Cheikhna Amar explores role-play scenarios in experiential language learning settings
Stepping out of character is an observable phenomenon within the role-plays in our TGG dataset. During these simulated interactions, students engage with agents assuming various service provider roles, such as a shopkeeper, doctor or flight attendant.
The interactions center around scenarios presented on mission cards that mimic typical service encounter inquiries. For example, in the airplane simulation, students act as travelers, and the language tasks involve asking about meal preferences and connecting flight details.
During these role-plays we occasionally notice shifts in the agent's orientation, deviating momentarily from the institutional character to their teacher or personal identities. For example, the following excerpt shows how the flight attendant steps out of character, whci orienting to the fact that is a role-play.
Lines 22 to 28 include an instance where the flight attendant stepped out of character. She was explaining how the airline company  prioritizes passengers’ needs, and while she is reciting what seems to be a scripted text (lines 22 to 26) she ended it with blah blah blah and laughter (line 28) stepping out of character and orienting to this as unreal or inconsequential.
A subsequent occurrence of stepping out of character unfolds between lines 63 and 84.
Here, the student's request for a beef steak elicits a departure from the anticipated response. Instead of straightforwardly addressing the query, the flight attendant responds with laughter and a display of surprise. These lines include a clear divergence from the institutional role play.
The agent, in the role of a flight attendant, departs from the scripted role and therefore breaks the character, which orients to the artificiality of the scenario.