Using Role Play As A Strategy To Support Students With Speech And Language Disorders During An Essay Lesson.

Challenges of SEN Students

‘Special Educational Needs’ or SEN is a recently developed area of education that aims to provide education to students who differ in their physical, mental or social attributes as compared to the average school going child (Alkahtani, 2016, p. 72). A lot of countries have begun to lay emphasis on ensuring students who face difficulties in learning are also able to acquire education through the application of SEN specific strategies. This has been accomplished through reformed education sectors that accommodate special needs students. However, there is still a need to focus more on the challenges faced by students with Speech and Language Impairment. They struggle to understand class instructions and lesson content as a result (Hendricks et al., 2019).

This action research aims to evaluate the use of role play as a strategy to support students with Speech and Language Disorders during a writing lesson. I have conducted a lesson study during my first school-based placement to tackle this topic. The strategy aims to contribute to pupil progress by enriching their vocabulary and ability to use various verbs within a sentence.

Situated in East London and judged by Ofsted to be “outstanding” in both 2009 and 2014, my first placement school’s ethos is to help everyone, young or old, achieve their best. The school provides a caring, fun, vivid and supportive learning community where every child and their family matter.

My lesson study was carried out in a year 1 class of twenty-seven pupils. The class has a culturally diverse environment for students with different needs and abilities and comprises of both EAL pupils and students whose native language is English.

For the purpose of better classroom management and for assisting the learning of the students, the classroom setup is similar and consistent all over the school.. When transiting to the consolidation part, the class gets divided into four different groups with different attainment levels of advanced, intermediate, elementary and beginners.

To conduct my research, and after discussions with my mentor, I have chosen two ‘writing lessons’ and three pupils (S., M., and Z.) from the Dolphins’ group formally diagnosed as having Speech and Language Impairment. Their parents were also advised by the school SENco to try and have them undertake a formal diagnostic Dyslexia Assessment.

During my lessons, I made some special flashcards to help them read the tricky words or the high-frequency words used during that particular lesson (See Appendix 3). There were times when the three pupils would struggle with recognising and reading aloud their graphemes, decoding or sounding out a word, and the flashcards helped support their learning. This was relevant to the role-play as it helped teach the pupils how they can use certain words and vocabulary in a context. In this way, I tried to create a fun atmosphere for the writing lessons, where they could practice their writing skills along with their reading, listening, and speaking skills.

