49 ESL Conversation Games & Activities - Jackie Bolen 2020

Agony Aunt
English conversation games and activities for all levels

Here are some of the best TEFL conversation games and activities that will work for just about any level of student. However, they do assume that students are able to read and have a basic working vocabulary.

Agony Aunt

Skills: Listening/Speaking/Reading

Time: 15-20 minutes

Level: High-beginner to Advanced

Materials Required: Printed advice column questions and answers

This activity will get students talking and interacting with each other because everyone knows how to solve other people’s problems! If students are a bit more advanced, use actual advice columns. These can easily be found by searching on the Internet for “advice column” etc. The lower the students' level, the more it might be necessary to grade the language, or write your own advice column. ESL textbooks are often good sources for this as well in the unit on “should/shouldn't.”

I’ve done several variations of this activity and it has always been a hit. I begin with an introduction that shows a few advice column letters and answers. Discuss them a bit—most students will be familiar with the concept. Then, give your students a copy of a letter (not the same one from the introduction).

Version 1:

All the students receive the same letter. Each person has 3-8 minutes (depending on the level) to come up with some advice (separately). The class has a short discussion about what advice each person would give and why. You can also have students discuss their advice in small groups if you have a larger class. This is the preferred options for increasing interaction and student talking time. It's worth mentioning to students that this discussion should be happening in English only!

Version 2:

All the students (small classes) or groups (big classes) receive a different letter. As above, each person/group is given time to read and think of some advice. Begin the discussion time by having each person quickly summarize the problem they have read about, then give some advice and discuss that together. This of course takes a lot more preparation time because the teacher has to prepare different letters. However, it can be worth it if they will be used for multiple classes.

Teaching Tip:

If you are familiar with local celebrities popular with your students, you can use current gossip to spice up the lesson. If X pop star has just had a public breakup, write a letter from that person asking for help getting back together, finding a new boyfriend, etc. For the men, a rumor of a football star being traded works well to get advice on how to improve that player’s game.

Tips for increasing interaction:

One easy idea to increase interaction in Agony Aunt is to put students into groups instead of doing the activity individually. I find that pairs or groups of three works well for this. Also consider having each pair or small group come up with a small problem. They can write it down and then trade with another pair or small group. The other group can give some advice and vice-versa. This does take some time though so allow for at least another 10 minutes for this to happen.

There are many variations of Agony Aunt but almost all of them work well if the goal is an interactive ESL activity.

Procedure:

Show some level-appropriate advice column letters. Read them together and discuss.

Version 1:

1. All students get the same letter (not one from the introduction).

2. Each person has to read the letter and come up with some advice (separately).

3. Discuss each person’s advice as a class or in a small group.

Version 2:

1. The students get different letters.

2. Give some time to read the letter and come up with some advice.

3. Discuss the problems and their advice as a class or in a small group.