Foreign language educators have been striving to improve practices that support language teaching for adults for many years. Common knowledge insists that children are better language learners than adults. Creation of the new field of neurolinguistics at the end of the 20th century brought about new opportunities for both teachers of foreign languages and adult language learners. One of the premises of neurolinguistics is the connection between body and mind. While children learn languages during playtime, play has not been widely considered appropriate for adults. This study used archival data and the causal comparative method to better understand if adult students benefit from engagement in role-play activities in first semester beginning level Russian classes. Grammar test scores and oral proficiency test scores of two groups of students, one of which was taught by using traditional methods and another engaged in role-play activities in every class were compared. The conclusion of this study is that students do benefit from employing role-play while learning language oral proficiency in the Russian language classes. Students' grammar scores, however, were not significantly different. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]