The Comparative Effect of Scripted and Unscripted Role-Play on EFL Learners’ Speaking Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency

Abstract

Role-Play has a salient function in English speaking classrooms due to the fact that it encourages students to participate in different social contexts and roles. Besides, it motivates them to improve their speaking during their performance. The purpose of this study was to find out which technique, using scripted role-play or unscripted role-play enhances accuracy, fluency and complexity of EFL learners. The participants of this study were 45 male students from Koodakane Bartar institute in western Tehran. MANOVA was used to investigate whether there was any significant difference between the posttest results of scripted group, unscripted group, and control group in their speaking tests. The analyses revealed that learners' speaking accuracy did not improve under neither treatment condition. As for the fluency in their speaking, it was shown that only the scripted role-play was significantly effective. Regarding complexity in the learners' speaking, it was demonstrated that both role-play modes were equally effective.