role play Archives

Business English Role-play Activity: Annoying Coworkers

There are certain types of annoying coworkers that can be found almost everywhere. You might be one of them. Do you know which one you are? Take this quiz.

The most frequent types are:

The Gossiper
The Wannabe Boss
The Talker
The Energy Vampire
The Kitchen Slob

These business English roles-plays can help your adult students practice dealing with annoying coworkers and office problems.

A1: You have an annoying co-worker who puts all her/his calls on speaker, spends a lot of time
discussing personal problems, invades your personal space, peeks on your computer screen
over your shoulder; and jumps into your conversations without invitation. You have tolerated
this behavior long enough and now you will talk to your co-worker and make an end to it.
B1: You work in an open space office and share a cubicle with an older co-worker. You have a
feeling that your co-worker does not like you but you have no idea why. You are friendly, laid
back, and chill. You spend a lot of time on your mobile phone, talking to your family, checking
your Instagram because you usually finish your work fast and are bored soon afterward. Your
co-worker wants to chat.

A2: You are a project manager who has been assigned to a new project. One of the members of
your new team is not co-operating with the other team members. He opposes every idea,
causes conflict, and is generally difficult to work with. Talk to him and solve the problem.
B2: You have worked for this company for 10 years and you feel unappreciated. You started to
work on a new project with co-workers who are not so experienced as you are and you think
your manager is incompetent. You complain a lot because things do not work as they should.
Your manager wants to talk to you.

A3: You are a good employee, you have great results and everybody likes you. The problem is
that you think your boss is stealing your ideas and presenting them as his/her own and you do
not get the deserved credit. Talk to your boss.
B3: You are the department manager of a large company. You have great employees and your
department has the best results. You know you could get promoted soon if you keep coming
up with great ideas. Your employee wants to talk to you.

A4: You maintain a healthy diet and prepare a fresh lunch for work every day. There is no
restaurant near your workplace and you have no time to drive somewhere for lunch during
your break. Last week somebody stole your lunch every day. You suspect a certain co-worker.
Talk to him/her.
B4: You started to work in a new company. There is no canteen and you have no time to drive
somewhere for lunch during your break but luckily there are free snacks in the staff kitchen
and you helped yourself to a free lunch a couple of times. Your co-worker wants to talk to you.

A5: Your co-worker is rude and thinks that she does not value your opinion. You think that
she is irresponsible and unreliable. Talk to her and express your concern.
B5: Recently, you have been overworked, your diary is full, and you have no time for personal
life. You are about to have a breakdown when your co-worker stops you to have a chat.

Download PDF: office problems role plays

Other role plays:

ESL/EFL Speaking Activity: Role Play Debate

Role-play: Making Polite Requests

At The Restaurant: ESL Pair Work and Role Play Lesson

ESL Role Play Worksheet: Travel/Holidays

ESL Communication Activity: Science Role-Plays

Can we teach communicative competence without critical thinking? Is the topic of vaccination or chemtrails too controversial? Try this ESL role-play on science and let me know what you think.

Continue reading ESL Communication Activity: Science Role-Plays

Ridiculous Holiday Complaints: Reading And Speaking(Role-play) ESL Lesson Plan

I came across a funny article about ridiculous complaints by spoiled holidaymakers. That inspired me to create this little worksheet/activity. I used it as a warm-up activity for my students the next lesson in which we covered writing complaints – holiday edition 🙂

Teacher tip: If they can’t come up with any own ideas in the second task, let them use some ideas from the list.

Download a PDF version for easy printing Travel complaints student worksheet

ESL Role play: Holiday

Task 1

In pairs read the ridiculous complaints holidaymakers made to their travel agent.
Which is the craziest one? How would you have answered if you were in the place of the travel agent?
Why do you think people complain about these things?

Astonishing holiday complaints

1. “I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts.”

2. “We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.”

3. “The beach was too sandy.”

4. “On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food at all.”

5. “It’s lazy of the local shopkeepers to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during ‘siesta’ time – this should be banned.”

6. A woman threatened to call police after claiming that she’d been locked in by staff. When in fact, she had mistaken the “do not disturb” sign on the back of the door as a warning to remain in the room.

7. “We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as yellow but it was white.”

8. A guest at a Novotel in Australia complained his soup was too thick and strong. He was inadvertently slurping the gravy at the time.

9. “We bought ‘Ray-Ban’ sunglasses for five Euros from a street trader, only to find out they were fake.”

10. “Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined, as my husband spent all day looking at other women.”

11. “No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled.”

12. “It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England. It only took the Americans three hours to get home.”

13. “I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends’ three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller.”

14. “I was bitten by a mosquito. No one said they could bite.”

15. “The brochure stated: ‘No hairdressers at the accommodation’. We’re trainee hairdressers – will we be OK staying there?”

16. “There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners now live abroad.”

17. “My fiancé and I booked a twin-bedded room but we were placed in a double-bedded room. We now hold you responsible for the fact that I find myself pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked.”

18. “We had to queue outside with no air conditioning.”

These complaints are all taken from a survey from Thomas Cook and ABTA, revealing the most ridiculous complaints holidaymakers made to their travel agent.

Task 2

Think of two similar ridiculous complaints.

Role-play the dialogue with a classmate.

Student A You are an unsatisfied holiday maker and you are going to complain!

Student B You are a holiday representative and you try to be as polite as possible and explain the misunderstanding.

Check out our communicative resources bundles.