Lesson 1

Lesson Study Plan & Observation Record

Subject/Topic:  Writing   Teacher:  Observer: GE Date:       Learning Objective/s of the Research Lesson: Writing my own version of Incy Wincy Spider Teaching/learning/assessment strategies being developed: Enriching the pupils’ vocabulary and developing their imagination Differentiating and adapting instruction for pupils with speech and language impairment
Success criteria	Case pupil A’s initials: S. · I can read and recite the rhyme · I can replace the object in my sentence · I can act out my rhyme during role play		Case pupil B’s initials: M. · I can read and recite the rhyme · I can replace the object in my sentence · I can act out my rhyme during role play		Case pupil C’s initials: Z. · I can read and recite the rhyme · I can replace the object in my sentence · I can act out my rhyme during role play
Timeline of lesson   (Edit as required)	How you predict pupil A will respond	How they are observed to respond	How you predict pupil B will respond	How they are observed to respond	How you predict pupil C will respond	How they are observed to respond
Introduction Teacher Input Task/Activity Plenary Incy Wincy Spider: Reading the rhyme while pointing to the words, then singing along as a group. Role play activity being the spider climbing different objects. Writing the sentence: The spider went up the wall/chair/table/door	Engaged when task is fully understood, responding when redirected and reminded	Engaged and responding, but fidgeting a lot	Engaged when task is fully understood, responding when redirected and reminded	Engaged when reminded, shy and hesitant	Easily distracted Responding when redirected and reminded more than once, needs to be reminded to use a pencil grip when writing	Easily distracted, poor eye contact, responded when repeating the instruction more than once, remembered to use his pencil grip
Post-lesson pupil conference (edit as required)	S		M		Z
What did you enjoy most about that lesson? What did you learn? What can you do now that you could not do? What can you do better? How is it better? What aspect of the teaching worked best for you? My adapted question: What did you like in today’s writing lesson? Did you like singing the rhyme or doing the role play?   If the same lesson is being taught to another group, what would you change? Why would you change that aspect? My adapted question: Imagine you were in Mr. J.’s class, how would you like to learn Incy Wincy Spider? Would you like to act it, sing it or write it?	“I liked singing Incy Wincy Spider” “I can write door” “Next time I will stop fussing” S. answered this way because he was constantly reminded about it, so he knew his daily target was to stop fussing “I will do my homework” S. was a bit upset because he was told off by the class teacher in the morning for not doing his homework. “I liked when we changed the words”. S. expressed that he enjoyed changing the words in our chant to make it our own. S. expressed his desire to ask Mr. J. to give him the spider costume he has.		“I liked playing” “I sing it for my mummy and daddy and my baby brother” “Next time I will not be shy, and I will talk to the teacher” M. also knew the teachers’ expectations and his individual target “I will use my louder voice” M. remembered that one of his targets is to use a louder voice when replying to the Teacher. I modelled speaking in a whispery voice and ask if he was able to hear me.   “I liked when we pretended to be a spider”. M. was clearly enjoying the role play activity. He was more engaged when pretending not being him. M. raised up a very interesting point which I did not pay attention to. He said that in Mr. J.’s class, he would sing in a louder voice because there are more boys than girls. It is important to mention that in M.'s class there are only 5 boys. He expressed that he is very shy around girls.		“I liked being a spider” “I can write the spider went up the wall” “Next time, I will listen to the teacher” Z. often gets easily distracted and loses focus, so his target was to try his best to listen carefully to “simplified/adapted” instructions and see if he can repeat or even draw them.   “I liked being a spider and going up”. I noticed that Z. was repeating what M. said and what another child was saying outside the classroom about growing up, so, I repeated the question for the second time to him and got the same reply then used a forced choice question to which he replied: “I liked doing the role play and being a spider. I will go up the wall” Z. said that in Mr. J.’s class he would and “dress like a spiderman and go up”. Z. was able to express himself and use his thought in a full sentence.
Evaluation What progress have they made and how do you know?  What were they able to do? What did you do that made the difference? What will you do differently next time?	I noticed that S. is becoming more interested in the activities and was able to answer all the forced alternative questions I asked S. was able to write his tall and short letters properly I have used picture/visuals as a reminders, and role play as the main teach + flashcards  “I will do more modelling and give 1 instruction at a time		I noticed that M. is beginning to take his work more seriously and was able to ask a question to clarify his misunderstanding M. was able to copy the words from the whiteboard properly I have used colours to make the words more visible. I have also made a personalized flashcards to help with the reading process: “I will do more modelling and give 1 instruction at a time		I noticed that Z. is getting close in becoming more independent. Z. was able to use proper punctuation in his sentence I have used picture/visuals as a reminders “I will do more modelling and give 1 instruction at a time

 Lesson 2

Lesson Study Plan & Observation Record

Use of Role Play as Strategy to Support Students with Speech and Language Disorders

