nuances inherent in Mandarin. Through a quantitative approach specifically employing the survey method, the

study identified key benefits of early script preparation, such as improved confidence, better vocabulary

retention, and increased engagement in role-play activities. Challenges, including vocabulary limitations,

cultural context understanding, and time management, were also examined, with practical solutions proposed,

such as integrating technology, peer collaboration, and structured feedback mechanisms. Pedagogical

implications suggest that early preparation fosters scaffolded learning, differentiated instruction, and learner

autonomy, while long-term benefits include enhanced language proficiency and cultural awareness. The study

concluded with recommendations for educators to prioritize early script preparation, incorporate cultural

learning, and leverage digital tools to optimize role-play outcomes. This research contributes to the growing

body of knowledge on effective language teaching methodologies, particularly in the context of Mandarin, and

learning, offering students a dynamic and immersive environment to practice their linguistic skills. The process

of role-play commonly involves script writing preparation to ensure students are well-prepared to perform their

role-play. The existing literature suggests that the level of script preparation can greatly influence the outcomes

of role-play activities (Stevens, 2015). Scholars have pointed out that teachers should support learners by

implementing specific didactic scenarios (collaboration scripts) to trigger and guide peer interaction.

Collaboration scripts aim to engage students by providing explicit collective workflow descriptions and

guidance, for example, by assigning student roles during the collaborative activity (Demetriadis et al., 2012). A

good preparation of the script could help a performer to be more confident, hence fully immersing and

committing oneself in the role-play activity. Specifically, in the context of Mandarin, where the language is

characterised by complex grammatical structures, idiomatic expressions, and cultural nuances, a thorough

Bradford (2017) noted that educators mostly use role play to encourage students to participate, engage better,

and have multiple perspectives. Similarly, in a number of subjects (e.g., psychology, sociology, and

anthropology), role play can be used to introduce new material, concepts, and appropriate behaviour. Role play

is a most effective teaching method in review sessions. The discussion following the role play is extremely

important. It is preferable to conduct immediately after the activity, while the verbal interactions are still fresh

in the memory of students and the instructor (Alden, 1999).

In the context of this study, the third language subject is a unique and integral part of the curriculum at

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia's largest public university. This program allows students to

learn a third language in addition to Bahasa Malaysia (the national language) and English. UiTM offers a

variety of third language options, including Mandarin, Arabic, French, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, German,

significantly enhance students' speaking abilities. One key aspect of effective role-play in Mandarin is the level

of preparation and script familiarisation.

This paper aims to explore the impact of early script preparation on the performance of Mandarin role-play,

providing insights and reflections for language instructors and researchers. Based on the purpose of this study,

the research objectives determined are as per the following:

to identify the students’ perspectives on early script preparation

to determine the challenges that students face in script writing

to discover the students’ feedback on the script preparation teaching methods

students are not just passive recipients of information but actively engage in constructing meaning through

dialogue and interaction. The students can directly interact with the content of the language they learn with the

guidance of their educators (Yulita et al., 2023). This active learning through role-play activities will

eventually help them to better understand the language, thus assisting them in mastering the language faster.

Next, role-play could also help learners in terms of cultural immersion. In Mandarin, role-play is particularly

politeness strategies, and context-specific vocabulary. To speak the language correctly, one has to understand

the cultural norms and pragmatic use of the language, too. According to Van Dyke and Acton (2022), using

role-plays for students to learn and practice their speaking skills in the targeted language is “a natural bridge to

integration and productive use of targeted forms” (p. 2). The role-play activities in the classroom could give

them opportunities to practice it correctly with guidance.

In a study of Amani et al. (2024), the results of the assessment and evaluation of the role-playing dialog

Research of Adnyani et al. (2014) found that students with high foreign language anxiety benefited more from

research also found that play script implementation was effective, enhancing group work and problem-solving

skills. The cooperative learning in drama enhanced speaking, pronunciation, confidence, and created an

enjoyable atmosphere (Supriya, 2018)

lead to cognitive overload (Sweller, 1988). This theory is widely used for instructional designs in the teaching

field. It is particularly useful to emphasize that teachers refrain from teaching too many things at once to the

students, since they may have limited cognitive abilities that teachers need to consider (Asma & Dallel, 2020).

Therefore, in the context of role-play performance, the early script preparation in this study is based on the

CLT as it reduces cognitive load by allowing students to internalize vocabulary, grammar, and cultural context

before engaging in role-play. This would lead to better retention and performance among the students.

Since role-play performance is an extensive activity to be involved in, especially in a third language (in the

case of this study, Mandarin language), it is not an easy feat for the students to do. Students will have to act

make necessary corrections if necessary (Fan, 2020).

The role-play activity, while it is a fun activity to be done in the classroom, also poses several challenges,

especially to the third language learners. Some common challenges in role-plays and in learning a third

language are linguistic challenges, cultural challenges, and differences in students’ proficiency, and time

management (Hao & Li, 2023; Ahmad Zaidi et al., 2017; Fan, 2020).

Firstly, Mandarin is a tonal language, which means that the meaning of a word can change based on its tone.

The tonal language of Mandarin poses a challenge for a third language learner to properly pronounce and

understand the word (Hao & Li, 2023). Not only that, Hao and Li (2023) also highlighted the challenges of

structure and grammar of the language that students encounter. Linguistic challenges could be said as a major

students from writing a script for the role-play. Fan (2020) reported that as students did not have linguistic

accuracy, they could not meaningfully learn from their scriptwriting.

cause a challenge for students in Japan to interpret the context in script writing. Other than that, students’

citing challenging vocabulary and longer sentence structures. While they appreciated the engaging storylines

of GPT scripts, many struggled with reading and enunciation, leading to decreased confidence. In contrast,

textbook scripts were perceived as easier and more manageable, facilitating relaxed practice and boosting

through random sampling, whereby all students of the Mandarin language courses in the six faculties

mentioned were given fair chances to be involved in the study.

This study utilised an online questionnaire as an instrument for data collection. The link of the questionnaire

was shared to the students through WhatsApp application and emails. There were four (4) sections in the

questionnaire: 1) demographic profiles, 2) perceptions on early script preparation, 3) challenges in script

writing, and 4) feedback on teaching style. In total, there were eighteen (18) items included in the

questionnaire for the respondents to answer. The responses from the respondents were received through the

Google Form database, and this study managed to gather 129 respondents.

To analyse the data, this study organised the data into Microsoft Excel. Descriptive statistics analysis was

conducted to generate the results of the study, in the form of frequency and percentage. In order to report the

Figure 1 above shows the results of the respondents’ perspectives on how helpful they find script preparation

respondents (46.1%) found early script preparation to be very helpful and extremely helpful (23.4%). Some of

the respondents (27.3%) stated that the early preparation was moderately helpful for them. Only a minority of

the respondents (3.2%) disagreed that early preparation helped them. This data reveals that generally, students

highly agreed that by writing their role-play scripts earlier, it helped them in their role-play performance. This

means that students in this study generally had a very positive perspective on early script preparation. These

Figure 5 Perspectives on script preparation teaching methods

materials and resources such as a collection of sample scripts categorised by themes for easy reference, to

conduct intensive workshops on script writing preparation and cultural nuances, as well as to implement

structured feedback sessions for script writing and role-play performances. Based on the feedback given by the

respondents, it is understood that the students prefer a more thorough guidance to help them prepare a good

script for their role-play performances.