ESL Pair Work Activity: Teenager Issues

This speaking activity deals with the everyday teenager issues.

Warm-up (10-15m)

Put the students in pairs and let them brainstorm the problems and conflicts young people might have. When they are finished, put them into groups of four and let them discuss the problems in more detail. What causes these problems? What advice would you give to people struggling with them? Do they have any personal experience that they are willing to share? Circle and monitor.

Activity (15m)

After that, tell the original pair to chose two conflict situations from their brainstorming sessions. They are going to role-play the first conflict and try to find a solution. Then they swap roles and play out the second conflict. Circle and monitor.

Problems: failing a subject, alcohol abuse, no money for new mobile phone/sneakers, etc.

Conflicts: with my dad because he grounded me for nothing, with my mom because she forces me to play the piano but I hate it, with my math teacher because….., etc.

Debrief (5m)

What advice did the students come up with?

Was it easier to play the role of a child or of a parent? Why?

How did they solve their conflicts?

Download the PDF version here: Teenager Issues

Other role plays:

Ridiculous Holiday Complaints: Reading And Speaking(Role-play) ESL Lesson Plan

ESL Communication Activity: Science Role Plays

ESL/EFL Speaking Activity: Role Play Debate

ESL/EFL Speaking Activity: Role Play Debate

I do a lot of speaking activities with my older students. We do a lot of simulations, discussions, role plays, games, etc. and this ESL debate is one of them.

One of the activities I do is an argumentative debate where they can utilize everything they’ve learned, and another great thing about this activity is that it combines writing and speaking. It can also be used as a warm-up for argumentative essay writing.

You can use your own topics according to the vocabulary you’ve been teaching or you can use the topic cards below.

Each pair of students gets the same topic with either Agree or Disagree information. I usually assign the topics randomly. They’ll have a couple of minutes for preparation, I recommend that they write brief notes and if possible, to do some quick online research. Another modification can be that you give them the topics for homework so they can prepare more thoroughly. It depends on the level of the students and the difficulty of the topics.

When they are ready, let them talk in pairs, circle and monitor. When they finish, have a short feedback discussion with them:

Were they able to persuade their opponent?

What arguments did they use?

Download the free PDF here>>>Role Play Debate Topics

At The Restaurant: ESL Pair Work and Role Play Lesson.

Not everyone can cook, but we all love food. It is a perfect conversation topic and even the shy students usually come out of their shells (seafood pun) when you ask them about their favourite food.

Food is everywhere now, popular TV shows made home cooking fashionable, food blogs with amazing photos will make you drool, social networks such as Instagram are filled with snaps of people’s breakfasts and tasting menus from five-star restaurants, artisan ice-cream and hipster baristas are everywhere, I’m starting to feel hungry just writing about it! Make sure to use this worksheet before lunch; otherwise, your students will eat you alive!

I used this activity many times with different age groups and levels. It works great with teenagers and adults, pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper intermediate levels. Just make sure to pre-teach the relevant vocabulary and some basic at the restaurant phrases. Your students will create their own restaurant menus and practice waiter/customer dialogues.

Download the free worksheet with Teacher’s notes here: Restaurant Menu Pair Work

ESL Role Play Worksheet: Travel/Holidays

There is no such thing as enough role play activities and worksheets! I’ve recently gone over Travel vocabulary with my Intermediate and Upper Intermediate students and I love doing these speaking activities at the end of the lesson.

In my previous article, I included my own version of the Taboo card game on the topic of Travel/Holidays. This ESL role play worksheet contains 5 role-playing dialogues dealing with various issues you may experience during your holiday. Just cut the cards and you are ready to go.

ESL Role-play Worksheet: Travel

A1: You are a receptionist of a 5* hotel. You are very polite and you can deal with annoyed guests. Try to calm down the guest and solve any issues they have. Try to avoid calling the manager.

B1: You are a wealthy businessman staying at a 5* hotel. You are used to quality service and luxury, but this hotel doesn’t offer it. The room is too small, staff is rude, AC is noisy. You want to talk to the manager.

A2: You rent out a flat on Airbnb, and you have been a very popular host so far. Now you have guests who are unhappy about many things. They want to leave and a refund. Persuade them to stay.

B2: You have used Airbnb before and you never experienced any problems. This time you are very unhappy. The flat is far from the sea, far from the centre, it doesn’t have a balcony and hot water isn’t working.You want to leave and a full refund.

A3: You work in a travel agency. Help your clients to chose an ideal holiday. Ask about their budget, preferences, and expectations. Offer advice, suggest different options. Try to persuade them to try an active, adventurous holiday.

B3: You are planning a holiday. Visit a travel agency and ask for help. Describe your ideal holiday, express your wishes, and ask about all the details. You want to relax, sunbathe and read books.

A4: You are a waiter in a local restaurant in an exotic destination. You serve traditional food which your customers don’t know. Explain what the food contains, talk about the ingredients, preparation, texture, etc.

B4: You are on a holiday in an exotic destination. You want to try some traditional food in a local restaurant, but the menu is not in English. Ask the waiter for advice. Find as much about the food as you can.

A5: You sell traditional handmade products on a local market. Praise your products, explain how they are made, if they have any functions or serve only as a decoration. Set your price high and try to sell at best price.

B5: You are visiting a local market, looking for gifts for you and your family. You like handmade, eco-friendly products. Ask a lot of questions and haggle the price down.

Download the PDF>>>>>Role plays- Travel