Subject/Topic:  Writing   Teacher:  Observer: GE Date:      Learning Objective/s of the Research Lesson: I can change the verb in my own “Teddy Bear” chant Teaching/learning/assessment strategies being developed: Vocabulary extension, identifying rhyming words and use different verbs Differentiating and adapting instruction for pupils with speech and language impairment
Success criteria	Case pupil A’s initials: S. · I can sing along the rhyme · I can practice doing clapping, stomping, blinking, jumping, clicking, and tapping · I can replace the verb in my sentence · I can act out my rhyme during role play		Case pupil B’s initials: M. · I can sing along the rhyme · I can practice doing clapping, stomping, blinking, jumping, clicking, and tapping · I can replace the verb in my sentence · I can act out my rhyme during role play		Case pupil C’s initials: Z. · I can sing along the rhyme · I can practice doing clapping, stomping, blinking, jumping, clicking, and tapping · I can replace the verb in my sentence · I can act out my rhyme during role play
Timeline of lesson   (Edit as required)	How you predict pupil A will respond	How they are observed to respond	How you predict pupil B will respond	How they are observed to respond	How you predict pupil C will respond	How they are observed to respond
Introduction Teacher Input Task/Activity Plenary Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Touch the Ground Reading the rhyme while pointing to the words, then singing along as a group. Role play activity using extended dialogue phrase. Writing the sentence: then changing the verb Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear Clap your hands/buckle your shoes/read your book…	Engaged when task is fully understood, can switch off at times; responding when redirected and reminded	Engaged, responding but still fidgeting a lot, needs constant reminders, writes /d/ instead of /b/	Engaged when task is fully understood, responding when redirected and reminded, needs constant encouragement to talk more	Engaged when reminded, still shy and hesitant, responded better when praised and encouraged	Easily distracted,   responding when redirected and reminded more than once, needs to be reminded to stay on task	Easily distracted, better eye contact, responded when repeating the instruction more than once, remembered to stay on task
Post-lesson pupil conference (edit as required)	S		M		Z
What did you enjoy most about that lesson? What did you learn? What can you do now that you could not do? What can you do better? How is it better? What aspect of the teaching worked best for you?   If the same lesson is being taught to another group, what would you change? Why would you change that aspect?	“I liked jumping on the spot” “I can write Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear jump on the spot” “Next time I will do my homework” “I want to do this every day” S. expressed his desire to do this activity every day as he enjoyed the role play, and the different things Teddy Bear was doing. I will use more positive encouragement and praise. I would continue using the personalized flashcard as it was a very successful strategy to make the words more visual for this type of pupils.		“I liked reading the book” “I liked singing with my friends and when you gave me a sticker” “I teach my baby brother the song” “Next time I will speak in a louder voice” I have noticed that M. was very happy and more engaged when knowing that we are doing role play again in today’s writing lesson.		“I liked to make teddy bear do different things” “I liked writing in my book” “I can write the spider went up the wall” “Next time, I will stop fussing” Z. was able to do a better writing when having his “writing checklist” in front of him. The latter assisted him in remembering to use (capital letters, finger spaces, full stops, and if all his letters are the right way around).
Evaluation What progress have they made and how do you know?  What were they able to do? What did you do that made the difference? What will you do differently next time?	I noticed that S. was very happy and excited during the role play activity. S. was able to write/correct his confusion between the letters d and b I used School Sparks technique where you form the lowercase “b” and “d” with your left and right hands, which allows you to associate the letter “b” with your left hand and the letter “d” with your right hand. I will slow down my pace and use more real objects that relates to them as they were more responsive and engaged.		I noticed that M. was very happy and responded better after being praised and when given a sticker after answering a question. M. was able to match the picture to the right sentence I used more reminders and positive encouragement I will slow down my pace and use more real objects that relates to them as they were more responsive and engaged.		I noticed that Z. is making better eye contact when reminded.   Z. was able to match the picture to the right sentence and was able to use his writing checklist effectively. I used A3 sheets instead of A4 to make it more visible. I also had the writing checklist on his table for him to use. I will slow down my pace and use more real objects that relates to them as they were more responsive and engaged

Action research, in the educational setting, involves studying and exploring a school environment so that the quality of the educational experience can be improved in the environment being researched (Hine, 2013, p. 2). It can be used to improve the quality of instructions provided in the educational environment while also helping teachers become aware of their teaching practices and beliefs (Aidana, n.d.). Action research can be used by any professional for problem-solving purposes and to improve social issues (Hine, 2013, p. 1). Patterson and Shannon (1993) defined action research as a “recursive” or a repetitive process that does not always occur in a “linear fashion” but can take many forms. It “involves taking a self-reflective, critical and systematic approach to exploring your own teaching contexts.” (Burns, 2010, p.2). It aims to enhance the lives of the children while promoting reflective thinking for the Teacher (Hine, 2013, p. 3). One of the limitations of action research is that the practitioner evaluates themselves, and therefore the objectivity in student selection cannot be determined (Aidana, n.d.). There is also a possibility that the practitioner or educator may not be able to provide an efficient final report that presents a complete picture of the issues in the educational experience as these may impact the reputation of the profession (Aidana, n.d.). This makes the validity and reliability of the final report produced after conducting action research questionable.

Lesson study (LS) is a highly definite form of classroom action research aiming at improving the Teacher’s practice knowledge. Originally developed in Japan, LS is an approach that has been used for over a century to study classroom practice and improve the teaching-learning process (Takahashi and Yoshida, 2004; DFE, 2010).

