THE IMPACT OF ROLE-PLAY STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING COMPETENCE

Abstract

Role-play was explored as an instructional strategy to improve English-speaking proficiency among 10th-grade students in the Fashion Design and Visual Communication Design programs at a vocational high school. Employing a classroom action research (CAR) framework, the study was carried out in two cycles consisting of planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. Data were collected through observations, interviews, speaking tests, and documentation. The findings reveal that role-play significantly improved students’ speaking abilities, particularly in fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary usage, and self-confidence. Moreover, the role-play approach cultivated an interactive and communicative classroom atmosphere, encouraging students to engage in meaningful, context-based speaking tasks. The study concludes that role-play is an effective and practical technique for fostering speaking skills among vocational high school learners.