The particular dialect or language that a person chooses to use on any occasion is called a code 561 Copyright © 2022 The Author IDEAS is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 License Issued by English study program of IAIN Palopo IDEAS Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) Volume 10, Number 1, June 2022 pp. 561 - 571 The Use of Role Play Method to Increase Students Interest in Learning English After the Implementation of Online Learning due to The Covid-19 Pandemic Husnani Aliah husnani@umpalopo.ac.id Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Muhammadiyah Palopo, Palopo City, Indonesia Abstract The objective of this research was to find out the contribution of applying role play method in learning English for the students of SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa. This study tried to find a learning method that can be used to increase student interest in learning after the implementation of online learning due to the covid-19 pandemic. The research used descriptive method. It involved one group of students, which was taught English through role play method. The population was the class VIII students of SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa in first semester 2021/ 2022 academic year. The population consisted of 50 students with two classes. The research used cluster random sampling by taking only one class as a sample namely class VIII A. The number of sample was 30 students. There are two variables in this research. It consists of independent and dependent variable. The first is the students’ interest as dependent variable and the second is role play method as independent variable. The instrument of the research was questionnaire which was given after teaching learning process in two meetings. The research found that most of the students choose strongly agree (very interested) and agree(interested) in the questionnaire related to the students’ interest in learning English through role play method. Keywords: Role Play Method, English Learning http://u.lipi.go.id/1457703302 Husnani Aliah The Use of Role Play Method to Increase Students Interest in Learning English After the Implementation of Online Learning due to The Covid-19 Pandemic 562 Introduction Knowledge development is not parted from the knowledge improvement and also religion experiences. We are commended to find the knowledge as our guide of life in this world. One way to get knowledge is through school education. Start from kinder garden, elementary school, junior high school, senior high school, until university. Teaching learning system in school involve teacher as a person who teaches and guides students to learn. Students’ success in learning process depends on teacher guide and the method that teacher uses in teaching learning process. Learning in schools that are located far from district and city capitals during the covid-19 pandemic began to be carried out directly in schools in the first semester of the 2021/2022 academic year. This was done because the impact of the COVID- 19 pandemic was recorded very little in rural areas. SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa is one of the schools located in the countryside and far from the city center. Although initially this school also followed government regulations that required learning from home, but because the impact did not affect the surrounding environment, the school again imposed direct schooling at the school. To revive the enthusiasm of students in learning, new and interesting learning methods are needed. Before doing the research, the researcher has done an informal interview with some of the second-year students at SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa about the interest in learning English. Most of them answered that they have low interest in learning English because the method that used by the teacher was monotonous. It means that, every learning process, the teacher enters the class, writes the material on the whiteboard, explains the material and gives the students assignments. It was done to know the phenomena in the research field before doing the research. One of the responsible of the teacher in teaching is the students’ interest in learning process so that the students enjoy the material and make them understand easily. In this matter, the teacher has to find an interesting method to use in teaching. One of the interesting methods may use is role play method. In role play, students are assigned roles and put into situations that they may eventually encounter outside the classroom. Because role plays imitate life, the range of language functions that may be used expands considerably. Also, the role relationships among the students as they play their parts call for them to practice and develop their sociolinguistic competence. They have to use language that is appropriate to the situation and to the characters. Students usually find role play enjoyable, but students who lack self-confidence or have lower proficiency levels may find them intimidating at first. IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 563 By using role play method, not only makes the students interest in learning but also makes the self-confidence of the students increase. They can express their feeling and ability in learning. Also, this method guides the students to communicate actively with their friends. Role play usually is done in a group so the students will find a creative way in performance. They will discuss with their group how to perform well. The objective of this research is to find out the contribution of applying role play method in learning English for the class VIII students of SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa. Method This research employed descriptive research, which is involved collecting data in order to describe the interest of class VIII students of SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa in learning English through role play method. The population of this research is class VIII students of SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa in first semester 2021/2022 academic year. This research applied cluster random sampling technique by taking only one class of the population as a sample. There were two variables in this research. It consisted of independent and dependent variable. The first was students’ interest as dependent variable and the second was role play method as independent variable. There was only one instrument that the researcher will use in this research namely questionnaire. Questionnaire was used to identify students’ interest in learning English through role play method. In this instrument, the researcher provided ten questions that related to the students’ interest in learning English through role play method. The questionnaire was arranged in question form and each statement in the questionnaire offered five choices(scales), namely strongly agree (very interested), agree (interested), undecided, disagree (not interested), and strongly disagree (very not interested). The students who choose strongly agree and agree (depends on the statements) are considered to have great interest in learning English through role play method. Then the students who choose disagree and strongly disagree (depends on the statements), were considered to have low interest and negative perception in learning English through role play method. The questionnaire was conducted in mid semester test at the end of September 2021. Before distributing the questionnaire, the researcher taught the students through role play method in 4 meetings. After teaching learning process, the questioner was distributed to the students of SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa. Before answering the questioner, the respondent was given explanation about it, how to answer it and what the researcher wants to know from it. After that the researcher Husnani Aliah The Use of Role Play Method to Increase Students Interest in Learning English After the Implementation of Online Learning due to The Covid-19 Pandemic 564 asked the respondents that they must answer the question honestly in order to obtain authentic data. The data collected through the questioner was analyzed in percentage. And in analyzing the result of questionnaire, the researcher applied the following formula: P = F / N x 100% Where: P = percentage F = Frequency of answer N = Number of students Categories Frequency Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Srtongly disagree Total 30 100% Hatch and Farhady in Salasiah (1999). Results Based on the result of the research through questionnaire to find out the interest of class VIII A in learning English through role play method, the researcher found that most of the students in class VIII A SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa enjoy or interest in learning English through role play method. The result of the ten questions in the questionnaire are presented in the following table: Table 1. