The Impact of Role Play on Thai EFL Learners’ Interactional Competence: A Case Study of Pre-engineering and Pre-architecture Students in Vocational Education

Rungkan Leelasopawut — 2025-07-01

Interactional competence (IC) is necessary for second/foreign language learners in using the second/foreign language in face-to-face interaction. Since social interaction is a complex process. It requires the participant’ s ability to; manage turn-taking; repair conversational troubles; articulating ideas and topic; organizing the sequence of acts; and fully participate in conversation framework. This study views that EFL learners’ IC can be promoted through teacher’s use of effective teaching methods. Thus, this study investigated whether role-play benefits the teaching of IC for Thai EFL learners (i.e. participation framework, turn-taking strategies, repair mechanism, sequential organization of acts, and topic management). Hence, thirty-nine Thai students of mixed gender studying in a pre-engineering college were recruited. The data collection took place in English for Everyday Communication lesson. The topic dealt with “shopping”. The learners’ face-to-face interactions during the topic-based role play were videotaped. Conversation Analysis was adopted for data analysis. The findings suggested that role play benefited the teaching of IC. Appropriate use of role-play promoted interactive learning by moving the learners’ participation framework towards the learning center. Passive learners became interactive in the discursive practice. Self-initiated turn-taking strategy and the ability to articulate relevant topics for face-to-face interaction were adopted by the learners during the task. Other-initiated repair and self-initiated repair strategies helped the learners carry out their role-play successfully. This increased the learners’ ability to organize multiple sequences of acts and increased their interactional abilities in using English in face-to-face interaction. However, role-play can be more effective in developing EFL learners’ IC when the learner’s planning time is adequate and script reading is avoided during role-play.

Chinese Students’ Perceptions of Extramural English Learning Activities for Vocabulary Acquisition: A Case Study at a Private University in Bangkok

Yue Wang — 2025-07-07

This study investigates Chinese undergraduate students’ perceptions of Extramural English Learning Activities (EELA) for vocabulary acquisition at a private university in Bangkok. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, data were collected from 128 questionnaires and 13 interviews with undergraduate students. Results show that students preferred contextual and meaningful vocabulary learning methods over rote memorization. They commonly used strategies such as inferencing, dictionary use, note-taking, and encoding, especially during receptive EELA—such as watching videos and reading—while productive activities like writing, conversations, and gaming were perceived as more effective for vocabulary retention, particularly by students who believed in learning through real-life use. The study further explores how students’ beliefs about vocabulary learning interact with their EELA choices and strategy use. Metacognitive strategies, including self-initiation and selective attention, also played an important role, while rehearsal and activation strategies were used less often but still contributed to learning. Overall, students preferred contextual and meaningful learning over rote memorization, showing a strong tendency toward self-directed vocabulary development. In this study, the term “Extramural” refers to language learning activities occurring outside formal classroom settings, often informally and self-initiated. These findings highlight the value of integrating EELA and strategy-based instruction into formal curricula to enhance learner autonomy and vocabulary acquisition.

THAITESOL Journal

The Impact of Role Play on Thai EFL Learners’ Interactional Competence: A Case Study of Pre-engineering and Pre-architecture Students in Vocational Education

Chinese Students’ Perceptions of Extramural English Learning Activities for Vocabulary Acquisition: A Case Study at a Private University in Bangkok