The Effectiveness of Learning Model Role-playing Work Interview in

English Savvy

Mario Nugroho Willyarto

, Kristianus Oktriono

, T. C. Suarly

and T. N. Agustina

Language Center, Primary Teacher Education Department, Faculty of Humanities, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta,

Indonesia 11480

Language Center, Tourism Department, Faculty of Humanities, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta, Indonesia 11480

Management Department, BINUS Business School Undergraduate Program, Bina Nusantara University, Jakarta,

Indonesia 11480

Keywords: Role Playing, English Teaching, Job Interview.

Abstract: The use of English in Indonesia almost covers all areas, such as politics, economics, defense, and so on. The

world of education in Indonesia sees the phenomenon of globalization and then soon responding by

developing a new method of the teaching presented in English. The study focused on developing a learning

model role-playing of a job interview to improve the students' English skill, which was then seen from the

final achievement, the English Savvy course. This study aimed at facilitating the process of learning

English, especially at Bina Nusantara University, where English is a foreign language, especially for

learners in Indonesia. The object of this research was Bina Nusantara University students in English

learning in English Savvy course. The benefit of this research was that students could improve their English

skills by playing job interview role. With the ability to speak English well, students could work in the global

world, which currently uses the English language as the mean of communication. By role-playing an

interesting job interview, it was expected that students could develop the ability of the 4 English language

skills, which were then measured through the TOEFL test held by Binus, as the final test of the course, and

could motivate students in learning and communicating in Formal English.

1 INTRODUCTION

English has become popular especially in Indonesia

because of its existence as an international language

(Shih, 2010) and generally in countries that do not

use English as a mother tongue. This makes the need

to learn English to be inevitable. In the field of

education in Indonesia, English is taught from an

early age in formal education to higher education at

the university. A new challenge for teachers,

educators and educational institutions in developing

innovative English learning methods to prepare

learners for their future of the globalization era. The

number of students, who were less able to

communicate in English, was one of the problems

observed in this study. Another related problem was

the difficulty of job seekers in answering common

job interview questions in English. Based on the

problems, this research was conducted to improve

the ability to speak, listen, write and read in general.

This study aimed to develop a learning model to

play the role of job interview in facilitating the

process of learning English, especially in Binus

University, Indonesia, where English is a foreign

language, especially for students. The object of the

research was Bina Nusantara University students in

English in Focus and English Savvy course. The

benefit of this research was that students could

improve English language skills through the learning

model role play job interview. Referring to Binus

University's research strategic plan, which is to

become a global university, the English proficiency

of its graduates become one of the great interest in

achieving global university, where today's global

society uses English as a medium of communication

worldwide. It is important for students to

communicate in English well in order to become a

global citizen and work all around the world.

The significance of this research was in the role-

playing model itself, by conducting job interviews

between students (playing a role as job seekers) with

238

Willyarto, M., Oktriono, K., Suarly, T. and Agustina, T.

The Effectiveness of Lear ning Model Role-playing Work Interview in English Savvy.

DOI: 10.5220/0010005700002917

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social Sciences, Laws, Arts and Humanities (BINUS-JIC 2018), pages 238-242

ISBN: 978-989-758-515-9

the lecturer (playing a role as job interviewer).

Students were trained to speak English in the context

of a job interview. Students developed the ability to

speak English, practicing reading and listening

through smartphones applications, watching English

movies, communicating in English as well as

practicing in iBT Toelf mini-test that can be

accessed in the campus computer lab. In addition to

English language development, students were also

trained to handle nervous during job interviews so as

to increase their motivation and confidence to speak

English. Scoring was carried out individually

directly during a job interview, based on the rubric.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

At Binus University, English is taught in a different

way, it is assumed that learners have learned English

at the primary and secondary levels. Therefore, the

university's English curriculum is based on "link and

match" objectives, especially in the industry, where

students will take part after graduation. English itself

has 4 categories of mastery skills, namely: speaking,

listening, writing and reading. All these aspects need

to be developed according to the needs of the

industrial world. This study referred to the strategic

plan of research in the field of cultural and English

mastery (Abbas, B. S., Noerlina, Sianipar, N. F.,

Sasmoko, Aras, M., Suharjito, 2015) to support the

achievement of English proficiency for Binus

graduates. Through this research, it was expected

that students could develop English language skills

so they can communicate in English well. With a

large number of students who can speak English

well, it certainly supports Binus' vision of achieving

global campus and supporting lecturers in providing

world-class teaching, learning and research

experiences that emphasize excellence in science,

innovation, and entrepreneurship. The research was

also planned to produce English learning model,

publication, and student academic assessment.

According to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) in his

psychoanalysis, that negatively a priori assumption

would develop the negative attitude toward

something. For example, if the child thinks that

learning English is hard, it will lock his ratio

thinking and give a negative perception (Willyarto,

M. N., Chairiyani, R., & Pane, 2015). Therefore this

research becomes important to minimize negative

assumptions from students. With the development of

varied and popular learning models, students are

expected to have a positive attitude in learning,

especially English. To develop speaking skills,

students were guided to communicate in English in

everyday conversation. Using English in

communicating in the classroom or at home with the

family is a very good way of practicing. Listening

skills are also important to develop to support

speaking skills. For example, listening and reading

English when watching a movie is one example of

learning English. To develop writing skills can be

done by reading books, scientific journals, articles or

newspapers. By reading, students can improve their

writing skill.

