I recently came across this outstanding article from TEFL.net about Immersion role-playing - basically going beyond the very short and artificial-feeling dialogue roleplays so common in English language learning classroom to much more involved, genuine role-playing approaches. The suggestions and examples there in that article are interesting and exciting - a must read!
This sort of roleplaying is something I (and a couple of good colleagues) have tried from time to time over the years in English language classes. It certainly works brilliantly, but is often hampered by the necessary preparation time for teachers, actual teaching styles (works better for teachers who have some theatrical blood in them and don't mind "going with the flow of things"), and - most importantly - the restrictions of curriculums and schedules worked tightly around completing set work in coursebooks.
However, this idea is one I'm pursuing for World Adventure Kids, where the students play themselves adventuring in fictional circumstances in the real world. Doing this in a pre-prepared reading approach alleviates some of the problems mentioned above (especially the problems in prep-time and teaching styles), and does in fact lend itself to curriculum integration as well.
Just out of interest, I've also tried this in another way with younger learners - through an application I called The City of Clever Key. The basic idea here was the for the kids to put together a city map made up of different parts they all construct and then piece together. Once the city was complete (with a huge variety of shops, houses, and civic locations), it became a wall poster or game board that could be used to apply a variety of (or one ongoing) immersion roleplaying games.
I even created a range of colourful characters on cards that the learners could meet around town of through specific storyline plots:
Depending on the level and amount of available class time, the adventures ranged from simple tasks to find or fix or buy something, to involved "quests" to uncover mysteries or find the special "Cleverkeys" hidden in bizarre places around the city.
I focused on the concept of a city, as it allowed me to take the learners into an English-speaking context that resembled reasonably closely the real world settings they were growing up into - or would encounter when they ventured abroad and needed to use their English. The setting facilitates situations that involve catching buses, contacting the police, going to special events, buying particular things (say to have a party or get tickets to an event) - the possibilities were (and are) pretty much endless!
So I very thoroughly recommend this idea of immersion roleplaying, for all the reasons explained and demonstrated in that TEFL.net article and because of the rich and enjoyable learning experiences I've seen unfold for learners in my own classrooms.
:-)
