THE ROLE PLAY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE TO LEARNING HONORIO M. PALO JR.

All children are engrossed in exploration and play in order to comprehend and make sense of the world around them. Role play exercises give students the opportunity to assume the role of a person or act out a given situation. In role playing, students can perform it individually, in pairs, or in groups which can play more complicated scenario. In this teaching strategy, teachers can engage their students in real-life situations or scenarios that can be “stressful, unfamiliar, complex, or controversial” which requires them to examine personal feelings toward others and their circumstances (Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p.47).

Different from simulations and games which often are planned, structured activities, and can last over a long period of time, role play exercises are usually short, spontaneous presentations but can also be prearranged research assignments (Bonwel & Eison, 1991, p.47).

There are a lot of benefits of role playing. It can be effectively used in the classroom to:

• Motivate and engage students

• Enhance current teaching strategies.

• Give real-world scenarios to help students learn.

• Learn skills used in real-world situations such as in negotiation, debate, teamwork, cooperation, and persuasion. • Offer opportunities for critical observation of peers or the audience.

Role plays gives wonderful opportunities for learners to take part in activities which reflect career-related situations. To help every learner make the full use of role play sessions, role plays should be focused on content, congruent to the learning objectives, and must be related to real-world scenarios. In addition, role playing can encourage learners to think critically and analytically in situations/subjects which are complex and controversial and to see them from different perspectives. One thing more is that when role playing is properly employed, it can motivate students to make learning fun, meaningful, and enjoyable.

-oOoTHE AUTHOR IS TEACHER III AT ANGELES CITY NATIONAL TRADE SCHOOL