ESL role plays can give adult students an engaging way to practice real-life situations before they happen. Scroll to scan through the various topics I’ve covered so far, or click here to go directly to the role-play category in my TpT store.
Clicking on the “LEARN MORE” buttons will take you to that resource’s page on TpT where you can see thumbnails, a preview, and read a more detailed description.
Ordering in a Restaurant
An invaluable tool for adult ESL students mastering American restaurant English, this empowers students to confidently request dishes, bridging the gap from pointing at menus to fluent interactions with servers. The included role-play scripts simulate real dining scenarios, fostering language practice in a fun, supportive setting. From seeking recommendations to ordering dessert, it covers diverse dining aspects, encouraging students to explore American cuisine with confidence while enhancing their restaurant English skills.
First Impressions
In this “First Impressions” role play resource, students will practice using learned language through role-plays about making good and recovering from bad first impressions. They rate their agreement with statements, use conversation worksheets, explore idioms, expressions, and essential vocabulary. They can act out scripts as reader’s theater, create their own role plays with scenario cards, all while enjoying the process!
Travel
Explore the world through a travel-themed role play pack designed for ESL teachers aiming for interactive classes. It’s packed with scripts, vocabulary, scenario cards, and digital activities for language practice. Students act as travelers, hotel staff, or airline reps, mastering vital phrases for customs, flight mishaps, and more. The scenario cards offer diverse roles and situations for language skill tests. It’s a classroom adventure without leaving, making learning English as exciting as a trip but without the hassles of packing!
Going Shopping
Practice shopping-related language effectively with role plays for adult ESL students. These scenarios boost confidence and prepare them for real-life interactions, helping apply learned vocabulary practically. Tailored for clothing shopping, this resource supplements textbooks lacking speaking practice. It’s an engaging, relevant way to make language activities more meaningful and increase student engagement.
Going to the Movies
Your newcomer students enjoy going to the movies as much as anyone else, but the language gap can dim the fun. The scripts in this pack? They’re more than lines; they give your students language practice for real contexts.
Think of them as tickets to vocabulary expansion, pronunciation practice, and genuine enjoyment. What’s special? Scenarios invite your adult ESL students to add their own touch, making the language theirs. Plus, you have the anticipation guides for them to rate their agreement, vocabulary pages, mini dialogues, discussion questions, and more…all centered on the theme of going to the movies!
Money & Budgets
Enhance your money and budgeting theme with interactive role-play resources tailored for adult ESL learners. This comprehensive set covers essential financial concepts, offering vocabulary expansion, conversation activities, scripts, and scenario cards for practical language application. Boost students’ confidence in real-life situations while providing adaptable and engaging teaching materials for diverse ESL settings. This role play resource is versatile, offering reader’s theater, dialogue prompts, and role-play creation opportunities to deepen engagement and learning.
Jobs & Careers
Engage adult ESL learners with this comprehensive JOBS & CAREERS role-play resource. Students practice job-related scenarios like resignations, raises, conflicts, and more, using learned language. The resource offers agreement ratings, conversation activities, idioms, vocabulary, scripts, and scenario cards for diverse role-play experiences. It’s adaptable, offering reader’s theater and role-play creation options to deepen engagement and understanding. Dive into this resource for immersive learning on relatable job and career topics!
Getting a Haircut
Getting a haircut can be nerve-wracking in the best of circumstances but imagine having to tell the stylist what you want while using a foreign language! Inspired by my own experiences in getting haircuts while living in South Korea and by some of my students’ extreme reluctance to get a haircut at all for fear of misunderstandings resulting in terrible cuts, I created these role plays to give adult ESL students a chance to learn and practice using relevant vocabulary and expressions BEFORE venturing into a hair salon or barbershop.
Etiquette & Manners
Teaching etiquette and manners complements language skills for adult ESL teachers. It aids students in confidently handling social situations beyond grammar and vocabulary. This ESL role-play resource focuses on etiquette, guiding learners through cultural norms, addressing tricky situations, and crafting their role-plays. It includes supportive scenario cards for an immersive learning experience.
Getting an Apartment
This tailored role-play resource for adult ESL students digs into housing scenarios, covering apartment hunting, leases, landlord interactions, roommate dynamics, and maintenance inquiries. This ESL role play resource serves as a bridge to overcome language barriers, providing a safe space for immersive learning and empowering students to navigate discussions and negotiations confidently, essential for securing housing and gaining autonomy abroad.