It is a form of “disciplined inquiry” used to examine a question or a concern in a “cyclical” way to get new courses of action (Johnson, 2001). In other words, it is a form of “teacher inquiry” in which teachers work collaboratively to complete a cycle of “study-plan-do-review” to improve their pedagogy which will, in turn, support the pupils’ learning and progress.

According to Lewis and Tsuchida (1999, p. 48), “a lesson is like a swiftly flowing river” performed in a complex environment where 30 or more individuals participate over a whole hour in class activities. However, in recent years, the activity of teaching and education has evolved through research lessons and aims to ensure that students are not simply given instructions during the lesson but are also able to develop an understanding of the lesson. 

Wragg et al. (1996) assert that good teachers revisit their teaching strategies whenever they come across a new mechanism of managing teaching situations and internalize the teaching strategy to allow them to unconsciously use the strategy in case it is needed again. This allows them to become outstanding teachers and utilize their knowledge efficiently through their classroom practice. The use of the lesson study mechanism allows the teachers to better internalize such teaching strategies. 

Furthermore, lesson study is strongly believed to assist both experienced educators and those who are beginners in their learning (Lewis et al., 2006). Since it is a collaborative process, teachers combine their observations, planning, as well as their analysis for the benefit of all their pupils. By the end of this process, teachers will be able to compare the students’ actual learning to what they envisaged when they first planned the lesson.

Classroom Management

During the “study-plan-do-review” lesson study cycles, the teachers tend to become more informed and apperceptive of both the learning needs and behaviours of each and every individual case pupil. 

To develop a problem-solving method for Maths, for example, Japan adopted a student-centred approach back in the seventies. The latter is still considered to be a very powerful approach for addressing “problem-solving” to develop mathematical concepts and skills in their students (Stigler and Hiebert, 1999).

Stigler and Hiebert (1999) have affirmed that in Japan, teachers let the students invent their own processes for solving problems and the teachers themselves take less active roles. While these problems can be demanding, teachers design the lessons in a way that lets the students use concepts and procedures that had been recently taught to them. This is a form of ‘structured problem solving’ mechanism (Stigler and Hiebert, 1999). 

Lesson study likewise promotes “equity”, “diversity” and “inclusive” education. In this way, each child receives what they need to unlock their potential (Hjerm et al., 2018). 

Therefore, the implementation of lesson study aims to build an inclusive classroom where teachers’ planning, and observations will be brought together collaborate and increase the students’ higher-level thinking skills (Armstrong, 2020). It is also believed that lesson study fosters the learner’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills (Darling-Hammond & Richardson, 2009). 

However, lesson study as a form of action research is seen to have some limitations and disadvantages in terms of the selection of participants, which tends to be subjective; hence, the research conductor might select students he/she knows will respond best to the study.

Moreover, there is also debate about whether the participants chosen are willing to contribute to the study or are being forced to do so. This raises the question of whether these participants will be honest when answering the questions and if they will feel secure or at risk of getting a lower grade if they are not willing to participate (Parsons & Kimberlee, 2001).

 In response to some of these limitations, Forster and Eperjesi (2017) have highlighted that action research is mainly about improving the teachers’ practice and not about biases. It also adopts a detailed and planned qualitative method when collecting data. It is a “personal reflective process” that would help a new teacher thrive to improve his/her own practice (Forster and Eperjesi, 2017). 

I used a qualitative approach within the research methodology because of the nature of my chosen research question. It highlights the specific strategies adapted to improve instructions for students with Speech and Language disorders during a writing lesson. One of the strategies that was used was role-play. 

Under the role play-based learning process, the learner or student acquires necessary skills and knowledge by assuming and pretending to be in various roles in the real-life setting (Abdoola et al., 2017). It creates scenarios that require simulated communication and spontaneous responses (Purvis, 2008). This is a form of simulation that creates an experience that imitates reality and unfolds in a secure and safe environment. The educator’s primary role in the role pay based learning is to create the appropriate environment and learning opportunities that can help the child in meeting the objectives of the lesson plan by enacting the roles (Abdoola et al., 2017). 

