How Role-Play Can Enhance Students’ Speaking Skills in Bahasa Indonesia for English-Speaking Students
(MYP 2/3 Language Acquisition Bahasa Indonesia A)
By Anne Irma Tobing (Bahasa Indonesia and French Teacher for MYP)
As a Bahasa Indonesia teacher for beginning learners, my greatest challenge is helping students in my MYP 2/3 Language Acquisition Bahasa Indonesia A class develop basic communication skills in Indonesian. Most of my students are native English speakers or speak a foreign language as their first language. One of the techniques I use to enhance their speaking skills is role-play. Role-play is a technique often used by language teachers in the classroom. It involves representing an action or acting out the role of certain characters. This method is essential for students’ growth in understanding real-life scenarios by pretending to be someone else or imagining a specific situation.
Aligned with this, the unit title I chose for this term is Living in Indonesia, and one of the topics is Indonesian food. At the start of the lesson, I asked the students to name the foods they found in Indonesia. We then created a vocabulary list and studied it. After that, the students learned how to have conversations about ordering food in a restaurant. The key aspects they focused on were clear pronunciation, proper intonation, and using polite expressions to order food, drinks, and request the bill.
For their final task, the students created their own restaurant and designed an Indonesian menu. They were required to name their restaurant in Indonesian and include traditional Indonesian dishes, drinks, and desserts on the menu. Then, in pairs, they created dialogues between a waiter and a customer. After practicing several times, the students performed their role-play in front of the class.
In addition to improving their speaking skills, this activity encouraged their creativity in designing appealing menus and prices. It also motivated them to decorate their restaurant tables. The activity was engaging and challenged the students’ ability to express themselves and research authentic menu names. Most importantly, each student was able to role-play in Indonesian as if they were in a real restaurant. Below are photos and videos showcasing their performances as evidence of their success.
