The Online Role-Play
From my participation in the role-play, I have learned several things. First, a role-play gives a variety of perspectives on the issue being discussed and is a very useful strategy for teaching (and learning about) argumentative writing. For example, in this role-play, I tried to show what a pro-student position would be by giving specific examples from student life and making my position more persuasive and believable by using the language a student would use. Apparently, my position did not turn out to be strong enough because the other side won, but I still think our side made a good argument.
Second, role-plays are extremely interesting in terms of language styles used by different characters. I have mentioned that I tried to imitate the language that my character would use in real life, and it was a very enriching experience. What made this even more exciting for me was that I do not interact with US teenagers that much and it has been a while since I was a high school exchange student in the US, so perhaps, I did not do a very good job imitating a student’s language, but it was definitely worth trying. It also made me think of the styles used by other characters, for example, I kept thinking whether a student would understand the experts’ writing.
I believe the most powerful roles were those of experts and teachers. However, I also thought Christine Nevelson’s role was powerful (Christine was the girl who transferred from a catholic high school). That reply was extremely rhetorically effective because the writer appealed to the reader’s emotions using her own experience in both types of schools. In her first paragraph, Christine even pointed out that she can speak “with some real credibility� and gave her reasons.
My character was also a student, and it made me think of power in terms of communicating on different levels. Several times, I wanted to comment on something an expert has said, but I stopped myself because I was not sure a student would feel comfortable entering a conversation between the experts in the field. On the other hand, when an expert commented on my posting, it felt natural to reply. Also, talking to other “students� was not a problem at all. Was the “European model� of student behavior? How would a US student behave in a situation like this?
I chose a role that did not support my personal beliefs because I wanted to experiment. Advocating “the other side� was an interesting experience, and I did get attached to my character as I was trying to adjust to her way of thinking. Because of this, role-plays are great for teaching counterargument! However, the arguments made by the “con� side still spoke to me and I did not change my initial beliefs.