ENHANCING EFL STUDENTS’ WILLINGNESS TO COMMUNICATE IN

ENGLISH BY USING ROLEPLAY

(A Classroom Action Research on Ninth Grade Students of SMP Nusantara in
the Academic Year of 2019/2020)

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
The willingness to communicate in English really matters on EFL learners’ communication
skills.

Supporting Sentences:
SS1: MacIntyre & Doucette (2010) stated the willingness to communicate is part of
becoming fluent in second language, which is the ultimate goal of L2 learners.

SS2: Baker & Clément (2003) claimed that the willingness to communicate among students
leads to increased opportunity for practice in L2 and authentic language production.

SS3: Donovan (2003) argued that EFL learners’ willingness to communicate facilitates the
effective interaction in classroom.

SS4: In brief, the concepts of willingness to communicate in English among EFL learners
are necessary to help them form and improve effective and meaningful English
communication skills, especially in speaking.

Paragraph 2
Topic Sentence:
However, considerable numbers of EFL learners are still less willing to communicate in English
(Riasati, 2012) and potential harm their speaking skills development.

Supporting Sentences:
 SS1: It is supported by the statement of McCroskey & Richmond (1987) that emphasizes
unwilling EFL learners are unlikely to continue or initiate interaction in speaking activity in
classroom.

SS2: Another evidence to support above statement is the claim by Cameron (2013),
“variables such as self-confidence, personality, attitude, international posture, gender and
age, and social and learning context have also been isolated as possible affective/individual
and social variables which may have an influence on students’ unwillingness to
communicate.”

Paragraph 3
Topic Sentence:
The phenomenon of unwillingness to communicate also happens to students of class IX, in one
of private schools in Palangka Raya.

Supporting Sentences:
SS 1: The result of interview with English teacher:
 The teacher claimed that the students rarely respond to her questions in class.
 The teacher reported that students appear to be reluctant when they are asked
to speak up.

SS 2: The result of interview with students:

 Student A argued that she fears speaking up due to her poor vocabulary.
 Student B stated that he is worried about making errors in his speaking and is
afraid of getting negatively evaluated from either his friends or the teacher.
 Student C claimed that she feels embarrassed and less confident to speak up
because of her inadequate vocabulary and grammar knowledge.

SS 3: Based on the interview results, it can be inferred that the major problem of students’
unwillingness to speak in English is foreign language anxiety.

Paragraph 4
Topic Sentence:
To overcome the problem, roleplay appears to be a suitable technique to apply.

Supporting Sentences:
SS1: Jabri(2005) claimed that roleplay gives students the chance to practice the language
use in real life situations in a fun way.
 SS2: Husna (2016) stated that roleplay technique creates a friendly classroom atmosphere
and provides anxious and non anxious students alike with abundant opportunities to use
language in a non-threatening context.

SS3: According to Ladousse, role-play stimulates students to be capable of recalling

vocabulary easily, recognizing how to use and when to use the appropriate words when they
play their roles in front of the class.

SS4: Concerning the above situation, this study is aimed to enhance students’ willingness to
communicate in English by using roleplay.

B. Research Question

How does roleplay enhance students’ willingness to communicate in English?

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
Based on the background of the study, the problem that hinders students’ willingness to
communicate comes from different factors.

Supporting Sentences
SS1: Students have poor perceived competence in English.

SS2: Students fear making mistakes and getting negatively evaluated in speaking English.

SS3: Students are too timid to speak up.

C. Objective of the Study

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
This study is conducted to enhance the students’ willingness to communicate in English by using
roleplay

Supporting Sentence:
SS1: Specifically, this study will describe the implementation of roleplay technique in
overcoming students’ anxiety during speaking activity.
D. Significance of the Study

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
The result of this study provides potential theoretical and practical significances.

Supporting Sentences:
 Theoretical Significance

SS1: Theoretically, the result of this study adds up to the current theory dealing with the
implementation of roleplay technique to enhance students’ willingness to communicate in
English.

SS2: The findings of this study can be used as a reference for further research of relevant
topics.

 Practical Significance

SS1: The classroom teacher may consider using roleplay technique in order to enhance
students’ willingness to communicate in English.
 CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW

A. Concept of Classroom Action Research

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
In this section, the concept of classroom action research is discussed thoroughly.

Supporting Sentences:
SS1: The definition of CAR according to Angelo and Cross (1993)

SS2: The definition of CAR according to Corey (1953)

SS3: According to Kemmis and McTaggart in Burns’ book “Collaborative Action Research
for English Language Teachers,” action research occurs through a dynamic process which
consists of four essential moments: planning, action, observation and reflection.

