Listening and Speaking in the additional language

Types of speaking activities

Type of activity Example
Picture description Photos, pictures, flashcards, drawings.
Learners could be given a task: to spot
differences or a specific character, for
instance.
Questions - Surveys About personal information, personal
preferences/likes, healthy /unhealthy habits,
routines, pets, sports, etc.
Mixers Activities that invite learners to mingle, they
are usually used as ice-breakers or warmers of
the lesson, like ‘find somebody who…’:
learners are given a set of questions or
statements and must find out people in the
class who can answer/respond to them. For
example, find somebody who has spoken
English to a foreigner once.
Games Guessing games, like the ‘twenty question
game’ to guess a popular character through 20
yes/no questions. Board games. Action games.
Finding out similarities and / or Based on a given topic or other trigger,
differences students discuss and exchange information to
find out similarities or differences. Find out
similarities between your weekend routines
and your mate’s to then agree on a common
outing/weekend plan.
Dialogues
Information gap activities
Simulations and Role Plays
Debates - Discussions
Problem solving
Listing - Sorting out and Ranking
activities
Learners can memorize a short dialogue and
then perform it. They could also perform the
same dialogue but in different moods or in
different role-relationships (a parent and
child, wife and husband, patient and nurse,
etc.).
Learners could also read-look up-and say their
line in a dialogue.
Students could be given cues to create a
dialogue (cued-dialogues).
Student A has a full diary and St. B has
another. They have to find a time when it is
convenient for them to meet.
Learners act out a situation responding as
themselves (simulation) or according to a
given role (role-play). Roles are provided in
role cards that can provide just a job title or a
character (adolescent/mother) or alternatively
they could offer guidance as to what to do
rather than the role itself. (e.g.: buy a bus
ticket / offer advice on the shortest route to
get somewhere). *
Based on a given topic or task students
exchange opinions and ideas to reach an
agreement or simply share their views.
Logic puzzles and quizzes. Riddles and solving
mysteries.
Listing food and drinks for a party, or things to
take to a campsite in winter. Sorting out songs
for different moments of a party. Ranking:
learners are given a possible list of adjectives
describing personality. They must agree on

Retelling
Prepared monologues
Humanistic activities
the three most important characteristics of a
friend/teacher/spouse and put these in order.
Learners could read different stories or
different parts of the same story and retell it
to the group/ class. This is called ‘true’
retelling given that the audience has not read
the story beforehand.
Each student is asked to talk about a hobby or
a personal interest for 2 o 3 minutes. They are
not allowed to read from a prepared text.
Activities that involve learners’ thoughts,
feelings and experiences that help to develop
and maintain good relationships, show
concern and support for others, and receive
these as well. For example, ‘Fortune cookies’.
**

* Simulations are large-scale role-plays. The intention is to create a much more complete,
complex ‘world’, say ‘, of a business company, television studio, government body, etc.

** In groups learners are told to make fortunes for the persons to their right, something
they think would make them happy. Each fortune is written on a slip of paper. One at a
time the fortune is passed to the person for whom it is intended and is read aloud by that
person. The student must make a comment or react after reading it. For more information
check Moskowitz, G. (1978) Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Class. Newbury
House.