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling in learning by grouping. Categories Frequency Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree 19 8 3 63.33% 26.67% 10% IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 565 Strongly disagree Total 30 100% The data above shows that most of the students interest learning by grouping because they can ask to their friends in their group if found difficult things. The students who choose undecided have reason that not all the students in one group active in doing their job. Sometimes there are students who don’t care with the teaching learning process. Table 2. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling in learning English through role play method. Categories Frequency Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 17 10 3 56.67% 33.33% 10% Total 30 100% The data above shows that most of students in class VIII A SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa interest in learning through role play method. The reason is because role play method in new method for them. Also they have high motivation in learning through role play method because they can memorize the material easily. And the students who choose undecided have a reason that they feel shy and they seldom perform in front of the class. Table 3. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling if the role of each student is chosen by the teacher. Categories Frequency Percentace Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 20 8 2 66.67% 26.66% 6.67% Total 30 100% The data in the table 5 shows that most of the students of class VIII A SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa enjoy or interest if the role of each students in a group is chosen by Husnani Aliah The Use of Role Play Method to Increase Students Interest in Learning English After the Implementation of Online Learning due to The Covid-19 Pandemic 566 the teacher. They have reason that if the role is determined by the teacher, the students will accept the role whether the role easy or difficult. The students who choose undecided have reason that sometimes the role which is chosen by the teacher very difficult for them. Table 4. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling if the role is chosen by the student itself. Categories Frequency Percentace Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 11 9 10 36.67% 30% 33.33% Total 30 100% The data in table 6 shows that some of students interest if the role is chosen by the student itself. It because thay can choose the easy role. And some of the students choose undecided because sometimes almost the students must be choose the easy role. And they think that difficult to divide the role in the group. Table 5. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling about his or her role. Categories Frequency Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Srtongly disagree 20 7 3 66.67% 23.33% 10% Total 30 100% The students who choose Strongly agree and agree categories with their role have reason that the role that they play is easy and only little dialogue. While the students who choose undecided have reason that their role was difficult to memorize and have long dialogue or sentences. IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 567 Table 6. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling if the role of student is changed with another students ‘role. Categories Frequency Percentace Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 18 8 4 60% 26.67% 13.33% Total 30 100% The students who choose strongly agree and agree categories if the role of student is changed by another students ‘role have reason that by that way the students not only understand their role but also they can understand and practice all or the role. The students who choose undecided have reason that they have interested in their role and they afraid if their role is changed, they cannot perform well. Table 7. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling in watching the performance of the other group in playing the role. Categories Frequency Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 25 5 0 83.33% 16.67% 0% Total 30 100% The students who choose strongly agree and agree categories in watching their friends in playing the role have reason that it was very funny watching the groups’ performance. They enjoyed the performance and also thay can catch the sentences or the dialogue that performed by the other group. Table 8. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling in giving comment to the other groups in playing the Husnani Aliah The Use of Role Play Method to Increase Students Interest in Learning English After the Implementation of Online Learning due to The Covid-19 Pandemic 568 role. Categories Frequency Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 25 5 0 83.33% 16.67% 0% Total 30 100% The students who choose strongly agree and agree categories in giving comment to the other groups in playing the role have reason that they can express their opinion about the group performance. They think that it was a chance to be as if a teacher. Table 9. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling if the teacher use role play method in learning process. Categories Frequency Percentage Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree Strongly disagree 25 5 0 83.33% 16.67% 0% Total 30 100% The students who choose strongly agree and agree categories if the teacher use role play method in learning process have reason that it was very interesting watching the groups’ performance. Also they can learn relax but seriously. Table 10. The result of Frequency distribution, percentage, and categories about students’ feeling in finishing their assignment if the teacher use role play method in learning process. Categories Frequency Percentace Strongly agree Agree Undecided 25 5 0 83.33% 16.67% 0% IDEAS, Vol. 10, No. 1, June 2022 ISSN 2338-4778 (Print) ISSN 2548-4192 (Online) 569 Disagree Strongly disagree Total 30 100% The students who choose strongly agree and agree categories in finishing their assignments have reason that they can ask their friends in a group if they found difficult think. They can share with their friend in finishing the assignments. Discussion Based on the result finding above, the researcher will discuss the research finding. The result of questionnaire shows that generally the students of class VIII A SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa very enjoyable in learning English through role play method. The research result above based on the answers of the students. Most of students of SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa choose alternative answer strongly agree in each the question that related to the students’ feeling in learning English through role play method. From the results of the study it can be seen that most students choose the new learning method according to them. Students will be more enthusiastic if the method used by the teacher is different from the monotonous method. Conclusion Based on the findings discussed in the preceding chapter, the researcher concludes that the interest of the students of class VIII A SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa establish in learning English through role play method. The conclusion of the researcher is based on the result of questionnaire which have done to the class VIII A SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa in 2021/2022 academic year. The researcher find that the score of all groups in the questionnaire most of the students choose strongly agree (very interested) alternative answer. Based on the conclusion above, the researcher would like to propose the following suggestion, namely: 1. The teacher especially at SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa have to find out interesting method such as role play method so that the students can interest in learning English. Husnani Aliah The Use of Role Play Method to Increase Students Interest in Learning English After the Implementation of Online Learning due to The Covid-19 Pandemic 570 2. The English teacher particularly those who teach at SMP Negeri 5 Maiwa should use role play if the material available to use role play method. Next researcher is hoped to conduct a similar research in different population and sample or may be different method to find out the interest of the students in learning English. References Bromn, James Dean. 1988. Understanding Research in School Language Learning: A Teacher’s Guide to Statistics and Reseacrh Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chandra, Noor Eka. 2008. 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