicative language teaching
(CLT). There are many ELT methods that are encompassed in CLT. This research
study focused on role-play activities as a tool to motivate the students to speak and
interact in the ESL classroom.
The second key concept is role-play. Role-play is an activity in which the

group members are given a situation and vocabularies that are related to the
situation. They have to discuss the situation and then role-play the situation in front
of the class. This activity is student-centered and the teacher plays the role of a
facilitator.
The third key concept is effects. In this research the effects of role-play
activities on students’ attitude and motivation in speaking and interacting in the ESL
classroom will be investigated.
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The next key concepts are attitude and motivation. These two words are
related to each other and affect the students’ performance in language learning.
Highly motivated and positive attitude students can lead to good oral performance.
The last two concepts are speaking and interacting. The research focused on
the impact of role-play activities on students’ attitude and motivation to speak and
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)
Method adopted
Role-play activities
Speak Interact
Attitude and Motivation
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Figure 1.1: Conceptual Framework
1.4 Research Objectives
The research objectives of this study are:
1.4.1 To investigate students’ attitude and motivation towards speaking and

interacting in the ESL classroom (Control Group).
1.4.2 To determine the effects of role-play on students’ attitude and motivation to

speak and interact in the ESL classroom (Experimental Group).
1.4.3 To examine students’ perception towards the use of role-play activities.
1.5 Research Questions
There are three research questions addressed in this study:
1.5.1 What are the students’ attitude and motivation towards speaking and
interacting in the ESL classroom (Control Group)?
1.5.2 What are the effects of role-play activities on students’ attitude and
motivation to speak and interact in the ESL classroom (Experimental
Group)?
1.5.3 What are the students’ perceptions towards the role-play activities?
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1.6 Significance of the Study
There are several benefits of the study. Firstly the findings of the study
would be able to determine the impact of role-play activities on student’s attitude
and motivation to speak and interact in the ESL classroom. Furthermore, through
the findings of the study, the benefits of using role-play in the ESL classroom can be
highlighted.
Recommendations can also be made to ESL teachers to adopt this teaching

approach as it can help students to use the language and develop their
communicative competence apart from making language learning more fun and
enjoyable.
1.7 Scope of Study
This study investigated on the effects of role-play activities on students’

attitude and motivation to speak in English and interact in the ESL classroom. The
respondents of the study were 28 students from one primary school in Johor Bahru
district and they are in Year 4. The respondents have studied English for three years
since they were in Year 1. The English Language proficiency of the respondents
was determined based on the final year English Language examination result when
they were in Year 3.
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1.8 Definition of the Terms
In the context of this study, there are several terms and concepts that are
important and they are defined as follow.
1.8.1 Communicative Language Teaching
Communicative language teaching (CLT) makes use of real-life situations

that necessitate communication. The teacher sets up a situation that students are
likely to encounter in real life. The fundamental idea of the CLT approach is the
communicative competence (Hymes, 1972). Students have to learn the usage of the
language properly and not really focusing on the linguistic structures and grammar
rules. Littlewood (1981) described the CLT as an approach give efficient
concentration to functional as well as structural aspects of language. One of the best
ways of practicing functional aspects that are related to real life is through role-play
activities.
1.8.2 English as a Second Language
English as a Second Language (ESL) means English taught to learner

whose first language or mother tongue is not English, but they live in an English-
speaking country and they need English to communicate in daily life situations
(MacMillan English Dictionary, 2002).
1.8.3 Motivation
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Motivation can be described as a feeling of enthusiasm or interest that makes

one determined to do something to achieve goals (MacMillan English Dictionary,
2002). It is a process that involves goals, physical or mental activity, and is both
instigated and sustained (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996, pp 4-5; Williams,1997).
Motivation can be a reason to increase someone’s spirit to reach out their target.
1.8.4 Attitude
Attitude means, someone’s opinions or feelings about something especially

as shown by their behavior. Gardner (1985) points out that attitude is an evaluative
reaction to some object or idea, inferred on the basis of the individual’s beliefs or
opinions about the object or idea.
1.8.5 Role-play
According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), role-play refers to a game that the
teachers and the students play in carrying out learning task as well as the social and
interpersonal relationship between the respondents. On the other hand Najizade
(1996) defines role-play as an activity for bringing real language situations which
can help the learners to acquire the language.
1.8.6 Effects
According to MacMillan English Dictionary (2002), effects cause a change

that is produced in one person or thing by another person or thing.
1.8.7 Speaking
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Speaking is an action that involves producing, receiving and processing

information in spoken language to conveying the information or expressing one’s
thoughts and feeling (Brown, 1994; Burns & Joyce, 1997).
1.8.8 Interaction
Interaction can be defined as an activity of being with and talking to other

people and the way that people react to each other (MacMillan English Dictionary,
2002).
1.9 Conclusion
This chapter has emphasized the main issues that are related to the study.
Hopefully the findings of the study will bring benefits to both the students and the
teachers in the ESL classroom.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to present several strands of literature relevant

to this study. Review of communicative language teaching and second language
acquisition theories are presented at first, followed by a section on attitude and
motivation. The second part covers skills that are focused on this study which are
speaking and interacting. The third part of this chapter contains the literature related
to the main idea of the study, which is role-play activity.
2.1 Communicative Language Teaching

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Communicative language teaching (CLT) or communicative approach to

teaching focuses on interaction skills in language learning through role-play, pair
work and group work. The main aim of CLT is to enhance the speaking skills of the
students and enable them to communicate under various circumstances where more
emphasis is given on fluency and pronunciation rather than specific grammar rules.
In CLT teachers becomes an analyst and task designer while the students are the
improviser and negotiator.
David Nunan (1991), lists these basic elements of CLT:
1. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the

target language.
2. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
3. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the
language but also on the learning process itself.
4. An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important
contributing elements to classroom learning.
5. An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation
outside the classroom.
Based on these elements, the communicative approach is concerned with the

individual needs of the learners. By conducting the activities that are related to real
life situations, the learners can acquire the skills successfully. Some of the CLT
activities that can be conducted in the ESL classroom are activities with authentic
materials, rearranging sentences, role-playing, information gap and picture strip
story.
According to Littlewood (1994), CLT main characteristic features are the

systematic attention to functional as well as structural aspects of language. This
aspects can be taught through role-play activities and enable the learners to cope
with everyday situations.
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Teachers in the CLT classrooms are expected to talk less and focus on the
students’ actions. They turn to be the facilitators of their students while conducting
the activities (Larsen-Freeman, 1986). The teachers set up the activities and just
monitor how the students perform the output of the discussion. The teacher observes
and gives feedback after the activities to correct the students’ mistakes in general so
that the students will not feel uncomfortable.
CLT encourages the students to speak and frequently leave their seats to
complete a given task. CLT activities are students centered where by students have
to contribute their sweat to make the activity a success. In this case the group
members have to take full responsibility and react actively to reach the goal set for a
particular activity. Increased responsibility to participate in the activity will make
the students gain confidence in using the target language in and out of the ESL
classroom. In CLT students are more responsible of their own action (Larsen-
Freeman, 1986).
2.2 Second Language Acquisition Theories
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is the process by which people learn a

second language in addition to a person’s first language. There are many SLA
theories in this language learning field. Each theory carried its own characteristics.
This section covers the theories that are related to this research.
2.2.1 Affective Filter Hypotheses
One of the most widely discussed models of language learning/acquisition is

Krashen’s “Monitor Model”. The theory describes five central hypotheses and one
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of them is the affective filter hypotheses. Krashen (1982), explained through this
hypotheses motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety play an important role in
language acquisition.
According to Krashen (1982), if the filter is “up” comprehensible input can

not get through while if it is “down” they can make effective use of it.
Comprehensible input means that students should be able to understand the essence
of what is being said or presented to them but it is not necessary that they have to
know all the words being said.
Krashen (1982), explained that the best time to deliver input to the students
when they are in the low anxiety situation because they are highly motivated and
have a strong sense of self. Meanwhile, students who have a low level of
motivation, low self-esteem, and high anxiety will have a mental block and they
could not progress as naturally or as quickly compared to other students who are not
blocked by these factors.
The classroom stress should be minimized to ensure that the students’

affective filter remained low and they can receive the input that is delivered. This
safe environment will encourage the shy learners to take part in role-play activities
with more confidence because the teachers are there to help them if they face any
difficulties (Ladousse, 1989).
2.2.2 Social Interaction
Interaction occurs during face-to-face communication and it is more to

interpersonal activity while intrapersonal activity involved in mental processing.
Students need attention from the teacher and also from their friends to participate in
class activities. Teachers must be able to create an atmosphere for the weak or
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passive students to be involved in the classroom activities. Teachers must conduct

the classroom activities according to the students’ proficiency level, to ensure that
the all the students in the class benefit from the teaching and learning process.
According to Littlewood (1994), students must learn how to use the language
spontaneously and flexibly to express their intended message. This can be done
through role-play activities which involve real life situation in which the students
may face such a situation in their own lives. This will encourage the students to
involve actively and use the L2 language with their friends. Role-play activities can
also build up students’ confidence level and help the students to improve on their
social interaction. Ladousse (1989) claimed that role-play activities persuade and
promote the students to take part in the activity without having any fear to the
English language.
2.3 Attitude and Motivation
Attitude and motivation be explained in different ways. According to Baker,

et, al (2003), researcher used these term interchangeably or use one definition to
cover both concepts. In this research, the researcher discussed both attitude and
motivation and how each relates to language learning.
2.3.1 Attitude and language Acquisition
Attitude means, someone’s opinions or feelings about something especially

as shown by their behavior. Gardner (1985) points out that attitude is an evaluative
reaction to some object or idea, inferred on the basis of the individual’s beliefs or
opinions about the object or idea.
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Attitude plays a big part in learning a language directly or indirectly.

