Radio role play: possibilities and limitations of use of fictional radio broadcast in English language teaching

This dissertation thesis focuses on the use of drama in English language teaching. In the theoretical part the field of drama in ELT is elaborated in terms of its principles, methods and examples of practical use. Based on the outlined theoretical basis the technique radio role play is introduced. The main aim of the thesis was to identify and verify possibilities and limitations of the technique applied in English language teaching. To meet the aim of the thesis action research was used as the research design employing a range of data collection methods, e.g. questionnaires with pupils; interviews with pupils, teachers and critical friends. Content analysis was used to process the collected data and the analysis was further interpreted with the support of contextual information regarding educational setting in which the research was carried out and contextual material (lesson plans, teaching material, audio and video recordings). Within the four cycles of action research initial hypotheses, which were formulated before the actual research, were verified. The research findings show that the radio role playing contributes to the development of speaking as a language skill (mainly fluency and spontaneity of speech), improvisation skills, creativity and non-verbal communication. The main limitation..