Evaluating the Impact of Role Play on Literary Text Comprehension
An Experimental Study Using The Oracle of Cidino
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33541/jet.v12i1.7547Keywords:
Role play, pretest-post-test, control group, experimental groupAbstract
The fundamental goal of roleplay is for students to become actively involved in the learning process, which results in better and deeper understanding. This study investigated the effectiveness of role-play in enhancing undergraduate students’ comprehension of The Oracle of Cidino by Nyathi (2003) through role-play as an instructional strategy. Grounded on the premise of the constructivist paradigm, this experimental design compared comprehension achievements between the control group that received traditional instruction and the experimental group that participated in role play to assess the extent to which role play influences students’ comprehension and academic performance. A convenient sampling technique was employed to select the study population. A sample of 83 student participants was selected using Yamane formular (1967). A computer-generated number was used to randomly assign 83 student participants into the control (n=42) and the experimental (n=41) groups. Data was collected through pre- and post-tests, and descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. The findings revealed that incorporating constructivist, participatory pedagogies such as role-play can enhance students’ academic performance by developing and supporting active learning environments like literature classrooms. The study recommends future research to examine pre-posttests through student discussion to justify their literary test answers and to teach literature through television to aid comprehension, engagement, and appreciation.
References
Adams, J. D., & Mabusela, M. S. (2013). Employing role-playing in teaching and learning: A case of higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 27(3), 489–500.
Alexander, P. A., & Fox, E. (2004). A historical perspective on reading research and practice, redux. Review of Educational Research, 74(3), 253–317. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543074003253
Applebee, A. N. (1996). Curriculum as conversation: Transforming traditions of teaching and learning. University of Chicago Press.
Babaee, F., & Wan Yahya, W. A. (2014). Integrating literature into the language classroom: Problems and possibilities. English Language Teaching, 7(9), 80–87. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v7n9p80
Bagherkazemi, M., & Alemi, M. (2010). Literature in the EFL/ESL classroom: Consensus and controversy. LiBRI: Linguistic and Literary Broad Research and Innovation, 1(1), 1–12.
Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
Belet, Ş. D., & Dal, S. (2010). The use of storytelling to develop language and literacy skills. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 183–187. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.12.136
Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. George Washington University.
Bruner, J. S. (1996). The culture of education. Harvard University Press.
Chesler, M., & Fox, R. (1966). Role-playing methods in the classroom. Science Research Associates.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). Sage.
Dorgu, T. E. (2015). Different teaching methods: A panacea for effective curriculum implementation. International Journal of Secondary Education, 3(6), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20150306.11
Ghosn, I. K. (2013). Teaching literature in the foreign language classroom: A task-based approach. Language Teaching Research, 17(2), 147–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168812472122
Hafeez, S. (2021). A critical review on discussion and traditional teaching methods. Psychology and Education Journal, 58(1), 1871–1886. https://doi.org/10.17762/pae.v58i1.1042
Hu, J. (2024). The challenge of traditional teaching approach: A study on the path to improve classroom teaching effectiveness based on secondary school students’ psychology. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media, 50, 213–219. https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7048/50/20240945
Johnstone, A. H., & Percival, F. (1976). Attention breaks in lectures. Education in Chemistry, 13, 49–50.
Joshua, G., & DeWitt, D. (2020). A possible solution for the teaching of literature in Nigeria. Isu Dalam Pendidikan, 43, 1–14.
Kerr, D., Troth, A., & Pickering, A. (2003). The use of role-playing to help students understand information systems case studies. Journal of Information Systems Education, 14(2), 167–172.
Khamouja, A., Benmhamed, M., & El Ghouati, A. (2023). The importance of role-playing activities in developing students’ speaking competence. International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, 66(1), 225–230.
Khatib, M., Rezaei, M., & Derakhshan, A. (2011). Integrating literature into language teaching: Benefits and challenges. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 115–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.234
Knight, P. (2001). Complexity and curriculum: A process approach to curriculum-making. Teaching in Higher Education, 6(3), 369–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510120061223
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice Hall.
Lazar, G. (2009). Literature and language teaching: A guide for teachers and trainers. Cambridge University Press.
Lederer, M. (2016). Role-play as a teaching method: Exploring second language learning. The Language Learning Journal, 44(3), 269–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2013.829846
Lodico, M. G., Spaulding, D. T., & Voegtle, K. H. (2010). Methods in educational research: From theory to practice (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
Moustafa, A., & Naima, G. (2022). An affective approach to teaching literature: I feel therefore I am. Arab World English Journal, 13(2), 253–266. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no2.17
Ní Riain, I., Dawson, C., & McCarthy, M. (2018). Role play in literature lectures: The students’ assessment of their learning. IJ SoTL, 12(1).
Nyathi, F. S. (2003). The oracle of Cidino. African Publishers.
Padurean, A. (2015). Approaches to teaching literature in EFL classrooms. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 180, 104–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.02.091
Paran, A. (2012). Literature in language teaching and learning. In S. Garton & K. Graves (Eds.), International perspectives on materials in ELT (pp. 117–136). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137002046_7
Pardede, P., & Purnamasari, A. (2023). EFL pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their experience in using short stories in a bichronous e-learning environment. Journal of English Teaching, 11(1), 20–34. https://ejournal.uki.ac.id/index.php/jet
Rao, D., & Stupans, I. (2012). Exploring the potential of role play in higher education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 49(4), 427–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728879
Riain, A., O’Connor, E., & Walsh, M. (2018). Students’ perceptions of role play in literature teaching. Journal of Educational Studies, 12(2), 44–56.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford University Press.
Salmanova, S. (2025). Communicative approach in foreign language teaching: Advantages and limitations. Euro Global Journal of Linguistics and Language Education, 2, 79–88. https://doi.org/10.69760/egjlle.250009
Sano, M. (1989). Speaking shidou to dramatization [Speaking instruction and dramatization]. Eigo-Kyouiku [The English Teachers’ Magazine], October, 24–25.
Savvidou, C. (2004). An integrated approach to teaching literature in the EFL classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, 10(12). http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Savvidou-Literature.html
Schutt, R. (2019). Investigating the social world: The process and practice of research (9th ed.). Sage.
Tzenios, N. (2022). Learner-centred teaching. International Journal of Current Research in Science, Engineering & Technology, 4, 916–919. https://doi.org/10.56726/IRJMETS32262
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes (M. Cole et al., Eds. & Trans.). Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1930)
Westrup, U., & Planander, A. (2013). Role-play as a pedagogical method to prepare students for practice. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(5), 780–794. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2013.806436
Wigfield, A., & Guthrie, J. T. (1997). Relations of children’s motivation for reading to the amount and breadth of their reading. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(3), 420–432. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.89.3.420
Yamane, T. (1967). Statistics: An introductory analysis (2nd ed.). Harper & Row.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 JET (Journal of English Teaching)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyrights for articles published in JET are retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.
