Role Play to explain factors that may influence the equality of opportunity for individuals

If we had been given a partner who we did not really know, or felt uncomfortable with, the role play would have been more difficult because we would have felt less confident and shy.

There were many barriers to communication in our role play:

• Knowing that we were being recorded was hard as we felt the pressure of the role play being watched, and we tried very hard not to make any mistakes.  This made me feel nervous and less confident, and my voice began to stutter.

• Reading off a sheet was difficult as we had to try and get our timing right and made sure we spoke clearly and not mumbled.

• Knowing that the teacher was there and listening to us talk made us feel less confident, anxious and embarrassed.  It made us want to rush the role play and get it done and over with as soon as possible.  Therefore we spoke very quickly and sometimes unclearly.

• Sitting back to back to one another, made it a little extra hard as we couldn’t see each other and was unable to prompt or correct each other’s mistakes.  Not being able to see the person you are speaking to and there body language and facial expression can make a conversation more difficult.

• Knowing that the text had not been checked by a teacher and a mark given, made me feel less confident.  I felt unsure as I did not know that the text was produced correctly.

• Speaking to someone with not very good English may be hard as it would take time for them to reply and read of a sheet to answer your question.

• Having the right tone to your voice is very important as it is always affects the conversation you have with a person and the result you get from them.  Some people find it difficult to change their tone, but with practice this can be achieved.  I t is very important to say the correct thing in the right way to receive positive results.

• The misunderstanding of words and text could become a problem, as you may need to repeat yourself using simpler language to be understood.  This could have a huge impact on your role play and marks could be lost if you do not understand the conversation and are unable to reply correctly.

• Just knowing that this work is being assessed added great pressure and made me feel less confident.

• Although knowing my partner made things a little easier, it could also make things a little difficult as there is some feelings of embarrassment, and it is difficult to take the role play seriously.