Satria Dharma in his article entitled "Whatever

the Curriculum, the most important thing is the

Teacher”. It indicated that the role of the teacher was

more important than the curriculum itself (Benawa,

A., Gea, A. A., & Willyarto, 2017). The teacher

acted as a facilitator for learners in the use of

technology and gave direction in learning.

Moreover, the teacher was a learning designer.

Teachers were also expected to actively conduct

research related learning methods to improve the

learning process so that learners get the best results.

It was similar to the role of lecturers in learning

English at Binus University. Lecturers were

expected to be able to continuously develop their

teaching methods so as to have a positive impact on

the students. From these thoughts, the authors

planned to conduct research related to better

teaching methods for students so that students can

develop positively. Motivation to achieve the best

was the awareness to achieve goals for success and

all efforts in achieving it (Willyarto, M. N.,

Werhoru, D., & Gea, 2017). With the model of

learning by role-playing in job interview situation,

students were expected to also develop the

motivation to learn so as to achieve the best results.

The role play/simulation method (especially

when the "convergent" model is used) meets the

criteria of the four Skehan characters for task-based

learning: meaning that there is a goal to work on

(Skehan, 1998b). These activities will be evaluated

in the end result, which is of course correlated.

Therefore, activities in the classroom were not

focused on the language itself, but on objectives and

activities that can be defined by the teacher (if the

procedural syllabus is used) or students (if process

syllabus is used). A good model for the role of

learners in role-playing/simulation methods was the

Scarcella and Oxford rug approach. Learners,

according to this approach, must be active and have

considerable control over their own learning.

Students should help choose themes and tasks and

give details of their learning to teachers (Scarcella,

R., & Oxford, 1992).

The Effectiveness of Learning Model Role-playing Work Interview in English Savvy

239

Students had new responsibilities in role-

playing/simulations that may not be common. Burns

and Gentry suggested supporting proactive attitudes

and making decisions in an unusual context

especially for those who have not experienced them

(Burns, A. C., & Gentry, 1998). They recommended

that teachers understood students' level of

knowledge, and paid careful attention to their

learning so that students were not discouraged. This

suggestion seemed to be more relevant for L2

students, which might come from a culture where

teacher-centred classes were the rule, and who may

have knowledge gaps that made simulations difficult

and threatening.

Teachers defined common rules in role play, but

generally do not participate actively when started.

To quote Jones, "... the teacher becomes the

controller and controls the show in the same way as

a traffic controller, helps traffic flow and avoids

congestion, but does not tell people where to go."

(Jones, 1982). Again, this is in accordance with the

principles of Scarcella and Oxford. As a simulation

representing a real-world scenario used materials to

be used in the real world. For example, blocks or

sugar cubes can be used in simulating construction

tasks. One problem in learning materials was what

Skehan calls a "conspiracy of uniformity" that had

been created by publishers (Skehan, 1998a). The

simulation was one way to avoid this problem by

adjusting the material to the needs of individual

learners. Simulations designed by students

themselves can be used in their classes and future

classes (Tompkins, 1998).

3 RESEARCH METHOD

The research was using the experimental method.

There would be pre-test, treatment and then the post-

test. The result of pre and post-test was compared

using the t-test method to examine if there was

significantly different when treatment implemented.

The sample was taken from classes with the same

lecturer to avoid scoring standard and bias.

The research was conducted by facilitating the

learning of English by inviting students to play a job

interview role in good and correct English, in

English Savvy course (even semester). The object of

the research was the second-semester students (two)

at Bina Nusantara University, who were required to

take the course. During the course, English Savvy

students were required to play roles, becoming job

seekers, where lecturers would play the role of the

interviewer. All students would have a turn to play

roles as job seekers.

Figure 1: Research fishbone diagram.

From the above fishbone diagram, it can be seen

that some of the factors that make the skills of

speaking in English for students were less than

adequate. The motivation to communicate in English

became less because English is a foreign language

for Indonesians. English is not a compulsory subject

for students in primary education (elementary, junior

and senior high), so the prior knowledge becomes

very less or even none. In basic educational

institutions requiring English lessons, it might be

happened to carry out a conventional and non-

student-centred learning process, leading to a lack of

English language knowledge. These things caused a

lack of confidence in communicating in English.

English speaking score was taken in the

classroom for students who act as job seekers.

Lecturers as interviewers could prepare a number of

basic questions about a job interview and then asked

when given the time to play the role. Students as job

seekers were expected to answer interview questions

in good English.

The rubric for the speaking score was provided

by Language Center, Binus University as below.

Table 1: Speaking rubric.

Speaking score was following the iBT TOEFL

standard with the highest score was 30. All scores for

each language skill, i.e. speaking, writing, listening

and reading were summed as iBT TOEFL score.