Spolsky(1969) stated that, attitude is one of the key factors that could contribute to
L2 learning achievement. Students’ participation in the classroom is related to the
attitudes that students carries within themselves.
Attitude can be divided into two types which are positive attitude and
negative attitude. According to Holmes (1992), Littlewood (1984), Spolsky (1969)
and Norlida (1997), students with positive attitude towards L2 are more at an
advantage compared to those with negative attitude. In addition, students with
positive attitude towards L2 learning, will show good progress with their
achievement in English because they will be highly motivated (Holmes, 1992).
There is relation between motivation and attitude. The major factor that
determines motivation is learner’s attitude toward the learning situation which
includes attitudes towards the teacher and the course (Dorneyi, 2001). Meaning, the
teacher affect the learner’s motivation in the L2 classroom. In other words, the
attitude of the student towards the teacher motivates the students’ performance in the
given task (Lightbown and Spada, 2006).
2.3.2 Motivation and language Acquisition
Motivation can be described as a feeling of enthusiasm or interest that makes

one determine to do something to achieve goals (MacMillan English Dictionary,
2002). It is a process that involves goals, physical or mental activity, and is both
instigated and sustained (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996, pp 4-5; Williams,1997).
Motivation can be a reason to increase someone’s spirit to reach out their target.
Motivation also can be described as the choice of action, determination to carry out
the action and the effort expanded in the process. According to Dornyei (2001),
motivation can relate with every decision that a human takes. In this case our
students are also human that needs to take decisions.
34
There are two types of motivation factor in language learning which are
learner’s communicative needs and learners’ attitude towards the second language
community (Lightbown and Spada, 2006). These two types of motivation, which are
integral to language learning are referred to as integrative and instrumental
motivation, a term coined by Gadner and Lambert in 1972 ( Krashen, Scarcella and
Long, 1982).
Integrative motivation occurs when the learner’s desire to become integrated

into the L2 community or to be like members of the target language community
meanwhile instrumental motivation occur when the learner has the purpose of
learning the language such as getting a job (Gardner, 1985).
According to Dornyei(2002), the use of motivational strategies can make

learning stimulating and enjoyable. Motivating a pupil can reduce the pupil’s
anxiety in the classroom and encourage him or her to be involved in the classroom
activities. If the teacher conducts his or her teaching with interesting tasks, increase
students’ involvement in the given task, and make learning activities related to the
students’ daily life, all these will increase the students’ self-confidence and will
increase their self-esteem as well. Furthermore, students who are highly motivated
to learn English are often those who decide on actions that bring them closer to
success.
The students who decide to participate in speaking in English take a real risk
of losing their image. Some are reluctant to take the risk due to shyness and afraid
of making mistakes and this involves the emotions of the students. Ray (1992),
explained that emotional climate is a very major motivational factor during learning.
Teachers must therefore choose appropriate teaching strategies to conduct the
classroom activities which will create a relaxed and friendly environment for
students to be involved actively.
35
2.4 Speaking and Interacting
Speaking skill is a very important part of learning a language. Therefore

creating a platform with wide range of opportunities for meaningful communication
in English in the classroom will increase the spirit to learn to speak and interact in
English among the students.
2.4.1 Students’ Speaking Ability
English is an international language and it is important for the students to

learn this language. Learning English can help the learner to expand their
knowledge in science, technology and art. English in most countries is either the
first language or a second language as in Malaysia. English has been taught from
elementary school up to the university level in Malaysia.
Most of the students are learning the language to score reasonably well in
written tests, but they are not able to communicate actively in English. According to
Isarji Sarudin et al., (2008), the English Language proficiency level among the
Malaysian students seem to resonate a feeling of worries. Due to low proficiency
level among the students, The Ministry of Education actively created many
programmes in schools such as, “To uphold Bahasa Melayu and to strengthen the
English Language”, English Within Twenty Minutes(EW20), A word a day, English
Hour and many more activities were held to increase the students’ interest towards
learning English. The Ministry of Education wants the teachers to create conducive
36
environment for the students to learn and become proficient in the four skills of
English: reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Speaking in English is not easy, because the learner needs to cover the
important elements of the language such as pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary,
fluency, and comprehension. English teachers have to play their role in ensuring
that the teaching and learning process are carried out in a more creative way to
encourage the learners to use and practice the language.
However, there are teachers in the ESL classroom who are still using the
traditional teaching method which is teacher centered and could not raise students’
motivation to learn the language. Students spent most of their time reading and
writing in English to master the language rather than speaking the language.
Motivating students towards learning English is important because indirectly it will
increase their ability to communicate or to interact in English and wash away their
shyness of speaking English with native and non-native speakers. The learners are
considered to have mastered a language successfully if the learner can understand
and produce the language accurately and fluently (Ur, 2000).
2.4.2 Factors Affecting Language learning
The students faced problems while learning English during test taking,
writing, reading and speaking, but here we focus on the factors why the students
show limited progress in speaking in English. Each learner faces different type of
problem. In other words, causes cannot be generalized to all learners and it does not
represent a majority of the learners. Each individual reflect their own problem in
learning a language based on their background, living style and their attitude. Here
are some of the factors that caused limited English language speaking skills among
the students.
37
As mentioned earlier, more priority is given to reading comprehension

questions and essay writings which are tested in the examination compared to
listening and speaking exercises. Ambigapathy (2006) explained that, speaking
skills are learnt as a set of skills and not as a social practice which are connected to
real life situation. This makes the students show less interest in learning to speak
and they give more attention in learning English as an Examination Language.
Meanwhile students tend to react uneasy if they were asked to be involved in
speaking activities in ESL classroom. According to Oxford (1990), Jones (2004)
and Von Worde (2003) fear, nervousness, insecurity and lack of self confidence are
related to language anxiety in an ESL learner. Horwitz et al (1986:29) stated that
feeling of nervousness often occur during the interaction in foreign language.
Speaking becomes a stressful activity when the students have to interact with one
another or when they need to do the oral presentation in the ESL classroom. These
factors discourage the students to participate and involved themselves in the
classroom activities.
Communication apprehension (CA) is another factor that stops students from

participating in the classroom activities. Horwitz et al(1986:128) define
communication apprehension as “a type of shyness characterized by fear or anxiety
about communicating with people”. The students are afraid of loosing face in front
of their classmates and their teachers. The students are more concerned about their
low English language proficiency and are fearful of making mistakes (Sweeney and
Farmer, 1994, pp.9-10). These students will avoid the classroom activities and tend
to be silent. Students who are not confident in using the language tend to protect
themselves by being passive or not taking part in the class activities where oral
communication is emphasized. These students think those who are involved in
speaking activities are proficient in the language.
38
Hence, there is a need for language teachers to play a role to change students’
perceptions towards this language. Teachers must generate an environment in the
classroom where it can reduce students’ anxiety and avoid problematic situations for
them to react appropriately. Meaning, they need to turn the language classroom into
a free zone area of anxiety by removing the factors that can discourage the students
to performance speaking activities. According to Dornyei (2002,p.92-94), the
teachers must be aware that the activities are more to promote cooperation instead of
competition. On the other hand we must educate the students that mistakes are
common and it is a part of learning process.
2.5 Role-play in the ESL Classroom
There are many interesting and motivating English teaching method for
English teachers. The focus in this study is on role-play. There are many reasons
why teachers ought to conduct the role-play activities in the classroom.
Role-play activity is communicative teaching method which involves more

creative and innovative ways of teaching. Teachers have to be very alert on the
back ground of the students to choose the most suitable topic or dialogue for the
students to carry on the activities. Role-play is an effective activity, which
emphasizes on the speaking performance in the target language. According to
Maxwell (1997), role-play is an avenue which can lead to students’ improvement in
their communicative ability in the target language. Role-play activity can be an
activity that helps the students to improve their L2 learning. According to
Krashen(1981), learners’ attitude is fundamental to learning a second language. We
must motivate the students to learn English by creating fun and attractive activities.
According to Richards and Rodgers (2001), role-play activity helps to build up the
social and interpersonal relationship between the respondents. This technique is
39
virtually one of the ways we can give our learners the opportunity to practice
improving a range of real-life spoken language in the classroom (Chen-Jun, 2006).
Teachers use role-play as one of the teaching methods to enable the students
to speak in public. Students seldom have the chance to practice conversation, even
in the language classroom. In this case, role-play could improve students’ verbal
and non-verbal communication while they are acting out the roles in the dialogue.
The students can adapt themselves to the dialogue they learn in classes and use
conversation in daily lives for the given situation if the dialogues are not given by
the teachers. Role-play involves a variety of situations which students may need to
face in their real lives. They imagine the situations and can activate the functional
language, develop the phonic forms, which are important for the communication
skills.
Klippel(1991) explained that it is important for the learner who is learning

