THE IMPACT OF ROLE PLAY ON THE SPEAKING PERFORMANCE OF EFL STUDENTS

This study investigates the effectiveness of role play activities in engancing the speaking performance of EFL students within a non-western educational context. While prior research has acknowledged the general benefit of role play, limited studies have assessed its direct impact on speaking skills in cukturally specifict environments. Employibg one-group pretest-posttest design, the study measured changes in speaking proficiency among 29 second-year students enrolled in the English Language Education Program at Universitas IsIam Kalimantan Muhammad Arsyad Al Banjari. Participants completed a pretest measuring flyency, accuracy, and communicative competence followed by a series of role play interventions, and subsequent postest using the same rubric. Statistical analysis revealed a significant improvement in speaking scores, with the nean rising from 76.97 to 82.69. A paired sample t-test confirmed this increase was statisticalky significant (t = - 9.389, p < 0.001), indicating that tge role play intervention positively influenced students' speaking performance. These findings suggest that culturally contextualized role play can be an effective pedagogical tool in EFL settings, particularly in improving learners' spoken English proficiency.