Assessment Strategies and Success Criteria

In the case of children with language and speech disorders, they tend to struggle with social communication (Abdoola et al., 2017). Most children tend to engage in make-believe play and understand how to engage in socio-dramatic plays from a young age. This makes role-play a ‘natural’ and inherent method of learning for children (McSharry and Jones, 2000, p. 74). Thus, role play can easily facilitate language development in children that have speech and language disorders. Though such children may take time to master role-playing games, the use of repetitive and elementary content can be crucial to their learning (Amelina and Kindler, 2016). The constant involvement of the educator during such activities for children with language and speech disorders is necessary. Children with language and speech disorders can face difficulties in engaging in symbolic play (Amelina and Kindler, 2016). They may face challenges in handling peer conflicts, not be able to assert themselves during role play-based activities and thus may get frustrated easily (McCabe & Marshall, 2006). This can act as one of the limitations of role play-based activities for children that struggle with speech and language disorders. Children with such disorders may not be interested in engaging in cooperative role play as a result of their disorder, and they may also be found playing with their toys silently or alone (Amelina and Kindler, 2016, p. 114). Children with language and speech disorders may also struggle to comprehend the situation they are in besides being able to communicate adequately (Amelina and Kindler, 2016, p. 114). Since being a part of social situations is the primary essence of role-play, the activities have to be carefully designed by the educator in the case of children with language and speech disorders. One of the limitations of role-playing activities, especially in the case of children with language and speech impediments, is that they may struggle to find the appropriate expressions for conveying their thoughts (Islam and Islam, 2012, p. 220). It can also be a time-consuming activity and may require a lot of effort on the part of the Teacher for accommodation within the classroom lessons (Islam and Islam, 2012, p. 220). However, it can be crucial for boosting the confidence of the child in engaging in communication in social situations, especially in the case of children with language and speech disorders.

 In accordance with the language competence of the child, the goals of the role-playing games would have to be determined accordingly. However, role-playing based learning should not be too structured as children should have the opportunity to be able to make associations and use language on their own (Delamain and Spring, 2019). The role-playing activity should be structured in a manner that language is an integral part of the activity, rather than instructing the child to be able to say specific words (Delamain and Spring, 2019).

 The Teacher or educator can request clarification when communication breaks down during role play-based activities so that the speaker is made aware of the fact that their message may not have been clear. Reasserting oneself also helps the speaker further develop their language abilities. Children are able to respond efficiently to requests for clarifications of their speech around the age of two years (Fletcher et al., 2015). While role-playing requires an extensive level of intervention on the end of the educator for children with language disorders, it can have benefits for the children in the form of social cognition, social communication, and social interaction (Gerber et al., 2012, p. 239). Ensuring the right environment, tools and strategies are implemented in role-playing activities and learning for children with language and speech disorders are necessary for successfully meeting the learning objectives (Amelina and Kindler, 2016, p. 115). In the case of the three pupils, I used strategies of positive encouragement and reinforcement to encourage the children to engage in the role play. I also had to read the rhymes out in various tones, so that the children could imitate the same in role playing later.

Every child is a single and unique being with an individual personality. While some students have strong working memory, others may have a slower capacity in the classroom setting. In my scenario, S., M., and Z. needed consistent adaptations and collaborative support from the school, the teachers, and the parents.

Before beginning my research and attempting to work with the three pupils, I discussed the case with my mentor and consulted the school’s SENco, as I was a trainee teacher with limited experience in handling such cases. Their advice was relevant and helpful in directing me towards taking relevant steps for the learning of the three pupils.

Before starting the process, I observed my mentor and two other teachers teaching different writing lessons, in order to note the various strategies used. I observed that my class was the only one with students diagnosed with speech and language difficulties. It is crucial to mention that this common learning difficulty was being closely considered by the school in different subjects; however, in writing lessons, Speech and Language Needs, were still required to be examined and managed. 

Observations, pupils’ interviews, and my own reflective journals were the three major data collection methods I relied on during my lesson study. My selected pupils were interviewed collectively by the end of the planned writing lesson cycles. I chose to interview them as a small group in order to make them feel more at ease in being together and encourage them to talk and express themselves more. 

Taking into consideration their age and special educational needs, I preferred monitoring and facilitating a group discussion to ask my questions rather than engaging in individual interviews, in this way, I avoided a top-down approach where my pupils would be simple consumers answering questions to a more active learning approach where they would be involved participants. Such an approach better supports the learning of the students (Abdullah et al., 2012).

