The Effect of Role-Playing Tasks on the Speaking Ability of Iranian Preintermediate Esp Learners

This study investigated the effect of role-playing tasks on the speaking ability of iranian preintermediate esp learners. to this aim, the researchers examined the students’ speaking ability in two groups: the experimental group and the control group. twenty four male and female esp learners at preintermediate level were selected after taking a pre-test. then, they were randomly assigned into two groups. in the experimental group, role-playing tasks were used for teaching conversation, but the control group was exposed to the conventional method of teaching speaking. after 18 sessions of treatment, a post-test was conducted in order to measure the students’ speaking ability. regarding the data analysis, two independent and paired sample t-tests were used to analyze the data, collected using three testing instruments: longman placement test (2004); the semi-structured interviews; and spss software version 20. based on the inferential statistics, the participants in the experimental group showed a significantly better performance in the post-test. it was concluded that the treatment provided for the experimental group had a positive effect on the learners’ speaking ability. furthermore, the participants' attitudes towards role-playing tasks and their roles in language learning were positive. it is expected that esp teachers and textbook writers, syllabus designers, and material producers will benefit from the findings of this research.