SS4: In short, classroom action research is seen as a reflective research conducted

collaboratively to improve to quality of education and is carried out in the cycle consisting of
planning, action, observation, and reflection.

B. Concept of the Conducted Study

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
In this section, there are several theories that become the working frame of thoughts of the study.

Supporting Sentences:
SS1: The Importance of Speaking Skills Mastery according to Penny Ur (2009)

SS2: The Role of WTC on Speaking Skills Development according to MacIntyre et al.
(1998)

SS3: Possible factors affecting WTC in English according to Ketabdar et al. (2014)

Paragraph 2
Supporting Sentences:
SS1: Definition of roleplay according to According to Gower et-al (2005)
SS2: Types of Roleplay according to Revell (1994)
 SS3: The implementation of Roleplay in classroom according to Penny Ur (2009)

C. Previous Research

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence
There are considerable previous studies conducted by other researchers that reported the
advantages of roleplay on the improvement of willingness to communicate in English.

Supporting Sentences:
SS1: A study by Nining Hidayati in 2015 reported that role play is effective to improve
students’ speaking ability and surmount the students’ reluctance to speak.

SS2: A previous study by Beauty Kharismawati Susilo in 2014 has also indicated that
roleplay is helpful for students to practice the use of English language in a fun way.

SS3: Similarly, the present study attempts to overcome the factor affecting students’
unwillingness to communicate in English speaking activities that is foreign language
speaking anxiety.

CHAPTER III
 METHOD OF THE RESEARCH

A. Research Setting

Paragraph 1
Topic: Place and Time

Supporting Sentences:
SS1: Class IX, one of private Junior High Schools in Palangka Raya
SS2: The study will be carried out for a week, starting from November 11 th until November
17th 2019.

Paragraph 2
Topic: Research Participants

Supporting Sentence:
The participants of the present study are the researcher in collaboration with English teacher
and 19 students of class XI of SMP Nusantara in the academic year 2019/2020.

B. Research Methods

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence
The method used in this study is Classroom Action Research (CAR).

Supporting Sentences:
SS1: According to Michael J. Wallace, CAR is a type of classroom research carried out by
the teacher in order to solve problems.

SS2: It can be inferred that to begin the CAR, the researcher or the teacher needs to
investigate problems within a specific situation.

SS3: Another expert, Anne Burns added that action research functions best when it is co
operative action research.

SS4: Based on the above statement, in the scope of education, Classroom Action Research
will give the better results when it is done collaboratively.
C. Procedure of the Study
Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
By adapting Kemmis and McTaggart’s concept on cycle of CAR, the present study is carried out
in the cycle containing four phases; planning, acting, observing, and reflecting.

Supporting Sentences
SS1 – SS4: The explanation of four phases of CAR according to Kemmis and McTaggart (as
cited in Burns, 2010)

Paragraph 2
Topic Sentence
By referring to a model of action research stated by Kemmis and McTaggart’s, the steps taken by
the researcher in the presents study are as follows:

Supporting Sentences

 Planning
SS1: The researcher finds an institution to do an action (Grade 9 students of SMP Nusantara).

SS2: The researcher asks permission to carry out the research there.

SS3: To identify the problems in the classroom before conducting the action, the researcher
gathered information through structured interview.

SS4: The researcher develops a research plan by deciding the best intervention to apply,
preparing the observation checklist for the student and making lesson plan.

 Action

SS1: According to lesson plan, the researcher starts the main activity by giving the
expressions and vocabularies that relate to the topic.

SS2: The researcher then explains for interaction practicing.

SS3: Students practice role play activities.

SS4: Students perform role play in the front of the class.

 Observation
 SS1: The researcher observes students’ participation and achievement.

SS2: The researcher records the data of the roleplay teaching technique implementation to
speaking activity at classroom using field notes.

 Reflection

SS1: The researcher discusses the result of observation with collaborator to decide whether
the result shows a significant improvement or not and to determine whether the further cycle
is needed or not.

D. Source of Data

Source of data are from field notes and interview transcripts with English teacher and students.

E. Technique of Data Collection

Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence:
To collect the data, field notes and interview will be employed.

Supporting sentences:
 Field notes
SS1: To record the implementation of roleplay, the researcher will use field notes.

SS2: The researcher gathers all information during the implementation of roleplay.

SS3: The researcher highlights the progress or if any obstacles found during the
implementation.

 Structured interview
SS1: Furthermore, to obtain more comprehensible data, interview will be conducted after
the implementation of roleplay

SS2: In relation to students’ WTC, the researcher explores the participants’ view during the
implementation of roleplay to see whether there is an improvement.