English in the non-English speaking setting, to experience real communication to
express the meaning. Another advantage of role-play is that the learner can be
“anyone” according to the given situation. This may encourage them to speak like
someone or pretend to be the person that they admire the most.
According to Ladousse (1989), shy learners can build up their confidence

level while taking part in the given situation and taking part in a safe environment
where the teachers are there to guide them. They will slowly be involved in the
interaction process without them realizing it.
Watcyn-Jones and Howard-Williams (2002), explain that role-play is a

student-centered activity. In this case, students work independently while teachers
think of for more new strategies to help the students increase their knowledge. Role-
40
play activity develops the students’ fluency in speaking, develop their social
interaction and increase their motivation to learn English.
2.6 Conclusion
The above are some of the important reviews of the existing literature that
are related to the research. The next chapter will discuss the methodology that had
been adopted in this study.
41
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
The chapter describes the methodology of the research. Detailed description

and explanation will be given on the design of the study, the respondents involved in
the study, the instruments used to collect data, the research procedure and the
analysis of data.
3.1 The Research Design
This research was both qualitative and quantitative in nature where data were
gathered by using questionnaire, interviews and observations. The research adopted
42
the Quasi-Experimental design where two groups were involved in the study. The
two groups were the Control Group and the Experimental Group since the aim of the
study was to investigate the effects of role-play activities on students’ attitude and
motivation to speak and interact in the ESL classroom.
A triangulation method of data collection and analysis using questionnaire,

observation and interview was applied so as to ensure findings are justified correctly.
Triangulation means to join large angles to point out information from a survey done
accurately where methodological triangulation: involves using more than one
method to gather data, from data such as questionnaire, observations, interviews, and
documents (Denzin, 1978). The diagram in Figure 3.1 illustrates the triangulation of
the research data.
Triangulation
Control Group Experimental

Group
Pre- Pre-
Questionnaire Questionnaire
Normal classroom Role-play

Activities
Activities
Observation
Post- Pre- Interview

Questionnaire Questionnaire
43
Figure 3.1: Triangulation of Research Data
Quantitative data were obtained from the questionnaire distributed to the

respondents of both groups to investigate their attitude and motivation towards
speaking and interacting during ESL classroom activities. The Control Group went
through normal class activities and the Experimental Groups were given the
treatment where students were asked to prepare and carry out role-play activities to
see if there are any significant effects on students’ attitude and motivation to speak
and interact in the ESL classroom. The information was further analyzed using
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.
The qualitative data were gathered from the observations that were done on
both the control and Experimental Groups to see the effects of the classroom
activities on the students’ attitude and motivation to speak and interact in the
classroom activities.
Qualitative data were also obtained from the interview conducted on the
students from the Experimental Group to find out their perceptions towards the role-
play activities carried out in the class.
3.2 Respondents
The respondents of the study were 28 students from one primary school in
the Johor Bahru district. These respondents are from one Year 4 class and all of
them are boys. They are of the same level of proficiency. The proficiency level of
44
the students were determined through their Year 3 English Language final year
examination (Refer: Table 3.1).
Num Name Code Final Examination Activity Group

Year 3 In ESL
Marks Classroom
1. Student 1 G1S1 74 Role-play Group 1
45

15. Student 15 G4S15 84 Normal Group 4
Table 3.1: Information about the Respondents
In order to divide the respondents into the control and Experimental Group
their names were put in a box. 14 names were randomly picked to be in the
Experimental Group and the rest of the respondents were in the Control Group.
46
An Experimental Group in a research means a group that will under go the

treatment procedure to detect and measure changes that may occur. On the other
hand, the Control Group is a group that will not be exposed to any experimental
treatment. In this research, the Experimental Group is the group of students who had
gone through the role-play activities. On the other hand the Control Group is a
group of students that went through normal classroom activities.
Control Group and Experimental Group students are identified according to

groups and symbols. Each student was given a code such as G1S1, G1S2 and so on
till G6S28 (Refer: Table 3.1). These symbols were used as to ensure that the right
respondent is observed and to ease the data collection as well as the transcription of
the data.
3.3 Research Instruments
The instruments that were used to collect data in this study were
questionnaires, observations and interviews. The following are the descriptions of
the instruments.
3.3.1 Questionnaire
A set of questionnaire was used in this research study to investigate student’s

attitude and motivation towards speaking and interacting in the ESL classroom
activities. The questions in the questionnaire of the study were adopted and adapted
from the questionnaires from several studies on attitude and motivation in the ESL
There are 20 questions in the questionnaire and the students had to answer all
the questions. The questions were in the form of 4-point Likert-scale and the full
47
questionnaire can be found in Appendix A. The questionnaire was translated into

Bahasa Melayu to ensure that the respondents understood the questions as these
students are not very proficient in English.
Icons were also used to represent the four scales which are Strongly Agree,
Agree, Disagree and Strongly Disagree. The icons were used to ensure that the
respondents really know what each scale stands for. The same set of questionnaire
was given to both the control and Experimental Group. Both groups were required
to complete the questionnaire before classroom activities are conducted and after 3
weeks of classroom activities. This was done to compare the effects contributed by
the classroom activities on the students’ attitude and motivation to speak and interact
in the ESL classroom. The findings were drawn based on the mean obtained for
each questions in the questionnaire and the result obtained form the SPSS 20.
Mean = total score obtained from 14 participants

14 (total participants in the particular group)
3.3.2 Observations
Observations were done on both the control and Experimental Group on their
classroom activities based on the checklist created basically to determine students’
involvement in the classroom activities where the emphasis is on speaking and
48
interacting in the ESL classroom activities. The observation checklist can be found
in Appendix B.
The checklist helps the researcher to write field notes on the presentation of
the students. The checklist provides a guide to the researcher to determine students’
speaking ability and their ability to interact in class. There were 9 elements that
were observed. It can help the researcher to identify the speaking elements such as
fluency, turn taking, uses voice appropriately, maintains topic, contribute ideas, uses
body language appropriately, positive contribution to a group presentation and
respond accordingly to a given situation.
The observation was done by the researcher herself for both groups and she
acted as a non participation observer where the researcher was present in the
classroom during lesson only to observe and take field notes using the checklist.
Video recordings were also done on the Experimental Group to look into the effects
of the role-play activities on student’s attitude and motivation to speak and interact
in the ESL classroom.
The aim of the observation is to determine if role-play activities really

motivate the students to speak and interact in class. Since the students’ involvement
had been recorded, the researcher can trace the output of the role-play activities in
terms of students’ speaking abilities and their interactions with other respondents.
The improvement of the student’ speaking and interacting abilities are taken in count
based on their responding appropriately to their group members based on the given
situation. Their improvement basically on producing word, how many words, how
many time they manage to take turn, how they able to response to questions posed
by their group members, how they able to create questions and answers accordingly
and how they maintain the topic.
49
3.3.3 Interviews
In this research, the researcher conducted a semi-structured interview to

obtain the students’ perceptions on the role-play activities conducted in the ESL
classroom. 4 students from the Experimental Group were interviewed. There were
8 questions asked during the interview and the questions had been translated into
Bahasa Melayu to ease students’ understanding of the questions. The interview
questions can be found in Appendix C. The interviews conducted on the 4
respondents were at different times to ensure that the respondents do not give the
same answer.
3.4 Research Procedures
This is a qualitative and quantitative research where questionnaire,

observation and interview methods were adopted to gather the data for the research.
In step 1, the respondents from the Control Group and the Experimental
Group which consisted of 14 students in each group were asked to answer a
questionnaire separately before the classroom activities.
In step 2, the Control Group and the Experimental Group underwent different
classroom activities. The Control Group underwent 3 weeks of normal classroom
activities while the Experimental Group were given role-play activities as treatment
for the same number of weeks. The respondents from the control and the
Experimental Group were put into groups of five. There were two groups of 5
students and a group with 4 students for both the Control and Experimental Group.
The students were labeled according to their groups as shown in Table 3.1.
50
The classroom activities were observed using a checklist. In addition the

researcher video-taped the classroom activities done by the Experimental Group and
the video recording were transcribed using Transana 2.22 before further analysis.
In week 1, before the respondents were asked to role-play the activity, they
were given explanation about role-play activities and some examples of dialogues.
These were done to make students familiar with the activity. Then, they were given
a situation together with the vocabulary associated with the situation which they had
to discuss in the group. Each group discussed for about 15 minutes and created a
dialogue. Later, each group presented their work in front of the class. The teacher
commented on the activity and also the students’ performance after each
presentation. The teacher commented on how they should have asked questions or
responded appropriately or how to use the given words and some example of
dialogues.
In week 2, students were given different topic and vocabulary to role-play

the situation. The teacher explained the situation and the given words but not many
examples were given. Again the teacher commented on their performance, after
each presentation done in front of class.
In week 3, the students were given different a topic and the related
vocabulary. Teacher explained the vocabulary but not much guidance from the
teacher. The group performed in front of the class and the teacher commended.
Table 3.2 below gives a summary of the topics of the role-play activities
and the related vocabularies for the respondents to use.
Table 3.2: Role-Play Activities