To make it a fair discussion during the interview process, I used the “Lego strategy” to see and monitor who was contributing and to encourage everyone to participate. This was one of the primary strategies for taking action and evaluating the problem in the domain of action research (Johnson, 2001). Ensuring children are engaged within the lesson plans is necessary for research lessons (Lewis and Tsuchida, 1999, p. 48). Ethical considerations were also taken into account during the research, such as the vulnerability of the participants, special consideration for certain participants, inclusiveness of all participants, the confidentiality of the students, their socio-cultural backgrounds, etc. (Graham, 2015). For example, the vulnerability of the children was taken into consideration, and adequate steps were taken to make the children feel comfortable, such as positive reinforcement, speaking to the children in a friendly tone, making the classroom activities fun by using various pictures, etc. 

Their responses varied according to their level of understanding and to the complexity of the question asked. As shown in my lesson study portfolio, I have adapted and simplified some questions to meet their level of understanding and get as much interaction as possible from them. A common answer from all my three pupils was the fact that they enjoyed doing their special writing every day. They did not consider it to be a boring writing lesson anymore but an interactive and creative one. They expressed how helpful and enjoyable it was to engage in the role-play activities. Role-play activities tend to be helpful for children with language and speech disorders as they allow the children to easily engage in social communication through enjoyable make-believe activities (Abdoola et al., 2017). This activity helped break the ice for both the students and myself; it also supported me in assessing and learning more about my pupils’ abilities and needs, which was an essential aspect of action research.

Post-Lesson Pupil Conference

Consequently, using role-playing as my main teaching strategy in a writing lesson for students with Speech and Language Difficulties showed significant success in terms of helping them achieve their individual targets. This success was shown during the assessments and questions undertaken during the lessons. For example, the children were successfully able to sing along with the rhyme and stay engaged in the role-playing activity. All the children talked about how they liked being a spider during the role-play activity of lesson 1. This was asked to the students by rephrasing the question as “What did you like in today’s writing lesson?”. They also expressed their desire to engage in further role-playing activities in Mr J’s class. 

Following Colin Forster and Rachel Eperjesi’s study cycle, I took the following steps during my two writing lessons, wherein the second writing lesson was a reinforcement of the previous one.

In my writing lessons, I tried to integrate more role-play and acting activities with songs and rhythms that made it easier for them to understand the content, learn through play, and be more engaged and interested. This was also intended for the purpose of improving their social communication skills and ensuring they are comfortable engaging in providing spontaneous responses (Purvis, 2008).

I tried to get them to think and talk about the cover of the book and imagine what could happen in the story. In this way, their mind is stimulated and ready to think, read and hopefully write. This also helped in successfully engaging them in spontaneous communication and preparing them for role-playing activities. During this first part, S., M., and Z. were still very shy and intimidated. This is common in children with speech and language disorders (Abdoola et al., 2017).

After a quick discussion about the title and what the story might be about, I proceeded by reading the story to all. I use an A3-sized picture book. When reading, I made sure to use different voices for different characters, pause after the right punctuation, and explain difficult vocabulary, which would be necessary for encouraging language development and reasserting the need for different types of stylistic variations when communicating (Abdoola et al., 2017).

I also noticed that some pupils were showing signs of low self-esteem, such as hesitating whenever they spoke or expressed themselves during writing lessons. Role-playing activities are intended to help children overcome these issues (Amelina and Kindler, 2016). Being diagnosed with a Speech and Language Impairment, my three pupils tend to have a higher level of anxiety that can interfere with their learning process. Consequently, their behaviour tends to change, and they become more aggressive and rebellious sometimes. It is vital we understand the causes of such kinds of challenging behaviours and use appropriate strategies to deal with them, such as role-playing in the case of the three pupils. Standard 5 of the ‘Teachers’ Standards requires adopting the teaching to adequately meet the needs of all the pupils (Department for Education, n.d.).

