Page 15 - IJSA, Vol. 2, No 1-2, 2019

International Journal of Science Annals, Vol. 2, No. 1-2, 2019

I. Role plays. II. Brainstorming.
Role play is a technique that allows managing realistic According Cambridge Dictionary (2019) “to brainstorm
situations and solving realistic problems that can emerge (of a group of people)” means “to suggest a lot of ideas
during professional activity through interaction with for a future activity very quickly before considering
other people in a managed way with the aim to develop some of them more carefully”.
experience and test various strategies in a supported Brainstorming, as a form of the student-centered
environment. learning approach, is the activity that facilitates to
Depending on the goal of the activity, students can either generate creative thoughts and ideas. The student-
play the roles they are likely to take possibly in their centered learning (Lea, Stephenson, & Troy, 2003)
future professional activity or can play the opposite part refers to a reflexive approach to the teaching and
in the conversation or interaction. Does not matter which learning processes for both teacher and learners. SCL is
part is taken, they are both effective in achieving considered to be a process that focuses on deep learning
significant learning and developing communication and understanding, since it encourages students to take
skills. an active role in the learning process. That is a process
In the other words, role plays are used to allow students wherein a group attempts to find a solution for the
to practice speaking in a conversational situation, build specific problem by aggregating all the spontaneous
confidence and fluency, assess progress, and put opinions or suggestions given by each group member
learning into action. individually is called as brainstorming. By expressing
Here is the example how to use the technique in the own ideas and listening to the ideas others express,
process of teaching Aviation English at the Flight students make adjustments to their own knowledge or
Academy: upon discussing the topic «Fire on board» vision, accommodate new information and increase their
and the division of duties among the crew, the students levels of awareness. This method of teaching is based on
are offered to role-play the situation of fire on board the interaction between the teacher and the learner or
whose aim is acquisition fluency, vocabulary and between the learner and other learner, as this helps in the
interaction. The cards with the description of a role and development of thinking methods.
instructions, for example: The key objectives of the brainstorming are to: make
- The Firefighter (the first cabin crewmember that finds students focused on a particular topic, generate and
the fire): shall alert the cabin crewmembers, take the express as many ideas as possible, teach to accept and
nearest appropriate fire extinguisher, immediately locate respect opinions that differ from their own, encourage
the source of the fire, extinguish the fire. learners to share their ideas and opinions, demonstrate
- The Communicator (the second cabin crewmember on to students’ appreciation and acceptance of their
the scene in charge of the communicating information knowledge and their language proficiency, provide
about the fire) shall inform the flight crew of the students with an opportunity to share ideas and expand
following: fire location, fire source, severity/density of their existing knowledge by building on each other’s
fire and/or smoke (color of smoke/odor), firefighting contributions. This type of activity involves mastering
progress, number of fire extinguishers used. the ability to give persuading arguments as well as to
- Cabin Crewmember No. 5 (directly involved in the express agreement or disagreement, which considerably
firefighting effort) shall provide assistance, such as: improves interaction between students.
relocating passengers, providing first-aid, calming and Generally, the brainstorming is carried on in the
reassuring passengers. following ways:
- First Officer shall communicate with the cabin crew 1. First of all, the group leader/facilitator outlines the
members, report the captain about the problem, problem requiring a decision. The problem is clearly
communicate with ATC – declare the emergency, your stated such that the members can easily understand it
position and intention to land at the nearest suitable and focus their direct attention on it.
aerodrome. 2. Once the problem is defined, the participants are
- Passenger No. 1 is terribly scared and do not want to asked to share their opinions through which the problem
follow the cabin crew member’s instruction. can be tackled. Here the aim is to get as many ideas as
- Passenger No. 2 is in panic and screams that everyone possible; its feasibility is checked later.
will die, etc. are given to the students and upon the 3. The participants are required to give away their ideas
command “Fire!” they have to start playing their role. It freely without considering any financial, legal or
is recommended to take a video, since it is rather organizational limitations.
problematic to assess student during the activity. The 4. The evaluation of ideas is done in the later stage.
video can also be used for every student’s performance Therefore, any criticism, judgment, or comment is
analysis. strictly prohibited during the brainstorming session, and
Despite some language errors, students’ performance the participants are told not to indulge in these.
demonstrated deep involvement in the activity as well as The following brainstorming activity can be offered to
sufficient knowledge on the topic. Moreover, being students during Aviation English classes: Due to the fuel
asked about the crew’s duties and problems the emergency, pilots have to make an emergency landing
passengers can cause in case of fire on board, the outside of the aerodrome. Students are given nine
students did not have any difficulties in rendering the pictures of landing sites off the airfield such as a forest,
information. a river, an ocean, ploughed land, a corn field, a
motorway, a swamp, a valley surrounded by mountains,
etc (Figure 1).
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