51
TOPIC VOCABULARY
WEEK 1
 Picnic
1. Discuss with your friends where  Movie
to go for this coming weekend.  Food and drinks
 Games
- Where to go and why  Camera
- How to go  Outfit
- What to bring
- How much to collect
- Where to meet
WEEK 2
 Please
2. Asking permission to go for a  Homework
movie from their parents.  Promise
 Price
- What movie  Cost
- Why you choose that movie  food
- How much
- Where
- How to go
WEEK 3
 Type of food
3. Conduct a surprise birthday  Outfit
party for your teacher  Present
 Cake
- When  Telephone calls
- Where to celebrate  Invite
- What to prepare  Decorating
- What to buy
- Who will buy
52
The third step in the data collection process involved giving a post
questionnaire to all the 28 students from both the control and Experimental Groups
after all the activities had been completed. The purpose of this activity is to see the
effects of classroom activities on student’s attitude and motivation towards speaking
and interacting in the ESL classroom.
The last step was the interview conducted on 4 students from the
Experimental Group. Through this interview the researcher would be able to get
more information on students’ perceptions towards role-play activities. The
procedures of the study are summarized in the table below.
Table 3.3: Research Procedure
NO STEPS WEEK
1 QUESTIONNAIRE 1
53
 pre-questionnaire distributed to
both control and Experimental
Group
2 2 -4
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
 the Experimental Group
underwent role-play activities
 the Control Group underwent
normal classroom activities
3 5
QUESTIONNAIRE
 post-questionnaire distributed to
both control and Experimental
Group
4 5
INTERVIEW
 4 students from the
Experimental Group were
interviewed
3.5 Data Analysis
The data collected consist of qualitative and quantitative data which were
gathered from three research instruments. The quantitative data were from the
questionnaire. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed using (SPSS). T-test
54
was done on the data from questionnaire before and after the classroom activities for
both the experimental and Control Group. T-test was also done to compare the mean
for both the post questionnaire of control and Experimental Group. Some manual
calculations also were done to compare the percentage of the motivation and attitude
questions for the Control Group and the Experimental Group. The qualitative data
were obtained from the observations and interviews. The data from the observation
were organized in two ways. The normal classroom activities were observed using
checklist to write field notes. The data obtained from the field notes were then
analyzed and interpreted to draw some conclusions. On the other hand the
Experimental Group activities were video-taped and a checklist was also used to
gather the data. The video recording were then transcribed using Transana 2.22
which involved coding and classifying the data. Then the data were analyzed for
further discussion.
As for the third instrument, interviews were conducted on the 4 students from
the Experimental Group after the treatment process. The questions and answers
from the interview are written by hand and later transcribed and interpreted using
key words to show the feedback given by the students. The Interviews were
conducted to gain the perception of the students on the role-play activities which is
also the third research question in this research. The data from the interview were
transcribed to be analyzed according to the categories. The data analysis procedures
are summarized in the table below.
Table 3.4: Details of Data Analysis
NO RESEARCH QUESTIONS INSTRUMENT OF DATA ANALYSIS

DATA
COLLECTION
55
What are the students’ attitude

1. QUESTIONNAIRE *SPSS 20
and motivation towards OBSERVATION
Checklist and field
speaking and interacting in the
notes
ESL classroom (Control
Group)?
What are the effects of role-play

2. QUESTIONNAIRE *SPSS 20
activities on students’ attitude OBSERVATION *video recording
(transana 2.22)
and motivation to speak and
interact in an ESL classroom Checklist and field
notes
(Experimental Group)?
What are the students’

3. INTERVIEWS Transcription
perceptions towards the role-
play activities?
3.6 Conclusion
This chapter covered the methodologies involved in this research. How the
research instruments were used and data were analyzed were described in detail.
The data obtained from the research instruments would be able to determine the
56
effects of role-play activities on students’ attitude and motivation to speak and

interact in the ESL classroom. The result obtained from each instrument is
explained in Chapter 4.
CHAPTER 4
57
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.0 Introduction
This chapter discusses the findings of the study on The Effects of Role-play
on Students’ Attitude and Motivation to Speak and Interact in the ESL Classroom.
Data of the research were obtained from three research instruments which are
questionnaire, observation and interview. The discussion of the findings will go
according to the research questions: (1) What are students’ attitude and motivation
towards speaking and interacting in the ESL classroom (Control Group)?, (2) What
are the effects of role-play activities on students’ attitude and motivation to speak
and interact in the ESL classroom (Experimental Group)? and (3) What are the
students’ perceptions towards the role-play activities?
4.1 Research Question 1: What are the Students’ Attitude and Motivation
Towards Speaking and Interacting in the ESL Classroom (Control
Group)?
58
In order to answer this research question, pre and post questionnaire were
given to the Control Group. There were 6 questions on motivation and 14 questions
on attitude were asked in the questionnaire (Refer to Table 4.1). The findings from
the questionnaire were obtained using SPSS to get the average mean of each item.
Table 4.2 illustrates the mean for each question on attitude and motivation of these
students to speak and interact in the classroom before and after 3 weeks of activities.
It was found that there is a slight increase of 0.4 in the attitude and motivation level
of the students after 3 weeks of normal class activities (Refer to Table 4.3).
Table 4.1: Questionnaire with Motivation and Attitude Items
No Question Motivation Attitude

1. I would like to learn English. 
Saya hendak belajar Bahasa Inggeris.
2. Learning English is fun. 

Belajar Bahasa Inggeris adalah menyeronokkan.
3. Learning English is easy. 

Belajar Bahasa Inggeris adalah mudah.
4. I like to learn English in a lively classroom. 

Saya suka belajar Bahasa Inggeris dalam suasana
yang aktif dan mengembirakan.
5. I usually participate during English class. 

Saya selalu mengambil bahagian dalam kelas..
6. I will volunteer myself to participate in the English 

class activities.
Saya akan bahagian dalam aktiviti kelas dengan
sukarela.
7. I want to speak fluent English. 
Saya ingin bertutur dengan 58ancer dalam Bahasa
Inggeris.
8. I am not afraid to speak in English in the class. 

Saya tidak berasa takut untuk bertutur dalam
59
Bahasa Inggeris dalam kelas.

9. I feel confident when asked to speak in English in 
the class.
Saya berasa yakin apabila diminta untuk bertutur
dalam Bahasa Inggeris dalam kelas.
10. I feel motivated to speak in English during class. 
Saya rasa bersemangat untuk bertutur dalam
Bahasa Inggeris dalam kelas.
11. I feel worried about making mistakes when speaking 
in English in class.
Saya merasa risau akan melakukan kesilapan
apabila bertutur dalam Bahasa Inggeris dalam
kelas.
12. The activities that were done in class motivate me to 
interact with other students in English.
Aktiviti yang dijalankan dalam kelas Bahasa
Inggeris merangsang saya untuk berinteraksi dalam
Bahasa Inggeris dengan pelajar-pelajar lain.
13. I find the activities that were done in the class 
interesting.
Saya mendapati aktiviti yang dijalankan dalam kelas
menarik.
14. I enjoy the activities that were done in the class. 
Saya berasa seronok dengan aktiviti yang
dijalankan dalam kelas.
15. My English class is fun. 
Kelas Bahasa Inggeris saya menyeronokkan.
16. There are opportunities for me to speak in English 
during class.
Saya diberi peluang untuk bertutur Bahasa Inggeris
dalam kelas.
17. I like to work in a group. 

Saya suka melibatkan diri dalam aktiviti
berkumpulan.
18. I feel more confident working in a group. 

Saya berasa lebih yakin apabila berkerja secara
berkumpulan.
19. I will interact in English with other students during 
group activities.
Saya akan berinteraksi dalam Bahasa Inggeris
dengan pelajar-pelajar lain semasa aktiviti
berkumpulan.
60
20. I will interact in English with my friends. 

Saya akan berinteraksi dalam Bahasa Inggeris
dengan rakan-rakan saya.
Total 6 14
Table 4.2: The Mean for Each Question Before and After 3 Weeks of Activities for
Control Group
No of Questions Before Activities After 3 Weeks Activities

Students
Total Mean Total Mean
score score
1. I would like to 44 3.1 48 3.4
learn English.
2. Learning English 44 3.1 48 3.4

is fun.
3. Learning English 36 2.6 43 3.1

is easy.
4. I like to learn 54 3.9 54 3.9

English in a lively
classroom.
5. I usually 38 2.7 46 3.3

participate during
English class.
6. I will volunteer 38 2.7 56 4

myself to
participate in the
English class
activities.
7. I want to speak 56 4 56 4
fluent English.
8. I am not afraid to 39 2.8 48 3.4

speak in English
in the class.
61
9. I feel confident 39 2.8 48 3.4

when asked to
speak in English
in the class.
10. I feel motivated to 40 2.9 49 3.5

speak in English
during class.
11. I feel worried 41 2.9 39 2.8

about making
mistakes when
speaking in
English in class.
12. The activities that 37 2.6 39 2.8

were done in class
motivate me to
interact with other
students in
English.
13. I find the 35 2.5 34 2.4

activities that
were done in the
class interesting.
14. I enjoy the 35 2.5 34 2.4

activities that
were done in the
class.
15. My English class 38 2.7 37 2.6

is fun.
16. There are 46 3.3 48 3.4

opportunities for
me to speak in
English during
class.
62
17. I like to work in a 48 3.4 53 3.8

group.
18. I feel more 47 3.35 50 3.6

confident working
in a group.
19. I will interact in 44 3.1 45 3.2

English with
other students
during group
activities.