To lessen S., M., and Z.’s anxiety levels and help them engage more, I would stop after reading each action taken by the character of the story and would ask the class to stand up and act it out. I noticed that my focus pupils were enjoying this part of the lesson much more than the other parts. It helped them self-regulate, understand the content clearly, and participate with the whole group without being pointed at or individually selected to do so. This could also be explained by McSharry and Jones’ (2000, p. 74) assertion that role paying is inherent and a natural form of learning mechanism amongst children.

During the second writing lesson, the children were asked to look at their pictures, think about their sentence, and in turn, say it out loud while acting it. I noticed that the whole class was actively engaged. Instead of asking them to directly change the verb in the sentence “Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground”, as highlighted in the initial lesson plan, I tried to adapt the instructions to meet all, including my focus pupils. I gave them different pictures/GIF images of a teddy bear engaging in different activities and some real objects they can relate to (See Appendix 4). I asked them to think of what the teddy bear was doing or what that object was used for. S., M., and Z. were even more engaged during this lesson. The GIF images grabbed their attention and made them think they were watching cartoons. M. was constantly encouraged to participate as he was still shy and hesitant but responded better when praised and encouraged.

1. was easily distracted, so to keep him on task, I encouraged him to use a little sand timer which we called (the magic timer) to keep track of time. More than that, whenever working with him, I tried to eliminate any unnecessary objects which tended to become a distraction to him. This reflects the need for constant involvement of the Teacher when initiating role-playing activities in children with speech and language disorders. Abdoola et al. (2017) have also identified the importance of the involvement of the educator in the effective implementation of role play activities.

One of the limitations was that while the approach was helpful for the three pupils with speech and language disorders, it was not equally helpful for other children. The strategy helped in successfully engaging the three pupils that were the focus of the research. It is essential to note that applying these strategies helped me, as a trainee teacher, to better understand my pupils’ needs, assess their improvement in the right way and at the right time, as well as to scrutinize my teaching skills to refine them. Thus, the aims of the action research were achieved. 

Conclusion:

During my lesson study project, it was shown that role-play activities could efficiently help encourage social communication and learning in students with speech and language disorders. Since it was action research, I was also able to track my pupil’s progress and manage their behaviour. Role-playing is a basic teaching strategy, and research indicates that it is an inherent learning mechanism in children. It also makes the learning experience engaging and fun for students in their ‘early years’ learning phase.

The language was a crucial part that had to be taken into consideration for using this strategy. As teachers, if we are not using clear and simplified language, then the whole teaching-learning process will be ineffective. I applied this concept to the three pupils that were my focus for the action research. I also used different stylistic tones and registers when reading the picture book to the class so that the pupils could learn how tones and speech can differ during role-playing activities. While teachers tend to prefer traditional didactic approaches, such as the approach of initiation, response, and feedback, the approach cannot be engaging and efficient for children with special needs (Amelina and Kindler, 2016).. In the case of the three pupils with speech and language disorders, the role-playing strategy was extremely engaging, and the pupils would always be excited about being involved in the role-playing activities during the part of the class.

If we say lesson study is about collaborating with each other and reviewing teachers' practice, then we can also say that it concentrates on creating a sustainable “pathway” that allows “continual growth” of the expertise, personal and professional skills, and creativity. Besides, during the lesson study cycles, teachers (experienced or beginners) tend to regularly work with their selected group of pupils, which would make of them “experts” on their exact needs and the appropriate adaptations to adopt (Lawrence and Chong, 2010).

The role-playing-based learning strategies were also efficient in broadening my knowledge and experience of using practical strategies to manage students with different needs and abilities. It also helped me get a practical experience of action research and how efficient teaching is a collaboration of various strategies and that a single teaching strategy cannot be used on all the students. I will use the strategy in the future but would also like to use additional strategies to ensure the learning of pupils with different abilities can be enhanced further. This could include asking questions and giving them additional time to respond to the questions, teaching them active listening skills, helping them build their vocabulary through visual cues, etc.

My findings in applying the role-playing teaching strategy agree with the research of Abdoola et al. (2017) in that they reflect how role-playing strategies are more engaging for pupils with speech and learning disorders. The children had better eye contact, responded best when repeating the instruction more than once, and were extremely happy when praised or given stickers during the second lesson. I strongly believe that these types of adaptations within the teaching practices should be an ongoing process throughout the year. They should further be sustained with the supervision of the parents at home. This can make a great difference in the learning process of pupils with speech and language disorders.

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