English Savvy courses pre-test data was taken

from the final score of English in Focus course in the

previous semester. Facilitated through learning

activities to play the role of a job interview, students

were expected to improve their language skills.

Similar research that has been done before

(Kaplan, 1997), in the game The Reception Games,

Performance Standard Criteria Weak

(Score 0.0-

0.9)

Limited

(Score 1.0-1.9)

Fair

(Score 2.0-2.4)

Good

(Score 2.5-3.0)

students are able to deliver

the spoken business English

topic fluently

Delivery

(Fluency)

Total silence

& fillers

many pauses and/or

hesitations

some pauses and/or

hesitations

few pauses and/o

hesitations

students are able to perform

the spoken business English

clearly

Intelligibility

(Clarity)

Totally

unintelligible

Limitedly clear

pronunciation

Moderately clear

pronunciation

Mostly clea

pronunciation

students are able to use the

spoken business English

language properly

Language

No English

grammar and

vocabulary

Limited variations

& appropriateness

of grammar &

vocabular

Moderate variations &

appropriateness of

grammar &

vocabular

mostly varied an

appropriate leve

of grammar &

vocabular

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was very supportive in learning French because

students were directly involved in communicating.

However, individual assessments were difficult

because the activities were conducted simultaneously

for all students, the assessment was then generalized.

Differences were also found in French and English,

but both play the second language for learners.

4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The parametric statistic was used to process the data.

The researchers performed a t-test analysis in

analyzing data to show the relationship between

pretest and posttest. The pretest was from the final

score of English in Focus and the posttest was from

the final score of English Savvy course. a t-test was

conducted to test the relationship of pretest with

posttest, was it increasing or decreasing.

Table 2: Mean of pre-test and post-test.

The hypothesis was:

H0: there is no significant difference of means

between pretest and posttest

H1: there is a significant difference of means

between pretest and posttest

Table 3: T-test: Paired two sample for means.

The number of samples was 35 students in two

different classes, running English Savvy course in

even semester 2017/2018 in Binus University, Alam

Sutera Campus. The sampling was random under the

guidance of the same lecturer in order to avoid

subjectivity bias and different point of view in

giving a score for students in work/job interview

assessment.

The t-test was taken on two tails and 5% degree.

It was obtained that the t Stat was 0.604, which

meant was smaller than the t-table (2.03). Since t-

stat < t-table, then reject H1 and accept H0. It was

concluded that there was no significant difference of

means between pretest and posttest. The mean of

pretest was 67.5 and the mean of posttest was 66.28.

As discussed earlier in this paper, a teaching

model that engage students to be more active during

the lesson will improve their motivation to perform

better and put creativity for the performance. The

job interview role-playing model is one of the

interactive methods in learning, especially English in

this research, was proven giving students more

opportunity to explore deeper into their mind and

creativity in using English to communicate. It was

also motivated students to show a full performance

and not only giving an answer to the book.

In addition to learning the English Language

itself, the teaching model was giving lecturer to

deliver an interactive method that centering on

students not teacher based method. The students

were also given the opportunity to practice English

with their partners in the class or even at home. By

giving an interesting teaching model, students were

motivated because they were engaged. The

confidence in English speaking was improved

because students were using English more and more.

The activity was giving students the opportunity to

experience the job/work interview so that they will

not as nervous as the first time, especially when they

are facing the real job interview. Based on the result

of this research, it was suggested to use and improve

this teaching model especially the technical

procedures for conducting the course. It was

concluded that the role-playing (job interview) was

not efficient enough to increase students’ score in

mastering the English Language in the English

Savvy Course.

5 CONCLUSION

There are a lot of factors that affect students’

achievement, such as limited time portion of the

course, students’ motivation, lack of prior

knowledge, etc. Teachers/lecturers together with

research and development department must develop

and improve the method of teaching/learning for

students in order to achieve better. The support of all

stakeholders is needed to improve one performance

to the best. This research was discussing one small

part of the process in order to sustainably support the

learning process itself. Hopefully, it will help

teachers/lecturers to improve their method of

teaching as well as for students to improve their

learning process.

Other factors can be added in the next research in

order to find a better method of teaching for

The Mean of Pretest The Mean of Posttest

67.5 66.28

Variable 1 Variable 2

Mean 67.5 66.27777778

Variance 185.2857143 120.6634921

Observations 36 36

Pearson Correlatio

0.530447619

Hypothesized Mean Difference 0

Df 35

t Sta

0.604184577

P(T<=t) one-tail 0.27480878

t Critical one-tail 1.689572458

P(T<=t) two-tail 0.549617561

t Critical two-tail 2.030107928



The Effectiveness of Learning Model Role-playing Work Interview in English Savvy

241

lecturers and students to achieve better performance.

This research can be improved by involving more

students to get more accurate results. It is advised

for the next research to focus on only one teacher or

lecturer in order to avoid subjectivity bias and the

different point of view in giving a score.

Not only for the English course, this type of

research can be improved for other subjects as well,

in order to find an effective model of teaching that

will engage students and motivate them.

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