22 Engaging Speaking Activities For ESL Classrooms - Teaching Expertise

Learning English is often an essential skill for young learners. Keeping your English language students engaged is essential in ensuring that they walk away from classes with practical knowledge to use in everyday life. We have found 22 amazing English language activities to improve your students' speaking skills and confidence therein! Read on to learn more. 

Whole-Class Games

1. Clap, Clap, Name Warm-Up Game

These fun rhymes and songs are the perfect classroom icebreakers to warm your English students up for their English lessons and practice simple phrases and vocabulary.

Learn More: Kids English Theatre

2. Two Truths and A Life

Two truths and a lie is a fun game that your students will love. They tell the class two true facts and one lie about themselves. The class must then detect the lie.

Learn More: Guys With Games ESL

3. Play The 'Level Up' Speaking Game

Create different "Level" areas in your classroom. All students start at level 1 and have a conversation using relevant vocabulary. At the end of the conversation, the students play rock, paper, scissors, and the winning students move up to the next level.

Learn More: Games 4 ESL

4. Figure Out The Secret Word

Students will create a presentation on a simple topic like food or hobbies. However, they must look up and add an interesting word that only the teacher will know. The other students must then guess what the word was at the end of the presentation.

Learn More: Etacude English Teachers

5. Mallet Game

Split your class into teams; with one player from each team playing at a time. The teacher will start by stating a category (e.g. hobbies) and the players then take turns saying words relating to each category. If a player says an incorrect word or takes too long to answer they are hit with an inflatable hammer!

Learn more: Teach This

Classroom Activities

6. New English Learner Pack

If you have a new English language learner joining your class, this pack is perfect to get them started. The free pack has everything your learner will need in their first week. It includes basic classroom phrases, vowel information, and more! 

Learn More: TES

7. Explore an Interactive Question Maze Game

This fun, interactive game is a fantastic resource to get students practicing basic conversational questions either on their own or on an interactive whiteboard. Students can read the questions aloud and then say their answers as they select them and move through the maze.

Learn More: Twinkl

8. 30-Second Speech

This activity can either be completed as a prepared speech that students can plan or be used as a game. For the game, the student or teacher can pick a topic and the student must speak for 30 seconds without hesitations or repetitions.

Learn More: Making English Fun

9. Have a Quick English Quiz

Spend a bit of class time holding a quick quiz! Students have to race to shout out their answers for each category before other teams or fellow players do!

Learn More: Games 4 ESL

10. Match Up Domino Cards

Domino cards are an excellent resource for practicing conversational vocabulary. Players must divide up the cards between them and each player must take a turn at matching one of their cards to the end of another card in order to complete an English sentence. The winner is the player who gets rid of their cards first. 

Learn More: Twinkl

11. Describe and Draw a Monster

Students must speak clearly and with great accuracy in this game. Players must describe the monster they have in front of them to their partner who must draw it based on what information they receive. The team with the most similar replica wins! 

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

12. Explore Different Scenarios With a Game of Would You Rather

'Would you rather…?' is a simple game that is easy to work into your daily classroom routine. Write a simple "Would you rather" question on the board and encourage students to write their full answer on a whiteboard. This is a fantastic way to check students' grammar. 

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13. Create a Spin and Speak Wheel

This activity is the perfect way to get your students engaged and practicing correct sentence structures. Use the free printable sheet to create the Spin and Speak wheel and then let your students have fun answering the questions they land on.

Learn More: English Daisies

Board Game Ideas

14. Play a Getting to Know You Board Game

This board game is perfect for the start of the year and will not only help your students practice their English speaking skills but will also help them get to know one another. The game board is free to download and print; all you will need are some tokens and dice!

Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers

15. Play Guess Who?

Guess Who? is a brilliant game to help English students practice their target vocabulary when it comes to describing physical appearance. Students will play in pairs and must try to narrow down their opponent's character by asking questions about their physical appearance. 

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16. Use a Word Board Game

This game is a simple way to challenge students to use specific words or topics in sentences. As players move around the board, they must develop a sentence that includes the word they have landed on. 

Learn More: TEFL Course

Conversation Exercises Prompt Cards

17. Use Conversation Cards

Prompt cards are a fantastic way to develop your students' conversational skills. This free-to-print conversation card set supports students' conversations about specific topics such as the new year, pets, and eating out. 

Learn More: Excellent ESL 4 U

18. Play the 3 Words Game

This three-word game prompt sheet is an easy way to encourage students to practice speaking using relevant vocabulary. Students pick a number and must then say three words relating to each topic.

Learn More: English By Juanico

19. Use the 'Would you…?' Question Prompt Cards

This English language exercise helps students practice asking questions and providing answers. Students can practice using parts of the question to form answers in their responses. 

Learn More: TEFL Course

20. Describe People Using Character Cards

These cards have lots of information about each character on them. Students must work to turn the information into sentences to coherently describe each character. 

Learn More: English Worksheets

21. Speaking Prompt Pack

This pack has a wide range of prompts and question/answer cards to support your students in practicing their English speaking skills. The pack is free to download and is a great activity to set up for your students to carousel around during a lesson.  

Learn More: TES

22. Tongue Twisters Challenge

Tongue twisters provide a fun challenge for your English students. They will be determined to practice saying each one without tripping up over the difficult blend of sounds!

Learn More: ESL Printables

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