English with my
friends.
Total Differences 807 2.9 922 3.3
 The yellow marked items are questions on attitude while the unmarked items
are motivation questions.
Table 4.3: Summary of Mean According to the Attitude and Motivation Questions
for Control Group.
Activities Mean Difference

in mean
63
Mean for attitude questions before activities: (552/196) =2.8 0.4
Mean for attitude questions after 3 weeks activities: (628/196)=3.2
Mean for motivation questions before activities: (255/84) = 3.1

0.4
Mean for motivation questions after 3 weeks activities: (294/84) = 3.5
Mean for normal classroom before activities: (807/280) = 2.9 0.4
Mean for normal classroom after 3 weeks activities: (922/280) = 3.3
Differences in mean before and after 3 weeks of

normal class activities:
Motivation : 0.4 (Increase)
Attitude : 0.4 (Increase)
The increase in the mean could be due to the fact that students had gained
some confidence in speaking and are now more motivated to speak and interact in
class after 3 weeks of activities as can been seen in Questions 8, 9 and 10 for
speaking and Questions 5, 6 and 12 for participation and interaction in the classroom
(Refer: Table 4.2).
4.2 Research Question 2: What are the Effects of Role-play Activities on

Students’ Attitude and Motivation to Speak and Interact in the ESL
Classroom (Experimental Group)?
64
The findings on the effects of role-play activities on students’ attitude and

motivation to speak and interact in class were gathered using questionnaire and also
observations that were carried out on the Experimental Group.
4.2.1 Findings from the Questionnaire
The average mean of each item in the questionnaire answered by the

Experimental Group can be found in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4: Mean for Each Questions Before and After 3 Weeks of Role-
play Activities
No of Questions Before Activities After 3 Weeks

Students Activities
Total Average Total Average
1. I would like to learn 42 3 45 3.2
English.
2. Learning English is 45 3.2 52 3.7

fun.
3. Learning English is 47 3.4 49 3.5

easy.
4. I like to learn 48 3.4 56 4

English in a lively
classroom.
5. I usually participate 41 2.9 52 3.7

during English class.
6. I will volunteer 40 2.9 54 3.9

myself to participate
in the English class
activities.
7. I want to speak 48 3.4 56 4

65
fluent English.
8. I am not afraid to 39 2.8 54 3.9

speak in English in
the class.
9. I feel confident 39 2.8 53 3.8

when asked to speak
in English in the
class.
10. I feel motivated to 43 3.1 53 3.8

speak in English
during class.
11. I feel worried about 38 2.7 52 3.7

making mistakes
when speaking in
English in class.
12. The activities that 38 2.7 56 4

were done in class
motivate me to
interact with other
students in English.
13. I find the activities 38 2.7 56 4

that were done in the
class interesting.
14. I enjoy the activities 38 2.7 56 4

that were done in the
class.
15. My English class is 38 2.7 56 4

fun.
16. There are 43 3.1 54 3.9

opportunities for me
to speak in English
during class.
17. I like to work in a 42 3 56 4

66
group.
18. I feel more confident 43 3.1 56 4

working in a group.
19. I will interact in 34 2.4 56 4

English with other
students during
group activities.

English with my
friends.
Total Differences 818 2.9 1074 3.8
 The blue marked items are questions on attitude while the unmarked items
are motivation questions.
Generally the average mean for each item in the questionnaire increased after
the respondents were given the treatment which is the role-play activities. This
shows that the role-play activities have positive impact on students’ attitude and
motivation to speak and interact in the classroom. There was an increased of 0.9 in
the mean for motivation and attitude questions for the Experimental Group.
A summary of the mean on students’ attitude and motivation to speak and

interact in the classroom is provided in Table 4.5 below.
67
Table 4.5: Summary of Mean According to the Attitude and Motivation Questions
for the Experimental Group.
Activities Mean Difference

in mean
Mean for attitude questions before treatment: (565/196) =2.9 0.9
Mean for attitude questions after 3 weeks treatment: (749/196)=3.8
Mean for motivation questions before treatment: (253/84) = 3.0 0.9
Mean for motivation questions after 3 weeks (325/84) = 3.9

treatment:
Mean for role-play classroom before treatment: (818/280) = 2.9 0.9
Mean for role-play classroom after 3 weeks treatment: (1074/280) = 3.8
Differences in mean before and after 3 weeks of role-

play activities:
Motivation : 0.9 (Increase)
Attitude : 0.9 (Increase)
Comparison of mean on attitude and motivation to speak and interact

between the Control Group and Experimental Group on students’ attitude in the ESL
classroom are explained further. The mean from the post questionnaire given to both
the Control Group and the Experimental Group were compared to determine the
impact of role-play activities on students’ attitude and motivation to speak and
interact in the ESL classroom. The mean of the Experimental Group which is 0.9 is
higher than the mean of the Control Group which is 0.4. The difference of 0.5
between both groups shows that the role-play activities had a significant impact on
students’ attitude and motivation to speak and interact in the ESL classroom.
68
The increase in the average mean could be due to the fact that students like
the role-play activities where learning took place in a fun environment. This cause
the students to be highly motivated to speak and interact in the ESL classroom. The
average mean for each question in the questionnaire can explain the changes on the
students’ attitude and motivation towards speaking and interacting in English. The
increase in the respondents’ confidence level in speaking can be seen in Questions
8,9 and 10 while the increase in the respondents’ confidence level in interacting can
be seen in Questions 17,18,19 and 20. Refer to Table 4.4 for the mean detail for
each question for the Experimental Group.
The students also agreed that they like to learn in a fun and lively classroom
and these can be seen in Questions 2 and 4. For Question 4 all the respondents gave
maximum point as the mean shows 4.0. The increase in mean for Questions 13 and
14, after 3 weeks of role-play activities shows that students find the activities
interesting and they enjoy the given activities.
Figures below shows the result obtained from analyzing the questions from
the questionnaire through SPSS 20.
Differences In Mean Between Control Group And Experimental Group

69
Paired Samples Statistics

Mean N Std. Std. Error
Deviation Mean
Pretest1 57.2143 14 7.15949 1.91345
Pair 1
Postest1 61.7143 14 5.39841 1.44279
Pretest2 55.8571 14 6.31064 1.68659
Pair 2
Postest2 72.9286 14 3.29252 .87996
Paired Samples Correlations

N Correlation Sig.
Pair 1 Pretest1 & Postest1 14 .448 .109
Pair 2 Pretest2 & Postest2 14 .074 .803
Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences t df Sig.
Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence (2-tailed)
Deviati Error Interval of the
on Mean Difference
Lower Upper
Pretest1 -
6.7681 1.808 -
Pair 1 - 4.5000 -8.40781 -.59219 13 .027
4 86 2.488
Postest1 0
Pretest2 -
6.8999 1.844 - -
Pair 2 - 17.071 -13.08749 13 .000
9 10 21.05537 9.257
Postest2 43
Figure 4.1: Two Tailed T-test
Pretest 1 and Postest1 is for the Control Group

Pretest 2 and Postest2 is for the Experimental Group
The findings shows that Pair 2 that is Pretest and Post test for the role-play
classroom is significant as P <0.05. Besides, the mean value shows that the test is
effective as the students did better in the role-play classroom after the treatment
Overall mean obtained for normal activities classroom: 0.4
Overall mean obtained for role-play activities classroom: 0.9
Overall differences between Control Group and Experimental Group activities 0.5
Pre and Post Test for Control Group

70

Deviation Mean
Pretest1 57.2143 14 7.15949 1.91345
Pair 1
Postest1 61.7143 14 5.39841 1.44279

N Correlatio Sig.
n
Pretest1 &
Pair 1 14 .448 .109
Postest1
Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences t Df Sig. (2-
Mea Std. Std. Error 95% Confidence tailed)
n Deviat Mean Interval of the
ion Difference
Lower Upper
Pretest
-
1- 6.768
Pair 1 4.50 1.80886 -8.40781 -.59219 -2.488 13 .027
Postest 14
000
1
Figure 4.2: T-Test for Per-Test and Post-test for Control Group
Pretest1 and Postest1 is for the Control Group

The findings show that the pre-test and the post-test for the Control Group is
significant as P<0.05. The mean value shows that the post-test for the Control Group
indicates improvement among the students after the treatment.
Pre and Post Test for the Experimental Group

71

Deviation Mean
Pretest2 55.8571 14 6.31064 1.68659
Pair 1
Postest2 72.9286 14 3.29252 .87996

N Correlatio Sig.
n
Pretest2 &
Pair 1 14 .074 .803
Postest2
Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences T Df Sig. (2-
Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence tailed)
Deviati Error Interval of the
on Mean Difference
Lower Upper
Pretest2 -
Pair - 6.8999 -
- 1.84410 21.0553 -13.08749 13 .000
1 17.07143 9 9.257
Postest2 7
Figure 4.3: T-Test for Pre-Test and Post-Test for the Experimental Group
Pretest2 and Postest 2 is for the Experimental Group

The findings show that pre-test and the post-test for the Experimental Group is more
significant than the normal classroom because the P<0.05. Besides, the mean value
for the Experimental Group is higher after the treatment.
Post Test for Control Group and Post Test for Experimental Group
72

Deviation Mean
Postest1 61.7143 14 5.39841 1.44279
Pair 1
Postest2 72.9286 14 3.29252 .87996

N Correlatio Sig.
n
Postest1 &
Pair 1 14 .189 .517
Postest2
Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences t df Sig.
Mean Std. Std. 95% Confidence (2-
Deviati Error Interval of the tailed)
on Mean Difference
Lower Upper
Postes
- - -
t1 - 5.7670 1
Pair 1 11.2142 1.54129 14.5440 -7.88452 7.27 .000
Postes 0 3
9 5 6
t2
Figure 4.4: T-Test for Post-test for Control and Experimental Group
Postest1 is for the Control Group

