A selection of English ESL role play activities printables

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

To reinforce the correct usage of past perfect - students have to make sentences from the cards, adding missing words. Some students experience difficulty deciding which verb took place first in the past.

Christmas role playing -
https://en.islcollective.com/english-esl-worksheets/speaking-practice/role-play-miming-drama-activity-or-improv-game/christmas/christmas-role-play-oprahs-favorite-things-not/112365

Role Play : Past Simple & Perfect

I´ve created this menu so that though the students have half the work done (as the different parts on a menu are already present),the hard part must be done by themselves, as they are the ones to decide which meals their restaurants will be offering (prices included!!)This have been thought for pair or group work. You can also find here the cards for the students who will play the role of the waiter taking orders! Hope you´ll find it useful. Hugs

Role-play: At the restaurant

I like role plays with opposite character types. One of my favorites is optimists-pessimists, since all of us are very familiar with these two types, so it's easy to imitate them. Here's two role plays, both revolving around money and work in two different ways. Dedicated to Ăvci! Bless up, Kisdobos :)

The Pessimist-Optimist Role Play

This is a role play game to practise complaints in a hotel. There are four different situations to complain about. One partner is the hotel manager, the other the guest. On page 2 you´ll find some useful sentences for these situations.

Complaining on holiday - Role play

These are various role plays which target different environmental issues so that students can practice getting into real and controversial arguments..... or debates.

Role Play on Environmental issues

MONEY, INTERVIEW, DISCUSSION, ROLE-PLAY

A conversation game. Danger is a very appealing subject. Students are encouraged to add as much information about each danger as possible. The game was inspired by a student who wanted yet another danger game (this is the second I have created). Editable. Change the animals or dangers. Background color not shows in preview.









Speaking Cards:









https://en.islcollective.com/resources/printables/worksheets_doc_docx/danger_strikes_again_cards/animals-dangerous-animals/74488

Dangerous Animals Boardgame + Role Play

A role-play to review family members, learn how to express your opinion, how to agree and disagree. Extra phrases may be provided depending on the students\' level. A good communicative activity to start of finish a class before the Christmas holidays. Can be used with the students of different levels (even though the most suitable for Intermediate and higher levels). You can practice various grammar structures and vocab, such as home, food, Christmas, decorations, etc. Make sure that your students keep their role cards secret. You can also laminate the cards so that they last longer. Let me know if you have any suggestions. 

Role-play: Christmas - Family Dinner

This is a small role play where groups of students can practice plyaing different roles making sure to use verbs of obligation and advice. They need to manage the crisis! 

Advice and Obligations Role Play

The first worksheet offers a model dialogue between a bartender and a customer. The bartender offers a cocktail and explains what it is made from. The second part cotains role play cards for two students. They are going to follow the instructions and make a similar dialogue. Before you start this activity, make sure that students know a couple of cocktails and their ingredients.

In a bar (role play)

Divide students into pairs. Cut out cards and get one of each pair to phone and describe the traffic accident. The other student should use the Traffic Accident Report card to get as much detail as possible from their partner. 

Traffic Accident Reporting Role Plays

A short dialogue for role play/pair work. You allocate them -  or they choose - an adverb and they act out the dialogue in that manner. Both partners can have the same adverb, or each can have a different one. They practise, then each pair performs to the class. The class must guess the adverb and I ask mine to grade each other. I've done this for a year 7 class of natives, but I hope some of you will be able to use this. I don't bother with settings or roles, but you may find them useful. 

651 Role play activities English ESL worksheets pdf & doc