ESL is a challenging yet rewarding field, and classes are often successfully supplemented with a variety of activities and games to help students break out of their shells and interact with each other. Here are a few speaking and listening activities to get students over their shyness and practice their new English skills. I teach adult ESL classes, and even though we have a wide variety of ages in the class, everyone likes to take a break and play a game once in a while. Here are two suggestions for games that you might like to try.
1. Do You Like…
Materials: a Do You Like worksheet, a pen or pencil
On the first day of class, I like to have students meet and interact with all of the students in the classroom. My class has about 25 students, which is a good number for this game. However, playing this game with a larger group would probably not work as well. I hand each student a list of Do You Like phrases paired with verbs or nouns (Ex: Do you like going to the movies? Do you like soccer? Do you like shopping?). Next to each sentence is a place for the student sign his or her name. I begin by modeling a sample introduction and dialogue with a student in the class.
Student A: Hello, my name is ____________.
Student B: Hi, __________, nice to meet you. My name is ____________.
A: Nice to meet you. Do you like dancing?
B: Yes, I do. How about you? Do you like watching TV?
A: No, I don’t.
B: Okay. How about traveling?
A: Yes, I do.
Then I show the students how to exchange and sign their names on each paper. After the modeling, I instruct the students to stand up and introduce themselves to each other. I usually allot 15 – 20 minutes, depending on how the room is set up and how easily the students can mingle. I also play the game to meet students as well. At the end of the activity, I select certain sentences and take a poll of which activities that the students like the most. It’s a fun, quick game that gets students speaking to each other and learning names as well. I’ve played it in beginner, intermediate, and advanced class, and all levels have enjoyed it.
2. An ESL party
I play this game after students learn basic introductory phrases and know how to speak about themselves, their native country, and their occupation. This activity works well in a small classroom setting (10 – 15 students). In the ESL party game, I give each student a dossier of a new character that they will be playing at the party. This dossier includes the name, one like/dislike of the character, the occupation, where the character is from. One example might look like this:
Name: Thomas White
Native Country: England
Occupation: Doctor
Likes: Driving fancy cars
Dislikes: Gardening
You may choose to hand out dossiers at random; give the class about 5 minutes to look over the new identity.
Next, provide the students with a worksheet. This worksheet will consist of a 6×5 grid that lists the name, native country, occupation, likes, and dislikes for five of the characters. At the “party,” the students will work to meet five other students and ask questions to find this information. Explain that the students are responsible for recording the information about another party-goer as they meet with each other.
A review of questions might precede this activity, and you can write sample questions and answers on the board. Give the students time to mingle with the other students; later, you can collect the worksheets and see how well the students did at finding new information. This is a fun activity to again get students to speak and react to the answers of others.
Some further suggestions: For advanced students, you may want to introduce various etiquette rules found in the U.S. (hand shaking, eye contact, speaking distance, etc.). Also, to set a party-like tone, you may want to quietly play some music as the students mingle.
Above all, the goals of these activities are to get students to meet and greet each other, learn about each other, and listen to and record accurate information. Both are a lot of fun, and the students mention that they enjoy these activities. Give them a try to get your students’ abilities flourishing!
