PAPER REDUCING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY THROUGH ROLE-PLAY TECHNIQUE

REDUCING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ANXIETY THROUGH

ROLE-PLAY TECHNIQUE

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Anxiety is a negative way to present human feelings. When we are anxious, we feel nervous, worried, and fearful. We struggle, tremble, perspire, and our hearts beat quickly. In general, anxiety can be defined as a complex concept dependent upon not only on one’s feelings of self-efficacy but also appraisals concerning the potential and perceived threats inherent in certain situations (Tobias, 1997). In plain words, anxiety is usually associated with unpleasant feelings and is similar to fear (Lader, 1975).

Feeling of anxiety, apprehension and nervousness are commonly expressed by students in learning to speak a second / foreign language. Anxiety in communicating in a second/foreign language, especially when that language is English can have a debilitating effect and can influence students’ adaptation to the target environment and ultimately their educational goals. There is also a well-asserted agreement that anxiety is related to performance, and that anxiety has been shown to have a counter-productive negative effect on learning and achievement. 

Some researchers (Tobias, 1986 and Lader, 1985) were interested in revealing this problem through case studies. This problem has been taken seriously by the researchers as a challenge to conduct a classroom action research to reduce the students’ anxiety in speaking foreign language, especially English. There are many techniques they used in reducing the problem. One of the techniques they used is by applying Role-Play technique.  

Role-Play technique is a strategy that asking the students to act or to pretend to be someone else in the actual world situation that is brought into the classroom. This technique is originally developed under cooperative learning model which has three steps that students have to follow, that are setting up, the play stage and the follow up. 

Researchers found that there are many benefits of Role-Play technique. According to Ladousse (2004), role play encourages peer learning and sharing the responsibility for learning between teacher and student. According to Stern (1983), role playing helps the individual to become more flexible and develop a sense of mastery in many situations.

By doing this technique in the learning, the students would be interested in participating in every performance because they enjoy their performance in the class which has comfortable and interesting atmosphere. 

Based on the theoretical background and the findings of the effectiveness of role-playing, the writer intends to discuss: how can Role-Play technique reduce the students’ speaking anxiety? By exposing the answer of this question, it is expected to be beneficial for students to face their anxiety while speaking the foreign language, especially English.

CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

2.1 Students’ Speaking Anxiety 

Feeling anxious when speaking is a common problem for students who are learning the foreign language. When the students are anxious, they can’t speak. When they can’t speak, they become more anxious. That feeling is caused by many factors and affect to the students’ performances. The detailed explanation of the causative factors and the impact of speaking anxiety will be discussed in sub-section below.

2.1.1 The Causative Factors of Speaking Anxiety

Zhou (2007) mentioned that there are three main factors which caused speaking anxiety on students when learning English. They are: speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, lack of self-confidence in speaking English, and general anxiety about English classes.

The first factor is speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation. The students definitely often feel it during an English class. This factor includes: they feel uneasy when they know that they’re going to be called on in English class; fear of being the focus of attention; getting nervous when the English teacher often asks questions that they are not able to prepare in advance; and fear of being negatively evaluated.

The second factor is lack of self-confidence in speaking English. Lack of self confidence also affect to the students’ anxiety in speaking English. Lack of self-confidence examples are: low self-esteem, the competitiveness in the class, fear of being laughed at, fear of the wrong grammar is used while speaking, and the native speaker effect.

The third factor is the general anxiety about English classes. The kinds of general anxiety that faced by the students in English class are: low English proficiency, lack of practice, unpreparedness, fear of making pronunciation mistakes, having limited grammatical knowledge, and the immature vocabulary.

In conclusion, the feeling of anxiety and nervousness which appears when speaking during English class can be caused by three main factors. The three main factors are: speech anxiety and fear of negative evaluation, lack of self-confidence in speaking English, and general anxiety about English classes.

2.1.2 The Impact of Speaking Anxiety on Students’ Performance

When asked about the impact of varied levels of anxiety on students' performance in spoken English, though one teacher interviewee was not sure whether it had any positive effect, none of them denied its negative effect. According to Meihua Liu observation on students’ journal (2006), if a student feels nervous and anxious; he can’t speak well. He also makes mistakes even though he is well-prepared and it makes him feel very embarrassed.

In addition to immediate effects, anxiety negatively affected long-term performance. "If you feel nervous, you can't go on. If you can't go on, you don't want to speak any more. Gradually you are not willing to speak English. Thus, you can't improve your English" (Dai, male, journal). This view was shared by students at all levels. Furthermore, they argued that confident students would gradually become better English speakers while anxious students would become less willing to speak the language and therefore speak poorer English. 

2.2 Role-Play Technique

2.2.1 Role-Play Technique in Brief

Role-play is one of Communicative Language Teaching and has been found through a number of studies to be an effective approach used in attempts to improve speaking competency of students (Bray, 2007). According to Thornburry (2005) role-play is speaking activity involving drama element, in which learners take an imaginative leap out of the classroom, provide a useful springboard for real-life language use. Thus, role-play technique is the specific activity in the classroom in which the students act as outside of themselves or act as another person which emphasizes on the students’ ability to perform based on real situation.

Role-Play technique has many benefits for students besides which has been found by some researchers (Ladousse, 2004 and Stern, 1983), for instance, it lightens up the atmospheres and brings liveliness in the classes. Moreover, for the shy learners, it may help them by providing a mask where learners with difficulty in conversation are liberated.

2.2.2 The Stages of Role-Play Implementation

Role-Play technique is originally developed under cooperative learning model which has some stages to be followed. Wills and A. Ip (2010) proposed the three stages to a standard role-playing exercise that we have to follow: setting up; the play stage; and the follow up. 

The first stage is setting up. In the set up stage, students are divided into groups and they select the situation from their material. Next, every group creates the script by themselves. Every team describes the scenario and assigns roles to the participants. A description can include the main objectives and concerns of the person in that role. Then, they learn about the useful words and expressions before playing.

The second stage is the play stage. During this stage, the participants act out their roles and the play is carried out. 

The third stage is the follow up stage. Follow-up means asking every student's opinion about the role play and welcoming their comments. The aim is to discuss what has happened in the role play and what they have learned. In addition to group discussion, an evaluation questionnaire can be used. 

In conclusion, we have to follow the three main stages regularly to make a successful role-play in classroom.

2.3 Reducing Students’ Speaking Anxiety through Role-Play Technique

       Ladousse in Susanti (2007) states that by using role-play, students will find that speaking activity is fun rather than threatening them. By doing this technique, students also can interact and discuss with their friends. Role-play technique also can be used as an effective way to encourage students’ creativity in making their own script about certain topic; using appropriate structure, vocabulary, pronunciation, good arrangement and development, appropriate grammar and fluently. Thus, the negative effect of anxiety on students’ speaking competency can be reduced because students can feel more relax to speak when they are taught by using role-play technique. 

CHAPTER III

CONCLUSION

     From the discussion above, we can conclude that students’ anxiety in speaking competency could be reduced by using role-play technique. Therefore, the negative impact of the anxiety could be treated.

The use of role-play technique could ease the students to learn the use of language in a more realistic and more practical way. Thus, they can become more aware of the usefulness and practicality of English. Then, students could get better achievement in speaking competency when learning English.