Postest2 is for the Experimental Group
The findings for the post-test before the treatment in Control Group and the post-test
after the treatment in role-play classroom show that it is more significant outcome as
the P<0.05. Meanwhile, the mean for the post-test for the Experimental Group is
higher than the post-test in normal classroom.
As a conclusion, the findings showed that the Experimental Group has a

higher mean compared to the Control Group.
73
The difference in mean for the Control Group before and after classroom
activities which is 0.4 and the difference in mean for the Experimental Group before
and after role-play activities which is 0.9 shows an increment of 0.5 which means
that the role-play activities do have an impact on students’ attitude and increase their
motivation level to speak and interact well in an ESL classroom.
Students in the Experimental Group who went through 3 weeks of role-play

activities had shown an improvement in their attitude and motivation to speak and
interact in the ESL classroom. The difference of 0.5 in the mean shows that role-
play is an important activity in an ESL classroom to bring out students speaking and
interaction skills through motivation which boost up their attitude level.
4.2.2 Findings from the Observation and Video-recording
Qualitative data for the research were obtained from the observations made
on both the Control and Experimental Group. The activities of the students in the
Control Group were observed using a checklist while for the Experimental Group
their activities were video-taped and a checklist was also used to record the students’
activities. Although there were 3 groups in both groups, only 2 groups from the
control and Experimental Group were observed. These qualitative data would be
able to verify the findings from the questionnaire. The qualitative data gathered
from the Control Group and the experimental would be compared to determine the
effects of role-play activities on students’ attitude and motivation to speak and
4.2.2.1 Observations Made on the Control Group

74
The Control Group went through the normal class activities. The normal
classroom was observed using a checklist to gather information on how students
were in each activity. The researcher observed the Control Group twice where the
class was conducted by another English teacher. For the first week the teacher asked
the pupils to form a group of 5 and asked them to discuss the topic “If I you have
RM1000, how would you have spent it?”. In week 2 they were given the topic
“Going for a picnic”. These activities were given to students for them to brainstorm
on the points to be included in the essay which they need to write after the
discussion. Table 4.6 below describes the activities that were done in the classroom.
Table 4.6: Checklists and the Group Activities
Observation Checklist Activity Group
Week 1 If you have RM1000, 4

Checklist 7 how would you have
spent it?
Week 1 If you have RM1000, 5

Checklist 8 how would you have
spent it?
Week 2 Going for a picnic 4

Checklist 9
Week 2 Going for a picnic 5

Checklist 10
Based on the observations it was found that students did not interact much in
the activities. Only 7 students participated in the discussion (G4S16, G5S22,
75
G5S21, G4S18, G4S19, G4S15 and G5S20). Students had problems producing
sentences due to their lack of vocabulary and L1 interference as shown in the
example below (refer Table:4.7 and Table 4.8)
Table 4.7: Item 8 - Checklist 7
Item Student Students’ contribution Description
8. Understands and G4S16 -responded to G4S15 L1

responds to groups’ use both the L1 and L2 interference
feedback. -give father, mother
 A word -simpan
 A phrase
 Short answer
 Long answer
Table 4.8: Item 8 - Checklist 9
T Understands and
8. -Only a few English -L1
responds to groups’ G5S22 words interference
feedback. -1 word (money) -Lack of
 A word - more Malay words Vocabulary
 A phrase - e.g : sini, tolong
 Short answer
 Long answer
-usage of Bahasa
G5S21 Melayu and English L1
-buy car interference
-kaya, siapa,
bagaimana
Table 4.8 describes the performance of G5S21 and G5S22 in the class
activities. They were able to respond according to the situation but the usage of
Bahasa Melayu was more compared to the use of the English language. This is due
to the L1 interference and the students’ lack of the vocabulary.
Table 4.9: Item 4 and 5 - Checklist 7
76
-G4S18 and G4S19

4. Maintains topic G4S18 was talking to each Failed to
& other maintain topic
G4S19
-discussed out of topic
5. Makes positive Failed to

contribution to contribute
conversations and ideas related
discussion. (contribute to the topic
ideas)
Students also failed to maintain topic and contribute idea. The students
misused the freedom that was given to them whereby some students tend to be very
quiet or passive while some students talk out of the given topic. Based on Table 4.9,
G4S18 and G4S19 failed to contribute to the group discussion. This could be due to
the fact that the activities conducted in the classroom were not interesting and
enjoyable to the students as can be seen in the mean of Question 13, 14 and 15 where
there was a slight drop (Refer: Table 4.2).
Table 4.10: Item 8 & 9 - Checklist 9

77
Table 4.11: Item 8 & 9 – Checklist 10

8. Understands and G4S15 Tried to produce a No response
responds to groups’ sentence from other
feedback. - Go by bus students
 A word - Play ball
 A phrase
 Short answer
 Long answer
9. Asks questions when G415 Try to ask on question No response
needed. - How to go? from other
 A word - What to bring? students
 A phrase
 Short sentence
 Long sentence

8. Understands and G5S20 Tried to produce a No response
responds to groups’ sentence from other
feedback. - Bring laptop students
 A word - Bring ball
 A phrase
 Short answer
 Long answer
9. Asks questions when G5S20 Try to ask a question No response
needed. - What to eat? from other
 A word - Where to buy? students
 A phrase
 Short sentence
 Long sentence
Most of the students did not respond to the attempt made by their friends to
discuss the topic probably because they were worried about making mistakes (Refer
78
to Table 4.2 for Question 11) and were not very motivated with the given activities
as they were not interesting enough for them. The mean obtained was only 2.4.
Based on Table 4.10 and Table 4.11 student G5S20 and G4S15 have the potential to
develop their speaking and interaction skills if proper attention is given by the
teacher.
4.2.2.2 Observation Made on the Experimental Group
The activities of the Experimental Group were video-recorded to determine

the impact of role-play activities on the students’ attitude and motivation to speak
and interact in the ESL classroom. Data were also gathered using a checklist (Refer
to Appendix B). The data from the video-tape were transcribed using Transana 2.22.
The 14 students were divided into three groups. Group 1 and Group 2 with 5
students each while Group 3 with 4 students. The students were given a situation
together with the related vocabulary where they need to discuss for about 15
minutes. Then they had to role-play the situation in front of the class group by
group. There were 3 groups in the classroom and the researcher focused on only two
groups to gather information on the students’ attitude and motivation towards
speaking and interacting in the ESL classroom.
Table 4.12 shows the situations that were given to the students in the
Experimental Group to discuss and then role-play. The full role-play for each
activity and for each group can be found in the Appendix D while the dialogues for
each activity can be found in Appendix E.
Table 4.12: Role-play Activities

79
Transana Group Week Situation (Topic)
Transana 1 1 1 Going for a picnic.
Transana 2 2 1 Going for a picnic.
Transana 3 1 2 Asking permission from parents to go

for a movie.
Transana 4 2 2 Asking permission from parents to go

for a movie.
Transana 5 1 3 Discuss on how to conduct a surprise

birthday party for your teacher.
Transana 6 2 3 Discuss on how to conduct a surprise

birthday party for your teacher.
The findings from the Transana 2.22 transcription showed that at the
beginning, students were not very confident in role-playing the given activities.
They hesitated to talk while discussing the given topic and also during the
presentation period. In Week 1, they were only able to ask short questions but with
errors. When answering the questions they managed to answer in one to three words
and with errors. There was not much turn taking in the first week but after that they
showed improvement.
Table 4.13: G1S1 Involvement in the Conversation

80
Student Week 1 Week 2 Week 3

Mother, can we.....
Ah...ah.... are you can i..ehm.....
going....ah ah ah are u Mahathir and
going ah...ah.. "awak Fariz...go to the.....go I will prepare the
pergi ke tidak" ah ah to the...... go to the decoration and the
are you going to the cinema? cakes.
picnic?
Location in Transana: Location in Transana: Location in Transana:

G1S1 10 40 9
We finish our Who will bring the
Yes. homework. drinks?

23 15 18
Please give some Ok. I will order the
Ok money! carbonated drinks.

52 40 63
Based on the table above, G1S1 showed improvement in constructing

sentences. In Week 1 he hesitated a lot and there were a lot of pauses compared to
his performance in Week 2. The usage of Bahasa Melayu can be seen in the Week 1
performance. In Week 2 he hesitated less and there was no more L1 interference. In
Week 3 the student was able to construct correct sentences according to the given
situation. His speech was loud and clear in Week 3. This is an indication that he
had gained confidence after three weeks of role-play activities. Based on Question
16 in the questionnaire (Refer: Table 4.4) it can be concluded that students need a
platform for them to practice the language in order to master the language. This is
indicated by the increase in the mean for Question 16 where before the treatment it
was 3.1 and after the three weeks of treatment the mean was 3.9.

81

Tomorrow is En
Shayir birthday. Lets
Hello. Because you no finish do surprise birthday
your homework. party for him.

G1S3 13 10 5
I think... I will bring. I
can tell my mother
to..to fried chicken
Yes. What you drinks? rice and wrap in a box.

