The Impact of Tourism-Based Role-Play Activities on Students’ Oral Fluency in English El impacto de las actividades de juego de roles basadas en el turismo en la fluidez oral en inglés de los estudiantes

Resumen

This study examines the impact of tourism-based role-play activities on students’ oral fluency in English, using a mixed-methods approach to understand both performance outcomes and learner perceptions. The research was conducted with secondary and early tertiary-level EFL students who participated in simulations of real tourism scenarios, including hotel check-ins, travel inquiries, guided tours, and restaurant interactions. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-tests assessing speech rate, accuracy, and lexical variety, while qualitative insights were obtained from student reflections and semi-structured interviews. Results indicate a significant improvement in oral fluency, particularly in spontaneity, confidence, and pragmatic language use. Students reported feeling more motivated and less anxious when practicing English within meaningful and context-rich tourism situations. The integration of authentic tasks also fostered collaborative learning and enhanced cultural awareness. Overall, the findings support the use of tourism-based role-play as an effective pedagogical strategy to strengthen communicative competence in EFL settings. The study highlights the need to incorporate experiential and context-embedded activities within English curricula to promote more natural and purposeful language production.