Some students will be prisoners that are applying for parole. The others will be the ‘parole board’ and will decide if the request for early release will be accepted or denied. The prisoner must do their best to persuade the parole board that they deserve to be let out of prison.

For this activity the students must pair up each person with the most suitable pen-pal for them. It is necessary to pre-teach vocabulary pertaining to movies, books, sports and hobbies in general. Also explain different ways to say ´like´ and ´dislike´- I brainstorm this beforehand. After the students have had some time to complete the activity, draw a table on the board with each person´s name, likes and dislikes and match them together as a class. This could work well as a test or as a revision activity.

This activity could be included in a lesson about crime. Start by asking the students what evidence the police can collect regarding a crime. Explain that the most common kind of evidence is testimony from witnesses. Then give them the crime situation. The students need to read the statements and decide which witness is the most reliable. In addition, the students can try to figure out what the criminal looked like, and perhaps where he or she went after the crime. If you have a smaller class you could give one student one of the testimonies and conduct a real interview with the others acting like policemen.

This is an activity whereby the students are directors of a company and they must hire one of four applicants. You should start by talking about a job interview including associated vocabulary. This activity is really about choosing the best candidate for the job. I use one Chinese candidate but you can modify it to suit the host country.

In this activity the students play the role of an estate agent. You should start by introducing the topic of homes and neighbourhoods. Ask the students to list the most important parts of a ´dream home´. Then, give them the task. Here, a family is looking for a new home and there are four possible choices. Each has its pros and cons and the students must work in small groups to pick the most suitable home for the family. They should consider whic information is the most important. For example, the lack of a garage may not be such a terrible thing if the family can park their car on the street. Finish by drawing a table on the board and listing each house´s advantages and disadvantages.

A full and varied menu for use in restaurant role play activities. Probably my most-used resource!

Students are given various clues as to where the animals in the zoo are located. They need to work together to put the animals in the right place. Excellent for animal vocabulary and prepositions.

Many students learn English in order to study abroad some day. Begin by asking them what kinds of things make a good study abroad program. Then give them this scenario whereby two people (Chinese- but you can change it to suit your needs) want to study abroad and the students need to select the most suitable course for each one. Make a table on the board with each programs’ good and bad points. If you have time ask your students to choose which course they would prefer if given the money and why they would choose it.

A role play activity where students act-out short phone calls that are mainly based upon business scenarios. It is good for practicing their formal English and for thinking on their feet.

Blind date activity where students decide which of the eligible bachelors Emma should choose to go out on a date with. Good discussion activity and could be used as a role play too.

A mock election roleplay in which students have to represent a made-up political party and explain the benefits of their manifesto. They are then questioned by the other parties. At the end a mock election can be held in which students vote for the party they think has done the best job (they can’t vote for themselves!)

Discussion and negotiation activity where students can roleplay various stakeholders in a city planning group to try and solve the problem of traffic congestion. Good for encouraging debate and constructive argument.

Charles Smith was a self-made millionaire and the founder of ‘Horizon Enterprises’. Charles died last week after a long battle against heart disease. He left no will so nobody knows who should inherit his money, cars, houses and other possessions. His lawyer has arranged a meeting for those closest to him to discuss who should receive the inheritance. Each student will pretend to be a different person that knew Charles. They must try to persuade the others that they deserve to inherit Charles’ money. At the end of the discussion, each person can vote for the one other person they think should get the money. They cannot vote for themselves.

Good activity for a first-lesson. Each student is given a card with information on- they then take on the role of that person and memorise their information. Then circulate around the room trying to meet as many others as possible. There is an optional form on which to record the information of the people they meet.

Roleplay cards for hotel-related complaints. Good for practicing negotiation skills and fast-thinking.

Here are six job adverts that I have used to practise job interviews in the classroom. I brainstorm the questions that interviewers and interviewees may ask at a job interview and divide the class into applicants and employers. The applicants cycle between the various employers and the interviewers must eventually choose the best person for the job. Although I use this as a speaking activity you could also use it to practise writing letters of application.

For this selection activity the students act as travel agents and must choose the most suitable type of accomodation for four different kinds of travellers. Although the matching exercise should be pretty straightforward, this activity could lead to a general discussion about the various kinds of accomodation or a role play where students help each other to book a room.

Cards that can be used as a basis of a travel-agent roleplay activity.