23 35 16
We can play games
with her...with him at
Ok. Your father can the classroom
Ok send you to the tomorrow.
cinema.
52 49 60
Table 4.14 shows the improvement of G1S3 in the three weeks period. Week
1 he was only able to answer in a word or two to respond to his group members.
Week 2 and 3 he was more confident to speak and also involved in the interaction
with his group members with more long turns. He was able to response in longer
sentences confidently.
All the students involved in the role-play activities were able to maintain the
topic given topic. Some of the students involved only in short turns but were able to
show some improvements. The students were given discussion period where they
had to decide what role to take, what issue to talk about and create the dialogue.
This discussion period ensure that the students’ contribute ideas and are involved in
the discussion. For the presentation the students had to play their part as they
planned earlier and they managed to maintain the topic as well. The mean for
Questions 13, 14 and 15 in the questionnaire is 4.0 (Refer: Table 4.4). This
82
indicated that students found the role-play activities to be interesting, fun and
enjoyable.

If you don’t finish
Yes your homework, you
cannot go. Where is Aqasah?

G2S7 9 15 2
Is very good.
Beach
Some candles.
13 26 25
Who want to buy
Me Yes. a.....a birthday cap?

42 29 46
Table 4.15 above shows the detail of the conversation G2S7 involved in for
the three weeks period. At first he was reluctant to speak, probably due to lack of
confidence, lack of motivation or lack of vocabulary knowledge which hindered him
from performing better in Week 1. In Week 2 and Week 3 he was able to perform
much better. He was able to use some other new words which are not in the list
provided by the researcher. These shows that while having discussion students help
each other and this will help the students to build up their confidence to learn to
speak this language. The mean of 4.0 for questions 17,18 and 19 in the
questionnaire (Refer to Table 4.4) indicated that all the students form the
Experimental Group agreed that group work help them to interact with each other as
they are involved in the discussion or presentation sessions.
Table 4.16: G2S9 Involved in the Conversation
83

Hello.... Are ....Is We.... can.... go...the It is a good idea.
Azlan? ....... the cinema.
24 9 12
Can to...... go to the....
Ok cinema? Some muffins.
G2S9
28 28 27
I can bring the camera.
We can "bawa" PSP. Thank you.

55 40 43
Table 4.16 above shows the detail of the conversation G2S9 was involved in
for the three treatment week. He was able to improve his speaking competence in
the three weeks of treatment. He still hesitated in Week 2 but he managed to string
meaningful sentences and able to respond accordingly. In Week 3 he was able to
construct a correct sentence. Mean of 4.0 for the Question 4 in the questionnaire
(Refer: Table 4.4) described that students prefer lively classroom which motivate
them to involved in the classroom activities.
4.3 Research Question 3: What are the Students’ Perceptions Towards the
Role-play Activities?
84
The perceptions of the students on role-play activities were obtained through

the interviews on 4 of the respondents in the Experimental Group. The interviews
were conducted in both Bahasa Melayu and English.
Table 4.17 Interview Question 1
Table 4.25 above shows how the respondents response to the interview
Question1
Do you like to speak in English? Why?
Student Answer Analysis
G2S6 Yes. Because I like All the four students admitted that they
English. like to speak English because they like
the language.
G1S5 Yes. Because I like it.
G1S3 Yes. Because it is very

amazing …… and very best.
G2S7 Yes. It….ah I like it.
Question 1. When asked if they like to speak in English, all of the respondents
admitted that they like to speak in English because they like the language. G1S3
described that the language is amazing and that is why he likes the language.
The second interview question focused on role-play activities. The table below
shows how they responded when asked if they like the role-play activities that were
conducted in class.
85
Table 4.18: Interview Question 2
Question 2
Do you like the role-play activities that you have been done in
class ? Why ?
G2S6 All the four students admitted that they
Yes….Ah…..Fun, like role-play activities because they
interesting. benefit through the activities. G2S7
agree that role-play activities ate not
stressful.
G1S5 Yes….boleh belajar cakap
Bahasa Inggeris dengan
lebih banyak.
(I can learn to talk English
more)
G1S3 Yes….Because
…..Ah…..dapat berkawan
dengan kawan-kawan dalam
Bahasa Inggeris.
(Able to talk with friends in
English)
G2S7 Yes….It very fun.
Adakah anda rasa tertekan?

(Do you think it stressful?)
No.
All 4 respondents gave positive response as they agreed that they like the
role-play activities. G2S6 explained that the activity was fun and interesting. G1S5
stated that he liked the role-play activities because the activities encouraged him to
speak more in English. Whereas, G1S3 mentioned that he was able to interact more
with his friends in English. G2S6 and G2S7 found the activities fun and also less
stressful as stated by G2S7.
Table 4.27: Interview Question 3 and Table 4.28: Interview Question 4

explained how the students evaluated themselves in terms of speaking ability before
86
and after the role-play activities. Comparing their result before and after, all of them
rated themselves better in terms of speaking ability after the role-play activities.
G2S7 said that he had improved slightly (good sikit).
Question 3
How do you rate your English speaking ability before the role-
play activities? Excellent, Good, moderate or poor.

G2S6 and G2S7 gave “good” for their
G2S6 Good English speaking ability before the
role-play activities. Meanwhile G1S3
and G1S5 rate “moderate” for their
speaking ability.
Sederhana. (Moderate)
G1S5
Kenapa? ( Why?)
Sebab tak banyak guna

Bahasa Inggeris di rumah.
( Because not much usage of
English at home.)
G1S3 Moderate
G2S7 Good

87
Question 4
How do you rate your English speaking ability after the role-
play activities? Excellent, Good, moderate or poor.
G2S6 Excellent All the respondent agreed that their

speaking ability had improved.
G1S5 Baik ( Good)
G1S3 Good
G2S7 Good sikit. (Slightly Good )
The researcher asked spontaneously while interviewing G1S5 why he rated

himself moderate (sederhana) for his speaking ability before he was involved in the
role-play activities. He explained that he never had the chance to speak in English at
home.
Improvement in students’ speaking ability after the classroom activities

shows that role-play activities are indeed a successful medium that can motivate the
students to develop their speaking ability.
88

Question 5
Do you think the role-play activities have helped you to develop

confidence to speak in English? Why ?

G2S6 Yes. After the discussions, All the students agreed role-play
I feel confident to speak activities had developed their self-
English. confidence to speak in English.
G1S5 Yes. Sebab boleh bercakap
dengan orang. (Because can
speak with people)
G1S3 Yes. Beri peluang untuk
bertutur dalam Bahasa
Inggeris. ( Get chance to
speak in English)
G2S7 Yes. Saya mencabar.
Membuat saya cuba
bercakap.
All four respondents gave positive response as they agreed that role-play
activities had developed their self-confidence to speak in English. According to
G2S6 the discussion session had helped him to develop his confidence level. He
was able do to discuss and practice the language before the presentation session. On
the other hand, G1S5 explained that role-play activities had helped him to develop
his confidence to speak in English because he was able to practice speaking with
people. G1S3 mentioned that role-play activities gave them a chance to speak and
interact in English in the classroom. Through G1S2 explanations the researcher
concluded that the role-play can be a platform for the respondents to practice
speaking English. G2S7 took this as a challenge to learn and speak the language.
Indirectly role-play motivate the students to speak and interact in the ESL classroom
activities.
89
Through interview Question 6, the researcher intended to know what is the

respondents’ feeling about the role-play activities. The table below shows the
response given by the students.
Question 6
Would you like to have more role-play activities during English

class? Why?
Student Answer Effect/ Impact

G2S6 Yes. It is fun and not afraid All agreed to have role-play activities
to talk. in the classroom. All students except
G2S7 admitted that they feel afraid to
talk in English. G2S7 mentioned that
he likes role-play activities because it
enables him to speak English.
G1S5 Yes. Best.
Rasa takut tak?

Tapi rasa takut sikit. ( But
feel afraid little bit)
G1S3 Yes. Very best, awesome,

fun.
Perasaan anda bagaimana?

Takut sikit tapi nak buat
lagi. ( Feel afraid a little bit
but want to do more)
G2S7 Yes. Saya suka. Sebab

boleh speaking….Boleh
bercakap dalam bahasa
Inggeris.
( I like. Because I can
speak in English)
90
Based on the Table 4.23, all the 4 respondents gave positive response to
Question 6. The respondents agreed to have more role-play activities during English
class. All students except G2S7 admitted that that they still feel afraid to talk in
English. AG1S3 explained that he was afraid of the activities but he also mentioned
that he wanted to do more role-play activities. This is probably because he found the
activities is really helping him to develop his speaking ability while overcoming his
language anxiety. G2S6, G1S5 and G1S3 found that the role-play activities are fun.
On the other hand, G2S6 mentioned that he gained confidence and was not afraid to
speak in English.
Interview Question 7, compares the normal classroom activities and the role-
play activities. The table below shows how the students responded when asked
which classroom that enables them to speak more in English.

Question 7
Do you think you speak more during class with role-play

activities compare to your normal class?

