Introduction

This book is divided into three main sections – Role-Playing Adventures (RPA), Law & Order Inspired RPAs (L&O-RPAs), and Supplementary Activities.

Role-Playing Adventures (RPA)

The Role-Playing Adventures section includes ten RPAs created by Daisy (some with the collaboration of Thiago Bomfim and Thales Dourado).

As the introduction to the RPA section explains, RPAs are task-based, problem-solving activities generated by a storyline. The storyline is the adventure students pretend to undertake, and the tasks are the hurdles or situations for which students have to come up with a solution.

An RPA is a student-led activity in which the teacher acts as a ‘game master’. As the teacher conducts the RPA (i.e., tells the RPA story), students work in groups to solve the hurdles or situations. The collaborative nature of the work assists those students with performance anxiety.

RPAs use dice to ‘test’ whether students’ solutions are successful (see the introduction to RPA section for more details on how to use the dice). The arbitrary nature of the dice propels students to consider different procedures and find alternative solutions without taking away the fun of the adventure. In fact, the arbitrary nature of the dice brings an element of fun to the activity as the dice allow for endless solutions, even far-fetched ones. The dice also prevent students from competing amongst themselves, therefore creating a safe environment for all.

RPAs are compatible with the Universal Design for Learning¹ (UDL) principles inasmuch as the tasks are student-paced, student-led, and accommodate learners’ individual differences. The flexible and scaffoldable nature of RPAs allows for multiple means of representation; the fun and unpredictability of the dice ensure adherence to the UDL multiple means of engagement  principle; and the various ways in which students present their work address the UDL multiple means of action and expression principle.

Each RPA contains enough contextual elements to foster procedural learning, known as necessary for the development of communication skills. RPAs are, therefore, engaging activities that prompt learners to use language communicatively. Nonetheless, whenever appropriate, there are suggestions of relevant grammatical points teachers may want to introduce or review.

RPAs were initially developed for face-to-face classes but proved an excellent activity in online synchronous classes. Definitively, one of the COVID-19 pandemic’s silver linings.

To help teachers prepare for an RPA, we start each adventure with information on the level (CEFR²) for which that specific RPA was developed, and the materials needed to conduct it. We also include ideas as to possible extensions in case a teacher wants to focus on a specific skill or grammatical point.

As a storyline unfolds, each task is presented as a self-contained activity with an approximate idea of how long it might take. This way, teachers can gauge whether a task can be completed in one class, or over several classes.

Some anecdotes (Daisy’s experience conducting RPAs over the years) were added to illustrate possible responses from students. The intention is to provide more guidance to teachers who are using RPAs for the first time.

Each RPA also contains photocopiable cards, handouts, illustrations, and/or photographs. Many thanks to Marcelo Pinto (https://www.marcelopinto.com/home) for some of the illustrations and Matthew Watkins (https://www.mattwatkins.ca/) for some of the pictures. Special thanks are also due to Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/) and Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/ ) for many of the photos and illustrations used in this book. All pictures and illustrations are copyright free. We just ask that these pictures and illustrations be used for educational purposes only.

Law & Order Inspired RPAs (L&O-RPAs)

Law & Order Inspired RPAs (L&O-RPAs) are investigation activities based on episodes taken from the American television show Law & Order.  L&O-RPAs are slightly different from the regular RPAs in that they are not adventures per se, but criminal investigations in which the teacher plays the role of captain, and the students play the role of detectives. Each task comprises of ‘interviews with people of interest’, followed by a meeting with the captain to report on the findings and to analyze the clues.  Dice are not used in these activities. Just like regular RPAs, however, L&O-RPAs are student-paced, student-led, and accommodate learners’ individual differences making L&O-RPAs compatible with UDL principles.

Supplementary Activities

The “Supplementary Activities” section includes 17 activities created by Daisy Glass. Some of them are a variation of well-known games (e.g., Dominoes and Tic-Tac-Toe), some are original project-based ideas (e.g. Home Remedies and Country Project), and some are an adaptation of out-of-the-box ideas developed by other teachers (e.g., Verbs in Movement).

These activities can be used as stand-alone tasks, or as a supplementary activity as gaps in students’ skills arise during an RPA.

Acronyms and abbreviations used in this book:

CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease, 2019

EFL: English as a foreign language

ELL: English language learner

ELT: English language teaching/English language teacher

ESL: English as a second language

L&O-RPA: Law & Order inspired role-playing adventures

RPA: Role-playing adventures

UDL: Universal design for learning

1 For more information on UDL, go to https://udlguidelines.cast.org/

2 For more information on CEFR, go to https://www.coe.int/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/table-1-cefr-3.3-common-reference-levels-global-scale