Going to the Dentist
Turn dental visits into engaging learning adventures with immersive role plays designed for adult ESL students. These scenarios, born from my own experiences grappling with language barriers abroad, offer a glimpse into dental procedures and crucial vocabulary. Students step into patient or dentist roles, mastering communication skills authentically. This ESL role play resource provides ready-made, impactful role plays and dentist visit-related vocabulary, making learning enjoyable.
Giving Directions
This giving directions ESL role play resource focuses on honing vital direction-giving skills for adult ESL learners. Tailored for adult students, it offers engaging activities and simulations to boost confidence in asking for and providing directions. Designed for practical scenarios, it enhances language skills crucial for daily interactions, empowering students to navigate the world with ease and proficiency.
The First Few Days of Classes
This back-to-school role-play resource focuses on adult ESL students navigating the first days of classes. It addresses mixed emotions returning to a classroom setting after years away, helping them grasp student roles, syllabi, cultural expectations, and interacting in English. This ESL role play resource aims to boost confidence in meeting new people, engaging with teachers, and understanding class rules and expectations, especially beneficial for those experiencing first-day jitters.
How to Talk to Teachers & Professors
You know what’s coming at the end of the course—requests for bonus points, extra credit, a “second” chance. Rather than subject yourself to annoyance, teach your students why all that begging is inappropriate and how they can improve their chances of improving their grades. This is a skill rarely taught but should be! These ESL role plays will set the tone for your course and ensure everyone has the same expectations.
Pets
PETS are a relatable and entertaining theme for role plays in your adult ESL classes. If you are ready to add fun to your adult ESL classes, look no further than our furry, feathered, and scaly friends! In this ESL role play resource, students will practice using language they’ve learned while acting out role-plays related to pets. They’ll even create their own–supportive scenario cards are included!
Music
Looking for a fun and engaging way to incorporate MUSIC into your adult ESL classes? Look no further! This ESL role play pack is the perfect solution. Complete with scripts, scenario cards, vocabulary, idioms, and more, it’s an all-in-one solution for an engaging language lesson. No prep needed—just print and go!
Health
Dig into health-themed role plays tailored for adult ESL students, covering diverse scenarios from childcare to rural healthcare. This role play resource offers language practice via agreement ratings, conversation activities, idioms, and essential vocabulary. It includes scripts for reader’s theater, starters for prompting students, and scenario cards to foster role-play creation. It’s a comprehensive tool for meaningful engagement with health-related language and situations in adult ESL learning.
The Environment
Dive into environmental-themed role plays tailored for adult ESL students, covering diverse scenarios like air quality, biodiversity, and conservation. The resource offers language practice via agreement ratings, conversation activities, idioms, and essential vocabulary. It includes scripts for reader’s theater, starters for student prompts, and scenario cards to encourage role-play creation—a comprehensive tool for meaningful engagement with environmental language and topics in adult ESL learning.
Emotions
Explore emotions through role plays designed for adult ESL students. The resource covers various emotional aspects, from expression to cultural differences. Students practice learned language via agreement ratings, conversation activities, idioms, and essential vocabulary. It includes scripts for reader’s theater, prompts, and scenario cards for role-play creation, offering a comprehensive tool to dig into emotional language and communication in adult ESL learning.
Cultural Differences
Except for those rare cases where my entire class was made up of students from the same culture, cultural differences were always one of their favorite topics. Adult ESL students love learning about other cultures and sharing theirs with classmates. This role-play resource offers an array of purposeful activities. Students rate their agreement with cultural statements, explore idioms and vocabulary, engage in reader’s theater using ready-made scripts, act out cultural role-plays, respond to writing prompts, and create their scenarios with included supportive cards.
Going Camping
Boost adult ESL students’ language skills with a tailored camping role-play resource. Designed to bridge the gap between outdoorsy campers and those new to camping, this adult ESL role play resource encourages fluency through engaging scenarios. Inspired by camper stories told by my students, it fosters discussions on nature-filled adventures, connecting classmates and building confidence in English conversation.
Living Through a Pandemic
The pandemic may be over, but its far-reaching effects still reverberate. Use this to allow students to reflect on their experiences during the pandemic and discuss how it has impacted their lives, communities, and the world at large. This reflection allows them to practice language skills while processing their emotions and thoughts about the challenging period they went through. This can help give your students the space to take on the role of someone else and talk about their opinions, feelings, and fears.