G2S6 Role-play activities. All the students agreed that they spoke
more during role-play activities. G2S7
explained that his group members help
him to speak the language.
G1S5 Role-play class.
G1S3 Role-play class.
Dapat chance untuk buat
lakonan. (I got the change
to act)
G2S7 Role-play activity. Elyas
help me to speak.
91
The answers from the respondent showed that all of them agreed that they
spoke more during the role-play activities. Based on G1S3 statement, role-play
activities enable him to act accordingly to the given situations. On the other hand,
he was motivated to be involved in the classroom speaking activities. Meanwhile
G2S7, mentioned that one of his group members was there to help him while he was
having problem. This encouraged the students to participate or involved more in the
role-play activities as they can depends on each other.
Question 8 was basically on the interaction skills among the group members.
The information on how effective group work is in developing the students’
interaction skills is shown in the table below.
Question 8
Do you think group activities have helped you to develop your
interaction skills among your friends? How?
Student Answer Effect/ Impact
G2S6 Yes. When I ask them, they All the students gave positive answers.
will give answers. When G2S7 admitted that the group members
they ask me, I will give are very helpful. They have the
them answers. discussion period before the
presentation which helped them to
overcome their problem.
G1S5 Yes. Class biasa tiada
aktiviti bercakap. (Normal
classroom does not provide
activities on speaking.
G1S3 Yes. Sebab ada discussion
dan dilakonkan
(Because got discussion
session before the
presentation)
G2S7 Yes. Sebab friends tolong
saya. Tak takut. Helping
me. That only.
92
All the students agreed that group activities have helped them to improve
their interaction skills. G2S6 stated that he gave answers and got feedback from his
friends while involving himself in the group activities. These has helped him to
develop his interaction skills. Role-play activities also allow the students to have
more turns during the interaction process. According to G1S5, normal class never
focused on speaking activities. In this case they were not able to develop their
speaking skills. Meanwhile G1S3 explained that the discussion period before the
presentation session allowed him to interact with his group members. Indirectly it
will help him to develop his interaction skills. On the other hand, G2S7 explained
that group members helped him to reduce his language anxiety and he was able to
interact with his group members and improved his interaction skills. This statement
is supported by G1S3’s statement where friends helped each other in order to give a
good presentation.
4.4 Conclusion
This chapter had explained the findings and discussions obtained from the
three research instruments which are questionnaire, observation and interview. The
next chapter covers the conclusion and recommendation drawn from the findings
and discussions gathered from this chapter.
93
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the conclusion of the study based on the findings from
the three research questions which are (1) What are students’ attitude and motivation
towards speaking and interacting in the ESL classroom (Control Group)?, (2) What
are the effects of role-play activities on students’ attitude and motivation to speak
and interact in the ESL classroom (Experimental Group)? and (3) What are the
students’ perceptions towards the role-play activities? The pedagogical implications
of the study will also be discussed and suggestions for further research are also
included in this chapter.
94
5.1 Summary of the Findings
This experimental research study was conducted to investigate the effects of

role-play activities on young ESL learners’ attitude and motivation towards speaking
and interacting in the ESL classroom. Data were collected using questionnaire,
observations and interviews. Based on the findings of the study from the three
research questions, the following conclusions were made.
The findings of the study showed that the activities conducted on the Control
Group did have a slight impact on the students’ attitude and motivation to speak and
interact in class as shown by the difference in mean of 0.4 after 3 weeks of normal
class activities. This is probably because students perceived that they are now more
motivated and confident to speak in English and are not afraid to use the language in
class.
This was indicated in their answer to Questions 8, 9 and 10 in the

questionnaire. However, the findings from the observations in the class did not
really support this view as students were found to be quite passive and did not
interact much in class. One possible reason for this is because students were not
enjoying the activities that were done in class as they did not find them fun and
interesting as can be gathered from their answers to Questions 12, 13, and 14 in the
questionnaire (Refer: Table 4.2).
On the other hand, the findings of the research on the Experimental Group
illustrated there were marked improvement on students’ attitude and motivation to
speak and interact in the ESL classroom after given the treatment which is the role-
play activity. This is indicated in the difference in mean of 0.5 when the post-test of
the Control Group (mean 0.4) and the Experimental Group (mean 0.9) was
compared. This shows that role-play activities did have significant impact in
95
motivating students to speak and interact in class as indicated in the increase in mean
for all questions in the questionnaire after given the treatment.
The findings from the interviews conducted on four respondents in from the
Experimental Group further support the effectiveness of role-play activities in
encouraging students to speak and interact in class. All four respondents stated that
they liked the role-play activities for various reasons such as they thought the
activities are fun, less stressful and encouraged them to use English and interact in
English with their friends. They also agreed that their speaking ability and
confidence level had improved as a result of their involvement in the role-play
activities.
5.2 Pedagogical Implications
Since the findings of the study showed positive result, that is, role-play
activities do have positive impact on students’ attitude and motivation to speak and
interact in the ESL classroom, it is recommended that ESL teachers adopt this
approach in the teaching of English Language.
Role-playing activities are student-centered where students are given the

opportunity to use and be immersed in the target language based on various real-life
situations where learning took place in a more meaningful context. Furthermore,
effective learning will take place when students find the classroom activities fun,
interesting and less stressful. Adopting role-play activities in class can also reduce
the burden on the teacher as he/she only acts as a facilitator ensuring the activities
went on smoothly and provides corrective feedback whenever necessary.
96
In order to ensure students use the target language effectively during the role-
play activities, teachers are recommended to teach language forms and functions first
before giving the situation. Hopefully this can reduce the errors made by students
during the role-play session.
Hence, based on the benefits that role-play activities can bring to students it
is recommended that ESL teachers do away with or reduce teacher-centered
activities in class and focus more on activities that can help develop students’
communicative competence.
5.3 Limitations of the Study
Despite the attempt made by the researcher to conduct a good research, there
were some limitations to the study.
Firstly, the respondents of the study were only from one Year 4 class in one
particular primary school. Therefore the findings cannot be generalized to other
Year 4 students in the school.
Secondly, the respondents might not have answered the questionnaire

truthfully as they are considered quite young to give their opinion based on the
questionnaire.
Lastly, observations were not done on all the respondents of the research due
to time constraint. Observations were only done on 10 respondents each from the
Control Group and the Experimental Group.
97
5.4 Recommendations for Further Research
The following are recommendations for further research.
Since this study had used only respondents from one Year 4 students from
one school, it is suggested that further studies done on all Year 4 students in the
school to get a more comprehensive data.
Furthermore the respondents are only 10 years old from Year 4 and they are
not matured enough to answer the questionnaire truthfully. It is recommended that
future research use Year 6 students as the respondents of the study as they are more
mature and they will be able to answer the questionnaire more accurately.
Finally, observations were done only on two groups of the respondents in this
research. It is suggested that observations be made on all the respondents in order to
gain comprehensive and accurate data for the findings on the effects of role-play
activities.
5.5 Conclusion
Motivating the students to speak and interact in the ESL classroom will
indirectly create positive attitude towards the language. Positive attitude in the ESL
classroom will ensure that the students learn the language without undergoing
stressful situations. The students will be able to gain their self confidence and
reduce their fear towards this English as they are involved in the speaking activities.
Apart from that, conducting ESL classroom activities which are fun,
interesting, exciting and enjoyable will create a conducive environment and motivate
98
the students to take part and practice the language. Motivating students will
indirectly effect the students’ attitude towards the activities that done in the ESL
classroom. Students will be able to perform well in the given task if they are in a
relaxed situation, where their minds are focused on the learning process.
99
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1

THE EFFECTS OF ROLE-PLAY ON STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE

BOJEESWARI D/O BOSAN

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the

Requirements for the award of the degree of

Teaching English as a Second Language(TESL)

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Beloved father MR. Bosan for his love,

My Beloved sisters and brothers for their love and care,

Miss Sarala Devi and Mr Saravana Kumar.

Good friend of mine R. Sheila Devi for her support

Mr Selva Kumar for his support and encouragements,

All my friends for their prayers.

Om Guru Bharma, thanks to the Almighty God because of His shower of

Firstly, I wish to express my greatest and sincere appreciation to my

I would also like to thank my examiners Associate Professor Madya Dr.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of role-play activities

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

1.6. Significance of The Study 9

2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.2.1 Findings from the Questionnaire 48

4.2.2 Finding from the Observation 57

4.2.2.1 Observations Made on the

4.2.2.2 Observations Made on the

5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION

APPENDICES 90- 129

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

3.1 Information about the Respondents 29

4.1 Questionnaire with Motivation and Attitude Items 42

4.16 G2S9 Involvement in the Conversation 67

FIGURES NO. TITLE PAGE

1.1 Conceptual Framework 7

3.1 Triangulation of Research Data 27

4.1 Two Tailed T-Test 53

4.3 T-Test for Pre-Test and Post-Test for Experimental Group 55

4.4 T-Test for Post-Test for Control and Experimental Group 56

CLT Communicative Language Teaching

ELT English Language Teaching

ESL English for Second Language

EW20 English Within Twenty Minutes

KBSR Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah

MBMMBI Memartabatkan Bahasa Melayu Dan Memperkukuhkan

SLA Second Language Acquisition

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

English is considered as a second language (L2) in Malaysia. It is taught at

1.1 Background of the Study

English is one of the compulsory subjects in primary and secondary schools

Secondly, the development of speaking skills has not been greatly

The Ministry of Education had launched many programmes to improve the

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The New Primary School Curriculum or in Bahasa Melayu it is known as

Self-confidence involves having confidence in oneself and abilities.

Hence, motivating students to learn to speak a language is the best method to

students to speak the target language by providing collaborative work, authentic

1.3 Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework of this study is shown in Figure 1.1. This

The second key concept is role-play. Role-play is an activity in which the

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Figure 1.1: Conceptual Framework

1.4 Research Objectives

The research objectives of this study are:

1.4.1 To investigate students’ attitude and motivation towards speaking and